Kenj If you visit Google today in Japan you’ll see they are honouring Kenji Miyazawa. He was a famous Japanese author. He wrote amazing stories for children and poetry. He was also born and raised in Iwate. The very place I live in Japan. Happy birthday Kenji.
Archive for the 'Iwate' Category
It’s funny that I forgot to write about this on my blog. Considering how long I’ve had this site, you’d think I’d remember to do something as simple as letting you all know that I’ve asked the love of my life, Akira, to Marry me. Yes, we’re officially engaged.
You see, last year, I went to this really expensive work party at a local ryokan called “Saito.” A ryokan is a traditional Japanese hotel. Saito was famous for it’s multi course meals and using Maesawa Beef , one of the most expensive and delicious meats in Japan. After I came back from the party, I told Akira about the food, and she instantly wanted to go and try it. I promised her that I would take her at some point, but I wasn’t committal about it. That is, until about three weeks ago.
I asked her if she had and free time during the weekend and I made the plans. She got really exciting about going. What she didn’t know is that I was going to pop the question to her. On Saturday night, after we checked in, we went the baths to freshen up. When she came back to the room, that is what I asked her if she would marry me. I became the luckiest guy in the world when she answered, “Yes.” I think that made the Maesawa steaks just a little more delicious.
So there you have it. Marriage plans are forthcoming. Stay tuned for details, and thanks for reading this blog, depsite the lack of update. I promise you that more is on the way.
Akira at Saito
Rainbow of Peace, originally uploaded by jasohill.
Hi everyone. I do apologize for the lack of blog updates. I’ve busy here in Japan and I realized that is has become so much like home for me that I don’t blog about it any longer. Well, I do intend to keep you updated on what is going on here a little more than I have been lately. To start off, I wanted to share with you a little milestone that occurred today.
You may remember my photo, “Rainbow of Peace.” I took it during my trip to Nagasaki in 2006. At the time I never thought it would be my most popular photo. I stood over the ground zero point at the memorial area and tried to get as many colors in the photo as I could. Once I got that photo on flickr, it took off and quickly became my most popular photo on flickr.
Well today, over two and a half years after I took it, “Rainbow of Peace” has surpassed the 15000 mark. I never though I would have a photo do that well. It’s certainly not my only successful photo on flickr, but it was the first to make me realize that I can take pictures that make people smile. It was the catalyst that lead to where I am today. On the road to a career as a pro.
I just wanted to thank everyone who helped make this photo the success it is today. I couldn’t get back to all of you, but I appreciate all the kind words you wrote for me and the photo.
This week Iwate just turned into a strange horror film. I could see the signs a couple of months ago, but I couldn’t believe it was actually happening. You see, Iwate has always had a ton of moths in July and August. They range from really small to as big as your entire face (wing span included.) I’ve never minded them before, and I actually found some of them to be quite beautiful, but something was a little different this year.
It all started when I headed out to the grocery store to pick up some, well, groceries. I parked my car and headed toward the main doors. Then I looked up. The entire wall was covered end to end with moths. I had never seen anything like this before. Big ones, little ones. Blue ones, green ones. Some laying eggs, others swarming. I could not believe my eyes. I ran into the store, and saw that many of them had found their way inside as well. Many of the clerks were swooshing them with brooms. But the clerks were outnumbered. I found the entire spectacle almost funny. I just assumed it was a cyle year for moths and that was the end of it, grabbed my groceries and went home. Then things got personal.
Yesterday I had some laundrry drying outside. I folded up all my shirts and put them in my shirt drawer. This morning I went to grab one of the shirt, and when I unfolded it I was greeted with the most shocking thing I’d seen in a while. I huge moth, half crushed, but still moving, was smearing yellow eggs all over the shirt and spewing some sort of webbing around the eggs. Now, I’m a big nature fan, but I’m don’t like it when nature takes it road show to my bedroom. Basically, I freaked, threw the shirt away and my stomach has been upset all morning. All this of course lead me to write this blog post.
As Steven Colbert might put it. I am placing the moths on notice. They’ve crossed a line.
Windy Iwate Mountain, originally uploaded by jasohill.
You’ll probably notice some changes around here. I’ve upgraded the website to Wordpress 2.32 and have decided to go with a new theme based around the K2 interface. I’ve also chosen a new theme for the blog. I will still be focusing on Japan of course, but I will be working more of my photography into the stories as well. I’m going to move this blog more towards a photoblog of Japan.
To start this off I present you the first picture of Iwate Mountain I took this year. As you can see, it’s fairly windy up near the top, where the snow is being blasted off the side of the mountain. I went on a twenty minute drive to find the best shot for this. The entire time, I was worried the winds were going to die down. Lucky for me, they actually got stronger. This is why they don’t recommend you climb this sucker in the winter.
As you might recalled from my last post, I twisted my ankle while playing a volleyball game at school. I begged and pleaded with the staff to let me walk it off, but given the size of the swelling, they insisted I make a trip to the doctor, and prevented me from walking on it. This is the continuation of that post. Please enjoy.
Takizawa Morning, originally uploaded by jasohill.
If you were to live in my area of Japan, you might just see this on a particularly clear morning. In this picture, Mt. Iwate stands guard over the small town of Takizawa, south of where I live, and north of Morioka. You usually can’t see the mountain as it’s covered in clouds.
I was at one of my elementary schools, having my self a nice little chat with one of the teachers. She asked me if I had a problem with doing two classes on the 24th, instead of the one I was scheduled for. I expressed that it wasn’t a problem at all. In fact it was a pleasure to enlighten and educate those sweet little faces. She was very pleased with this and happy that I never had a problem with any requests. I did mention that I would only have a problem if I were to be double booked. She laughed and said, “その時のため、分身の術(sonotokinotame, bunjin no jutsu.)
Basically, in English it means “For those times, you’d need the special body splitting techinique(used by ninjas)” She was so shocked that I understood what she was talking about, she almost fell over. I told her I learned it in a book. I will never reveal the true source of my information.
Shitty Japanese animated show about pansy, teenage ninjas never make good reference material.
What started out as a pleasant trip to Sendai, almost turned into a nightmare in my sleepy little prefecture. This all steamed from an email we received from a friend living in Morioka, advising us to come home as soon as possible. We only got a taste of what was to come when the bus driver told us the highway was closed and we would be late by over an hour.
It appears that Typhoon 11 left more damage than anyone could have anticipated. Many of Iwate’s rivers, already near overflowing from the storm, unleashed their fury yesterday, forcing evacuations all over the prefecture. My former home, Ichinoseki was under about fivefeet of water, and many parts of Hanamaki and Morioka were almost evacuated due to rising waters levels. I was very lucky to be living on higher ground. My home wasn’t damaged.
The secondary effects of this flooding weren’t even noticable to me until today. It appears many parts of the rail between Hachimantai-Matsuo and Hanawa were washed out completely. If I didn’t already have a car or the ability to drive, I would been unable to get to most of the schools I teach at. Even the road I use to jog is lying under water. Many of the rice fields in my town are now submerged as well.
I’m sure there will be more to tell about this story. I will will update you as information becomes available. I am attempting to get information of people that were evacuated and casualties.
Update 1: This article tell of two people carried away by flood waters in Morioka. The search is continuing for them today.
Update 2: An article from the Asahi shinbum gives a quick summary of the people involved so far.
I thought I’d kick off my first blog post in a while with a smoking hot review of the Jazz concert I attended the other day. The name of the band is Olive and they are based out of Morioka and Senmaya. Yes, for those of you who read this blog on a regular basis, you’ll know that I used to live in Senmaya. I got a chance to take do a photo shoot of the concert. I was also quite impressed with what I heard.
The band is made up of Mai on drums, Emi on keyboards and vocals, and Oi on the electric stand up bass. What they lack in members, they make up for in raw ability. The band focuses on a style of acid jazz infused with pop style rolling bass lines. They performed a set of three songs; each more more upbeat and grooving than the previous. I have yet to actually get the names of the tunes they played; however, they are working on a CD for release later this year, so when I get my hands on it, you’ll be the first to know. For now I have placed the pictures I took in a flickr set. Enjoy.
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