Blue

Here’s a drink that I tried recently, Blue Ginger Ale. I discovered that the only difference between normal ginger ale and blue ginger ale is…..the blue color. Yes it tastes exactly the same.

Cyborg 009

Here’s some pictures of some really cool lockers in Sendai station. When I first went on vacation to Japan five or six years ago they were originally in the main part of the station. Now they are regulated to the walkway between train platforms. It shows characters from the manga Cyborg 009.

The creator of this manga is Shotaro Ishinomori, who hails from the nearby town of Ishinomaki. He also created Kamen Rider and the Power Rangers among other famous works. Anyways this was originally made to celebrate an aniversary. Here’s a couple closer shots of it.

If you like this stuff, there is also the Ishinomori Manga Museum in Ishinnomaki. I went there a few years ago and it was really cool. The building is shaped like a UFO.

It’s filled with all kinds of stuff. I took a photo of the Kikaider statue they had there.

You’re actually not supposed to take photos inside, but I didn’t know because the signs were in Japanese (that’s my excuse and I’m sticking to it). Here’s a link to the Manga Museum website.

Master Of Knives

It’s official Japan has made a video game for everything. I was at the arcade at the Aeon Airy Mall in Sendai and I spotted this game. It’s a fish cutting game!

You slide the knife back and forth, and cut the fish on the predetermined lines. It’s pretty strange. I played it of course because it was only 30yen (super cheap for Japan). My final score was a dismal 15 points.

Red Cliff 2

Well after waiting a few months I finally was able to see the second part of John Woo’s Red Cliff. It was fantastic! The strategy of the epic last battle was so ingenious.

I think it’s the first movie series that I’ve seen that really captures what’s cool about the Three Kingdoms story. The personalities of the main characters is the important part. When they need thousands of arrows, Zhuge has a really cool and ingenious way of getting them. I really want to get these two movies on Blu-ray someday. Too bad the Japanese release only has Japanese subtitles (because only Japanese people live in Japan, right?).Anyways here’s a trailer so you can see some of it yourself.

Karagebuu

I got some special Dragonball fried chicken at Lawsons the other day. It was chili shrimp flavor. I don’t know how chicken can taste like shrimp, but it did. Anyways the package for the chicken was really cool.

The normal chicken mascot is dressed up like Goku from Dragonball. The really cool thing is when you unfold it….

He’s in the powered up Super Saiyajin mode ready to fight!

Doraemon Is That You….?

Doraemon is a super popular character in Japan. He’s a magical cat from the future, who’s always helping his pal Nobita by producing the most fantastical gadgets from his magic pocket.

He’s popular all over Asia, including in Hong Kong, where they have an interesting version of the show. Check it out in the video below….

Huh!?

Ramen In Motion

I went to my favorite ramen shop, Tenkaipin and they had a new sign outside to lure customers in.People walking by were looking at it and smiling, so obviously it was doing a good job attracting attention.

To truly get the full effect of the sign watch the attached video that I took.

More and More Kewpies

I got a couple more Kewpies the other day at the Lawson 100 store near my work. They were selling them for a super cheap 100 yen each! The two I got were…

Kewpie mixed with Papa from the manga Bakabon, and Lum from Urusei Yatsura.

These arent like the normal ones that I get. They’re soft and spongy and also twice the size.

Toys

In Kakuda we have two toy stores. It’s actually possible for these small mom and pop store to stay in business here since the nearest Toys’R’Us is at least an hour away. Moribaiten seems to be the more popular one, often having a large gathering of bicycles outside. It’s always open even on holidays….except for the day when I happened to take this picture.

It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it closed. The other store, Tomy Land is a little bit strange.

There never seems to be kids here, and the store itself seems to be a time warp. They have toys going back to the early eighties still on their shelves. Also the front display is so old all of the packages have turned blue from the sun.

It’s almost like the place never changes. I almost hope it never does.

Jump Keychain

I got this Shonen Jump key chain at the local convenience store. It to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Jump magazine.

It’s another one of those mystery boxes. You never know what’s inside. At least all one the ones on the back were ones that I would have liked getting.

That’s a bonus, since usually there’s at least one or two that are boring (and I always seem to get). The key chain I got however was Son Goku from Dragonball.

I like the mini Shonen Jump attached to the key chain. I swiftly attached to to my bag, much like my nieces do with every trinket they get.