Original Blog: http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../darlo-visits-a-love-hotel/

Darlo Visits a Love Hotel

Warning, this post may not be appropriate for young'uns.

( Read about Love Hotel, hidden from eyes that don't want to know. )

In other news, today is Children's Day.

Swiped from Blog: http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../love-hina-syndrome-destroy-your-eyeballs-studying/
Photos & Videos of Japan (UPDATED!): http://darlosworld.blogspot.com

After finishing up my page of kanji, vocab and grammar for the day, taking my total to 109 items in two days (what I thought was an impressive amount until that idea got thoroughly shat on when a couple of friends told me they'd done between 15 and 18 chapters in one day, between 237 and 283 items), I headed to the shop to get some fruit and stopped off at McDonalds for dinner.

However something around me seemed to be very funny and slightly off. Everything was surrounded in a very soft blur and I noticed I would very easily lose focus. Now this is something I'm used to when eating (thanks to my wonderful lazy left eye), but to notice it when I was just walking along was a little strange.

Could it be possible that all this last minute effort has given me (or has begun to give me) "Love Hina Syndrome"? For those that don't know <a href="http://www.ailove.net/diaries/diary.cgi">Love Hina</a> is an anime & manga in which the main character, Keitaro Urashima, is trying to get into Tokyo University. Various aspects of his character I've been able to relate to since first encountering the series such as the duration it takes him to get into University as opposed to normal, the fact that he works with just girls (something that I encountered during my time at The Bear Factory) in a Japanese dorm (like me now ... only this isn't an all girls dorm), and now it seems I've may have studied too hard and destroyed my eyes. Well, my right eye anyway. Ol' lefty was always crap.

I'll see how I get on, but if you start to notice these blog entries looking like someone's just been smushing a fist against the keyboard, then that's the time to worry.

Original Blog Entry (see for any relevant links etc): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../doujin-higurashi-film-good-for-shiggles-and-gits/

Doujin Higurashi Film, Good For Gits and Shiggles

Ok, so right now I’m in a completely different mood to how I was when I wrote yesterday (aka - I’m smiling). I’ve just been having a great laugh for the past hour courtesy of the doujin (fanmade) Higurashi DVD I bought last weekend. While I’m not going to do a proper review of this, I thought I’d share my thoughts on it with you guys. Also, bonus points for anyone who can explain the term “shiggles and gits”.

Freett 18’s そのひぐらしのなく頃に (Sono Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni) is something I’ll definately take my hat off to. I wasn’t expecting much (judging from the box), and I guess to be honest I was right in that regards, but it’s definately the best DVD I’ve bought here. Huge points go to them for actually going and filming in (I’m guessing) 白川郷 (Shirakawa-gou), the village that the Higurashi village of Hinamizawa was based on as this really helped give it more of a Higurashi vibe. The major downside to that is that because it’s a public place, let’s just say they had more extras in the background (and at times in front of the camera), staring at the cast wondering what they were doing.

They followed the story from the first anime arch (don’t really like that term) where Keichi is introduced as the newcomer who doesn’t know anything about the atrocities of the villages shady past and for the most part follows it quite well. There are some changes to that original storyline and it seems to make Rika out to be the villain. Amusingly Rika and Hanyuu are always seen hanging around in the background, the most entertaining moment was seeing them have a fist-fight.

If I’m going to get technical about what I thought “could have been improved upon” (I didn’t want to say “was bad”), the sound was all over the place for most of the film where the audio seemed to have been recorded in post-production and (not too well) lip-synched to the video. Sound effects also seemed to play a major part with the frequent use of 蜩 (higurashi - cicada) cries in the background. Filming … beware of mirrors and other reflective surfaces. I had a laugh and a giggle seeing the dramatic moment where Keichi practices bat swinging talking to Mion … with Satoko and the camera man staring at the pair.

However, for all it’s faults this DVD was balanced by a sense of effort and fun that cannot be taken away from the film makers. Despite the fact it was raining for most scenes (camera man had an brolly, but hey I won’t complain), the cast were out there brolly-less enjoying what they were doing. I don’t think this, or the next two films they did, were meant to be taken seriously, much like Stephen Fry’s contribution to Little Big Planet. It reminds me much of whenever we made films and such back home, something I miss actually.

Though I would highly recommend this DVD to anyone who wants to see something made by determined fans to show their appreciation for something they truly love, I have no idea how most of you guys would find a copy since I found mine by shere fluke in a second hand shop in DenDen Town. Good luck though! In the meantime, here’s the opening to the movie.

{opening to そのひぐらしのなく頃に}

Original Blog (with video): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/2009/04/23/this-time-next-month-ill-be-gone/

This Time Next Month, I’ll Be Gone

Gordon Bennett that sounds depressing, like I’ve come down with a terminal illness. Well truth be told that is kind of how it feels. You see this time next month I’ll be at the airport getting ready to board my flights (changeover in the UAE) to return to the UK. I can’t even gain an extra day by saying “well there’re 31 days this month”, so I guess I should be glad I wasn’t due to head back early March. I’ve also started to think of it like when I used to anticipate Christmas as a child and thought things like “only 10 more sleeps before Santa comes”, only now it’s like “only 30 more obligatory commutes (15 if you don’t count there and back seperately) to Kobe from Osaka”. So not much more to say, other than take it away Blue Eyes.

{MY WAY - FRANK SINATRA}

Original Entry (with all cockyness included) - http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/2009/04/21/speech-contest-results-the-packing-begins/

Speech Contest Results & The Packing Begins

So yesterday was the Konan speech contest and as I predicted the overall victors were in the top class. That being said this was another occaision where the winners, two tied, were voted by peers (rather than those fluent in Japanese and capable of understanding everything), so it also could be accounted to more of a popularity contest (the winners themselves being pretty popular among the group). Like the essay contest, the main prize was a pretty nice (and large) certificate, after which one of them said that they were hoping the prize was a higher grade rather than a ‘bit of paper’. Good to know when things are appreciated eh. Oh and for the record, I wouldn’t refer to ‘explaining a bit about the speech’ in English beforehand the best course of action in a Japanese speech contest, but hey in the end it was what the people voted for. I guess you could say I have no right to complain seeing as I refused to participate in the finals, but I’m glad to see my reasons were justified by others’ actions.

Part way through the contest, while the votes were being tallied, the winner of the first popularity contest (which again I called before nominations were even discussed), the class president, wore a kimono and read out a selection of Haiku poems. Putting aside the fact that he resembled Weird Al in a Duffner and Kimberly lamp costume (all for the occaision I presume), it was all going fine until he began reciting Haiku about his home university (Hawaii). This is where I tuned out, being frank I don’t particularly give a toss about American universities when I’m here to study about Japan, especially as it feels like they’ve been shoved down our throats for most the year, particularly ones of attended by “Ikku-san“s. If it weren’t for the fact I had classes in the afternoon I’d have stayed home.

Which brings us to today, where I stayed home. No I wasn’t skiving, nor was I ill (though I did feel a bit funny this morning). Today’s the 90th aniversary of the founding of Konan University, so students (and I believe staff members) got the day off. I used the better half of the morning in bed, having an awesome adventure-style dream of which I remember very little, but no doubt it was influenced by me watching Brave Story before going to bed last night.

I started packing books away today, filling one large box to capacity and checking its weight to give me some idea of how much it’s going to cost to send home. On that note student loans came through today. Since I’ll be sending my things home via surface mail (cheapest option, but I’ll be in the UK a good couple of months before they arrive), I’ve been wrapping the books in cling-film to try and keep out any water that might get in (they will be on a boat after all … or some unfortunate and underpaid swimmer’s going to carry them), and also to help them not shuffle around too much in the box. I also thank my many years of playing tetris for my applied skills in box packing, or maybe I owe that to my Telfordian-factory background.

Original Blog (with needed links etc): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../darlo-meets-rie-fu-and-says-something-stupid/

Darlo Meets Rie Fu, And Says Something Stupid

So as I mentioned in my entry on Tuesday, my only real plan for today was a trip to Nishinomiya Gardens to listen to Rie Fu performing. Something I’d forgotton about though was that the dorm had planned a little bit of a lunchtime party for us as a welcome to the large group of students who’d recently moved in. I could only stay for half an hour, which was enough time to have a little food, do an introduction to the group and pick up a very generous gift of some snack foods from our dorm manager. It seems a lot of the new guys go to an entertainments school in the area, and the one guy goes to that anime university I found not too long back.

Perfect weather meant that there were lots of families enjoying their time in the garden area of Nishinomiya Gardens, the spot that “Nishinomiya Live” was (and has been) taking place. Kids were running through the fountains drenching themselves head to toe, older couples enjoyed spots in the shade, and even the litter pickers seemed to have a non-forced smile. As I made my way to the stage area and the sitting spot I could hear Rie Fu and the crew doing last minute sound checks to make sure everything was on and up to scratch. I took that time to whack out a sketchbook and started doodling. After a while I started to think more about the locations that I’ll be using in Lotaku, and started to try and draw pictures from my old school. My crappy memory aside, the weird shapes and layout of the buildings didn’t help much when trying to make a birds eye view pic.

As expected, Rie Fu’s set was awesome. I don’t see live acts very often (buskers being the obvious exception), so whenever I do go it’s normally a real treat. She opened with my favourite song of hers, Life is Like a Boat, which coincidentally was the first song that I sung at karaoke since coming to Japan. I did take a video of it, but was told off (I didn’t know you couldn’t film >_< ).

After the performance she was signing copies of various CDs, so I picked up a copy of her newest album, Urban Romantic, which also came with a DVD. When I was getting mine signed I hit a bit of a snag. In the few seconds we had to talk, rather than say something meaningful or anything relevant, I say the one thing that I myself always hate to hear; (in Japanese, and for me substitute one language with another) “Your English is really good”. Like a pro though she responded positively “you gotta keep trying, right?”, whether or not this is one of her song names I’m not too sure though. Either way I went and sat down feeling like a right plonker. After wards one of the camera guys asked me a few questions and although I tried to answer in my mangled Japanese, I don’t think I answered any of the questions the way he wanted.

As the second set (she was performing twice) was going to be the same as the first I headed off earlier. I’ve just had a look on Rie Fu’s blog and there are a few pictures up. In one you can see me looking like a plank, camera in hand, but seriously it was a great show. So to sing us out with a song from her new album, it’s Rie Fu and Present.

Original Blog (with, well you know): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../the-higurashi-hunt-and-the-mother-cafe-no-maids-honest/

The Higurashi Hunt and the Mother Cafe (no maids, honest!)

So yesterday I started to pack away the manga that I bought since arriving in Japan and made a list detailing it (you can see the list here). I planned on heading to Nippombashi today to pick up the one or two missing from a series and also to enjoy the fine weather. Calling around one of my friends was also up for it, but first we went to a manga shop in Shinsaibashi.

Everyone loves a sale right, especially ones with lots of variety and end up saving you a lot of money, right?
WRONG!

Today I learned the hard way that when you buy things cheap, lots of things, so much that you fill a (large) back pack and are still carrying things in carrier bags (pretty nicely made paper carrier bags) you actually end up still spending a pointless amount of money. Only difference is you have a lot more stuff … heavy stuff … stuff that’ll sting you in the arse once more when you’re trying to send stuff home and have to pay an arm, a leg and a left bollock just for the cheapest and slowest delivery. Rant over, moving on.

I’d walked past the まんだらけ (Mandarake) store in Shinsaibashi once before, but didn’t have time to go in. I’ve been in the Umeda branch a good few times so thought I’d have a fairly good idea of the layout, which in turn figured out to be completely different, and much larger than I’d anticipated.

Mandarake had the first of the day’s wonderful sales in a 105 yen sale, with a huge section cut down in price. On top of this they were also having a 3 for 2 sale, meaning (if my maths is right) the manga was 70 yen each (48p). By horrible (ish) coincidence I found a ton of Higurashi books that I didn’t have, so swiped them up at a bargain price. I saw “swipe”, but that was nothing compared to one guy who stretched rapidly across an aisle grabbed a book and shouted “ゲット” (getto, Get) in celebration. Honestly this is something I’ve only seen in anime and manga, so I’m glad to see it really happens.

After (almost literally) buying the whole sale sections supply of Higurashi mangas, we went to the stores own cafe on the same floor as the sale and the cosplay section, yes this was a cosplay cafe. Not technically a maid cafe, especially compared to the one we went to last time, this time it was a Mother Cafe.

To be honest with the way various websites are talking about them, you’d be forgiven for expecting a lot more “mothering”. When I went to the top floor and saw it I thought it was just the name of the place, and that the staff being in maid-esque (more like house-cleaner than your traditional maid) attire being due to the fact that they were right next to the cosplay section. It wasn’t until we’d sat down, ordered, were half-way through our melonade (melon soda) that I noticed a small sign acknowledging (that’s an ugly word isn’t it) the waitresses as ‘mothers’.

We did have a really friendly conversation with our ‘mother’ about a variety of topics. Ranging from how long we’d been in to Japan to why I’d bought so many frickin’ Higurashi mangas. It turns out she was a fan also. Both my friend and I agreed that before going back to the UK next month we want to pop in and see ‘mom’ again (whether or not it’ll be the same one we won’t know), but above all that I was thankful that she didn’t say that my Japanese was good (that’s the key to wipe my memory of any and all Japanese language skills I have).

From here we walked down toward Nippombashi, and after stashing my heavy-ass purchases in a coin locker at the train station, we headed off towards Den Den town. After a while my friend headed back so I went on around a huge selection of anime shops, manga shops, game shops, electronic shops, doujinshi shops, and shops I wouldn’t take my nan in. Yes folks I made sure to get a hellova good nose around today and went in many shops for the first and last time.

This is where things began getting tricky for me in buying manga that I didn’t have. Off the top of my head I could only remember a few holes in the collection, such as volumes 7 and 8 of Yotsuba, but, as I mention in the list, Higurashi is a pain in the arse and trying to remember which I have and don’t have is like trying to memorise the distinct features of 101 dalmations.

My original plan was to take a photo on my phone of what Higurashi’s I had, and check the list via my phones (meagre) internet connection about the others. Part one worked just fine, and in Mandarake I referred to this so that I didn’t buy more than I needed (wanted). The problem was checking the others. When I tested it last night it worked fine but today my phone just wanted to be a whiny little toe stub, not getting online at all, leaving me in the dark when I didn’t know whether I had a certain issue of Genshiken (I didn’t). I then hit a snag with my Higurashi plan when I realised with the 17 (or so) books I’d bought earlier now in a locker, I had no clue which I had and which I didn’t.

Buying only what I was certain I didn’t (all at prices in the margin of 100 to 200 yen or so) I conceded that I would make one final trip to Nippombashi soon, real soon. But not tomorrow, because I’m seeing Rie Fu in Nishinomiya Gardens … hopefully.
Today’s Shopping List

    * DVDs
    * Brave Story (2 disc edition)
    * Heroes vol 1 (in Japanese of course)
    * そのひぐらしのなく頃に (Sono Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni) - What appears to be a fanmade movie based on the Higurashi series. I don’t want to say it’s poorly made because I haven’t watched it yet, but the box seems very cheaply done >_<

    * CD
    * ひぐらしデイブレイク (Higurashi Dei Bureiku) - Original Sound Track (this is the soundtrack for a doujin game called Higurashi Day Break, based on the fames Higurashi franchise. I did see the game today, but that was a bit too costly)

    * Sound Novel (games)
    * ひぐらしのなく頃に (Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni)
    * ひぐらしのなく頃に礼 (Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni Rei) (for those who are wandering what happened to 解 (kai), I’d already bought it)
    * うみねこのなく頃に (Umineko No Naku Koro Ni)

    * Art Book
    * Erementar Gerad “Red” by 東まゆみ (Azuma Mayumi - Azuma being a family name)

    * Manga (aka the big chunk)
    * げんしけん (Genshiken) volume 2
    * よつばと (Yotsubato) volumes 7 & 8
    * 涼宮ハルヒの憂鬱 (Suzumiya Haruhi No Yuuutsu) volume 3 and a special edition of volume 4 that included a Haruhi figure
    * Higurashi - both books from the 綿流し編 (watanagashi hen)
    * Higurashi - both books from the 祟殺し編 (tatarigoroshi hen)
    * Higurashi - both books from the 暇潰し編 (himatsubushi hen)
    * Higurashi - both books from the 鬼曝し編 (onisarashi hen)
    * Higurashi - book 1 (of 4) from the 罪滅し編 (tsumihoroboshi hen)
    * Higurashi - book 2 (of 2) from the 宵越し編 (yoigoshi hen)
    * Higurashi - from the previous anthology (where I had two random books, 12 and 13) books 2, 3, 4, 8, 10, 11 (out of 17 … *sigh*)
    * Higurashi - (from a case-based anthology) books 1, 3, 4, 7, 9 (out of 19 … *even larger sigh*)
    * Higurashi - (from a 4-panel based anthology) book 4 (of 14 … T_T)

Damn that Higurashi >_<

Original Post (with helpful links and such): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../speech-contest-no-thanks-id-rather-see-rie-fu/

Speech Contest? No Thanks. I’d Rather See Rie Fu

Yesterday was our last Japanese oral exam which was done as a two-tier speaking contest. We had to write a speech detailing our most {insert emotion of choice}al moment about our time in Japan. The top two speakers (as voted by the class as well as marks) would then go onto Monday’s “final” where the top two from all five classes do their speeches. I have no idea how those will be marked, but judging from the fact that the five classes are at completely different levels of competency, us lower level students wouldn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell. For this reason (amongst others including but not limited to the fact I should be spending as much time as possible revising kanji) I’d made a promise with a friend that if (by some miracle) I was in the top two from our class, the second lowest competency group, I would ask not to participate in the “final”.

Strangely enough this is what actually happened today, as I was announced to be in the top two from my class (my speech follows this entry). I waited for the break to inform my teacher of my decision for minimal disruption of the class, though it came as a bit of a shock for her and the couple of students still in the room. One girl said that I’d be letting the class down after they’d “voted me in”, but this was quite ironic and funny for me to hear from a girl who’d spent the vast majority of that period asleep on her desk after arriving late.

On the way home I stopped off at Nishinomiya Gardens with a friend to pop into a book shop. According to a sign near the front of the lavishly expensive shopping centre, one of my favourite Japanese singers is due to make an appearance. On Sunday (19th April) Rie Fu will be making an appearance from 2pm to 4pm. Whether or not this is a free event I have no idea (didn’t have time to fully read the sign/ask my Japanese friend about the kanji I couldn’t understand), but either way I’ll be making a trip there this weekend. So to sing us out here’s Rie Fu with Tiny Tiny Melody (you can here my favourite of her songs, Life is Like a Boat at this older post). For my speech, just pop past the video.

{RIE FU - TINY TINY MELODY}

ダーロのスピーチ (for those who don’t understand Japanese, there’s a very funny Google translation of this page available here).

母。 イックさん！朝御飯ですよ！起きなさい。
(Ikku-san! Asagohan desu yo! Okinasai.)
イックさん。 はい、行きます。
(hai, ikimasu)

ビンさん。 ちぇっ、目覚まし時計のばか。私を起きさせなかった。
(che, mezamashi tokei no baka. Watashi o okisasenakatta.)

イックさん。 お母さん、おはようございます。
(okaasan, ohayou gozaimasu)
母。 ほら、イクさん、おはよう。あのさぁ、昨日お母さんにマヨネーズが食べられないように言ったので、今からマヨネーズを使わないつもりです。
(hora, Ikku-san, ohayou. Ano saa, kinou okaasan ni mayoneizu ga taberarenai you ni itta no de, ima kara mayoneizu o tsukawanai tsumori desu.)
イックさん。 本当ですか？どうもありがとございます。とても嬉しい。
(hontou desu ka? Doumo arigato gozaimasu. Totemo ureshii.)

ビンさん。 今日も、朝御飯はマヨネーズでいっぱいだったので、焼いたパンしか食べなかった。明日食べ物をもらわない、大変。
(kyou mo, asagohan wa mayoneizu de ippai datta no de, yaita pan shika tabenakatta. Ashita tabemono o morawanai, taihen.)

母。 ところで、今は週末ね、予定があるの？
(tokoro de, ima wa shuumatsu ne, yotei ga aru no?)
イックさん。 まぁ、今日友達と三宮に遊ぶ事にしたんです。
(maa, kyou tomodachi to sannomiya ni asobu koto ni shitan desu)
母。 そうですか。明日は？
(sou desu ka. Ashita wa?)
イックさん。 明日は暇です。
(ashita wa hima desu)
母。 実は、家族の皆はUSJに行きますが、私達と行きませんか？
(jitsu wa, kazoku no minna wa USJ ni ikimasu ga, watashi tachi to ikimasenka?)
イックさん。 あっ！あの、私にご馳走しなくてもいいですよ。
(a! ano, watashi ni gochisou shinakute mo ii desu yo)
母。 知っていますが、日本人家族がいるのは、今年くらいかもしれません。それに毎年皆Host Familiesは留学生にご馳走してあげるんですよ。
(shitte imasu ga, nihonjin kazoku ga iru no wa, kotoshi kurai kamo shiremasen. Sore ni maitoshi minna Host Families wa ryuugakusei ni gochisou shite agerun desu yo)
イックさん。 そうですか？それじゃ、どうもありがとございます。
(sou desu ka? Sore ja, doumo arigato gozaimasu)

ビンさん。 じゃぁ、何をするかな。皆は三宮に遊ぶようですけど、私にとって三宮は遠くて、高すぎるもんですから、別に行けない。毎週末梅田に歩くことになっていたようだ。
(Jaa, nani o suru kana. Minna wa sannomiya ni asobu you desu kedo, watashi ni totte sannomiya wa tookute, takasugiru mon desu kara, betsu ni ikenai. Mai shuumatsu Umeda ni aruku koto ni natte ita you da.)

イックさん。 お母さん、質問があるんですけど、
(Okaasan, shitsumon ga arun desu kedo,)
母。 はい、何でしょう。
(hai, nan deshou)
イックさん。 この文法について、全然分かりません。私を説明させていただけないでしょうか？
(kono bumpou ni tsuite, zenzen wakarimasen. Watashi o setsumei sasete itadakenai deshou ka?)
母。 はい、もちろん良いですわ。
(hai, mochiron ii desu wa)

ビンさん。 この文法は全然分からないくらい難しい。どうすれば！寮に人がいないし、インターネットで日本人友達はOfflineだし、一番近い日本人友達は他の県に住んでいるし、絶望した！
(kono bumpou wa zenzen wakaranai kurai muzukashii. Dou sureba! Ryou ni hito ga inai shi, intaanetto de nihonjin tomodachi wa Offline da shi, ichi ban chikai nihonjin tomodachi wa hoka no ken ni sunde iru shi, zetsuboushita!)

皆さん、実は、寮に住むことはいい点があります。例えば、電気を気にしなくても良いです。でも、留学生はHost Familyの悪口を言うのを聞くたびに、私は怒ってなります。ある時、わがままな留学生は私に文句していました。彼のHost Familyは一緒に東京へ旅行してほしかったですが、その代わりに彼は神戸に友達と酔っ払って行きました。全く。
(minna-san, jitsu wa, ryou ni sumu koto wa ii ten ga arimasu. Tatoeba, denki wo ki ni shinakute mo ii desu. Demo, ryuugakusei wa Host Family no warukuchi o iu no o kiku tabi ni, watashi wa okotte narimasu. Aru toki, wagamama na ryuugakusei wa watashi ni monku shite imashita. Kare no Host Family wa issho ni Tokyo e ryouko shite hoshikatta desu ga, sono kawari ni kare wa koube ni tomodachi to yopparatte ikimashita. Mattaku.)

つまり、私にとって日本にいる一番イライラものは、Host Familyの努力を評価してくれない人です。
(Tsumari, watashi ni totte Nihon ni iru ichi ban iraira mono wa, Host Family no doryoku o hyouka shite kurenai hito desu.)

Original Blog (with all helpful links etc): http://www.darlosworld.co.uk/../kansai-seasonal-changes-subtle-as-an-elephant-in-your-bed/
Photos & Vids: http://darlosworld.blogspot.com

Kansai Seasonal Changes - Subtle As An Elephant in Your Bed

The UK has four seasons which seem to merge into one another at a fairly standard rate, allowing you to slowly adapt to the coldness of winter after the few good days of summer and vice versa. Japan on the other hand is slightly different. Yes it has it’s basic four seasons of Autumm, Winter, Spring and Summer, but it also has a rainy season (or two). Just a few days ago I was walking to uni wearing full fleece-hat “oh my frickin’ ass it’s cold” clothing, whereas now I’m finding myself wishing I’d brought more (any) shorts (that are wearable outside). For an excellent description of the seasons themselves, read Joshua Zimmerman’s description, The Five Seasons.

The seasons here seem to change with the subtlety and tact of kick to the groin and a pie in the face at the same time. Definately agreeing with Joshua about stepping off the plane into a wall of heat and water, turning to winter seemed to happen overnight with me being thankful that my AC would also function as a heater, and now that it’s warm again am thankful for the AC once more.

It’s going to get a lot warmer in Osaka, so I guess along with books and other things I’ll be sending back early, I’ll have to start thinking about my warmer clothes too and getting them home … the heavy buggars.