Sorry for the lag in posts everyone, blogging on the run is hard work! I’m in Shizuoka, home of the Shizuoka Shimbun and owner of the Hawaii Herald and Hawaii Hochi. But before I get to that, let me wrap up Tokyo for you.
The last time I blogged, I was off to a baseball game. Well that was quite an experience. Chanting fans, flags waving and Hawaii-product Benny Agbayani. The game was an important one for Benny and the Chiba Lotte Marines, who were chasing a playoff spot. It was also an emotional one for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks’ legendary manager, Sadaharu Oh, who was making his final appearance in Chiba Marine Stadium. Benny went 1-3 in the 4-2 victory. Here’s his final at-bat . . .
Benny has a huge following in Japan, evidenced by this young fan . . .
Chiba fans are fanatical! Here’s further proof of that . . .
As if that weren’t enough sports, I caught the final day of the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament in Ryogoku. Yokozuna Hakuho captured his eighth Emperor’s Cup in what was an awesome experience! If you are a sports fan, you can’t go wrong with sumo or baseball in Japan . . .
The following day there was lots of walking and, of course, eating. Check out Ko’s ramen, heavy on the protein . . .
We went walking in the streets of Shibuya . . .
Where we were lucky enough to catch the filming of a Japanese gameshow through a window!
The next day I caught the Shinkasen, or bullet train, to Shizuoka where I went through a tour of the Herald’s parent company. The pictures are on their way, but the Shizuoka Shimbun is one of Japan’s leading newspapers with a daily circulation of 1.4 million. Their headquarters is a massive building complete with a restaurant, health clinic and a heliport. My host for the day was Teruo Fujita, the directing bureau chief and fantastic tour guide! He took me all over the city, the first stop of which was the Tokaido Hiroshige Art Museum, where we checked out some incredible ukiyo-e art from woodblock artist Ando Hiroshige.
Then we saw this statue of Jiro-cho, a local godfather and folk hero in Shizuoka . . .
It was Fujita-san’s lovely wife’s birthday and then they were kind enough to let tag along as a third wheel, so we celebrated with an enormous crab feast. Words don’t do the meal justice! It had to be brought out in different courses or else the table would have been overflowing with crab and sashimi. This is just the appetizers!
Tomorrow I’m off to Kyoto and then Osaka. Stay tuned for more of my journey!
