Koshien: Iwate Hanamaki Higashi (Otani's HS)

Iwate powerhouse Hanamaki Higashi HS, alma mater of Otani amd other professional baseball stars, are currently playing on NHK. Their opponents are Nitta HS from Ehime, about as different a place from Iwate as possible and still be in Japan. バーチャル高校野球（夏の甲子園） - スポーツナビ https://share.google/Le38AZbV6CcJZlHl2

"トロッコ", by Akutagawa Ryunosuke

This collection of Akutagawa stories includes 蜘蛛の糸 (The Spider's Thread) and 杜子春 (Toshishun), celebrated short tales by one of Japan's pre-eminent authors. I highly recommend both. Included in this volume is トロッコ, a wonderful story about 8-year-old Ryouhei and an experience that reverberates throughout his life. I'll say no more. See the link below to free library Aozora Bunko.

https://share.google/vm8U9hdK2foZptujB A representative example of Akutagawa's style (here describing the motion of the mine cars): 煽るように車台が動いたり。That is exactly the sensation of riding on a narrow-gauge mine railway, more on that below. (Imagine the flickering of a candle's flame, that's the idea. The 火 of the character means 'flame' and is the base radical.) Japanese lends itself to such economy (think of 俳句), and Akutagawa is a master stylist. (By the way, the verb 煽る is also used for dangerous driving, especially tailgating.) Speaking of トロッコ、rightly the most famous in Japan is that linking Unazuki Onsen and Kurobe Dam in Toyama. I've ridden the train, and it's a memorable experience. However, unlike the Kurobe Dam railway, the trucks (トロッコ) in the Akutagawa story are moved by the miners themselves. https://www.kurotetu.co.jp/

Japanese HS Baseball Tournament "Koshien"

Teams representing all of Japan's 47 prefectures travel to Koshien Stadium (home of Hanshin Tigers) in August for this annual HS baseball championship. It's amateur sport at its finest and stars many a future professional (though Otani Shohei's HS team did not qualify to represent Iwate). One of the many nice things about the games and NHK's coverage are the profiles of the schools and their local communities, sometimes the prefectures the teams represent. The best link I could find for those who don't subscribe to NHK, the public broadcaster which has rights to air the tournament: バーチャル高校野球（夏の甲子園） - スポーツナビ https://share.google/TrfSYMy13pGSczhRU

Onwasan Kannon Temple and Yamato Amadera

Whilst waiting for NHK's live broadcast of the annual HS baseball summer championship 'Koshien'to begin, I saw a short program about this temple in Nara Prefecture (year 749, Nara Period) and head priest 後藤蜜栄. Recommend the Youtube video. 音羽山観音寺公式サイトー音羽山観音寺について - 音羽山観音寺 公式サイト https://share.google/lhQ99E7vNxZksuxQw

Kumamoto: a New Species of Earthquake

Photo (at the link) showing damage to a bridge located directly above a fault line in Kumamoto Prefecture. According to experts, the mechanism that produced the damage had not been observed previously even in this earthquake-prone country. 傷を引き起こした力として、地震の揺れと断層のずれ、という2種類の力が同時に作用したと考えられるという。複合的な力が損傷を引き起こしたとみられることから「日本でも類を見ないような被災事例となっている」とした。 (from 朝日デジタル, linked below) 熊本地震、損傷の高速道「類をみない」被害　断層のずれと地震の揺れ [熊本県] [2026年熊本地震]：朝日新聞 https://share.google/xUDNiUIEd6dweehdL

Sayonara to All That- Maybe (Updated)

All but a done deal: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/08/04/japan/permanent-residency-requirements-income/ I have to renew my visa in January 2028, less than one year after the regulations are due to take effect for new applications. With the foreign-owned business visa as precedent, I suspect long-term permanent residents to be affected by the proposed financial requirements for permanent residency which currently apply only to new and future applicants, And so, eventually, I and everyone I know will be ineligible. Update: I have been assured by an American who has been here as long as I - nearly 3 decades- and has considered the matter thoroughly that there's no cause for concern for permanent residents with families, proper jobs, and Japanese skills. I sure hope he's right.

More of the Same

Opponents kill international school plans in Sapporo | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis https://share.google/L8AppUCfNgESR0DZx

Beautiful Japan- Not So Much

Racist, discriminatory: a truly awful proposal from Japan Rugby. Hopefully this never comes to pass. Should provoke widespread condemnation. Sadly of a piece with growing anti-foreigner sentiment in PM Takaichi's Japan. RUGBY/ New rules leave former Japan rugby star Timothy Lafaele in limbo | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis https://share.google/lo4EjdQEiuwUTCB8L

Jizo in Shibata

影像, 坐禅堂

Sado, Crepuscular

芥川 龍之介: 蜘蛛の糸: Updated

"Spider's Thread", by Akutagawa Ryunosuke (for whom Japan's premier literary prize is named). With good reason, as this short short story is steeped in Buddhism without being didactic or obscure; the reader needn't be Buddhist to appreciate its virtuosity or the unique style and voice/ tone of 芥川. I read "Spider's Thread" in Japanese today and continue to marvel at Akutagawa, having recently perused Rashomon, In the Thicket, and Nose. All great stories, but perhaps 蜘蛛の糸 is most accessible. Here's an English translation: Kumono-Ito-text.pdf https://share.google/4FW9VOfv9pbeldFh9 Japanese: https://tatsu-zine.com/samples/aozora/kumono_ito.pdf?srsltid=AfmBOooYZKwjasUw6z5PZtXQwmHyapdN3FQsOdnfY_Bc704Zz8HrwzVF Having read 蜜柑 (Mikan) in the meantime, I strongly suggest Mandarin Oranges as a point of entry into Akutagawa.