Drink Coca-Cola
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.
I admire this house and garden every time we walk past it on our way from our apartment to Kamegawa station. Do its owners hate the coke machine as much as I would if I lived here?
Vending Machine Heaven
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.
I got into an email discussion about Japanese vending machines and softdrinks with ex-expat (is that a re-pat?) Bryan Jensen who lived in Japan about the same time I did. He's agreed to let me share his memories for a little photo gallery. I'm still working on that...this entire little project has taken much longer than expected (my scanner broke, and I'm trying to get ready for a trip). So here is Part 1.
Halloween Sanrio Style
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.
JQS looks at Halloween decorations at the Sanrio shop in Oita. My favorite is the black Christmas tree with pumpkin ornaments.
Eki Commemorative Stamps
Posted by M Sinclair Stevens.
One of the old-fashioned tourist-y things I did when I lived in Japan was collect the stamps from the train stations I visited. Each train station, and lots of other tourist spots besides, has its own rubber stamp. I impressed the stamps into a Japanese-style accordian folded book. When you unfold it, you can display the entire set.
The stamp above, the first one in my book, is for Kamegawa Eki, which was the station closest to our apartment. An oni (demon) is shown because he represents the jigoku (hells) around the Kamegawa onsen area.
The accordian-folded books can be found in any stationery store for under $10.00US. If you decide to create your own stamp book, I recommend that you carry an inkpad with you. A lot of the time, the inkpads at the station are too dried out to make a good print.
