Goovie! 岐阜 × 動画

One of my favorite places in Japan is Gifu Prefecture (岐阜県). So, I was pleased to stumble across a website called Goovie (sounds like a combination of Gifu and movie). Primarily it is movies of things going on in Gifu. For someone like me this is the perfect way to see some of the things I miss.

Go over to Goovie.jp and check it out , they only have a handful of movies up right now, but please support them and subscribe to their Twitter and Youtube.

Japan's rice fields in September

Again, my friend 花火 in Japan has been kind enough to send me an update of the rice fields. I am posting this just now, but this was taken at the end of September. Thank you 花火!

Selected for Google Earth!

I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of my pictures made it into the latest update of Google Earth.

The GP-1 GPS unit for my Nikon D90 was well worth the investment. It is especially handy when you have no idea where you were at the time you took a picture. It is fun to go back and see where you were exactly on the map. When planning my trip to Japan I relied on the Panoramio photos on Google Earth to get feel for different areas I would visit. Since I got back I have been geotagging points of interest around the area I live in for others to explore.

McDonalds Japan's Mr. James TV Commercial

This commercial pokes fun at gaijin in Japan. I don't find it offensive at all really, what do you think? More info on Mr. James and the Nippon All Stars HERE.

Total solar eclipse in Japan on the 22nd of July

日本ではまもなく、皆既日食がみられます。

今、１００年に一度の皆既日食！ということでみんなルンルンです。

しかし、ウィークデイ。

みきとしては仕事の真っただ中。。

しかも高層ビル。。

一応は高いところでみられるけど。。

記事の一部↓↓
’’2009年7月22日には日食が起こります。日本では、全国で部分日食を観察することができます。また奄美大島北部、トカラ列島、屋久島、種子島南部など、皆既日食帯と呼ばれる細長くのびた地域・海域内では、皆既日食を観察することができます。’’

The news article.

’’Totality in a solar eclipse, partial eclipse of the sun"!

On July 22nd, a partial eclipse of the sun will occur in various regions in Japan. Also a total solar eclipse will be seen in Amami Oshima north , Tokara, Yakushima island each , Those areas will be considered a "total solar eclipse area".

In Japan, many TV companies will begin a live broadcast of the century event in that day. Now in Japan , I think many foreingner and tourist will visit to see this centry event on each island. Anyway, please don't miss it out! ;)

Miki.

The rice fields are growing up.

One of my friends in Japan just emailed me this picture this morning. How thankful I was to recieve this. It brought back so many memories. Of course when I was there the fields were full of water with people everywhere planting little rice plants by hand or with little tractors. During my stay I must have passed tens of thousands of these little fields all carefully placed and planned out. I still don't quite understand how the tractors they use to plant the rice don't sink into the flooded rice fields, but they don't.

I wish I were there to walk through the fields in person, but pictures will have to do. Thank you 花火, for bringing back memories of the Japanese countryside and my journey through Japan.

やなな at Gekijo Dori

やなな at Gekijo Dori. You can see they are in front of Takashimaya Gifu at one point. I didn't know about やなな until I got back from Gifu City. It would have been fun to get a picture with her. Maybe next time. I added this to the GIfu City Fanpage.

See やなな's blog HERE.

Japanese family chronicles 10 years of life.

If you are a true fan of real life in Japan you should like this video. It is 10 years of ordinary family life in Japan in chronological order.

I have often thought about trying this. Pretty sure I don't have enough pictures to cover 10 years without large gaps.

Yakitori Grill - やきとり!

So, I am in Japan, and they are cooking all these wonderful things on these stick grills. I should have thought to buy one of these when I was there, but didn't think of it till afterwards. So far the one below is the only one I have found. It is not like the ones the street vendors have, but looks like it would do the job. This one is from Mitsutani Electric Corporation.

I'm thinking that with my rudimentary welding skills I may be able to create my own, which would use charcoal. You can see my Japanese Beef page on Facebook here, where I have more pictures and videos.

Cherry picking tour in Yamanashi (山梨)

チェリー狩りにいきました！

チェリー、さくらんぼは食べ放題。

でもたくさんのさくらんぼはいらないかも。。

やはり適量がいいです。

みき

Hello! This is Miki.

Long time no posting!

I went on a cherry picking tour last week. I ate alot of cherries in this tour. I could eat as many as I like, but couldn't eat as many as I wanted to. After eating too many cherries I did not feel well, appropriate quantities are always best, but still I like cherries though..

Miki.

Japanese Beef

Japanese beef is one of the greatest things on earth! Another example to prove the Japanese have the best of everything. The fat is amazing, soft and buttery, melts in your mouth. I am not just talking about Kobe. If you go to any store that sells meat regardless of the cut, it is sure to be the best thing you have ever tasted. If you like meat that is.

I find it interesting how in America we pride ourselve on finding the leanest percentage of fat possible, and the leaner it is the more expensive it is. What a sharp contrast, you would think the opposite, that Americans would go for the fatest cut of meat possible, yet it is the Japanese who are blest with such fine beef.

The picture and video here were taken in Takayama. This is a great example of Hida beef. These sticks were 3500 yen each.

I started a Japanese Beef fan page on Facebook please join HERE!

No Pictures Please! (写真だめですください!) - Akiba Cafe Maids

It did not take long to find out that the cafe maids handing out flyers in Akiba did not like their pictures taken. More than once I was told no pictures please, as well as given the the Japanese sign of "No", which is the forearms crossed like an X. One of them actually followed me until I stopped and made me delete a picture while she stood there and watched. So, most of my pictures are of them walking away.

I did mange to get a flyer from one of them, where as most of them went out of their way to avoid me when they saw my camera. She was actually very nice and insisted that I examine the flyer on the spot, and kept asking me what I thought.

See more pictures HERE.

Tilt Shift Gifu City

Sometimes I think I may be living under a rock. I am always finding cool things that have been around forever, that I have never seen before. Regardless, here are some nice tilt shift photos of Gifu City, by Pinboke. Please check out their other tilt shift photos here.

Tilt Shift Time Lapse of Japan

Who doesn't like the effect of tilt shift? This is the first time I have seen it in time lapse. Great find by The Awesomer.

Japanese Food

One of the more popular questions when I cam back was, "How was the food?". Overall it was very good. I can think of other places in the world where they eat scarier things. I had some amazing things that I cannot get here, and some things that I don't need to try again.

My goal was try as many different things as possible. My host family did their best to help me meet my goal. Just ask what it is AFTER you eat it, and you will be ok.

Swine Flu Quarantine Inspection

Upon arrival at Chubu International in Nagoya, we had to pass quarantine inspection. Took about an hour. Fortunately the air blowing out of the vents was very cool, I turned mine up high and hoped for the best. Not that I had a fever, but I didn't want to take any chances. So I passed, and so did everyone around me. I have heard other stories and if someone close to you has symptoms it could mean 1 week isolated in a hotel, not fun.

I took this video with my Nikon D90 DSLR and a 10-20mm super wide Sigma lens.

Two amazing weeks in Gifu City.

Finally after 2 years of talking about it, I got a change to visit. After reading about Japan and scouring blogs for information and details about this country, it was my turn to see for myself what it is was all about. I can say for me, that it was more than I had expected. It is truly an amazing place in so many ways.

The picture above is just one example of my 2 incredible weeks in Japan. I can't even put into words the experience that I just had. I can not thank my host family enough for everything they did for me during my stay. Finding a family that would allow me to stay and live with them allowed me to experience the country in ways that would not be possible otherwise.

MOSDO! - Mos Burger and Mister Donut Combine Forces

What could be better than having a hamburger that looks like a donut. Oh I know, a donut that looks like a hamburger!

Check out these new items at Mos Burger and Mister Donut.

Japanese for beginners.

This one made me stop and think. 

Joking aside though, smart.fm is a great tool if you want to learn Japanese.

Sanoramen ''OGURAYA'' in Sano city in Tochigi prefecture.

Hi! This is Miki.

I went to Sano on a short trip. This is the famous Sano ramen house "OGURAYA'' in Sano. Everyone waits a long time for ramen. My family waited there for 40 minutes. This ramen restaurant is crowed all day, but the Sanoramen and dumpling is very very nice, and well worth the wait.

And.. I found this bollard (?? Umm like a guardrail post I think), which someone put sparrow statues on. It's rare and cute.

-Miki

こんにちわ。みきは今日は日帰りで佐野に行ってきました。

佐野ラーメンで有名な、おぐら屋にもいってきました。

４０分くらい待ちましたが、ラーメンと餃子はとてもおいしかったです。

あと、通行止め？に使われるものなのでしょうか、

ガードレールのようなものに、スズメのオブジェをつけてるかわいいものを見つけました。

珍しくてかわいいです。

みき