August is fireworks season in Japan. Events and festivals are held all throughout the country so that thousands of people can enjoy beautiful firework shows; the events usually are between one and two hours long. “Fireworks” in Japanese language is translated as “hanabi” and is written as 花火, whose kanji characters mean “flower” and “fire” respectively.

One of the most spectacular “hanabi” in Summer in Japan is the Edogawa hanabi, at the outskirts of Tokyo; however every year the “spectacularity” of each famous hanabi varies. These variations are noted in the fireworks official rankings that are published in magazines and on TV. The “spectacularity” of the hanabis is measured by counting the number of explosions. The top-ranked hanabi this year lasted for one hour and fifty minutes and 24428 explosions/blasts were recorded during that time, the second had 22776 explosions/blasts.

If you travel to Japan in August ask in the hotel where you are staying when and where are the nearest fireworks. It’s really worth it!

In Japan one in every four marriages ends up in divorce, it is one of the highest rates in the world. Seeing this data, a bright entrepreneur had the idea of starting a business to organize divorce ceremonies for 500 euros (600 dollars). The culminating moment is the celebration of the destruction of the ring with a special hammer. The ceremony is expensive but at least you don’t have to arrange a journey to Orodruin.

Via Stewpig.

This last weekend we headed to the mountains, as far from Tokyo as we could. We left the train at Kudoyama and wandered calmly until we arrived to the temple of Jisonin. At the entrance of the temple there was a kind monk that was talking slowly on the phone, like he had all the time in the world.

When he finished talking on the phone he approached us and started telling us stories about the temple feeling really proud. We found him to be really photogenic and started taking pictures as he talked.

“Do you see that grave on the corner?”, the monk said. “Yes, it’s the grave of a dog, isn’t it?”, we answered. “His name was Gon, he lived with us for almost twenty years and he died in 2002. We named him “Gon” because when he was a puppy he got really excited when he heard the sound of the gong in the mornings.”

“It looks like the Hachiko statue, but smaller”, I remarked mumbling while I continued taking pictures. The monk raised his voice a little and said: “Our dog, Gon, is the real deal, not like Hachiko. Gon accompanied the pilgrims every day to the mountains until the Daimon gate. He was a guide to strangers along a 20km route every day and came back before the sunset. Gon was a faithful dog, obedient, hardworking and intelligent. On the other hand, Hachiko was a lazy, stupid and useless dog, the only thing he did was to wait in Shibuya for years. Moreover, something that the Richard Gere movie doesn’t tell is that Hachiko was shitting all over the Shibuya station entrance all the time. The people didn’t like Hachiko, they complained that there was a flea-bitten dog next to the train station and they had to avoid dog shits every morning”. Yes, he said the word “shit” several times after finishing his explanation and we all started all laughing, the monk included.

“Did you understand? Our dog Gon is much cooler that Hachiko! Don’t let people in Tokyo fool you”.

This photo of me and the monk was taken by Ikusuki.

I first realized how much Japanese people are interested in fishing when I saw the amount of fishing video games produced in Japan. Many of my coworkers go fishing on weekends, some of them head to the seashore by car, however most of them go to Yotsuya pool, where fish are bred so that customers catch them. The other day strolling near the new Tokyo Sky Tree we came across some kind of artificial pool for fishing enthusiasts. It looked really peaceful.

We ended up our walk just next to the Tokyo Sky Tree.

Photo taken by Miguel Michan

Other posts about vending machines in Japan:

• Used panties vending machines
• Women vending machine
• Porn magazines vending machine
• Hamburger vending machine
• Book vending machine
• Groceries vending machine
• First Oden-kan vending machine
• Alcoholic vending machine
• Shit vending machine
• Vending machines with interactive maps
• 16 vending machines in the same photo
• 50 yen vending machine

Kyudo (弓道: “the way of the bow”), on of the most ancient Japanese martial arts, searches for spiritual development through archery. The way of holding the bow and all the steps to follow when shooting are very strict and many years of strict training are required to be able to dominate them. Yabusame uses some of the archery techniques of kyudo but is a totally different kind of art.

Video recoreded by Vincent in an kyudo exhibition in Kyoto

The Seven Gods of Fortune (七福神 – Shichifukujin) are a group of very popular gods in Japan. But just one of them, Ebisu, actually originated from the Land of the Rising Sun. Daikokuten, Bishamonten and Benzaiten are native to India; and Hotei, Jurojin and Fukurokuju from China. All of them come from Taoist and Shintoist beliefs.

Ebisu
Ebisu is a god of good luck and also of fishermen. He’s usually represented with a fish on his left hand and a fishing rod on his right hand, although the latter may vary. The Japanese, fish lovers, usually favor Ebisu as god of fortune over the others.

Pic of an Hotei at the entrance of a sushi restaurant.

At the end of the 19th century, “Japan Beer” (company that ended up being called Sapporo afterwards) started selling a beer called Yebisu (ancient form of Ebisu, the Y is not pronounced) in honour of the god of fortune Ebisu. At that moment, “Japan Beer” had most of its factories on the South-West side of Tokyo and decided to build a train station called Ebisu to enhance their distribution system. Today, the Ebisu station is the next one right after Shibuya on the Yamanote line.

Yebisu beer logo.

Ebisu, apart from being the god of fishermen, has also become the god of shopkeepers and farmers, whom normally have an Ebisu figurine in the kitchen beside one of Daikokuten.

Daikokuten
God native to India that was adapted to the Japanese tradition in order to help enhance wealth, business, agriculture and, more specifically, food making! It is the god that brings food to the family. Its figure is usually represented on top of two rice bags and with a lucky mallet on his right hand.

On the right-hand side there are two Daikokuten.

Benzaiten
She’s the only female among the Seven Gods of Fortune. She’s the patron of music and fine arts in general. All temples in honor of Benzaiten are usually close to the sea (in Enoshima there are a couple of them) and the figurines representing the goddess normally show a very beautiful woman playing a biwa beside one or several white snakes. As the legend goes, goddess Benzaiten can transform into a snake. Many Japanese people believe that if a white snake appears in your dreams, it’s a sign of good luck.

Hotei
He’s the god of happiness according to Chinese beliefs. Plump and smiley, with a bag full of stuff to give to the poor.

Fukurokuju
God of wisdom and longevity. Near Fukurokuju figures there’s usually a tortoise.

Jurojin
God of longevity originated from China. He’s the oldest of the gods of fortune. His statues normally have a long beard and a parchment with all the death dates of all live creatures written.

Bishamonten
God of war, of warriors, he has the power to heal. He normally wears an armor and holds a sword in his right hand.

Figurines of the seven gods of fortune. Can you tell them apart?