DOBUROKU

This sake is so awesome, it is not even legal. Think your nigori is all special? Watevs, check the bottom of that bottle: this is what unfiltered sake looks like. I mean, damn, Chikako's dad's friend totally made this in his family brewery and stuffed the top with rice stems because otherwise it would explode. You can't buy sake that good. Because it is illegal with deliciousness.

Unfortunately, since it's Japan and the polite thing to do is to wait until we can drink it with Chikako's dad, I can't drink this super-special sake either ;___;* At least, not yet .. still, this is why it is a good idea to go work on your friend's wife's parent's rice farm in Japan ^________^& kanpai!

A day in Tokyo. Negotiations continue with Nagata-sensei; looking positive, though things could still go either way. Over some non-existent (call them metaphysical) beers last night, Dr. Satterwhite clued me in to an intriguing lead re: a Minka enthusiast (leading preservationist is more accurate, leading enthusiast more exciting) in Kamakura. I'm very interested to see how that plays out, if things with Nagata-sensei do not come together. However, still lacking anything concrete to do with my life, I continue to wander about Japan, photographing and photographing and photographing and cursing myself for not taking the time to blog it all. Today, I will go to the aquarium (designed by Taniguchi), before hopping on a 5:56 shinkansen up to Aomori to crash and hang out with the illustrious Beau Buchanon, Noah, and Chikako. Peak fall season hits Aomori in about a week ^___________^

Whenever I come to Tokyo, I stay in Asakusa, old Edo, all of which orbits around Asakusa-dera. Asakusa-dera is a beautiful temple and, perhaps because it was under reconstruction and under wraps for the first nine months that I was living in Japan, has the mystical sensation of seeming to grow larger every time that I visit, always shrinking in my memory and reappearing in massive, larger than life proportions. Maybe it really is too big to imagine. Asakusa-dera is simply too big, and a beautiful example of temple construction; yet it is always here, in the heart of Tokyo, that I overhear jaded tourists muttering, hands shaking with the effort to lift their gargantuan guidebook once more to bloodshot eyes, skin baked by the intense neon of the Tokyo streets, tongues deadened by the subtle flavors of Kansai-ryori, 'Just more of the same, isn't it?' It's okay, I understand. Japan can be exhausting. I do not correct them with violent exclamations, though Asakusa-dera is most definitely not 'more of the same'; and if they ever return, I imagine that they too will have the thrilling sensation that Asakusa is larger than life, and that the beating heart of Japan is in the temple's smoking censer.

*shout out to Andy + April, the woodblock print that Mom and I gave you last Christmas is a winter scene of Asakusa-temple. Cheers!

A Trip to Lake Towada; a Ride on the Ferry

Beau, looking flustered.

Noah, probably looking just as flustered as his dad; it's harder to tell, with babies.

A taste of the fall foliage, by the time that we arrived at the lake itself, it had gotten into rainy and blustery territory. The ferry ride was still awfully pretty, especially for the rain storm. Unfortunately, it was dark, and nice and colorful pictures were out of the question.

Captain 's not to big to throw a rope.

So hard to choose!

Company on the lake.

Docking ..

.. and heading home.

Edamame

Akihabara is not the best place to buy consumer electronics. Granted, it's an AMAZING place to find rare, esoteric, new, or otherwise difficult to find bits of bits, stuff for ham radio, transistors, computer parts, and lots of things that you didn't know existed but do. Commonly available consumer electronics, on the other hand, are generally overpriced in Japan and only slightly less overpriced in Akihabara. I went there to buy a new Sandisk Ultra II 16GB memory card for my camera and couldn't find one for less than double what it goes for online. What I did find was a plastic edamame that you can squeeze to make a little plastic soybean with a dog face pop in and out of its skin. And thus we have the true reason that one should make the trek to Akiba: weird, weird toys, and the girls in maid outfits that come to buy them. Oh Japan, you're the best! Also, I bought a new mouse; I feel like buying it in Akiba has imbued it with mystical powers. This is a bit of willful delusion, as the same logic has quite obviously not panned out re: the GameboyDS that I bought in Akiba last year, on which I continue to suffer one brutal defeat after another in Mario Party, at the hands of Julie DePaulo. Darn you Jukie!!!!!

Coffee o' the Day

Shinjuku to Akihabara

Super Fun Time Go Now!

Sometimes, you're waiting for an important email from a guy but you're already back from China; sometimes, Julie invites you to come stay at her place and then says 'Damn it!' when you actually do. Sometimes, the two of you do Purikura for teh win.

Super friend points bonus! Can you guess which purikura was edited/festooned by Julie and which was by me?? disclaimer: there is no super friend points competition D=!

A Day in the Life of Kyoto

Just a day, riding a bike around Kyoto. Rode my bike along the river stunning, visited some of my favorite zen gardens, made the pilgrimage to Ryoanji. Made a couple of friends. One named Dan, an evolutionary .. chemical biologist? It's a bit confusing, we talked about ribosomes and rode bikes and Dan seemed to enjoy my rambling. Incidentally, Dan is a post-doc at NYU and lives where I lived until about two months ago. He was in Kobe for a conference, concluded. We met his friend of a friend, Lauren, biologist in waiting, ALT (Assistant Language Teacher, like Beau) in Kyoto. The kid in the awesome T-shirt is her student. Those are his sisters. We ate at their grandparent's restaurant, feasted on Kansai ryori (Kansai fare); lo, 'twas good.

Japan! (off the boat yesterday)

Udon is Japan.