FunBlog

(Sept 11) The starkly beautiful Shiretoko Peninsula (from an Ainu phrase meaning “the end of the earth”) extends north into the frigid Sea of Okhotsk. Much of it is taken up by the Shiretoko National Park.
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(Sept 10) As an important part of the Meiji government’s plans to develop Hokkaido, a network of prisons was set up around the island. Prisoners from all over Japan were sent there to serve as convict labor for the many construction projects.

Abashiri Prison, on the frigid northern coast, was the toughest of these prisons; sometimes referred to as “Japan’s Alcatraz.” There is still a maximum-security prison in Abashiri, but in 1985 many of the old buildings were moved to a separate museum, which has made the town a magnet for curious tourists.
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(Sept 10) Views from a train, cornfields and fast food.

Hokkaido is sometimes compared to the American West, and it does present similar views of flat, open farmland stretching out into the distance with mountains in the background.

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(Sept 9) Many of the more entertaining shops in Sapporo can be found in the Tanukikoji, a covered shopping arcade that extends for 8 blocks in the southeast quarter of the city.
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(Sept 9) If you have some free time in Sapporo, it might be worthwhile to check of the Botanic Garden of Hokkaido University, which includes a small but well-stocked natural history museum. These photos cover only a fraction of what is available.
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(Sept 8) If you want to learn about the history of Hokkaido, the Hokkaido Historical Museum is a good place to start.
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(Sept. 7) Train delays, quick overview of Sapporo, beer, lamb and a traffic accident.

Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido prefecture and the largest city on the island.
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(Sept 6) The Holiday Inn at Narita Airport is not a ryokan. It’s a typical Western-style hotel, not too different from one you might find in America.
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I just got back from Japan with another load of photos to sort through. As before, I’m going to break them into multiple chronological posts. Each post will have a brief introduction with the photos below the fold, so those who are not interested can easily skip them.

All posts from this trip.

What happens to a high-quality anime series that doesn’t fit the current model for R1 licensing? Specifically one that is more than 26 episodes long, but doesn’t feature named magical attacks and fan service in every episode?

Increasingly the answer is that it ends up on Crunchyroll.com. The latest news is that they are picking up Kemono no Souja Erin (The Beast Player Erin).

If you haven’t seen this, it’s worth checking out. It has a leisurely pace but it’s a great story.

Miyuki Hatoyama, the wife of Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, seems to have some unusual views.

• She traveled on a UFO to Venus “while my body was asleep.” She says “It was a very beautiful place and it was really green.”
• She used to know Tom Cruise in a previous life. (He was Japanese then.)
• She “eats the sun.” I’m not sure what that means.

Full story on MSNBC.

District 9 is a violent and disturbing science fiction thriller. It is also thoughtful and clever, and probably worth seeing if you have a strong stomach.

The premise is that back in 1990 a giant alien spaceship appeared over Johannesburg, South Africa. The ship was disabled and filled with half-staved alien refugees. The government reluctantly took responsibility for resettling them in a refugee camp called District 9, a squalid shantytown that quickly became a crime-ridden hellhole.
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