Something peaceful about buses in Japan.

Good day everyone!

Today, I enjoy a rare free Sunday, so I decided to head on downtown by bus today without my camera or superfluous daily carries. And to relax my legs from all my weekly stresses, I took the bus.

Despite their relative slowness against taking my bicycle around central Sendai, I enjoy taking the bus. Buses in Japan in general are quiet, clean, and quite comfortable with heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. I recommend taking the bus to sightsee in Japan as it brings you closer to the city than the public rails!

Cellphone picture time! 

Starbucks is cheaper in Japan?

So, I am taking the bus back home due to rain today, and I happened to stop by Starbucks along the way home. For those wondering, this is the first time I have been to Starbucks since March.

Anyways, I ordered my usually light Chai Latte, and after thinking about it, Japanese Starbucks might be cheaper than American Starbucks (gasp!)

Here is my latte for reference, it costs 450 yen (~$3.80 US).

Tell me if it really is cheaper in Japan! Might be a reason for some to come if it is a daily habit!

Entered the World of Voice Acting!

Hello friends!

Pardon the click-bait level title, but I just did something fun today that is absolutely worth the grief I will receive for using such a title.

So, for those who are uninformed, Sendai (the city I am living in Japan) was at the center of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011. As such, there have been many projects on the path to recovery from the disaster, many of which are still working hard today. One project that has found its way very close to me is the Green Embankment Planting project championed by the Head Priest of Rinnoji Temple, Hioki Michitaka.

In a nice flow of connections, my Japanese Culture teacher, Shidara-sensei, is actually close friends of Hioki-jushoku. Through this connection, our Japanese Culture class has been able to help the reconstruction efforts of the Sendai area coastal cities and towns.

Background information out of the way, Hioki-jushoku asked Shidara-sensei if we would be able to do an English voice-over of the introduction video the the Green Embankment Planting, and our class were more than excited to help out. This video was first shown publicly at the UN WCDRR conference I attended in March, so I was extremely excited to take part.

For that reason, I found myself on the mic at FM Sendai, Sendai's local radio station, to do a voice over!

Ready to go!

Everyone who helped out today did a great job, and I can't wait to see the final result. But in the mean time, I have attached the Japanese version of the video below for you all to see. Regardless of where you live in the world, we should all champion the use of natural embankments such as mounding hills and planting deep-rooted trees over the use of cement walls for the health of the earth for posterity!

Feeling tons of homesickness at the moment, so I am going to write about cameras in Japan!

Hello all!

So, with another Friday arriving during my time in Japan, I am struck with homesickness with the impending return to the United States and another year added to my age with my birthday coming in a couple weeks.

To get over this, I will write about my latest trip to the Japanese electronics supergiant Yodobashi Camera to get some new camera equipment. Japan is what you call a camera Shangri-la, you can find a large selection of camera equipment of every facet at almost every Japanese electronics store.

The entire lower section of the building is the Yodobashi Camera store. It is huge!!!

Here is the camera section at my local Yodobashi camera, which is actually a smaller sized Yodobashi from my experience!

Over half of the ground floor of the store!

They really have everything, they even had specialized photography clothing.

Need to protect from the sun!

And of course bags!

But what I really came here for today was filters.

Every size and type!!!

I came in search for a $20 filter, and I found it!

I hope this can help me improve the quality of certain shots I make, especially since I do mostly outdoor pictures!

Here is a comparison!

Without the new filter

With the new filter!

Well, I like the results at the moment, so let's see how things go!

Reasonable Prices are everywhere to be found in Japan

Hi friends!

I hope that you all have been enjoying the photos from my shrine tour in Sendai today. The weather was perfect for pictures!!!!

Well, now it is lunch time in Japan, and I want to bust a myth about expensive prices in Japan.

Below is a picture of a meal I bought at Japan's McDonald's chain for 600 yen (5 USD). Prices are reasonable, don't you think! 

Going to bed to catch the early rising sun in Japan!!!

Hi all!

Just want to post something before I head off to bed in Japan.

One aspect of living in Japan that really throws me off is how weird the clock is in relation to the sun. Either the clock is slow, or sun is fast, because during the summers, the sun rises at 4:30 am in the morning!!! Also, the sun sets by 7:30 pm, which really gives me a perspective on all of the sunny waking up scenes and nighttime strolls in Japanese shows.

Like I said in the title, I am going to try to wake up early tomorrow to take some awesome pictures of the beautiful shrines and temples that Sendai is home to. One of the shrines on the list tomorrow is the Toshogu Shrine! I past by it once before, but it is not on a path to any places I go on a regular basis, so I never see it! Preview of what might be ahead for me below!

I LOVE Japanese Commercials!

So, another random post today, since I feel this does a better job representing my time here in Japan.

So, while I was relaxing this evening, I rediscovered a commercial by the mobile phone company au (pronounced ei-yu in one syllable). It always catches my eyes whenever I see it!

This is actually one of a series of commercials starring Momo-chan and all his friends. Momo-chan is actually based off of the famous folklore character Momotaro, the Peach Samurai. It is a fun story where an old couple find a son in a giant peach and that son grows to slay oni (Japanese ogres) and other demons. It was a story I became very attached to after my visit to Okayama, the city where the story of Momotaro comes from.

Japanese commercials always seem backwards. Rather than getting you to buy a product, they instead interest you in a product with an entertaining commercial. It actually works well on me, and I bet you will get addicted to Japanese commercials after seeing a few!

Below is a gallery of my photos from Okayama, it is a beautiful city that I highly recommend anyone go to visit to see real Japan.

Friday Favorite: Conveyor Belt Sushi

Hello Friday! I am so happy to welcome the weekend! This past week has been quite crazy for me. My bike was stolen this past weekend, and from that it was an adventure going to the always friendly police to report it stolen and set up a search for it to buying a new bike.

Apart from this event and a Japanese midterm, I am finally settling back down for the weekend. One of my favorite Friday habits is to get conveyor belt sushi. Cheap and healthy!!!

Worn for the week after the Aoba Festival

Sorry for the lack of posts last week, I was busy this past weekend with the Aoba Matsuri (Japanese for Aoba Festival). Spent 16 hours in the Summery sun this past weekend! The weather is brilliant!

So, the Aoba Matsuri is a festival special to Sendai that celebrates the anniversary of Date Masamune's death. For those of you who do not know, Date Masamune is a famous lord from the Sengoku Period of Japan. The history of this festival is quite complex and verbose, so I will link you to a great page explaining it! http://www.aoba-matsuri.com/english/e-history.html

I was amazed by the multiple huge colorful and wooden floats, still powered to this day by men pulling it. Put this in the backdrop of many people dancing the spectacular Sparrow dance in colorful clothing with powerful drums and that only scratches the surface of how fun the festival was!

I took over 1000 pictures, so I will be needing some time to get them online, but here is a fun picture of me with the Date Bushotai, a professional acting group charged by the Sendai Tourist Bureau to welcome visitors close and far to Sendai! 

Happy Mother's Day!

To all mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day! Not every country celebrate this day on the same day, so I am happy that Mother's Day is the same here in Japan as in the United States and a majority of the Western world. I wish all of my Aunts Happy Mother's Day as well!

I am resting today, but yesterday I went to the beautiful town of Matsushima. Here is a quick picture!!!