Play the Game of Life
Ryan Petersen's Blog

Ingredients:

Gigantic Frozen Tuna
Wasabi
Rice
Seeweed

Directions:

Step 1.) Cut gigantic frozen tuna to pieces with industrial strength bandsaw.
Step 2.) Not sure, we only learned step one.

Labels: food, japan, my favorite posts, video

Japan's bullet trains are fast and reliable; running every 5 minutes to anywhere you want to go in the country, they are easily the best way to get around.

Labels: japan

Japanese people have far more gray hair than Chinese people. In fact, as I take note of the number of men with gray hair on the subway in Tokyo, it suddenly dawned on me that almost nobody in China has gray hair. Upon my return to China I will have to investigate this to see if this is really true, or if I just wasn't paying enough attention.

Labels: japan

The biggest fish market in the world doesn't smell like fish. It's so clean--and the fish so fresh--that there is no odor at all!

Labels: japan

Japan actually has subway ticket dispensers that give change for up to 10,000 yen (about $90 USD) in notes. What is this so difficult in the United States? Why do our vending machines have to return dozens of quarters? We have had ATM machines, so the technology for dispensing notes has been there for some time.

Labels: japan

Can never get enough of the bowing.



Shot at the Shinkansen station in Tokyo, Japan.

Labels: japan, video

Thinking of Japan usually conjures images of high-tech electronics, massive cities, ultra-modern design and great automobiles. Yet there is a part of Japan that we don't usually think about--bountiful nature. As a result of forward thinking 19th century imperial policy, incredibly dense forests envelop every major city. All elevated terrain seems to be blanketed in lush greenery. Often these forests appears as little islands floating atop a sea of vast urban development, but more frequently its the cities that appear submerged beneath an ocean of green. Venturing away from the major cities you are quickly rewarded with the awe-inspiring scenery of some of the world's finest national parks. These pictures are from Nikko National Park, north of Tokyo.

Labels: japan

A dance troupe takes to the streets in honor of the Hemeji Castle Festival, an annual celebration of the heritage of the town of Hemeji in Kansai prefecture.

Labels: japan, video

Just west of Osaka, Hemeji boasts one of the country's finest castles. A massive structure built during the Tokugawa Shogunate in the late 16th century, Hemeji Castle seems to have been more of a palace than a defensive structure. The main tower and many of the auxilary buildings were built entirely of wood, and in an era of gunpowder (which the Japanese were already using at the time of its construction) it wouldn't have offered much in the way of defense. However, just outside the building were the homes of hundreds or thousands of fiercely loyal samurai warriors, so you would have had a hard time getting close enough to take a shot.

Labels: japan

Labels: japan

So this is how they do it...




Filmed at a garden in Kyoto, Japan

Labels: japan, video

Surrounded by a ring of splendid forests on all sides, the town has struck the perfect balance between thoughtful, modern design and a perfectly preserved historical legacy. Peaceful temples, impressive museums, wild nightlife, wonderful alleyways, quiet back streets and an ultra-modern train station blend seamlessly. Kyoto was one of the only major Japanese cities to escape bombing in World War II, so it preserves more of the country's ancient forms than other areas. And the forests that blanket its many hills serve as a constant reminder of Japan's progressive, conservationist mentality.

Labels: japan

I knew I was going to like Japan while still in the airport in Shanghai and the attendant at All Nippon Airlines asked me if I would like a window or an aisle seat. In two years living in China, no Chinese airline has ever asked me this simple question.

The lady then pointed me in the direction of the gate with a smile. At Chinese airline counters I've noticed that you are not generally told where to walk after you finish checking in. And if you ask you are likely to get an extremely surly response that may or may not result in you understanding where to go.

When I arrived at Kansai airport in Osaka, all the passengers stood on the left side of the escalator, allowing others to walk up the right side. What a concept! Yet completely foreign in mainland China.

Two major scores for Japan before even setting foot on its soil. Not bad!

Labels: japan