"Sentakuya Ken-chan" was a vintage underground porn video in Japan produced in 1982. The story is Ken-chan, a Laudryman(salesman) seduces and dates with a sex-hungry shaved MILF to outdoor(said to be a present Tokyo Disneyland area's bush) sex then made another luck with her girlfriend at a Shinjuku Love Hotel. Under a mandatory Japanese censorship, it's said that 1 out of 10 Japanese has seen this video and its sales has well exceeded 1,200,000,000 yen (approx.10million dollars). http://blog-imgs-… Read more

Landing Osaka Itami Airport… Read more

Unusually warm winter in Japan so far. Flowers bloom one month earlier. Bears skipped hibernation ? One month earlier bloom (January 04, 2016, Yamanashi-ken) “ Nanakusa-gayu ”=七草 がゆ (rice porridge) is a famous Japanese New Year’s dish commonly eaten on January 7th, today. Usually Japanese New Year’s dishes contain many ingredients, but this porridge only uses 7 fresh young herbs. They are; seri (Japanese parsley), nazuna (shepherd’s purse), gogyo (Jersey cudweed), hakobe (common ch… Read more

Nagasaki is where Pai-chan's father was born .... He died in Yokohama, another port city ....… Read more

Miyajima(宮島) is a small island less than an hour outside the city of Hiroshima. It is most famous for its giant torii(鳥居) gate, which at high tide seems to float on the water. The sight is ranked as one of Japan's three best views.　While officially named Itsukushima(厳島), the island is more commonly referred to as Miyajima, Japanese for "shrine island". This is because the island is so closely related to its key shrine, Itsukushima Shrine, in the public's mind. Like the torii gate, the shrine's main buildings are built over water. http://blog-imgs-87.fc2.com/s/k/b/skbjkjsk… Read more

Meigetsu-In, Kita(North)-Kamakura (北鎌倉明月院)… Read more

Matsunoyama (松之山町), a small town of Tōkamachi(十日町) City, Niigata Prefecture in winter. Matsunoyama is home to one of the big three medicinal hot springs of Japan, along with Kusatsu (Gunma Prefecture) and Arima Onsen (Hyogo Prefecture). One of the main roads in the town is lined with about a dozen traditional Japanese-style hot spring resorts. According to a legend, a woodcutter discovered the hot springs 700 years ago when he saw a… Read more

Kamakura (Japanese name for "quinzhee"), in Yokote, Akita-ken The same pronunciation as the ancient city of "Kamakura" but no relations. Its name was said to come from "Kami"=god , "kura"=storehouse, or from its shape which looks like kiln="竃=かまど"=kamado + kura=storehouse. Kamakura relates to local winter festivals in Akita, Niigata or such snowy regions and originally inside the hut people placed symbol of God of Water.… Read more

Arima-Onsen (有馬温泉) celebrated "Irizomeshiki" (入初式) on January 02 A traditional celebration was held at Arima-onsen of Kobe where you can witness a procession of Geiko(芸子or芸妓) dressed as Yuna(湯女=Onsen cordinators) stir up the springs as a New Year ceremony which has been carried out since the Edo Period to show gratitude for god and the prosperity of the springs on January 02. Geiko(or called "Geigi" in Kyoto) is a lady who professionally provides entertainment for guests at a feast (‘Ozashiki’ in Japanese… Read more

Ho-rin-ji, Kyoto (京都法輪寺)… Read more

Department stores, brand boutiques and shops, stores all over Japan sell Fukubukuro (福袋, "lucky bags" or "happy bags" or "mystery bags") containing a number of products on New Year’s First-sale Day ("Hatsu-uri"=初売り) and afterwards for sometime as a limited special offer. Rather than buying individual goods, the fukubukuro is a package of goods sold at a lower retail price, often at 50% or more of the original. This year In Tokyo, Seibu Department Stores (西武百貨店) began selling Fukubukuro from January 1st, [… Read more

"Hatsu - yume" (初夢) is the Japanese word for the "first dream" had in the new year (Hatsu=初=first, Yume=夢=dream). Traditionally, the contents of the dream would foretell the luck of the dreamer in the ensuing year. In Japan, the night of December 31 was often passed without s l e e p i n g, thus the Hatsuyume was often the dream seen the night of January 1. This explains why January 2 (the day after the night of the "first dream") is known… Read more

Pai-chan wishing you a very Happy New Year 2016 !!! It was a warm and beautiful clear New Year's day in Tokyo and most of Japan today.… Read more

Usual Greetings exchanged within each f a m i l y to start a New Year - "Akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu" or "Shin-nen-akemashite-omedetou-gozaimasu" etc. (Akemashite <-- akeru = start a new)(omedetou gozaimasu = "congratulations" formal) just "omedetou " is casual. (Shinen =新年=new year) Hatsu-moude (初詣) : Not just limited to January 1st, in Japan almost anything done the first time in the year will have the word “hatsu” (初, meaning “first”) attached to it. For example, the first laugh in the new year is termed hatsuwarai (初笑い), and the first visit to the shrine… Read more

Tokyo Station… Read more

2015, the Year of the Sheep/Goat is leaving. Japanese are now busy preparing for a new year of the Monkey at this time. (Partly quoted from Article by Makiko Itoh, an author of “The Just Bento Cookbook” of Kodansha International) The year-end period, called shiwasu, is a really hectic time in Japan. Think of it as spring cleaning, Thanksgiving and the usual end-of-year activities all rolled into one. Businesses and individuals busily try to tie up any loose ends, or at least bring things to a good stopping point, to end the year on a good note. You’re also supposed to give your home a g… Read more

Namahage (生剥) in traditional Japanese folklore is a demonlike being, portrayed by men wearing hefty ogre masks and traditional straw capes (mino) during a New Year's ritual of the Oga Peninsula area of Akita Prefecture in northern Tohoku region. The namahage visits are nowadays practiced on New Year's Eve, and is designated as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Properties of Japan. The frightfully dressed men, armed with deba knives (albeit wooden fakes or made of papier-mâché) and toting a teoke (手… Read more

Senjo-ga-hara, Nikko 1,400m above sea level, the marshland is covered complete white after golden autumn...… Read more