"You've got heaven stored inside of you."

The next day I wandered around Yokohama.

I really need to be living somewhere near water...

This ferris wheel was in the background of an anime I watched a long time ago, and have wanted to visit it since. It's notable because it lights up at night like a firework. Unfortunately it wasn't ridable yet when I went by, and I didn't feel like waiting two hours.

It's the 150 anniversary of Yokohama opening its port, so there were a lot of attractions set up. There was a boat race, which is fun except for the obnoxious Americans who turned up to watch.

Yokohama is well known for its Chinatown.

 

I'm a small bit disappointed but not terribly surprised that my prefecture was voted in the top five of "Areas of Japan nobody cares about."

 

This is an awesome set of pictures of weird/adorable statues, from the hometown of a manga artist who was known for his "yokai" or monster characters. I love a lot of Japanese folklore creations because they're so very uniquely Japanese.

 

I'll admit to getting tears in my eyes to hear the Hiroshima "Peace clock" counter had to be reset.

You know, there are a lot of things in Japan I've gotten used to over the past year. There are different cultural things, obviously, that I didn't understand at first because they were so far out of my realm of experience. Even when it's something I don't personally believe, I can always see why the people here believe it. Even the really strange aspects are relatable. But when I hear news about North Korea, I can't even comprehend how they can do and say those things and how they can think they're doing the right thing. It's farther than my tiny brain can stretch. I think if I really wanted to do something meaningful while teaching English, I would go there (if they took Americans) because it's clearly a place we need some communication with.

 

This is an interesting look at the overlap of "sorry/thank you" in Japanese.

 

You might be thinking I only listen to songs by Japanese artists in Japanese. You would be wrong! Um, sometimes I listen to songs by Japanese artists in English... theoretically. It's not always immediately apparent due to the dubious lyrics and unusual pronunciation. It's kinda a pet peeve of mine. Kanjani8's "Glorious," fortunately, is one of the better examples. Though the three members featured are a little iffy on some words, it's understandable for the most part thanks to having an actual English-speaking lyricist. For once, thank goodness for their agency's penchant to buying songs from Swedish composers. And it's a very peaceful, pretty song overall - though if I hadn't known better I would have thought it was a Christian pop song (that pronunciation thing).