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It's in the Devil かかし

I run mainly at night, when the sun is down and the air is cool. There aren’t a lot of street lights in Japan, however, and those commonly in use don’t pack much of a luminous flux punch. Along the roads cutting through the rice patties that I must cross at the start of my route, there is one light situated above a vending machine. The river trail that comprises the majority of my route is just as bad, so I run with a Petzl micro light on my head.

A few weeks ago I stumbled upon this scarecrow for the first time during a run. It’s positioned in the corner of a rice patty next to a small sauce factory. The vending machine is next to this factory. So one night I’m running along a narrow road with dark rice patties on my right and the unilluminated back side of a large concert hall on my left, with nothing to light the way but my Petzl micro. When I reached the vending machine I'm “high-beamed” by the operating lights, followed by a brief second of darkness provided by the back wall of the sauce factory, and then PHWAP—my Petzel illuminates this fabrication right before my eyes. Scared the hell outta me.

This was my first opportunity to examine SC during the day. The devil is a nice touch. I wonder if the birds appreciate its disturbing design.

P.S. One good thing came out of all this: I learned how to say scarecrow in Japanese, kakashi.

Afternoon Walk 今日の散歩

A min-min cicada. Why min-min? Because that's the sound they make. Click on the image at this site to hear for yourself. Note the pelvic thrusts that help Min-min produce his characteristic tremolo.

And an irrigation ditch. Why, indeed.

Tanabata Street 商店街、狭山市

This is a fire tower. It's located on Tanabata Street behind a small (volunteer?) fire station on the grounds of Tenmantenjinja (天満天神社). I've never seen anyone up there, which means either it's fallen into disuse or there are no fires to spot anymore.




A few shots from the aging business district in town. Everything was shut down for the Obon holiday.

"The waste and detritus to which all things are subject" (John Playfair, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, 1802, p. 123).

Kasuminosaka 霞野坂、狭山市

It does exist, the hill from which this blog takes its name, Kasuminosaka.

What power lines?

Street Flotsam ワイヤー

I finally had a chance to get out and take some pictures again. Voila, a piece of wire on a pole somewhere along Tanabata-dōri near my home.

To the Archives いつ撮ったの、この写真

Those of you with fine seasonal tuning will readily observe that something is amiss here, assuming you recognize the flower.

I took this photo last year in October. I'm out of new photos, and a typhoon + busy study schedule are keeping me indoors and glued to my desk at the moment.

Chitinous Arthropod 今年は雌ばかり

By this time last year I had spotted and brought home for play several kabutomushi, including a few males with their impressive "horns," but so far I've only found two females this year. No big deal, actually, because the females are just as exciting. Goro enjoys watching them as much as I do, so I always give him time with the bugs before sending them on their way.

I didn't take 'em 罠だ、きっと

I found this during an excursion this afternoon. An old, low wall in an alley covered in beautiful moss, with four conspicuous ten-yen coins arranged neatly on top. I have no idea what they were doing there. I filched a few photos and went on my way.

Street Corner クールガイズ

These are new photos. Random corner, random oddity. I took them during my ten-minute pedestrial transfer between the Honkawagoe and Kawagoe stations. At the time I was en route to Immigration to get a new reëntry permit. Then I was off to school for a day of work and a talk in the evening. Twelve hours of zipping around. I'm going to bed.

Here's the New York Times review of The Cove.

Low Clearance 気をつけたまへ

Rust 錆

I've been told that if I keep featuring pictures like this, people will think that Japan is old, dirty, and rust, rust, rusting away....

Kyoto 京都 & おばんざい

I went to Kyoto at the beginning of June, my first time back in several years. The trip was in the works a few months before my departure, so I had plenty of time to prepare an efficient itinerary. My intention was to divide my hours proportionately between work and play. Once I got there, however, I didn't have any time to visit the old temples, historic sites, and other places of cultural interest that I looked forward to seeing. I spent almost the entire time in the special archives at Ritsumeikan University, attending a talk, a day-long meeting with the Yamada Bimyo Research Group, and a succession of dinners with professors and students at a nearby restaurant. Thus, these are the only pictures I had an opportunity to take.

The food is from one of the few and best vegetarian restaurants in Japan, Obanzai. It's buffet style, but the quality is high. If I recall correctly, I put a little something from seventeen selections on my plate.

Nukegara 抜け殻

Cicadas are back.

Frog in a Seam 雨蛙

This photo is old. Actually, all of the photos featured here as of late were taken more than two months ago. Normally that wouldn't matter, but I should have posted this photo earlier. At the time (mid-May) the frogs were croaking like mad in a desperate effort to find a mate. Some, like this one here, strategically sought out sheltered areas with good acoustics, all the better to carry their voice and increase their chances of making a contribution to the local gene pool. I have no idea how this one fared.

Click the photo for a larger image, if you are so inclined.

Tires タイヤ

I learned about Louie Psihoyos' recently released film on NPR this morning, The Cove. Suffice it to say, I'm in a sour mood.

Better to Just Build Around It 木のために