Lost in Japan

Hibiya Park

lostinjapan — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:50:40 +0000

Last weekend I went to Hibiya Park near Yurakucho Station on the Peninsula Hotel side with Tatsuya to relax a bit. We petted some cats and watched some birds drink from a fountain. It was really lovely and lazy Saturday.

View of Hibiya Park near JR Yurakucho Station.

Hibiya Park Flash Panorama (Tokyo, Japan)
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Lost in Japan Site Changes

lostinjapan — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 08:07:00 +0000

Today I wanted to add an article or useful content to the site, but I spent most of my time doing some much-needed tweaking instead. Notable changes are the Tweetboard miniforum box, the socialbookmark tags on the post pages, and the coverflow flash header. I also cut down on the number of panoramas on the main page and am trying to start giving the blog entries more space . I think LostinJapan should still stay picture-focused for now, but later I would like to move toward having interesting content in other areas. I’m still thinking about the direction I should take things, but whatever I do, I hope it will be enjoyable as well as useful.

Why all the updates? This year I realized I need to find something fun that I am passionate about. In lieu of other more physical pastimes, I have finally chosen blogging / photoblogging to be my new hobby. This is because I am lazy and a geek. It’s also because I realized after 7 years that Japan may very well be my home for the rest of my life, and I would like to share it with everyone.

Next things to do -
1. Add a menu bar
2. Tackle 360 Cities
3. Go eat some cake ^_^

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Premiere

lostinjapan — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 01:30:23 +0000

Today, Wednesday July 15th, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince officially premieres in Japan. I say officially because there have been several showings in theatres yesterday. I am very excited about seeing this newest addition to the HP series, and even more excited that it falls on a Wednesday. Wednesday is ‘Ladies’ Day’ at Japanese theatres and means 1000 yen tickets. 1000 yen discount tickets are also available at many theatres on the first day of the month.

So I might be dusting off my potter glasses and getting my HP robes out of the closet for this one.

Here’s a peek back at what a potter fan I was even in October 2004.

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lostinjapan — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 04:12:05 +0000

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Tokyo Tower

lostinjapan — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 05:28:13 +0000

Night view of Tokyo Tower near JR Hammamatsucho Station.

Related Sites
Tokyo Tower Information(English)

Tokyo Tower Night Flash Panorama (Tokyo, Japan)
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Hayao Miyazaki’s Nittele Nippon Terebi Clock

lostinjapan — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:50:01 +0000

View of Hayao Miyazaki’s Nittele clock at the Nihon Terebi Headquarters in Shimbashi Itchome close to JR Shinbashi Station. Sculpted by Shachimaru Kunio from copper, this clock is the largest animated clock in the world.

The clock’s 3-minute-40-second animations play four times a day on weekdays at 12pm, 3pm, 6pm and 8pm and also a 5th time at 10pm on weekends.

Hayao Miyazaki, the director of Studio Ghibli, said of his creation, “although it’s a machine, it’s almost life-like!”

Watch an animation of the clock on YouTube.

Nippon Terebi Clock Flash Panorama (Shiodome Tokyo, Japan)
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Chikan

lostinjapan — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:23:14 +0000

Today a drunk guy tried to touch me on the train (and actually did touch me) and was really rude. I told Tatsuya to ignore it, but when the drunk guy got off the train, he kicked Tatsuya, flipped him off, and then ran to a train station security guard when we got off the train to follow. So I spent about 30 minutes talking with the police and filing a report when all I really wanted was to go home and sleep. It was a pretty sad experience, though I do admire the efficiency of the Japanese police.

In the end the drunk guy cursed at and threatened the police so much that they escorted him back to the police station where I imagine he will be staying tonight.

Photographic Info Overload

lostinjapan — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:24:28 +0000

So my head is about to explode today from another 12 hour straight dose of photography information. Today I learned to set my D50 picture style to landscape for increased sharpness, the true amazingness of HDR + PTGui (both thanks to a friend), and really delved into the Pano2VR skin editor. Yesterday I was in the freezing cold taking a pano of a car and then again in West Shinjuku, and today I was supposed to post two finished and unrelated panoramas, but I don’t think I’ll get to it. All my other work is suffereng as I am being forced to shape up as a photographer so fast. Forced is the wrong word - this is all I want to be doing - but I think doing only this will insure a huge personal life bomb going off in the next week or so. I have to be more efficient!

But tonight is 24 night, and I will unwind with Jack Bauer. If it weren’t for TV shows, I don’t know what I’d do.

Looking forward to posting some even better, sharper panos in the near future.

Farewell Party

lostinjapan — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 02:21:06 +0000

We held an official goodbye party for two of my dear friends on June 7th, 2008 at their apartment near JR Nippori Station. They will be missed.

This panorama shows a very nice modern Japanese apartment and typical living / dining / kitchen area.

Flash Panorama of the Farewell Party (Tokyo, Japan)
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New Skin & New Month

lostinjapan — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 18:49:02 +0000

Happy March!

As I suspected, I’ve been using the blog feature a lot more since installing a cross post plugin.

Today I learned how to skin my panos a little bit, and so I republished my Nomura Building Panorama with it.

Nomura Building Flash Panorama

I’m not sure if the logo is just too obtrusive to load in the center. Maybe I should pick a corner or the bottom of the panorama as you really can look around before it’s all loaded.

Well, it’s 3:47am, so I guess I should get to sleep.