May 12th, 2009
This weekend I went fishing. But it was really really really fun. It was stream/creek fishing. We were looking for seema, which is a relative of salmon, and char. It was very fun. I had a wader so we were walking through the stream trying to catch the fish. Unfortunately I didn’t catch anything, but it was really fun. There were lots of times when a fish would be trailing after my lure and I thought I would catch a fish. It was pretty awesome.
The area we went to is in Tochigi ken. It was very beautiful and scenic I brought 2 cameras and I took lots of pictures. I did unfortunately slip and fell in the river with my cameras though. My small digital camera is completely useless now. I was still able to see the pictures though. My film camera that I just had sent over from America is fine although the finder is a little cloudy. I’m probably going to send the camera back in for repairs. So the lesson I learned from this experience is not to bring cameras with you into the river.
I also learned another lesson. The river that we went to is up in the mountains. So there are lots of cliffs. Sometime the creek gets kind of deep and you can’t go any further. So what you have to do is climb out of the river and find a place to climb up onto the top of the cliff and walk around. It isn’t THAT dangerous, but it isn’t something I would want to do all the time. So the river could be more accessible if it weren’t for the cliffs and deep areas. So I had an idea. Why not just swim across. I could change into a bathing suit and then put my stuff into a waterproof bag, and then away I go. But then I had an even better idea. In Japan they have a sport called “Shower Climbing.” It is like climbing but what people do is climb up a river. Like waterfalls and stuff. I could get some of that clothing and wear that instead of a wader. Then I could get a backpack designed for shower climbing. It is basically a mesh bag that you put a water proof inner bag into. So basically what I can do is go to the river and spend the entire weekend or so camping and fishing in the river. It was pretty fun exploring the stream. I’ll post up some of my pictures later.
Posted in Climbing, Fishing, Outdoors | 1 Comment »
March 27th, 2009
New gallery here
Every year at the Watarase Water Preserve, the reeds are burned in order to make way for new growth and also kill the bugs. And every year photographers are attracted from all over to take pictures of this event. I heard about it from one of the teachers at my school and decided that I should go investigate.
So on Saturday morning I set out early. The website for the Preserve says that the traffic can become very crazy so I wanted to be sure get there in time. So I arrived at 7 am. The reeds didn’t start burning until 8:30 am. So I had an hour and a half to kill. So I just walked around looking for people I may or may not know and I took pictures. Everyone was set up on tripods and their zoom lenses. I on the other hand had a very small 35mm lens. I have pretty much no zoom whatsoever. But that was okay because I didn’t want to get pictures of fire. I wanted to get some pictures of smoke.
So walking around I stumbled upon what I later found out ot be a memorial grave. Back in the day there was a town where the water preserve used to be. And there were 2 rivers from the mountains that ran through this town. Upriver there also happened to be a bronze mining plant. So a lot of the poisons from the mine were coming down into the town and killing people. So one guy goes to the emperor to plead for help. Luckily the emperor decides to help out and move the town. In place of the town they decided to build a dam, although it isn’t a concrete dam. Its more like a giant swamp. But it retains the water and is a rather nice park.
So right before the burning starts a Japanese gentleman comes up to me and starts asking me questions about what I’m doing and stuff. Where I’m from. So he pal around for about an hour taking pictures. I must say it was a very interesting experience. It felt like I was in a war zone. There was so much smoke and it was so black. I don’t think I took any really good pictures that fully evokes the situation I was in. I wish I had just a little bit wider of a lens. Anyway, it didn’t take long for the reeds to burn up. The fires flared up very quickly and spread very quickly. Around 10:30 most of the fires were out and all that was left were random spots of reeds that managed to not ignite. Needless to say my clothes reeked of smoke. But it was an interesting experience to say the least. Also the gentleman gave me his contact information so I will probably go out taking pictures with him again sometime.
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March 27th, 2009
I’m currently having Spring Vacation. It is very nice. I’m currently in Tokyo living the good life. I’m going to a camera expo this weekend which should be interesting. It is apparently a big one and entry is free if you preregister.
I’m trying to think of some things I have been up to.
I was hanging out with Kazuo the other day. That was fun. We would stay up late into the night playing video games. Haven’t done that in a very long time. Was very nice. Although I was dead tired the next at work. Thankfully didn’t have any classes. Then I saw Kana on Thursday night. We went out and saw a movie. It was a pretty good movie. Then I took some pictures last Friday. I’m going to make a post about that seperately.
On Sunday I went to Narita for training. That was nice to get away. Got to spend the night in Narita on Sunday and then didn’t have to go to school on Monday. I was able to spend the whole day helping. Then on Tuesday I had my last day of work. Then I went home and slept.
On Wednesday I did the following. Opened a bank account. Ran into an old friend that I had gotten out of touch with. He thought I had returned to America due to the economic crisis. No such luck. We went out to eat and I was invited to go climbing on Thursday. Then I did some shopping in the afternoon. Didn’t buy anything though. On Thursday I went climbing. I can’t climbg anymore. I’ve lost all my awesome abilities. I need to get back into the habit fast.
Then in the evening Kana picked me up in her car and then I drove into Tokyo. Driving in Tokyo is soooo scary. I don’t think I could ever get used to it. I’ll be here in Tokyo until Wednesday. I’ll probably be seeing my good friend Brendon and my old roommate Kevin between now and then. I’m looking forward to it.
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February 14th, 2009
I’ve been writing journal entries when I have some free time at work. So I uploaded a bunch of stuff I’ve been forgetting to write about. So look up on some of my older posts. Will be updating more regularly now that I’m feeling better from all my colds and whatnot.
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January 22nd, 2009
Weather here has been the pits. It has been cloudy since Sunday and it has been raining since last night. As a result it has gotten a little cold. It is probably in the 40’s right now. Not very good.
Kana seems to really like rock climbing now. She asked me if we could go shopping for a pair of shoes. I obligingly said yes. I too am looking into buying a new pair of shoes. If the store I’m going to has a pair that fits me, I very well may buy a pair. On the other hand if the weather is nice we may go to Chichibu. Chichibu is famous in my area of Japan for having the best climbing. The hardest route in Japan is in Chichibu. So we may go take a look over there. We are also going to watch all the “Saw” movies this weekend. Should be a very fun time.
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January 18th, 2009
I went climbing with Kana today at a new climbing location called “Kanuma Cliffs.” It was very fun. It was a different kind of rock from what I’ve usually climbed on. It had a nice texture and was filled with holes. The portions of rock we climbed were these gullies that were carved out by rain. It was slightly angled so it was easy to climb for a beginner. But there was still rock on either side of you. It felt kind of like climbing up a chimney. It was really fun. Kana really liked it to. She initially didn’t understand why people go rock climbing but now Kana wants to go climb again sometime soon. We did bring cameras but unfortunately we didn’t get any pictures. It was very overcast and they wouldn’t have turned out very nice. Next time we go it will be during some nice beautiful sunny weather and get some nice pictures of the whole area.
Here are some descriptions of the places I know for climbing.
Kanuma Cliffs - The type of rock is volcanic. It is very soft. Has a nice texture and isn’t sharp. Has holes all over the place to put your hands and feet into. Was very fun climbing here. We only climbed 3 routes on one portion of the cliffs. We only climbed a fraction of what is available. About 1 hour away.
Kasama Boulders - This type of rock is very sharp. It is not a nice texture on the fingers. It is also bouldering, which is not a type of climbing I particularly like. About 1 hour and 10 minutes away.
Fujisaka Rock Garden - This is okay rock. It is a nice smooth texture. However, the cliffs are very short. Not really much height. It is about 40 minutes away.
Mt. Kogashi - This is probably the nicest place to climb. The rock texture is smooth but the edges are really sharp. Also the rock is kind of loose. It is fun climbing here but is very popular. So it can get a little crowded. About 1 hour and 10 minutes away.
So basically I have 4 places that I can go climbing for free on the weekends. I think for right now I’m going to keep going to Kanuma Cliffs. It is an interesting area that I would like to explore more. Also it isn’t crowded, which in my opinion is the best part. I think it is rarely climbed because it is easy. I’m not sure though. I can’t find any information about it on the internet. So I’m excited about going there and seeing what is available to climb.
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January 15th, 2009
Today was okay. Nice day at work. Very relaxing. I ordered a whole bunch of photography books the other day. Once I get them I’ll start reading them and figure out this whole photography thing. I had a sort of epiphany the other day though. I think I may give painting a try. I’m thinking of possibly getting some canvas and some paints.
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January 14th, 2009
Ordered a bunch of photography books yesterday. Think I’ll do a little reading up on the fundamentals of photography.
Today was nice at work. I only had 1 class. Kana is coming over this weekend for her birthday. I have a surprise all set up for her. She sometimes reads the site, so I will have to go into details until after this weekend. I’ll get some nice pictures as well.
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January 13th, 2009
I found a place by me that sells chicken cut up into pieces suitable for making sandwiches. And the sandwiches I made did indeed turn out to be good. 1 pound of chicken cost me around $7. I’m not sure if that is expensive or not compared to the US, but I’m probably going to be buying a pound or so every week for sandwiches and stuff. I think tonight for dinner I’m going to make a chicken sandwich and a baked potato.
We’ve had nice weather here in my area for a while. I’ve been going out and getting some pictures recently. They have been turning out okay, but the colors I’m wanting aren’t exposing nicely. I think I may need a lens filter. It may or may not have something to do with the UV and or polarization. I’m not sure. I was thinking about spending some money on a new lens or two, but from what I’m reading, most of the artsy stuff is done on film. So why waste money on lenses for a camera that I’m not going to be using.
So I was thinking of getting a nice film camera. But nothing professional or art wise is done on 35mm. So I would have to get a large format camera like a 4×5 or so. I have no aversion to film, I’m just afraid that if I did get such a camera, I would have to set up the aperture, shutter speed, stops, focus, and what not and I’m just not sure how all that works. I’m just a little discouraged how my recent pictures have been turning out. They aren’t coming out how I would like them and I’m not sure if it is the camera or if it is me. Probably it is me. I guess I just need to learn more about taking pictures.
I did interestingly find a place in Tokyo that rents lenses. So I was thinking of renting a lens before I purchased it, to see how I would like it. I’ll probably do that on the 24th/25th.
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January 7th, 2009
Hello again. And Happy New Year. December wasn’t a very newsworthy month was it? We at least not until I got out of school. It was very nice having a nice long vacation. I did a little rock climbing outside. I did a little mountain climbing. I did a little photography. I did a little traveling. It was a very nice vacation. And now I’m ready for the last semester of the school year. I can’t wait for the current 6th graders to graduate. I have a feeling that next year is going to be a really good school year. So I will start updating everyday again and I will try and go for a full year of updates. Stayed tuned. I may even share a couple stories from my winter vacation.
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