JAPAN PHOTOS 2003
READ STORIES ***
JESSICA LING FINDLEY
misako
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misako at the bloomberg installation in the marunouchi building. this
thing had several touch screen games on both sides. one i played was kind
of like pong.
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apparently its not legal to gamble - but these machines spit out some little silver balls that you trade in for plastic coins - and then you take them next door to an "unaffiliated" place for cash exchange.
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complete with a capsule like toilet.
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you wouldn't think that this was the first day i met her - ok so it's not i met her once in nyc with our mutual friend maki hojo - she was very sweet to loan me her pajama's and show me around. people in japan are so nice they will personally take you to your destination if you ask for directions.
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you can smoke almost anywhere in japan - as long as you are near a smoke sucker.
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were sometimes confusing.
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i liked the pop out
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by japanese TV wonderland. i couldn't explain to him why there were singing poos on the TV.
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we never got to see the subway workers pick use the claw to save the day but we did witness one receive a lost glasses case and then immediately (and accidentally) let it slip from his hands under the tracks.
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stick one in your kimono
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lets see, it combines a hardware store, lumber store, sporting goods store, arts and crafts store, toy store, furniture store, clothing store, electronics store....all in one lovely package. It kicks SEARS's butt.
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it was completely crowded at the street fair - but we managed to find a spot to chill with a few beers - and grab some Argentinean food.
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those #s change
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i was really impressed with this building near the TV station
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Simple
Farmer, Tokyo Lady and Clay
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Misako's and her freind Yanouchi were so super nice that they even came
to the love hotel hill to help us pick out a good spot
(you can see the tokyo tower coming out of his head)
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our love hotel was rather like a holiday inn, but with free condoms. I was hoping for something more exotic like - rocket ship aquarium room. it did have a large bathtub though.
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In our hotel room at the headboard of the bed was this black box called Tantra -Brain Whisper made by Mind System . I never got it to work but the buttons had some interesting labels like Phase Volume and Pitch.
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he works hard all day on his swing making sure that all the customers are seen and happy.
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i hope they never change this.
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I love that K.Sanders looks Japanese. Its just like Jesus statues.
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means the little dudes in training.
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muscle won.
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this is when everybody stands in a circle and pretends to drink the stuff in the barrel.
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the original MC hammer pants.
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these little ladies worked really hard dancing on top of a shrine carried by their elders.
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at least i think that's what that sign means
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right outside a tasty buffet where we picked up our usual rice balls.
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with a rockin' schnaz
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they eat these in japan on holidays.
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or as clay likes to call them "something from a genealogical office in the 70's"
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Clay got new shoes in japan the second day he got there. My big feet's had to wait a while in the land of little shoes.
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sometimes when you aren't looking through the lens you can get a really nice shot
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blown by fans
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Will sing your favorite tune just like Michael Jackson for only 10 yen a minute ( ok, i admit it. i don't know what he does.)
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I often wonder if eye enlargement became a possible option in plastic surgery if it would be popular in japan.
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what was great here and that you can't see too well is that this bus had dark wood floors and striped brown and orange upholstery. I clay and i were the only people under 50 on this bus
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was played before every race to let people know it was starting.
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keirin track bike racing started in japan and used to be quite popular - now as maki says "only old people and nerds go to watch it"
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we couldn't read this so we didn't bet.
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you should hear these guys yell "YOSH!" when the race starts.
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i really like that he is wearing rubber boots.
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the start of these races are laughably slow because they actually don't really start to race until after they do a few laps behind a pace setter.
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shout out to my people at the beach!
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i like these colors
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definitely creative
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GUNBLADE
Special Air Assault Force NY
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This says: "The Big Apple needs your help. Go for it! YOUR TASK:
Destroy Terrorists and Liberate New York City!"
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I still haven't got those new shoes yet.
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floating
dogs
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Her jobs is to manage and distribute these weird little low flying dogs.
I think i found my calling.
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oh i forgot to mention the cats - low flying dogs and cats.
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my
favorite roller coaster
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goes through a building and then through this ferris wheel. I screamed
and laughed the whole time clay was all zen on this thing.
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who could resist them?
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VS
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I don't know who they are but i definitely want to be there when they
battle.
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to pachinko land
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i love the colors
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this cute little poop is here to help all women move their bowels. thank you unko man!
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these things are supposed to bring you the bling bling
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x3
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a hand painted advertisement for an apartment
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you are not supposed to feed them.
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in sapporo this forum takes place where the world's most prominent babies decide our future. we were lucky to witness it
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color coordinate your whole family
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train
to otaru
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goes right by the sea
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is a fishing town in hokkaido at the north side of the island
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clay some how ended up exchanging gang signs with this man and without any instruction, the dude gave him a low down westside!
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ahhh.
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i love these rocks they are packed like rectangular logs.
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a shipping door at the harbor
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for shipping
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it was such a clear day
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i kept seeing him everywhere
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japanese girl
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didn't laugh at clay's jokes. well actually she never even moved. (doesn't she kind of look like maki?)
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this little girl is so excited her head is about to pop off.
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heading to the lake
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from below
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he talked to my inner animal self and told me that his job sucks.
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only you have to peddle.
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from above all you could see were these giant swans on the lake - it made the proportion of the lake look really weird.
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it was so quiet at these matches. i mean everybody dressed like a trucker but they politely golf clapped every move. and no beer was sold.
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i don't know what the japanese guys were saying, but this cowboy had a potty mouth. it was really funny. i made sure to tell him.
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of train ride
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the seats were comfy.
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i liked this poster
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for some kind of cult murder. this poster was sort of life-size but shorter - note the drawn on bodies.
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i want to live here
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saccade
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pipes in the phone booth
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this was on the outside of a sticker-photo booth - some were for boys and some were for girls.
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the crazy biker crew in toyama - kazuyo, her boyfriend Nate (also my cousin), and Shingo master of the yankee style
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on a fence
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in front of my cousin's place
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also in front of my cousin's place - why? he wasn't sure but maybe to warn other crows that this is a crow free zone.
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can get your name on a stamp
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can buy you a silly button
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like boobies
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the children in japan start working at the age of 8 months.
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i wish i would have gotten my hair cut here.
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don't they kind of look like bowling balls?
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nate-san
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we won the game
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"Personality Pursuing Type"
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or at least a smaller version of him
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the beach was chilly
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we had a good ride
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in Kanazawa
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It was raining before but it turned out to be a perfect day.
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was the word of the day
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ona cowfish
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it didn't really seem strange to me at the time. but what was strange was that we were asking them for directions for a good place to eat.
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train station
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they thought it was as funny as i did.
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i forgot the name of - but its in the middle of kyoto.
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tough and lovely.
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residential street in kyoto.
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a german girl i met at the youth hostel went geisha hunting with me. They come out at 6 pm. We spotted this one after 10 min of searching and tried to secretly chase her for a photo. She stopped and graciously let us take her picture.
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i would buy a good maiko some nice geta.
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she was kind and lovely.
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the scads here sounded like an orchestra of high pitched strings. i can tell you it was a hot ride up here.
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at work.
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don't you love the color?
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I didn't notice until after i took the photo that many of these children have bare bottoms. Nudity is weird in Japan - like in the onsen , they are just so acclimated to it that its natural to be hanging out in your birthday suit.
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i would also like to live here.
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nice lines.
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something to obsess over.
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one monk loved it so much he burned it down. this is a recreation.
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it's not as big as you think.
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for praying.
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shop and pray.
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i was waiting for this moment to happen ever since i got to Japan.
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