The five different types of bus stops. Photo source: http://www.city.isahaya.nagasaki.jp/topics/burari/no004/burari.htm

A total of 16 stops along Route 207 (map from the Isahaya City web site).

What’s the story behind this? The stops were built for the Travel Expo show in 1990 with the intent to serve as an attractive gateway for travelers entering the Nagasaki Prefecture. According to the Isahaya City web site, the creators got the idea for these unusual shapes from the famous story of Cinderella where the carriage turns into a pumpkin.

For all lovers of healthy food, here are a few more photos:

A strawberry...

...watermelon...

...melon...

...orange...

...and tomato.

Photo source: http://ameblo.jp/love2strawberry/entry-10094286716.html

Isahaya City official web site: http://www.city.isahaya.nagasaki.jp/topics/burari/no004/burari.htm

Hina dolls are traditional Japanese figurines, meant to celebrate the annual Hina Matsuri (Girl’s Day festival) which is held on the 3rd of March every year.

Let’s compare the doll with the real Mao!

Mao Asada as hina doll (left).

A news report about the Mao Asada hina doll:

Onioshidashi-en (鬼押出し園) is a huge natural park in Gunma Prefecture that was created after the catastrophic eruption of the Mt. Asama volcano on August 5, 1783. On that fateful day, a 7 km (4.3 miles) wide stream of flaming lava from the volcano — which, mind you, is still active today — swallowed the entire surrounding area and wiped a nearby village of Kanbara off the map. It is said that the ashes reached as far away as Europe.

The Kannon-do temple stands among molten volcanic rocks that cover the entire area. Mt. Asama is seen in the background.

The volcano last erupted in 1973 and the steam has been coming out ever since. For security reasons, hiking is prohibited within a 4 km (2.5 mile) circle around the crater.

The Onioshidashi-en park which is 12 km (7.5 miles) long, 3 km (1.9 miles) wide and located something over 1300 meters (4265 ft) above sea level, is considered one of the three greatest volcanic sights in the world. Nowadays, brave tourists can hike on a 2.7 km (1.6 mile) long trail that meanders through the sea of molten lava and offers a spectacular panoramic view of this very unusual landscape.

How to get there? Regular buses Seibu Kogen can take you to Onioshidashi-en from Naka-Karuizawa Station (about 35 minutes) or from Karuizawa Station (about 50 minutes) which is also connected to a JR line. Near the entrance they have plenty of souvenir shops, resting places and a restaurant. The park is open daily from 8 AM to 5 PM and is closed in winter months.

Want to see more? I invite you to take a look at the rest of the photos I took at Onioshidashi. Fantastic scenery!

Gallery: Onioshidashi Volcanic Park
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Where in Japan is Onioshidashi:

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Address: 1053 Kanbara, Tsumagoi-mura, Agatsuma-gun, Gunma-ken, Japan

The source of data is OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development). The author of the graph mentions that not all OECD countries are included for better readability as some data would otherwise overlap. If you’re interested in the rest of the countries, see this spreadsheet.

The graphs shows that Japan — which belongs to countries with highest quality medical care — comes below average with $2,581 spent per person for medical care (year 2007) and ranks the highest in average life expectancy among listed countries.  The U.S. stands out with the highest spending at $7,290 per person and is the only listed country — besides Mexico — that does not offer universal health coverage.

People in Japan also visit a doctor on average 12 times or more pear year. Why so often? Naoki Ikegami, chairman of the Keio University Department of Health Policy and Management in an interview for PBS about healthcare in Japan says that these visits tend to be very short (as little as 5 minutes for repeat consultations) and are common for the elderly with chronic illnesses who want to assure themselves about the state of their health. The low costs also make it possible for people to visit doctors more often.

Ikegami adds that the “main goal of a public health insurance is to prevent people from going broke.”

In the video, a city official opens a trapdoor on the sidewalk and descends 20 meters deep down the stairway to huge underground warehouse that stocks emergency supplies meant for the public in an event of a natural disaster.

In this hidden area the size of 1480 square meters (15,930 sq ft) that would make James Bond especially happy, they keep stocks of emergency medical supplies, food, 5000 blankets, 8000 rugs, 4000 candles, 300 cooking pots, 200 t-shirts and various other items. They also built a system of conveyor belts that can transport the supplies up to the street level.

For this city of 13 million people, 300 cooking pots certainly won’t be enough. It is known that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government maintains a number of such warehouses along unnamed stations at the Oedo line which circles around Tokyo in a 40 km loop. Where exactly are these warehouses is kept secret in order to prevent too many people from gathering at the locations after a major disaster. At the end of video, the TV crew exits at one of such stations.

The 80-minute long movie is an adaptation of the British fantasy novel “The Borrowers” by Mary Norton from 1952. The story talks about little people who “borrow” things from normal humans and keep their existence unknown. In contrast to the original story that takes place in England of the 1950’s, the film will be set in present-day Tokyo city of Koganei which is also the home of Studio Ghibli.

Karigurashi no Arrietty was directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi and produced by Suzuki Toshio. The theme song Arrietty’s Song was co-written and performed by French celtic harpist and singer Cecile Corbel. Here is the song in full:

The house, owned by a family with 16 cats and 5 dogs, features beautifully designed modern furniture and various structures that were created especially for cats: shelves and platforms with rounded corners, bookcases that work like stairs, hidden tunnels and passageways, catwalks on the ceilings, a floor-to-ceiling scratching post and all kinds of other goodies meant for discovering, climbing, playing and of course sleeping.

The architecture is very open and invites a lot of natural light to every room.

The owner came up with the idea after a family cat has passed away because of illness. He wanted to build a home that will be enjoyable for cats and people at the same time.

The house was built in August 2009. The owner says he is not 100% sure in his success but is satisfied because he can see that his felines have a lot of fun and enjoy living there. The carpenters also say the cats were very curious and playful while the interior was being built.

Interested in more photos of this house? Head over to The Cats’ House official web site.

The Cats’ House, however, is not the only such house in Japan! Here you can take a look at floorplans and photos of a few other modern houses that were built for cats and dogs in mind.

Japanese publishing company Inforest has published an interesting yearbook that introduces 59 known and less known Japanese digital illustrators for the year 2010 who create art in manga/anime style. In the last few pages there is a short questionnaire where they asked professional artists which graphic programs they use, what operating system they have and which graphic tablets they use for painting.

What graphic programs do you mostly use to make artwork?
1. Adobe Photoshop (50 votes)
2. SAI (36 votes)
3. Corel Painter (7 votes)
4. Adobe Illustrator (5 votes)
5. ComicStudio (2 votes)

Do you use PC with Windows or a Mac?
1. Windows (54 votes)
2. Mac (4 votes)
3. Windows and Mac (1 vote)

Which graphic tablet do you use for painting?
1. Wacom Intuos (34 votes)
2. Other tablets by Wacom (24 votes)
3. Don’t use a tablet (1 vote)

Almost half of those who use Photoshop also use another graphic program in combination.

Among most common programs is SAI (PaintTool SAI) which is less known outside of Japanese market but is a very powerful tool, developed by Systemax (they offer a free 30-day trial version, the full version costs only 5250 yen or about $58). Don’t let their archaic web site fool you! A lot of artists swear that SAI from the illustrator’s point of view in many aspects beats Photoshop because it was made specifically for illustrating. They also say it’s very intuitive and lets them achieve desired results quicker. SAI has become so popular in Japan that there are even monthly magazines and books devoted to this program.

Here you can watch PaintTool SAI in action:

And here is yet another demonstration of PaintTool SAI from sketch to finished artwork.

You’re invited to take a look at modern architecture of Roppongi Hills, interior of the Grand Hyatt Tokyo hotel and Tokyo skyline as viewed from the 54-story Mori Tower.

Gallery: Roppongi Hills, Tokyo
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