1) KILLING WITH A SMILE?
Japan is the safest country in the world, but it also produces the best knives and swords in the world, too!
Advertising such a business with a smiling (with a vampire tooth jutting out) manga girl is both novel and disquieting! LOL
It is actually the sign of the oldest knives and cutlery shop in Shizuoka City!
2) Beware of the Wild Boars at Bus Stops! (real!)
I discovered that sign inside a bus stop shelter in Yuugashima, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture!
“Beware of the Wild Boars!”
It’s not a joke!
Mind you, they make for good food, too! Wild boar buns are a local specialty!
3) Japanese Ladies Fashion in Shizuoka: Mother and Daughter!
Maybe I could say that it is never too early nor too late to become fashionable!
Today was a hot day and being a Saturday a lot of people were aout shopping.
Such a mother and daughter is still very much unusual in Japan, considering the mother is nearer fifty than forty of age…
I can’t feel the presence of a man in this family…
Note the shoes! I’m pretty sure they were bought in the same shop!
And both are very proud of their thin long legs!
Definitely a rare occurence but I’m not one to complain!
4) The Punk and The Pinky or The Riot and The Cutie?
Some girls seem to have just come out of a manga story…
I chose not to take their faces for privacy breach reasons but actually they are cute enough as they are!
Probably just out of high school!
Actually Shizuoka City is famous/notorious for Japanese cutie/punk fashion all over Japan!
5) Tsunami Capsule Shelter Pucapuca in Shizuoka!
It is the Japanese new invention!
Called Tsunami Capsule, Tsunami Shelter, Pucapuca, Runfun, etc, it is supposed to protect you from tsunami as it is devised to float atop any moving water without capsizing!
The cost: a whooping 1,000,000 yen!
And it is made by Ton Craft company in Makinohara City, Shizuoka prefecture!
6) Pepsi good for Hair?
Somme “collaborations” should be avoided!
Found this near my office…
7) Fancy a Drink Before a Break-in?
I love the name of this bar in Ryogae-Cho, Shizuoka City!
Mind you, a couple too many drinks there could encourage me into some illegal activities!
They serve Guiness which explains the shamrock!
8) Acid Milk!
A few years ago we used to see those big ads in Japan for “Homo Milk” standing for “Homogeneous Milk”. That is, until someone pointed out this might mislead some people into the wrong conclusions…
I found this truck in front of a kindergarten this morning on the way to my classroom.
After some investigation I found out (with the help of my Japanese student), that yoghurt is also called fermented milk in Japanese!
Acid Milk simply stands for Yoghurt!
Even so, it might be a good idea (but I suppose it is too late!) to think of a change of name, unless some people (again!) think of an even worse possibility! LOL
9) Gremlin?
Don’t misread me! I’m not trying to be disparaging or criticizing!
The (very young) lady was barely 140 cm tall and all so compact!
I noticed her inside Shizuoka JR Station as I was waiting for my train to Shimada (work. I would come back later).
She was a jumble of fashions mrap to goth and whatever in between although she seemed very sweet when I heard talk to the girlfriend she had been waiting for.
A fashion almost uniquely found among high school students out for fun!
Her garb is so zany and colorful.
So, why not?
10) What kind of school is that?
Would you believe that most pupils at this elementary school go to top Unversities?
Found out that the City of Shizuoka made that sign when I questioned the Headmaster who wouldn’t take reponsibility for it!
They have pasted a correction above it since then!
11) Junk Food Bar in Shizuoka City!
Someone will have to explain the meaning of the word “junk” to some people here! LOL
Maybe they are confusing junk food with fast food, although I would like to know what they mean by “soul” as well!
Americans will understand that “Jumbo Dog” probably means “Jumbo Hot Dog”, but what is a “Got Burger” or “Junk Rice”?
They are quite insistent about it with “Junk Food & Bar” pasted on the entrance door!
Actually, they serve a very good open hamburger!
12) Don’t set the Department Store on Fire!
Seen at Cenova Department Store in Shizuoka City!
The fact that is the safest country in the World sometimes leads to excessive precautions and warnings!
Hazardous Materials (probably wrong choice of word there…) should be prohibited anywhere!
I totally agree with banning smoking!
But who would try to set a department store on fire?
The fact that the sign is almost at ground level be hind a constantly moving sliding glass door might explain why people haven’t paid any notice!
I wonder what the Chinese and Korean translations say?
13) Have a care or I’ll bite!
Note the sushi standing bar in front of the girls!
In these times of waist-high cinched tutu-like skirts and dresses, this young girl almost stands out as an anachronism!
Mind you, compared to her friend that fashion is utterly practical although the white pants might get dirty vey quickly!
14) Snow White?
No, although the skin of this young lady was incredibly white, she wasn’t an albino (very rare in Japan!)!
Her hair was not bleached but dyed as it had a nice lustre to it!
She was also incredibly fit, and I had a hard time following her from the other side of the street discreetly until I could take a pic of her even from the back!
Were I younger she might have been my type! LOL
RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES
Shop with Intent by Debbie
BULA KANA in Fiji
Kraemer’s Culinary blog by Frank Kraemer in New York,Tokyo Food File by Robbie Swinnerton, Green Tea Club by Satoshi Nihonyanagi in Shizuoka!, Mind Some by Tina in Taiwan, Le Manger by Camille Oger (French), The Indian Tourist, Masala Herb by Helene Dsouza in Goa, India, Mummy I Can Cook! by Shu Han in London, Pierre.Cuisine, Francescannotwrite, My White Kitchen, Foodhoe, Chucks Eats, Things that Fizz & Stuff, Five Euro Food by Charles,Red Shallot Kitchen by Priscilla,With a Glass, Nami | Just One Cookbook, Peach Farm Studio, Clumsyfingers by Xethia, PepperBento, Hapabento, Kitchen Cow, Lunch In A Box, Susan at Arkonlite, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat, Bento Lunch Blog (German), Adventures In Bento, Anna The Red’s Bento Factory, Ohayo Bento,
Must-see tasting websites:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen, Warren Bobrow, Cellar Tours, Ancient Fire Wines Blog
-Beer: Another Pint, Please!, Beering In Good Mind: All about Craft Beer in Kansai by Nevitt Reagan!
-Whisky: Nonjatta: All about whisky in Japan by Stefan Van Eycken
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery
Non gastronomy must-see sites by Shizuoka Residents
HIGHOCTANE/HAIOKU by Nick Itoh in Shizuoka City
SHIZUOKA GOURMET 