My brother’s been bugging me to get him one of these – and it’s not the new iPhone.

No, I’m talking about this.

And today, thanks to a brief note on the official site, I’ve learned that he’ll have to wait until next year to get one. (Assuming I manage to seize one of these from a store in Japan before they run out … again.)

Advertisements

Oh, happy solitude

Not everyone will view the trend described in this recent Japan Times article as positive, but I certainly think it’s an encouraging development.

After all, it’s no mystery – at least to those who know me – why I dine out at Ichiran so frequently whenever I holiday in Japan. (Here’s a review I wrote of one particular Ichiran branch; note that the seating arrangements described there are standard across their branches.) They’ve got delicious Hakata-style ramen, true enough. But more than that, the individual booth seats allow me to enjoy my meal in near-complete privacy, without having to look at another human being … or worry about anyone else looking at me.

As an incurably anti-social traveller, the prospect of being able to limit my interactions with the rest of humanity to the barest minimum is welcome news indeed. (^_^)

Darn it. One day too late.

My next holiday in Japan is supposed to begin on 30 September. One day too late, it seems, for me to experience this limited-time-only themed restaurant bus.

Not that I would’ve altered my bookings even if I’d known about it in advance, but still … darn it.

(Incidentally, I still haven’t seen the film, nor do I really plan to. But I’m still enough of an anime enthusiast to appreciate special events like this.)

I didn’t know Fegelein did Korean movies, too.

I say, this chap does get around, doesn’t he?

Depending on how much screen time he gets, this could be yet another Hitler-rant parody gold mine.

That aside, Korean history is one of my areas of interest, so the film’s depiction of the Gwangju Uprising alone is a major selling point as far as I’m concerned.

It’s been a long time since I’ve been to the movies…

…and truth be told, nothing that’s been released lately has managed to do much more than lightly pique my interest. Case in point: despite being something of a fan of Shinkai Makoto’s previous works, I never bothered to watch 君の名は。 even once in the three times that I visited Japan since it was released there in August 2016. (I did go so far as to look up cinema schedules for it on a free evening in Tōkyō, but didn’t follow through.)

Ah, but this particular film might have just enough appeal to break my long drought when it enters local cinemas next month. The visual aesthetic isn’t really my cup of tea, but the theme most certainly is, especially since I’m currently blogging about a long 2016 holiday in Japan that included Hiroshima.

Pascha nostrum immolátus est Christus, allelúia

Itaque epulémur in ázymis sinceritátis et veritátis, allelúia, allelúia, allelúia.

Friend and reader: I wish you, your family, and all your loved ones a very happy Easter.

Six years to the day.

On the morning of 22 November 2016, I switched on the TV and allowed the morning news to play in the background whilst I got ready for another day of sightseeing. Suddenly, normal broadcasting was interrupted and warnings began to flash, with reports coming in thick and fast of a major earthquake that had just taken place off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. Despite the fact that I was a very great distance west of where it struck – at that point in my journey I was staying in Matsuyama, on the island of Shikoku – the urgent warnings raised uncomfortable thoughts about an earlier event, far worse than the present one. What I found most chilling of all was the message delivered by the newsreaders as the tsunami warnings were broadcast: Isoide nigete kudasai.

Three words, spoken calmly yet with uncompromising firmness, over and over and over again.

Remember and pray, even as one looks to the future with hope.