This page shows archived posts for Gary J. Wolff's blog from
April-June,
2019.
Enjoy...
Cheers,
Gary
June 27,
2019 - Another rough night in Tokyo
This pic was taken around 7:30 am at a Tokyo bus stop. I could've sworn
he looked just like one of my Japanese university students...
Passed out Japanese student in Tokyo
June
8, 2019 - Are you a Twit Face?
May 19,
2019 - Spring 2019 Tokyo Flowers
If you ever find yourself too stressed out, I hope these beautiful
flowers will help soothe your soul as much as they have mine...
Spring 2019 Tokyo
Flowers
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
May 16,
2019 - Why are the Japanese growing light bulbs on rice terraces in
Wajima, Ishikawa?
In March 2007 the powerful Noto earthquake hit this area, injuring more
than 300 people and causing 1 death. As a memorial, people initially
placed millions of candles around the rice fields in Shiroyone Senmaida
(1000 rice fields, 千枚田), where the rice terraces slope down toward the
Sea of Japan.
Due to the popularity of the spectacle, the candles were later replaced
with solar LED lanterns—and the tradition continues today. Every year
the lanterns are installed at the end of September and are left up
through March when work on the rice fields begins again.
The fields remain lit for about 4 hours after sunset, changing colors
from pink to green, gold, and blue every 15 to 30 minutes. The 4 colors
represent the 4 seasons of Wajima, which is located at the tip of the
Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture.
Solar LEDs in Wajima, Ishikawa rice fields (photo credit:
Getty Images)
This amazing 200-hectare park, right on the Pacific coast and only 2
hours from Tokyo by train, is without question one of the most
remarkable parks I've ever seen. The park is most famous for its 4.5
million "baby blue eyes" flowers (nemophila), whose translucent-blue
petals peak every spring during Golden Week, drawing TOO many tourists.
The park features blooming flowers in all 4 seasons including a million
daffodils, 170 varieties of tulips, narcissuses, poppies, roses,
zinnias, sunflowers, kochia (summer cypress), and cosmos flowers. The
park also includes cycling trails on an exclusive right-of-way and a
small amusement park with a Ferris wheel.
Park website: https://hitachikaihin.jp/en.html
April 21,
2019 - Japanese target bird golf (ターゲットバードゴルフ)
Target bird golf is a fun sport among elderly Japanese who use a
badminton birdie (shuttlecock) for the golf "ball." The folks in this
video were
enjoying a round of target bird golf along the banks of the
Shin-Nakagawa river in Tokyo on Sun. morning April 14, 2019 during the
peak of cherry blossom season.
Japanese target
bird golf (ターゲットバードゴルフ)
(If player above is not visible, you can view video
at YouTube here.)
I was 1st introduced to target bird golf 6 years ago on the banks of
the Edogawa river. Here's my video I made that day.
April 16,
2019 - Today's inspirational quote
"Live your second childhood today and mentally relive the days when as
a child you ran free, when there were infinite possibilities of what
you could feel, accomplish, and see in the world. Allow for the energy
of your remembered freedom to thunder through you, and you will free
yourself from the false obstacles your adult life has put in your path.
Today is the day to play!"
After all these years, Tokyo's Chidorigafuchi Park is still one of my
favorite cherry blossom viewing spots. If you get a chance, please
check out the rest of my pics at Flickr.
April 2,
2019 - Here’s a retirement speech you don’t want to hear from your boss:
"As a symbol of our gratitude, we'd like to present you this special
gold watch to serve as a reminder of your many years with the company.
It needs a lot of winding up, is always a little late, and every day at
quarter to five, it stops working."
Climbers using the most popular trail on Mt. Fuji are expected to be slugged with a doubled fee of 4,000 yen ($26) from next summer as the Yamanashi prefectural government seeks to tackle overcrowding…
Performed December 13 at the "A Christmas Gift 2024" charity Christmas concert in Tokyo, Japan by singer Charito & dancer Ikumi. In its 21st year, the annual charity concert is organized & sponsored b…
BIG CHANCE! Smashwords, the world's largest publisher of indie ebooks (>228,000 participating ebooks from nearly 60,000 authors) is now holding its 8th annual end-of-year sale from now till Wednesday…
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