Night out in Nagano.

Popped up to Nagano for a night out. Amusing night, I was so tired by the end. Kyla you have way more stamina than me!!!

The Foot!

Yo spent last weekend in hospital with an infected foot. This was caused by chill blades, ie ice forming in my little toe, it probably happened when i was asleep. My bedroom is too cold to sleep in now and Ive moved my bed into my living room. Heres the charming photo!

Getting Down with the Kyudo Crowd.

I thought I'd finally end the mystery about Kyudo by showing you how its done. This first photo is of me and my Kyudo Sensei, Sunohara-san. She's really cool and keeps asking me why I wont teach her children. She phoned me tonight "Rich, where are you, you haven't been for 3 weeks, this can't be tolerated!" So with that I headed down to the Kyudo-Jo.








There are four different positions that you need to complete before you can even fire the bow.







You hold the bow over your head then go to a prone position.


















Take aim and fire.












This is just after Ive fired the arrow, and the position your supposed to hold.









Hope you enjoyed the Kyudo Trip!!!

Daisukes Send Off

This is my mates last night in Ueda before moving to the big L that is Landan! And you know all about Landan, dont'cha!!! As you can see I was the only English speaking person there, so I had to use my Japanese to do limited conversation, an example is.

Me: Hmm, Oishi desu (Hmm, delicious)
Japanese person: Hai!

So my limited Japanese increased as I consumed more alcohol. At one point I remember ordering what looked like a kebab and it in fact turned out to be an old favorite of mine...chicken kidneys on a stick. Hmm, don't you just love it?

















Kimu strikes again! The guy on the left is really cool and a little bizarre. Why do the Japanese make the V sign when they have a photo taken?

Insulating my Dojo!

So now that the nights are getting freezing Ive had to take drastic measures to keep my place warm. This is a picture of my bedroom.
















And this is the same picture after I'd bubble wrapped the inside. It eliminates the drafts from the crappy paper sliding window things. It also makes my house look slightly more like a smack den. Yay. When I wake up in the mornings, my pillow is freezing.

















Heres a photo of my living room kitted out for winter. In the center is a Kotatsu, the definition of Japanese Central Heating. Believe it or not, this is how Japanese like to keep warm during winter. Apparently a family will all sit around the little coffee table and keep warm. There is a small heater which keeps your legs warm. Cosy eh?