Neil Duckett

An amusing reflection as PM Koizumi hands Asasyoryu the winners cup.

Thanks to Mari for the picture.

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Saturday saw me head out to Furukawa for a Hanabi Party. Furukawa is an hour from Shinjuku on the Shonen Shinjuku line and heading out there i once again thought to myself, i’m glad i live closer to the action.

It’s good to have a reason like this years Hanabi Party to get out to Furukawa, otherwise it’s a place i can probably say i would never get to otherwise.

As usual i went with the same group or Friends i go to the onsens with, all the guys from the local Sushi bar. It was a late afternoon start and an hour long train ride to get to Koge station and then grab some supplies and head to our designated spot.

I grabbed some footage and put it up on Vimeo and also took few photos. I’m still a novice with the camera and not editing it yet but will do shortly when i get some appropriate software or buy a mac.

Before i get into the pics if you haven’t already voted, please head over to the Seven Wonders of Japan and cast your vote now, it closes at the end of this week.

There was plenty of colour on arrival.

The video turned out really well. This time i used the Fireworks setting and remembered to have the resolution scaled back a bit. For the best effect check out the HD version on Vimeo.

Closed on Sundays. That’s what the sign should say when you get to Kanda. Still, regardless of the lack of people and lack of things open i still spent a few hours in the stiffling heat, wandering around Kanda taking a few photos as part of my mission to cover all 29 stops on the JR Yamanote Line.

I didn’t take my still shot camera, instead i opted to take my video camera and unfortunately didn’t find anything to film so i came back with still shots only.

The quality on here is pretty low to keep the page loadable but the full size versions came up a treat, i’m very happy with it as a camera too.

Kanda is pretty much on the opposite side from where i start on the JR Yamanote Line and it took a good 30 minutes to get there. Out to Kanda i arrived, as always, proof i was there, a picture of the station

Cars with multiple aerials was my first impression of Kanda.

The streets were so quiet, i was thinking it would be busier, right about now i was wishing i’d had lunch before arriving.

Seriously, right about now i thought i was in some trouble and the heat wasn’t helping any.

Not much os a fan of Soba noodles so onward i pushed. Atleast it was looking up, there were some palces to eat that were open.

If you haven’t been to Yamachan then you’re missing out, of course, it will help if you like Chicken Wings too otherwise you’re not really missing out on anything at all.

Yamachan have been going strong for about 30 years now and although they have many items on the menu they’re best known for their chicken wings.

I like my beers cold and my wings spicy, no problems with both of those at Yamachan. The wings come in 2 flavours, normal and spicy and each serve is 5 wings in total at a cost of 400 yen.

Pictured here is the first plate of 20 wings me and my buddy shared, or wings for 4 people is how you’d order.

Beware though, these wings are moorish, it’s hard to stop after 10 a piece so we grabbed another 20 wings and a few more beers to wash them down.

You can buy salads there too, so i’m told, but not on my watch, it’s beer and wings when i go to Yamachan.

Yamachan stores are all over the place, i’m sure there’ll be one close to you, check out the website if you can read Japanese. The one we went to was right next door to Shin-Okubo station, in the heart of Korean town.

I love Yamachan but it’s probably not worthy enough to sneak into the Seven Wonders Of Japan, if you haven’t checked the voting out then head over now, there’s still about 2 weeks to go.

Unfortunately the G-String is a rare sight in Japan, during my first trip to Japan in 2002 i found this out and said to Friends back home that there was a market importing G-Strings to Japan, nothing came of it though.

I’m not sure why they’re not popular here, girls would rather have a VPL than wear a Gee, maybe its a comfort thing, which surprises me considering some of the bras they make here and here.

So, browsing through Rakuten online the other day i noticed the V-Back, a new line of underwear for girls in Japan, or anywhere for that matter i guess.

I still fail to see how it works, no matter how long i study the photo’s, maybe a decent set of hips are a mandatory requirement for the V-Back.

After a little translation i was also surprised to see it’s a “Big fashion item in Australia right now!” (オーストラリアで大流行の下着) i’d be interested in hearing if there’s any truth in that.

If your Japanese is proficient here’s the rest of the sales pitch “今、オーストラリアで大流行の下着、Vバック。名前のごとく、後ろはV字になっているのでローライズパンツを履いても下着が見えるかどうかの心配もなく、アウターにも響きません。外から見ればまるで、下着をつけていないよう。

They’re about $30 a piece which seems pretty cheap to me.

It doesn’t look all that comfortable either, i think i would keep try and hitch it up. Not sure i really like to be honest with you, but then again i don’t have to wear it so my opinion means nothing.