Spring 2012, a set on Flickr.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Saturday, 14 January 2012
Ikebukuro to Hakusan
Ikebukuro to Hakusan, a set on Flickr.
A wander eastwards from Ikebukuro to a little local area called Hakusan, just before oshogatsu (new year).
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Thursday, 5 January 2012
Crazy Ivans?
According to my stats, between 29th December and 5th January the highest pageviews of this blog, sorted by country, are by far from Russia.
Who are all you Russians out there and why are you looking at my blog? Answers in the comments please :)
Who are all you Russians out there and why are you looking at my blog? Answers in the comments please :)
My word is my...
When the DPJ took power for the first time a couple of years ago (not counting the brief flirtation with office they had 1980s) when the Hat got elected they produced a manifesto. Like most political manifestos it was long on hot air and short on details of any concrete policies, but you expect that from politicos. I suspect it was full of things like ‘we’ll try not to rock the boat too much or fuck things up royally’ and ‘we promise to think very carefully about certain things, related to but not necessarily including things we can do anything about’ and, of course, ‘we will maintain the rule of bureaucrats so that we do the talking and they, the grey, unelected mass, do the running’. You know, the usual sort of thing.
What they did not write in their manifesto was ‘in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent even-more-lethal tsunami we will raise consumption tax to facilitate the rebuilding of the Tohoku region (as we won’t have enough money to do it as we’re already in hock to ourselves to a rather overstretched degree (but at least we’re not in hock to the Chinese, oil-rich Arabs or the New World Order))’. It was a tad remiss of them to leave out this important clause, indeed 9 DPJ MPs thought so and are now 9 former DPJ MPs, or, more accurately, the 9 founding members of a new political party called Kizuna (named, possibly, after a song by, variously, Aya Matsuura, Aya Ueto, Orange Range or Ayane; or maybe after an action rpg for the Wii – only the 9 will know). Kizuna also means ‘bond’ in Japanese, though I’m not sure if that’s bond as in ‘ties like our ties to the DPJ aren't very strong’ or bond as in ‘glue’ or maybe bond as in ‘the name’s Bond…’; again maybe the 9 know and they’re not saying (more likely I haven’t found out, so I’m going with the Ian Fleming option).
Anyway, it got me thinking about these 9, are they:
a) Unaware of how big the Japan’s debt currently is?
b) Woefully ignorant of what faces Japan and especially Tohoku in the coming years in terms of rebuilding, not to mention the social welfare and pension time bomb?
c) Wankers?
d) All of the above?
(by the way ‘c’ is a trick option, they’re politicians so of course they’re wankers).
Their claim is that the DPJ are betraying their pre-election promises, and their manifesto no doubt, as nowhere did it say that the party was going to raise consumption tax. Well ok, they are right, though I think the raising of this tax, from its current 5% has been on the cards for ages, if for no other reason than Japan has to pay for its current and future welfare/pension liabilities somehow, but there you go. But the real impetus has come from the quake and the need to rebuild, which Japan absolutely must do, but because the manifesto didn’t mention it these 9 have said they refuse to be party to a party that will do this. Quite how they expect the government to fund the rebuild is anyone’s guess, though as far as I can tell they haven’t actually said anything except ‘not by raising consumption tax’.
So I don’t really get what they want. What I know Japan doesn’t want, or need, is another political party, especially one of only 9 MPs. Also, what about the people that voted these tossers into power? Akira Uchiyama was voted in by the people of Chiba as an MP for the DPJ but has now become an MP for Kizuna, shouldn’t he be going back to the people of Chiba and asking them if they would still like him to be their MP, now that he has formed his own party? Same for the rest of them – but of course no chance of that until the next election, at which point I hope they boot him out.
Now I personally don’t want my tax to increase, but I can see the need for it. And it’s not like it’s going to happen overnight, it will go up from 5% to 8% in April 2014 and then 10% in October 2015 – so still some way off the 17.5% you get in the UK and will still be pretty low as the total tax take is only 17% of GDP, the lowest in the OECD according to the Economist (interesting article here).
Anyway I think these 9 are just your average grandstanding politicos, looking to get some easy short-term advantage whilst the country goes to the long-term dogs (notwithstanding the article above). OK, something like 58% of respondents in a recent survey said they didn’t want their tax to increase, so maybe these guys can see some popular support, but I wonder how the question was asked – if the question was ‘do you want to pay more tax?’ then I expect the answer is mostly ‘no’; if the question is ‘to fund the reconstruction of Tohoku would you agree to a modest increase in consumption tax, otherwise we can’t pay for it?’ then I think most would answer yes.
This is why I have a sneaking respect for current PM Noda – I think he can see the writing on the wall, the elephant in the room and that the king is not wearing any clothes (though the emperor is, I have from a trusted imperial source, fully attired). He knows that 1) they need to raise revenue 2) consumption tax is the way to do it 3) it’s not going to be popular and 4) his PM-ship is a one-way ticket to the dole queue but, as the saying goes, it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it. He has already said that he will not call an election on this matter but will force it through, a fait accompli if you will, which is exactly what needs to be done. I think he can see this and has decided that he’ll do it for the good of Japan before disappearing off to retire by the sea.
If he does, respect to him.
In other news:
So in many ways I guess I had a pretty successful 2011.
I didn’t die in either the most catastrophic earthquake to hit Japan in 16 years or the subsequent and even more lethal tsunami. Admittedly I wasn’t anywhere near Tohoku at the time, but there you go, good planning.
I have a great family who were all general healthy and well through the year.
I still have a job that I enjoy in a school that seems to holding its shit together in this increasingly turbulent economic epoch.
No one I know has got radiation poisoning from Fukushima (so far).
I ran a half-marathon and not only finished but finished in the top 35%
So all things considered it wasn’t too bad, then again, roll on 2012…
And finally...
In the Annual Intercontinental Bowdidge Backgammon Bonanza I'm very glad to report that Japan triumphed 25-18 in what was once again a brilliant display of backgammon skill. Bad luck and well played to the losing finalist.
What they did not write in their manifesto was ‘in the aftermath of a catastrophic earthquake and subsequent even-more-lethal tsunami we will raise consumption tax to facilitate the rebuilding of the Tohoku region (as we won’t have enough money to do it as we’re already in hock to ourselves to a rather overstretched degree (but at least we’re not in hock to the Chinese, oil-rich Arabs or the New World Order))’. It was a tad remiss of them to leave out this important clause, indeed 9 DPJ MPs thought so and are now 9 former DPJ MPs, or, more accurately, the 9 founding members of a new political party called Kizuna (named, possibly, after a song by, variously, Aya Matsuura, Aya Ueto, Orange Range or Ayane; or maybe after an action rpg for the Wii – only the 9 will know). Kizuna also means ‘bond’ in Japanese, though I’m not sure if that’s bond as in ‘ties like our ties to the DPJ aren't very strong’ or bond as in ‘glue’ or maybe bond as in ‘the name’s Bond…’; again maybe the 9 know and they’re not saying (more likely I haven’t found out, so I’m going with the Ian Fleming option).
Anyway, it got me thinking about these 9, are they:
a) Unaware of how big the Japan’s debt currently is?
b) Woefully ignorant of what faces Japan and especially Tohoku in the coming years in terms of rebuilding, not to mention the social welfare and pension time bomb?
c) Wankers?
d) All of the above?
(by the way ‘c’ is a trick option, they’re politicians so of course they’re wankers).
Their claim is that the DPJ are betraying their pre-election promises, and their manifesto no doubt, as nowhere did it say that the party was going to raise consumption tax. Well ok, they are right, though I think the raising of this tax, from its current 5% has been on the cards for ages, if for no other reason than Japan has to pay for its current and future welfare/pension liabilities somehow, but there you go. But the real impetus has come from the quake and the need to rebuild, which Japan absolutely must do, but because the manifesto didn’t mention it these 9 have said they refuse to be party to a party that will do this. Quite how they expect the government to fund the rebuild is anyone’s guess, though as far as I can tell they haven’t actually said anything except ‘not by raising consumption tax’.
So I don’t really get what they want. What I know Japan doesn’t want, or need, is another political party, especially one of only 9 MPs. Also, what about the people that voted these tossers into power? Akira Uchiyama was voted in by the people of Chiba as an MP for the DPJ but has now become an MP for Kizuna, shouldn’t he be going back to the people of Chiba and asking them if they would still like him to be their MP, now that he has formed his own party? Same for the rest of them – but of course no chance of that until the next election, at which point I hope they boot him out.
Now I personally don’t want my tax to increase, but I can see the need for it. And it’s not like it’s going to happen overnight, it will go up from 5% to 8% in April 2014 and then 10% in October 2015 – so still some way off the 17.5% you get in the UK and will still be pretty low as the total tax take is only 17% of GDP, the lowest in the OECD according to the Economist (interesting article here).
Anyway I think these 9 are just your average grandstanding politicos, looking to get some easy short-term advantage whilst the country goes to the long-term dogs (notwithstanding the article above). OK, something like 58% of respondents in a recent survey said they didn’t want their tax to increase, so maybe these guys can see some popular support, but I wonder how the question was asked – if the question was ‘do you want to pay more tax?’ then I expect the answer is mostly ‘no’; if the question is ‘to fund the reconstruction of Tohoku would you agree to a modest increase in consumption tax, otherwise we can’t pay for it?’ then I think most would answer yes.
This is why I have a sneaking respect for current PM Noda – I think he can see the writing on the wall, the elephant in the room and that the king is not wearing any clothes (though the emperor is, I have from a trusted imperial source, fully attired). He knows that 1) they need to raise revenue 2) consumption tax is the way to do it 3) it’s not going to be popular and 4) his PM-ship is a one-way ticket to the dole queue but, as the saying goes, it’s a dirty job but someone’s got to do it. He has already said that he will not call an election on this matter but will force it through, a fait accompli if you will, which is exactly what needs to be done. I think he can see this and has decided that he’ll do it for the good of Japan before disappearing off to retire by the sea.
If he does, respect to him.
In other news:
So in many ways I guess I had a pretty successful 2011.
I didn’t die in either the most catastrophic earthquake to hit Japan in 16 years or the subsequent and even more lethal tsunami. Admittedly I wasn’t anywhere near Tohoku at the time, but there you go, good planning.
I have a great family who were all general healthy and well through the year.
I still have a job that I enjoy in a school that seems to holding its shit together in this increasingly turbulent economic epoch.
No one I know has got radiation poisoning from Fukushima (so far).
I ran a half-marathon and not only finished but finished in the top 35%
So all things considered it wasn’t too bad, then again, roll on 2012…
And finally...
In the Annual Intercontinental Bowdidge Backgammon Bonanza I'm very glad to report that Japan triumphed 25-18 in what was once again a brilliant display of backgammon skill. Bad luck and well played to the losing finalist.
Friday, 30 December 2011
Monday, 21 November 2011
Born to run
As long as it means I don't have to run too far the next day...
So yesterday I finally donned the old New Balances and set out running in anger, taking part in the Ageo Half Marathon, my first competitive race. This was the first time I had run a race with other people since, probably, secondary school, so it was a bit of an eye-opener.
So, some thoughts and observations about running...
1. Everything I've read about it, which is a bit in recent years, says that at the start of a race novice runners tend to get carried away with the moment, so try to curb your instincts and don't rush off. This was not a problem for me - I had very sensibly headed for the sign saying 1h40m-2h00m, thinking that most people in front of me would be faster. Oh how wrong I was - now the people right at the front were seriously fast, fair enough, but most of them were not, so that for about the first 3 to 4 kilometres I had to run at quite a slow pace (for me) as I dodged around slow moving other runners who should in no way have been up near the front at the start. All the dodging and stop-starting meant I couldn't get into anything like a normal slightly under 5-minute kilometre pace, most frustrating. It might sound poncey, but even my breathing didn't get into the proper rhythm for about 20 minutes.
2. Running with other people is weird. As I said, I haven't done it for a long while, so having thousands of other people around doing the same thing (there were about 6,000 of us) was quite off putting to begin with - again it's all about getting into your own rhythm and with all these people around you with weird breathing or funny footfalls it really puts you off. Now I realise that to someone else I was quite possibly the most annoying person there (actually no, that would have been the bloke in the AC Milan shirt who sounded like Monica Seles with a heavy cold during a long baseline rally) anyway, other people are annoying.
3. But not as annoying as little bands playing music - especially playing traditional Japanese music, which is a few drums, a flute and some clicky stick things. The natural speed and tempo of this 'music' is so completely out of sync with running that it it really fucks you up and, naturally, they were all placed at strategic points where you'd just found your own natural running tempo and now you're thrown off kilter. And it's not like you can tell them to shut the fuck up as they're so happily enthusiastic about playing.
4. Fast runners can run really fast. This, you may think, sounds obvious, but you don't realise quite how fast they run. It's a bit like watching cars around you on the motorway and then stopping and watch them whizz past you - on the TV marathon runners look like they are running, yes, but as the cameras are on motorbikes you don't get a feel for their actualy velocity. The winner was running sub 3-minute kilometres, that's about how fast I sprint, for 21k!
5. 21kilometres is quite a long way, but not nearly as long as 42k, a full marathon, and whilst I enjoyed the run yesterday, there is no way I could contemplate running the whole thing again immediately afterwards. OK, I'd do more training if I was going to do the full monty, but really, it looks crazy.
6. But it was a good day. On my watch I did it in 1h49m53s and later my official time came in at 1h50m01s. I was aiming for about 1h45m so I was a little disappointed by the time (but happy to have finished, not got lame or gome home in an ambulance, as some runners did) but knowing more about the start I will edge closer to the line next time so as not to get too boxed in. And yes, there will be a next time as it was enjoyable in it's own way - indeed there was a section from 10k to about the 16k mark that felt really good (mainly, as I think, it was quite an empty, relatively, bit of road so not too many other runners to put you off and no dinky little drum bands to piss you off). Actually I think I could break the race down into sections:
Pre-race: ok, nervous, waiting for the race to start but having to listen to Ageo bigwigs saying stuff for 15 minutes - get on with it!
0-5k: dodging and weaving, slightly frustrated with other runners, quite slow pace. first drinks at 5.5k mark
5-10k: get into rhythm, relax, felt good, lower-left shin pain from previous runs disappears. Pass the front runners at about 8k mark as they had started the double-back, realise quite how fast they run. Seond drinks at 10k
10-16k: head out into the countryside, nicely spread field, good rhythm, stretch legs, everything felt smooth, best bit of the race. Third drinks at 16k
16-19k: gets busier as people in fron start to slow down whilst I am happy at regular pace, annoying AC Milan bloke, long straight bit of road that we ran down earlier, feels like it's going on for ages, calf muscles begin to feel heavy. Last drinks at 19k
19-21.1k: back through the underpass and on the home stretch. Calves and hamstrings begin to feel heavy, but then pass a few drop-outs and second wind hits (will not end up like them!). Into the stadium, one lap to the finish, looking around for the Guru and Marcus, see them just after crossing the finish line. Older Japanese bloke comes and thanks me, he'd been following me for the second 10k (good to have someone to pace you, for the first half I followed a woman in very pink running gear as she was easy to see in the crowd, went past her at about 12k mark - very useful to get your rhythm going), made me feel good that he made the effort to say that. Happy but shagged out. Off for pizzas for lunch in Omiya...
So yesterday I finally donned the old New Balances and set out running in anger, taking part in the Ageo Half Marathon, my first competitive race. This was the first time I had run a race with other people since, probably, secondary school, so it was a bit of an eye-opener.
So, some thoughts and observations about running...
1. Everything I've read about it, which is a bit in recent years, says that at the start of a race novice runners tend to get carried away with the moment, so try to curb your instincts and don't rush off. This was not a problem for me - I had very sensibly headed for the sign saying 1h40m-2h00m, thinking that most people in front of me would be faster. Oh how wrong I was - now the people right at the front were seriously fast, fair enough, but most of them were not, so that for about the first 3 to 4 kilometres I had to run at quite a slow pace (for me) as I dodged around slow moving other runners who should in no way have been up near the front at the start. All the dodging and stop-starting meant I couldn't get into anything like a normal slightly under 5-minute kilometre pace, most frustrating. It might sound poncey, but even my breathing didn't get into the proper rhythm for about 20 minutes.
2. Running with other people is weird. As I said, I haven't done it for a long while, so having thousands of other people around doing the same thing (there were about 6,000 of us) was quite off putting to begin with - again it's all about getting into your own rhythm and with all these people around you with weird breathing or funny footfalls it really puts you off. Now I realise that to someone else I was quite possibly the most annoying person there (actually no, that would have been the bloke in the AC Milan shirt who sounded like Monica Seles with a heavy cold during a long baseline rally) anyway, other people are annoying.
3. But not as annoying as little bands playing music - especially playing traditional Japanese music, which is a few drums, a flute and some clicky stick things. The natural speed and tempo of this 'music' is so completely out of sync with running that it it really fucks you up and, naturally, they were all placed at strategic points where you'd just found your own natural running tempo and now you're thrown off kilter. And it's not like you can tell them to shut the fuck up as they're so happily enthusiastic about playing.
4. Fast runners can run really fast. This, you may think, sounds obvious, but you don't realise quite how fast they run. It's a bit like watching cars around you on the motorway and then stopping and watch them whizz past you - on the TV marathon runners look like they are running, yes, but as the cameras are on motorbikes you don't get a feel for their actualy velocity. The winner was running sub 3-minute kilometres, that's about how fast I sprint, for 21k!
5. 21kilometres is quite a long way, but not nearly as long as 42k, a full marathon, and whilst I enjoyed the run yesterday, there is no way I could contemplate running the whole thing again immediately afterwards. OK, I'd do more training if I was going to do the full monty, but really, it looks crazy.
6. But it was a good day. On my watch I did it in 1h49m53s and later my official time came in at 1h50m01s. I was aiming for about 1h45m so I was a little disappointed by the time (but happy to have finished, not got lame or gome home in an ambulance, as some runners did) but knowing more about the start I will edge closer to the line next time so as not to get too boxed in. And yes, there will be a next time as it was enjoyable in it's own way - indeed there was a section from 10k to about the 16k mark that felt really good (mainly, as I think, it was quite an empty, relatively, bit of road so not too many other runners to put you off and no dinky little drum bands to piss you off). Actually I think I could break the race down into sections:
Pre-race: ok, nervous, waiting for the race to start but having to listen to Ageo bigwigs saying stuff for 15 minutes - get on with it!
0-5k: dodging and weaving, slightly frustrated with other runners, quite slow pace. first drinks at 5.5k mark
5-10k: get into rhythm, relax, felt good, lower-left shin pain from previous runs disappears. Pass the front runners at about 8k mark as they had started the double-back, realise quite how fast they run. Seond drinks at 10k
10-16k: head out into the countryside, nicely spread field, good rhythm, stretch legs, everything felt smooth, best bit of the race. Third drinks at 16k
16-19k: gets busier as people in fron start to slow down whilst I am happy at regular pace, annoying AC Milan bloke, long straight bit of road that we ran down earlier, feels like it's going on for ages, calf muscles begin to feel heavy. Last drinks at 19k
19-21.1k: back through the underpass and on the home stretch. Calves and hamstrings begin to feel heavy, but then pass a few drop-outs and second wind hits (will not end up like them!). Into the stadium, one lap to the finish, looking around for the Guru and Marcus, see them just after crossing the finish line. Older Japanese bloke comes and thanks me, he'd been following me for the second 10k (good to have someone to pace you, for the first half I followed a woman in very pink running gear as she was easy to see in the crowd, went past her at about 12k mark - very useful to get your rhythm going), made me feel good that he made the effort to say that. Happy but shagged out. Off for pizzas for lunch in Omiya...
Friday, 21 October 2011
Shitamachi - Ueno to Komagome
Shitamachi - Ueno to Komagome, a set on Flickr.
An afternoon wander from Ueno north to Komagome, Tokyo
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