Saturday October 18th Kawagoe Festival iPhone shots #japanesefestival #川越祭

Got myself a shiny Rayquaza on the first try. #pokemongo

Got some film for the festival. #filmphotography

Halfway through the autumn school term. My Japanese (ESL) students have started preparing for their first debates. My foreign students will be starting their argumentative essays after next week’s discussions.

The Kawagoe Festival is this weekend. Calling for rain on Sunday but that might not be until late Sunday night.

Nestled two hours from central Kyoto, Ine is a tranquil fishing town of 1,800 residents. In 2024, it received 480K visitors - 270 times its population. That has residents demanding the government help reign in rude tourists eating on their doorsteps. buff.ly/KdqVRni

キバシヤブチメドリ Yellow-billed Babbler 3/29/2025 #Peradeniya #photography #Nikon #Z50II 🪶

mainichi.jp/english/arti... This scares me to no end. Despite Japan's reputation, I've always found it a much less xenophobic and racist country than pretty much any country in the world that has a white majority. But these past few months... (1/5) ⤵️ #Japan #xenophobia

The benefit of working on a national holiday is that morning/evening work commute isn’t that bad.

Welp, now the two older boys are playing Pokémon Go. Went out for almost two hours this morning to play. Good thing I can share data from my phone.

Sometimes I shoot slide film just to make photo keychain viewers. #photography #filmphotography #keychain #retro

Making keychain photo viewers

Trains from Ikebukuro didn’t resume until 17:35. I live past Yanasegawa station so it’s been a terrific trip.

The souvenir from Japan for your father:

Another shot from the Kawagoe Festival (10/2024) 🎞️ Lomography Berlin 400 📷 Canon EOS 7 w/ lens 75-300mm #filmphotography #Japan

The Kawagoe Festival is Oct 18 & 19 this year.

I made tiny proof prints yesterday! It’s been a while. T-Max 400, expanded development with HC-110. #pinhole negative. Classic #cyanotype #BelieveInFilm

Made the commute a lot more crowded this morning. However, at least there were no injuries. www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Wise words

Been in Fujimi for a year and finally tried a ramen place. But this was in the neighboring town, Miyoshi.

Got myself a shiny Metagross #pokemongo

Men under fire #festival #japan #japaneseculture

Got a class and we are finishing up a lesson about jobs. So I think we may watch the anime “the way of the househusband”.

Nanakuri Shrine Autumn Naked Festival - seven young men dance under the sparks from the handmade fireworks tube. #japaneseculture #traditional #japan #nagano

Happy 27th Anniversary to the release of Pokémon Red & Blue in the United States. The Pokémon Anime debut 20 days before and the rest is history! Almost overnight, Nintendo created a 'pillar' series.

Left Matsumoto at 11:20 and didn’t arrive at Shinjuku until 17:10. It was only supposed to be a 3 hour ride not 6 hours.

Pokémon is doing an event where you need to visit a game store to get a Pokémon. Started on Sept 27 and runs until Oct 15. It’s a free gift Pokemon and our local stores are “sold out”. I understand it’s a rare Pokémon, but then just make it a one day event.

On the bus heading home. It was a nice short visit. However, I’m leaving with a headache.

I’ve seen many young adults wearing scarves/bandanas on their heads here in Matsumoto this morning. I’ve not noticed this trend in Tokyo/Saitama.

Quick unedited shot from the festival. #japan #traditionaljapan #festival

At the Nanakuri festival with a film camera and a digital Nikon that I’ve not used before. What could go wrong?

On a short solo trip to Nagano. Will meet a friend and go to a festival tonight.

Sign of autumn

Looks like I’ll be making a business trip to Gunma this December.

Been using an iPhone 12 for four years. Just updated to a 17 model.

Old new stock 110 film camera with film. It only expired 36 years ago… #filmphotography #kodak

Talked with a student who said they like the English dub of Ghost Stories. 🤣 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_S...

After two years the ZL trigger broke. Swapped the original back in and kinda like it. #joycon #nintendo

Got Mario Kart Arcade GP 2 running on my Wii U. #mariokart #arcade www.mariowiki.com/Mario_Kart_A...

Virtual Boy Nintendo Classics announced for Switch/Switch 2. Requires Virtual Boy accessory. Out Feb 17th. Accessory sold for NSO members in the future. Cardboard model also available

Virtual Boy pricing revealed: buff.ly/uRKhP19 $99.99 for the unit $24.99 for cardboard model

Play as a Ditto transformed into a human and shape an empty land into a beautiful home for Pokémon in Pokémon Pokopia, releasing on #NintendoSwitch2 in 2026. #NintendoDirect

Monday is a holiday so it’s a three day weekend. However classes will be held like normal. Can’t really complain with how long our breaks are. The positive is that the train will be less crowded.

Paper film: the curious origins of color AnimeーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS youtu.be/OG6mqAwGnY8

A student asked if I liked skiing or snowboarding. Told the story of how one time my jeans froze and could stand on their own. They laughed for hard and for so long that I began to laugh. Never gotten a reaction like that before 🤣

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Looks like I’ll get a wet walk home

I really really wanted to see the Moon on Monday morning (2:30am) but was so tired and figured sleep was more important. I still had a full day of teaching today. 😮‍💨

Fireworks festival in Miyoshi, Saitama. Didn’t want to lug a camera and wasn’t sure what the situation would be like. I’ll be prepared next year.

“The full eclipse stage will begin at around 2:30 a.m. on Monday and end at 3:52 a.m. — a total time of 82 minutes.” www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2025/09...