Frosty

First weeks of January

I was heading to Tokyo very early in the morning, and I decided to take this one back street on my way to the station.  I thought it was a very interesting blend of old and new Japan, which is what Japan is all about!

This is a completely digital vending machine.  It has a touch screen!

This is what it looks like when it's off.

A very interesting game at an arcade in Ibaraki.

You smack the table as hard as you can.  At the very end, you flip the table up, as if throwing it.  I think this was designed for really aggravated business men or high school students who needed to release some steam.

Went to see a 3D movie... Tron.  I wonder who this really cool guy is?

This man was walking by the cafe I was studying at.  He was wearing a face mask and hitting the drum.  I was informed that this might have something to do with the way blind people used to travel around Japan, but that may only be a rumor or hear-say.  Can anyone tell me what this really means?

It took me more than an hour to look up and write down all of the words I didn't know on this piece of paper.  Everyone in the staff room gets a paper like this every day.  It is the schedule and announcements of the day.  The original is on the left, and the altered version on the right.

Close up.  Goodness gracious.  Remind me again why I decided to study this language?

-Lana