Author Archives: Joel

Kamata is actually the location of the headquarters of Toyoko Inn. While wandering the streets yesterday looking for dinner, I happened to spot the other Toyoko Inn branch in Kamata, and noticed the signage looked kinda… old fashioned, so I … Continue reading →

Sometimes it seems to me like every single place I’ve been to in Japan offers exactly the same type of paper serviette – and it’s basically a plastic sheet that doesn’t absorb a thing. Always the same size, always folded … Continue reading →

(First, a little note from the future. I mean, the present: I survived Bualoi. A little damp, but no particular issues otherwise. But on with the show – as anyone I’ve sent an e-mail to in the past knows, I … Continue reading →

There was an article in the Sydney Morning Herald the other day about flood prevention methods in Japan. The government has built levees and floodgates and overflow channels and whatnot everywhere, designed to withstand a hundred-year storm, and possibly spending … Continue reading →

Today’s October 22nd, the day of the Jidai Festival in Kyoto, one of Kyoto’s three biggest festivals, which commemorates the city being appointed the capital of Japan by Emperor Kanmu in the year 794, except the festival itself was only … Continue reading →