As many of you know, I love board games with a passion that far outweighs my skill at playing them, though sadly the board game craze hasn’t taken off in Japan like it has in the States. In the toy section at a bigger department store I found this Japanese version of Settlers of Catan with alternate cover art (the three Japanese characters in the title literally spell Katan), plus Japanese versions of Pandemic and Azul you can see on the left. I love the random black dude playing with the Japanese family in the lower right.
If you’re just joining in, Sometimes I Have Adventures in Japan is a monthly series where I post random pics from Japan (many of which are also on my Instagram) with commentary. It’s easy to forget sometimes that I live in a cool foreign country with lots of amazing things to see, so I try to keep my eyes open and camera ready rather than staying in my apartment working ;-)
Last Spring I attended the Tonami Tulip Fair, a festival set in a massive park filled with every color and variety of tulips imaginable (including dark purple, and even black!). This exhibit was created to emulate the famous Tateyama Snow Wall I posted a picture of last month.
I found this poster in the window of a curry and rice shop in Tokyo, where more of the advertisements feature bright-eyed sexy anime girls with multiple hair colors. In this instance, the “Let’s Party 2019!!” promotion came to a premature end when the clearfile giveaways ran out.
I took this at my local Daiso, a chain of 100-yen shops in Japan that are like dollar stores in America, but WAY better in every way (including quality, cleanliness, selection, and lack of gross canned food). It’s a good example of how most Japanese-English on products isn’t grammatically incorrect per se, but instead features unnatural, cheerful slogans (“Let’s go wherever you want to go”) with random imagery (a kiwi).
My favorite place in Toyama by far is Kurobe Gorge, a breathtaking gorge on the west side of the prefecture accessible via a cog railway. Though pricey, and crowded during the peak fall season, it’s incredibly worth the trip and a must-see if you’re in the area. The cog railway offers amazing views like this one near the start of the journey.
One of the most iconic sites on the trip is the Shin-Yanagawara Power Station (新柳河原発電所), a power plant that was built to resemble a European-style castle. I don’t question why the station was built this way, though it’s clearly amazing that it exists in the middle of Japan.
Another dam along the cog railway route.
Walking route along the trails at Keyakidaira, the final station on the railway line. There are multiple paths along the river worth exploring, and I highly recommend spending the entire day here if you can.
More views from the Keyakidaira trails. The building on the left is a small restaurant where we stopped for soba.
Finally, anyone who’s seen The Room will know why this is funny.
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