What is Japan? THIS is Japan.

From the YouTube description: "Follow one international student's breathtaking journey through the heart of Tokyo and experience the sights and sounds of Keio University." He actually visited many more places outside Tokyo. These are the things you should look forward to when you visit Japan. If you aren't interested in anything Japanese, or if you're just generally not open to new things, other than a higher income or some university degree, you shouldn't probably come here. That said, while you should look forward to all these wonderful things in Japan, you need to save some hard-earned dough to enjoy these things, learn Nihongo one way or another, and know that in every place, life is not all you see on TV. Or YouTube.

Thanks to my friend RL for sharing the link to the video!

6.5 hours of videos during the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011

Check out all videos at this website:

http://ronjie-raw.blogspot.com/2013/03/65-hours-of-videos-from-great-east.html

Our hearts and prayers go out to all those affected, especially those who are, to this day, still suffering due to this tragic event.

Now, for some Nihongo:


In Japanese, the "Great East Japan Earthquake" is 東日本大震災 / higashi nihon dai shinsai.

Higashi / ひがし / 東 = east, but in some proper names, it is pronounced as とう / tou, as in Tokyo / 東京 / とうきょう / toukyou / east capital.

Nihon / にほん / 日本 = Japan, which literally means sun origin, i.e. where the sun rises (because Japan is to the east of China, whereas the sun rises in the east). 日 means sun, but it also stands for day as in nichi / にち. 本 stands for origin, but it also means "main" (as in Hon-Atsugi = downtown Atsugi) or "this" as in 本日 / ほんじつ / honjitsu (usually used in more formal situations, for example, when announcing the day's special menu item, or a special announcement for the day).

Dai / だい / 大 = big, as in 大学 / だいがく/ daigaku / university, or literally big school (gaku / がく / 学), although gaku also means "study of," as in 工学 / こうがく / kougaku / engineering, or literally study of industry (or study of engineering).

Shinsai / しんさい / 震災 = earthquake disaster. Earthquake translates directly to jishin / じしん / 地震, where ji means ground, and shin means tremor / shaking. Sai means disaster, but disaster (or calamity) translates to wazawai / 災い.

1 hour of snow in (under) 1 minute!

Best viewed in HD!

Cup Noodles Museum

Comes with a bonus footage of Minato Mirai at dusk.

Sankeien Garden, Yokohama

If the University of the Philippines' Diliman Campus has a "Sunken Garden," Yokohama, Japan has "Sankeien Garden." It would have probably been best to come here during fall or during sakura season. We didn't have time though to go around the whole place because we were still going somewhere that might be closing early (see the next episode's video). Entrance fee: 500 yen.

Odawara-Hakone-Gotemba-Fuji

I had a couple of friends visit over from Singapore and the original plan was to visit Hakone to get a good view of Mt. Fuji. We bought the Hakone Free Pass so that we can go around the Hakone area freely.

We first made a pitstop though at the Odawara Castle. And then we went on the Hakone Sightseeing Cruise on Lake Ashi (also known as Hakone Lake), the Hakone Ropeway (i.e. cable car / cable-suspended gondolas similar to the one connecting mainland Singapore and Sentosa), and Hakone Tozan Cable Car (i.e. train being pulled by cables, like San Francisco's cable cars or the Peak Tram going to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong).

Finally, we went out of our way to the Gotemba Premium Outlets in Gotemba, only to find the best views of Fuji-san for this day trip. From Gotemba Premium Outlets, it took us 3.5 hours to get home inclusive of all the waiting for the infrequent night time trains. Had I known earlier, we could've gotten home an hour and a half earlier if only we had spent around 500 yen more each and used a different route. But anyway, we had a blast.

Sanja Matsuri (Three Temples Festival), Asakusa, Tokyo

I went to Asakusa in Tokyo to meet some friends, and what do you know, there was a festival going on! I looked it up and apparently it's called the Sanja Matsuri (literally Three Temples Festival). Incidentally, it is three days long, starting on a Friday and ending on the 3rd Sunday of May. They say this is one of the most attended festivals attracting over 1 million locals and tourists over its three-day course.



NOTE: The video was "enhanced" using tools provided by YouTube.

Rural Atsugi

Our professor invited us to a walk around school - a rural area of Atsugi, with plenty of farm land, hills, and all that - and 20 of us went along. We walked for an hour and twenty minutes under a generally sunny winter day. The video below is a 10-minute, super-fast-forward version (8x speed) of the original.

Kamakura!

Snow 2012

It's snowtime once again in Japan. :-)

New Video

I have a new video episode, this time of a bike ride my wife and I took from our apartment to the church. It was a 40-minute ride on a beautiful, sunny, summer Sunday. Available in True HD (1080p). :-)

Video Backlog 3

The famous Shibuya Crossing, from the Ground:


My "Hikkoshi," moving to a new apartment:


We celebrate one of my Chinese colleagues' birthday:

Video Backlog 2

Here's the second batch of videos. The titles are: "Chili Dog Rice," "Chips and Salsa," and "MacArthur Garage - Live Jazz Music (Two-Part Episode)"

Video Blog Backlog

Here's the first batch of my video blog episodes I was able to upload only recently. The titles of these are... "Snow Again!," "Sinigang sa Miso," and "McDonald's Miami Burger." Yum.

Snow, Food, and Basketball

Episode 18: Sinigang (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JulW9IqTWS0)


Episode 19: Natto Again (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2JOLrRJMvo)


Episode 20: Steak and Eggs (and Salad) Dinner (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGUu-xmM1U4)


Episode 21: Snow! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s27MnpDYsF0)

A Glimpse of Christmas in Japan

On December 16, Filipinos start with the "Simbang Gabi" or Midnight Mass, which is a 9-day novena usually held before dawn leading up to Christmas day.  Coincidentally, our Episode 16 features Christmas in Japan.  I call this episode "A Glimpse of Christmas in Japan," and to me, all these Christmas decors, at least at major urban centers, make me feel just a little bit closer to home.  I guess, these bring the outside world into Japan, for locals or residents who cannot otherwise experience Christmas as it really is, for example in the Philippines, in the US, and so on.  As usual, I "filmed" in Atsugi and in Tokyo (Shinjuku, to be more exact).

Part of the video include glimpses as well of Yokohama, where we held our Christmas party (lunch buffet actually, which we ended with a round of applause, a Japanese custom for ending parties).

As a present for you all, the last part of the video is somewhat a how-to on making a Santa Claus origami.  Origami as most of you know is the Japanese art of folding paper.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, everyone!





(This is the low-resolution version of the video.  High-def version will be coming soon.  Also, the Japan! Japan! Video Blog will be back after mid-January.  See you then!)

Nanasawa Forest Park

We took a trip to Nanasawa Forest Park in Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan, up in the lower hills of Mt. Ooyama, hoping to see some more "momiji," those Autumn red-colored maple leaves.  Also filmed the bike ride to and from.





Or you can view the videos directly on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB9pU5ziasM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur7ndEDWqdw

Last view of Autumn Colors, Kawaguchi Lake, Mt. Fuji

Or, you can view these videos directly from YouTube:
Episode 14: http://goo.gl/blKqC
Episode 14.5: http://goo.gl/lnMqE

Shinjuku/KoreaTown and Bike Ride to Downtown Atsugi

Or you can view the above video directly from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cdeaSdZnms



Or you can view the above video directly from YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IId2aVn8pKY

Harajuku+Yoyogi 2

I visited the Harajuku/Omotesando/Yoyogi area for the 4th time this year, this time by myself though. And this is my second video around the place, but this time I videoed some new stuff. Check it out:



You can view the video directly on YouTube at this link: The Japan! Japan! Video Blog Episode #11.  This and the last 2 episodes are all available in HD. :-D

I also have two new basketball videos.  Wala lang.
The Japan! Japan! Video Blog Sideline #01
The Japan! Japan! Video Blog Sideline #02