御盆 Obon

Obon is that time of year when Japanese people’s ancestors come for a visit. You might see little fires lit in front of some houses in rural areas around Chiba Prefecture, but that’s becoming rare these days. These fires are meant to welcome home ghosts of ancestors. The department stores are displaying gorgeous lanterns to display [...]

Nagareyama Music

Earlier this month, a banjo playing duo performed western standards and interpretations of Japanese tunes at Nagareyama Ootaka no Mori Station on the Tobu Noda Line.
This evening, it’s girl rocker
Misato with Misty. The concert is free and will be held in the food court on the north side of the station.
August 8th, a [...]

Tone River Jam 2009

Last year’s Tone River Jam in Abiko got typhooned on, but before the skies opened up, we got to hear some great music.
As always, the Tone River Jam on August 16th is free, hosted by local businesses. Last year, a shuttle bus from Tennodai Station took jam goers to the [...]

Japan gets even smaller…

Billy West on his blog, Seven Ten to Tokyo, posted some photos that made me blink. He manipulated the photos with Tilt-Shift Maker. I  was really surprised at the sidewalk scene. The light and depth of the photo really fooled me at first look into thinking it was a miniature model.
Recently, Tokyo Notice Board published [...]

柏祭り Kashiwa Matsuri

Kashiwa City held its 32nd annual festival July 25th and 26th. As always, taiko groups were spectacular. I especially liked Kashiwa Taiko, an all-women’s group that were as riveting to watch as they were to listen to.
Shawn and Asami were on the 走り込み hashirikomi team for Kashiwa Shrine, and they got to grunt, sweat and [...]