hot dog sushi

while phenomenally able copyists, the Japanese do get it sometimes less right than others.

spring blossoms along the kamogawa river, kyoto. 

this pimp again

AEON is one of the larger chain language instruction & international frottage associations.

half-price sashimi from SEIYU (Wal*Mart)

I pull out the sharp elbows amongst the housewives and old ladies near 7 pm when all the sushi in the deli counter gets the hangaku half-price stickers slapped on it.

this girl had her taxi  (foreground) swerve across 4 lanes so she could drunk-run out and buy an ishiyakiimo, a $6 whole sweet potato baked over stones heated by charcoal.  men drive the potatoes & live fire around town in these small trucks like the mexican food trucks that prowl US construction sites vending taquitos.  the girls here can't get enough of these big moist steamy handwarmers.

and if the koku & kire don't do it...the 12 proof walking the street sure will.  STRAIGHT...but not for long.

this is happo-shu, a cheap fortified beer substitute which stays cheap by evading an alcohol tax by using less than a prescribed minimum of malt...more popular than porn.

japanese for half off

the 2 white kanji characters in the round red sticker mean half-price. an excellent combination for the budding J-scholar to remember. the small katakana above it mean that at the register 50% will be whacked off the price as you watch.

you can see the sticker has been strategically placed over an earlier sticker giving probably 30% off...covered, yet visible enough to reinforce the outrageous value of fully half off... grab it while you can!

maps and legends...

sanjo street, heading to the subway.

eyes on the prize(s)

like ichiro likes his beer, this guy likes his train-sleeping. not fooling me with the old open-book prop, chief...

these coeds are examining the official party invites for their konpa, short for conversation party. a singles mixer where an even number of boys and girls try to eat, drink, laugh, sing karaoke & mate. as pre-printed flyers should tip you off, these things can be massively organized & structured.

a clean well-lighted place.

fck...I wish this were a Bud.

(p.s. who doesn't like Ichiro!?!) get better and kick ass this year, bro!

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keep

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clearly Tony Soprano here, if he could catch me, could do damage to me. so I thought it best to blank out him & his posse. 

making their presence felt along kiyamachi, where all the action happens.

nice walking under here; a small side street running parallel to Karasuma & Kawaramachi, about halfway between them both, just below Gosho.

I feel the pain of everyone...then I feel nothing         --dinosaur jr

bad shot of an interesting girl riding the train

biker chicks, J-style.

fellow readers: if you enjoy visiting this site as much as I enjoy making it, please spread the word like human manure over an Edo Period rice field.  thanks!  doumo arigatou gozaimasu!

posting a link to this site also much appreciated and good karma for you. 

File Under: My People　

...not local ass

'nuff said.

good luck & Godspeed...

your friend, the picture menu.

ZA WATAMI - about the best chain izakaya: picture menus, Premium Malt's beer on tap, quality food, competitive prices and tolerant of foreigners. may have to take your shoes off, so don't go all Donnie Brasco on 'em.

try to eat at one of these yakitori places...and sniff a bit outside first for the ones that cook over real charcoal, not electric heating coils.

this chain comes branded as DaiKichi (above) or IchiBan, and look identical outside. seem to be independent owner-operated. good place to sit at the counter and talk to the cooks, waitress.

a very large fresh bamboo shoot takenoko yours for $50. (credit card to scale, not splurge)

a spring delicacy just coming out

find beauty...

...and then nail it with your phonography.

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