Ube Bird Flu Update

This is sad (via NHK):

Local authorities in southwestern Japan are culling hundreds of birds at a park after bird flu was detected in a black swan there.

Ube City in Yamaguchi Prefecture decided to destroy 400 mute swans, black swans and ducks that had been kept on a lake in Tokiwa Park when the H5 strain of the bird flu virus was detected.

City officials began work to kill the birds on Wednesday night.

Ube Mayor Kimiko Kubota says it was a pity to lose something so valuable and adored by the citizens, but that she hopes people will understand they had no choice if they were to prevent the spread of the virus.

The birds in Tokiwa Park were not only one of the main attractions in the park. For many years they, particularly Katta-kun who died in 2008, served as a symbol for the city.

Thanks to user makoto on the flutrackers forum for all the updates.

Ube Nippo Article.

Ube comes down with the (bird) flu?

Workers in Tokiwa Park put up a warning sign (via Ube Nippo)

Video from KRY

On the 6th of this month, a dying duck was found in Tokiwa Park, one of Ube City's main attractions.  Preliminary tests have been made and although the bird has tested for the Influenza A virus, it is unknown whether or not the bird died from the H5N1 virus that has hit Miyazaki prefecture. The bird has been sent to Tottori University for testing and it will take about a week to get the results.

Certain facilities in Tokiwa Park such as the rest house and sports areas are still open to the public while others will be closed for the time being.

Articles:
Ube Nippo
Asahi
Yomiuri
Information from Ube City

Four winning lottery tickets in Ube

Update: Sorry, four not two tickets.

The residents of Ube have been trying to figure out who exactly they have to rob/rip-ff/schmooze/mooch off of ever since it was revealed that four of the winning tickets for the Year-End Lottery (年末ジャンボ宝くじ) were sold at the 宇部琴芝チャンスセンター (Ube Kotoshiba Chance Center, specifically the one next to Izutsuya in the middle of town). One ticket is worth 3億円 (300 million yen), one 2億円 (200 million yen) and two are worth 5千万 (50 million yen) . As of yet, no one has come forward to claim their prize. The same center also sold a winning ticket ten years ago which means you should go somewhere else for your tickets until 2019.

Youtube video thanks to user Mone5706:


FNN News article and video

Mainichi Story

6 dead and 9 missing in Yamaguchi and Tottori

Latest story as of the time I'm posting this.

Yikes. I knew the rain was bad today but I had no idea it was that bad. 6 people are dead and 9 (according to the latest report) are missing. 3 of the casualties and 4 of the missing are from Hofu City in Yamaguchi. I believe all of them are elderly people who were staying at ライフケア高砂 (Life Care Takasogo), a retirement home that was hit by a mudslide.

Ube caught a lot of rain but it stopped long enough before starting up again to cause minimal damage. Hofu got 256 millimeters of rain in a 24 hour period. The heavy rain caused the Sanyo Line Shinkansen to running between Hiroshima and caused a total of 158 trains to suspend service.

Some photos here.

More videos here.

Obligatory Japan Today article.

A Friendly Reminder...

A friendly reminder from the supermarkets of Yamaguchi Prefecture.

From April 1st...



Don't forget...



You need...



To bring...



Your own shopping bag (i.e. eco bag)...



Or suffer the consequences!^*



Listen to the lady!



^* Actually, the consequence is an extra 3 or 4 yen (I forget) per shopping bag.

And yes, this is true.




I could watch the first fifteen minutes or so of Raising Arizona over and over.

Lost in Onoda Sun Park 小野田サンパーク

Not much exciting happens in Ube (part of the reason I like it here). Even less happens in the next town over, Ono..excuse me, Sanyo-Onoda (山陽小野田). Fun fact: before Onoda merged with Sanyo Ube really wanted to merge with - or, since Ube is bigger than Onoda, eat up - Onoda but the Onoda residents refused.

Anyway, one of the big things to happen in the last month in either city is the re-opening of Onoda Sun Park. Last week Sunday I went to check it out.

I went there by train and promptly got off to a rip roaring start by getting off at the wrong station. Not a problem though. Minami Onoda 南小野田 is only a bit farther to walk than Minami Nakagawa 南中川 and it gave me the opportunity to get some photos of the fun times had by the people driving there:




Someone later told me that they waited an hour to get a parking space. Fun!

I wish I had some pictures of the old Sun Park. Needless to say, the new Sun Park is all shiny and new:




Since it was Sunday, the place was packed (relatively speaking. This is Yamaguchi after all.) Also, it's hard to see from the pictures, but the place is really big (again, Yamaguchi big) and it took ages to walk around to see all the different stores:





One of the big draws at the new Sun Park is that it has the second Starbucks to open in Yamaguchi prefecture (the other being in Shimonoseki):



A couple of other things caught my eye:



I'm not really a pet person but I feel bad for any doggie that gets dressed up as Stitch. I bet the other dogs just pick on them all day long. If you're interested, you can find more things here.

SPAM! I used to have to go to Hiroshima to get SPAM. I actually bought all the cans of SPAM a local supermarket was carrying a couple of years ago.



I also got a kick out of this sign:



SPAM is many things but I wouldn't really call it meat (the sign says スパムミート or SPAM Meat). I tried to explain to some locals what SPAM tasted like one time but when pressed I just couldn't. I bought them cans instead. I didn't even know they sold half-size cans.

I didn't really take many pictures because I was just kind of looking around and didn't want to go Full Metal Gaijin and take all sorts of photos　so maybe next time I go there I will (hopefully when it's less crowded). I mean, it is just a shopping mall. It has a mixture of chain stores (ABC Mart, Comme Ca Ism) and local stores. Still, it's something different so it will probably maintain it's charm for a bit longer. Especially, if there are cans of SPAM available.

Finally, at Minami Nakagawa - the steps to nowhere!

David Sedaris on the Daily Show talking about smoking in Japan

Author David Sedaris was promoting his new book, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, on the Daily Show. A part of the book is about how Sedaris quit smoking while he was staying in Hiroshima for two months. During his interview, Sedaris mentions signs that he saw. When he described them (he embellished on the wording for humorous effect) I knew exactly what he was talking about: The JT (Meet your delight!) signs about smoking manners.

Here's the interview:


Here are the signs in question (images so so so stolen from the JT site):
(I have no idea why the helicopter is there. To add scale?)


(I've never even thought about this.)


You can view the complete gallery here. Here are some of my favorites:

(What is he doing???)


(Boy, people back in the Showa era sure were dapper. I think the guy is related to the guy in the crosswalk signal.)


(The influence of American culture rears it's ugly head again!)


(Cruel but so tempting.)


(Tobacco ray activate!)


Note: I am a non-smoker but if people want to smoke, then so be it.

Six Things May 29, 2008

Stupid "#%()'$#%( weather.

Rain, The Beatles

(thanks to debsue)

One More Rainy Day, Deep Purple

(thanks to elihzzz)

It's Raining Men, The Weather Girls

(thanks to SuperPat1972)

Singin' In The Rain, Gene Kelly

(thanks to hafizaguncesi)

No Rain, Blind Melon

(thanks to hqvids)

Chocolate Rain by Tay Zonday was supposed to be here but watching the video sent me on a quest for something else so I'm using what I found instead.


(thanks to peternokidding)

Obligatory Sakura (桜) Post 2008

No SASUKE Maniac for me tonight.

Well, last year I went to Tokiwa Park and took photos of the cherry blossoms and the monkeys. This year I wasn't as ambitious so I just took photos of some areas near where I live to fulfill my sakura obligation (lest they take away my gaijin blogger rights).

I can't really pinpoint where I took each photo but the majority of these are from the center of Ube, near Shintencho (新天町).

Enjoy! Or not.

Kafunshou and you 花粉症アンドユー

(Yes, I know hay fever season is almost over -- better late than never!)
((Argh. The title I had originally planned for this post was: I'll kafunshou you!))

Allergic rhinitis.
Hay fever.
Kafunshou.

Whatever you want to call it (really, it's up to you), it's really damn irritating if you have it. Thanks to the decision to start importing timber and stop harvesting the trees that were planted to reforest post-War Japan hay fever has been the bane of many a Japanese and a boon to the medical supply industry.

Before I decided to go to the doctor for some medicine that actually worked for me, I tried to give it a go with some regular store-bought medicine. The medicine I picked up for myself worked to some extent but I've always had to augment it with things. Lots and lots of things. Stuff to put in my nose before I go out. Stuff to clean out my nose after I go out. Stuff to chew on to help clear my nose. Stuff for my eyes. More stuff for my eyes. Stuff for my clothes and furniture. And don't forget the masks.

Also, I check the kafun tracker every morning. Very helpful. This is tonight's kafun forecast:




I generally ride a bicycle to get around town so I need a mask plus some kind of protective glasses to keep the damn pollen out.

This year, I bought darker glasses like the ones I just linked to. Coupled with the mask, it had the unfortunate effect of making me look like some kind of criminal:



OK, maybe not that bad. I don't have a mustache and hoodie. It's something more like this:



Anyway, I went to an ear-nose-and-throat doctor who stuck metal objects up my nose (it was my first time to that sort of doctor and boy, was that part a surprise), told me I had hay fever (umm..thanks doc) and gave me some medicine that cleared me up for like a month until about now when it started really bothering me again.

Because I was hay fever symptom free (for the most part) I put this entry, which I had been planning since the beginning of hay fever season, on the back burner but going to the doctor today reminded that I had a duty. Yes, a duty to post a photo I had taken several weeks ago of an Arthur doll wearing a mask. And protective glasses. Let it never be said that I am one to shirk my responsibilities.

The Art of Ube: ??? 宇部の彫刻

The devastating aftermath of World War II left Ube city in ruins. As the people began to rebuild their city they felt a desire to transform the desolate land into utopia. Projects along with reconstruction were started with people's hopes to maintain a strong tie with nature. The urban renewal projects brought in landscaping and horticultural programs. And in 1961 the Yamaguchi Open-air Museum was born.

No. ??


Located across the street from the Yamaguchi University Hopsital.



Leave your best name for this sculpture in the comments. You may win a prize.

Merry Christmas!

For many people back in the states, it's still Christmas Eve...



But since Japan is in the future, it is officially Christmas so Merry Christmas everyone!



Pictures are from the corner near the ANA Hotel in Ube. Isn't amazing how nobody has tried to vandalize the display? Truly the spirit of Christmas is alive and well in Ube!

Simple It's a Wonderful Life Drinking Game: Take a drink any time someone says "George Bailey" in the movie. It should be something like over twenty times. If that's not enough, down the whole drink if a character says "Hee-Haw" or "Hot Dog".

Don Quijote in Ube! ドン・キホーテ 宇部店!

So the other day I rode down to the latest place to open in good ol' Ube, Don Quijote. The first I Don Quijote I ever went to was the one in Sapporo. It seemed very random in it's selection of goods and it was quite bewildering. Of course that one seemed normal compared to the Don Quijote in Akihabara which is the home to idol group AKB48 and has an entire floor of costumes and a maid cafe. But a combination of the reasonably priced and the strange is what Don Quijote is all about. Some of the random things I found during my shopping:

Candy G-string:


Your penis? A faucet:


Kojima Yoshio mask:


And of course, the Billy Blanks costume:


Don Quijote has been trying to extend it's reach as they converted the old Kaheka Daiei/Holiday Mart in Honolulu late last year to create it's first overseas Don Quijote store. At the time, people in Hawaii seemed a bit confused, especially with the name. Then again, I never knew which it was (Daiei? Holiday Mart?) when I was living there anyway.

This is the second new big chain to open in Ube this year as a Kojima Denki opened near Fuji Grand back in October. *Sniff* My city is growing up *sniff*

More about the Ube City Festa 2007 宇部まつり

Some random things I didn't put in the other post because it was getting too long...

One of my favorite things to get at anytime the street food booths are set up is the heart-attack inducing cup o' chicken (note: this is only the medium size cup):


Pikachu's got no eyes!



This was in front of the police table. They are members of Aum Shinrikyo who were responsible for the sarin attack in the Tokyo subway in 1995. If you're in Japan, you've probably seen these faces in post offices, supermarkets, pretty much everywhere. However, many people, especially students, were stopping to look at these mainly because they were so weird looking:



It was gone by the afternoon.