Just reading about how hundreds of Chinese giant salamanders first came to Japan in 1972 as import for restaurants. Recently the Chinese varieties have been designated an invasive species to protect the Japanese giant salamanders. (Ministry of Environment PDF) www.env.go.jp/nature/intro...

Unusual mural at Toranomon Station on the Ginza Line.

Couldn't stop myself and had to get one of these packs! Norishio in monochrome.

Taking the opportunity to walk through central Tokyo.

Happy Chocominto!

In the competitive family restaurant sector, you have to find a niche.

Today I learned that these kinds of hydrangeas with the round "balls" of flowers, are known as mopheads.

Be careful out there translating "kagayaku."

I enjoyed The Wolf Border by Sarah Hall, which has an interesting premise about reintroducing wolves to a small area in northern England. Maybe I should say that it's quite a literary read, with a lot about the personal life of the wolf expert - and I enjoyed these parts too!

Found these rather psychedelic murals when I went into central Yokohama the other day.

Here are four great translations I particularly enjoyed by Juliet Winters Carpenter. The Setting Sun (Dazai Osamu) The Great Passage (Miura Shion) A Woman of Pleasure (Murata Kiyoko) A True Novel (Mizumura Minae)

I very much enjoyed this translation of Hōjōki by Matthew Stavros, who takes an interesting approach by setting out the text in lines like poetry. I think this really works, bringing out rhythms, and I guess a greater focus on individual lines.

Elton John's hit "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" goes by the Japanese title 土曜の夜は僕の生きがい, or we might say "Saturday Night is my Ikigai"

Parklife.

I really enjoyed There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm. One of those books that starts out good and then gets better along the way. Genre: SF/horror/bureaucracy

A Tale Unasked is the memoir of Lady Nijō, born in 1258 and who was a court lady and later a wandering Buddhist nun. It’s the latest translation from classical Japanese by Meredith McKinney, published in October last year and very much worth a look for people interested in classical works.

"And find some English sentences about nature to put on the soap packet..."

Famima is all out of Nope. Curious enough to try this once, but in no hurry. Certainly eye-catching.

On the beach.

Forest safety.

Peaceful times in Zushi.

Japanese media very disappointed about Kokuho missing out on Best Makeup and Hairstyling Oscar. (By the way, it went to Frankenstein)

Just playing with some Lego.

Just been enjoying the story of Amaterasu performed by puppets on TV.

Meanwhile, somewhere in Tokyo. (A random photo I forgot to post).

This is a really great way to get to know about nō drama, with 24 plays included, each with their own introductions, edited and translated (very well) by Royall Tyler. Nō has been really influential on other parts of Japanese literature, so definitely worth knowing about. Published in 1992.

Random Japanese version of a song title: "Nowhere Man" by the Beatles is called "ひとりぼっちのあいつ."

Walking a little way along the old Tokaido highway from Shinagawa. I expect the toilets used to be more basic.

Pizza Hut beer asks in romaji if you knew that hut means "koya" (hut) and not "boushi" (hat).

I fed in some details to AI about me and it came up with this picture. I think it's pretty good.