Cool Japan Guide

(The Rangers spent $107.7 million to obtain Yu Darvish)
ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish and a four-run fourth inning helped the Texas Rangers end a two-game slide and beat the Oakland A's, 4-1. Some quick thoughts on Wednesday night's game:

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The Tsurusaki Odori (Dance) Festival is held for two days in August in the town of Tsurusaki in Oita City, Oita Prefecture. During the festival period, 2,000 dancers perform elegant and gorgeous dances. It is designated as a national Intangible Folk Cultural Property.

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(Hiroshi Nakamichi)
Hiroshi Nakamichi dreamed of becoming a great one-star restaurateur when he went to Lyon, France, with a Michelin guide in his hands, to work at Michelin-starred restaurants. More than 30 years later, his dream came more than true when his "bible" gave three stars to his Sapporo-based French restaurant Molière.
"I never thought three stars was possible," says owner-chef Nakamichi, 60.

(Dishes by French restaurant Molière)

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Japan - Kobe Beef 神戸ビーフ

Kobe Beef (神戸ビーフ) refers to cuts of beef from the black Tajima-ushi breed of Wagyu; cattle, raised according to strict tradition in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan, my Home Town. The meat is generally considered to be a delicacy, renowned for its flavour, tenderness, and fatty, well-marbled texture. Kobe beef can be prepared as steak, sukiyaki, shabu shabu, sashimi, teppanyaki and more.

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Tomorrow is the day of Aoi Matsuri, in Kyoto.
Date: May 15th
Places: Shimogamo-jinja Shrine and Kamigamo-jinja Shrine
Kyoto Imperial Palace: Kyoto Gyoen, Kamigyo-ku, Kyoto City
Shimogamo-jinja Shrine: Shimogamo Izumigawa-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto City
Kamigamo-jinja Shrine: Kamigamo Motoyama, Kita-ku, Kyoto City

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Press given preview of Tokyo Sky Tree Town
Japan Times - May 11, 2012

A press preview for the new commercial complex surrounding the 634-meter-tall Tokyo Sky Tree was held Thursday in Sumida Ward.
The 37,000-sq.-meter complex consists of a 312-tenant shopping and restaurant zone called Tokyo Solamachi, an office building zone, an aquarium and a planetarium. (Japan Times)
Link: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120511a2.html

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(The "Mino-tosui Kakutokuri" bottles come in three colors)
A distinctive square-shaped sake bottle, created as a souvenir by a pottery, a brewery and other parties in Tajimi, Gifu Prefecture, is the toast of the town, winning prizes in contests and selling out its first production run.
The “Mino-tosui Kakutokuri” bottle is also being used to promote sightseeing and local industries.
“It is made from water, soil and wood in the Mino region,” said Yuko Imagawa, manager of the Ichinokura Sakazuki Art Museum, one of the bottle's developers.

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ARLINGTON, Texas — Angels starter C.J. Wilson threw to only five batters in his return to Texas. His anticipated matchup against Yu Darvish was done after a 1-hour, 56-minute rain delay.
After Darvish struck out two of the four batters he faced in the top of the first Friday night, Wilson struck out Ian Kinsler to start the bottom half of the inning.

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(A shogi game being played with a magnetic traveling set. Captured pieces in the tray
(bottom-center) can be dropped on the board by the capturing player.)
Shogi is a Japanese chess game using a board and 40 pieces. In the formal type of the game called Hon-Shogi, the game is played between two players of Sente (the first player) and Gote (the opponent player). The two players alternate taking turns and the game is won when a king is captured.

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(Sacred deer at Nara Park)
We set aside another day to visit Nara. Nara is only about 30 minutes by local train from Kyoto. Nara was Japan’s first permanent capital so there are an endless supply of historic treasures. The two highlights for me were the sacred deer and the Big Buddha in Todaiji Temple. All the major attractions are in or near Nara Park which makes exploring by foot quite easy.
There were thousands of sacred deer in Nara Park. They are extremely friendly so tourists can interact with them by petting or feeding them rice crackers. They do have a tendency to be a bit aggressive when it comes to finding food in a tourist with an open backpack!

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tag : Cool_Japan, Nara

Festival of Kakunodate is a historic festival handed down for over 300 yeas in the Kakunodate area in Senboku City, Akita Prefecture. It is an annual festival of Myojin Shrine, the guardian god of the town and Jojuin Yakushido Temple. The festival is held for three days in September in hope of the town’s prosperity and business success.

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Hiroshima is a little over two hours via bullet train from Kyoto. We got a late start that day so the first stop when we arrived was lunch. We took a short stroll from the centrally located Hiroshima train station to a little food joint tucked away on a side street. Our Lonely Planet guide recommended okonomiyaki (Japanese Pizza) from a little sit down diner. I am not sure what all was in here but it may have been the best meal I ate all trip (or at least the most memorable).

(Hiroshima-yaki / Japanese Pizza)

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Like Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, Yoshikazu Tanaka became a self-made billionaire after he started a social networking site.
Tanaka heard about Friendster in 2003. He wanted to create a social network like Friendster in Japan, so he coded the first version of what is now GREE out of his Tokyo apartment.

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Huge traffic jams, torrential rain mar second half of Golden Week holidays
Japan Times - May 4, 2012

Expressways and train stations across the country struggled to cope with a Golden Week exodus Thursday, as travelers took advantage of the beginning of a four-day holiday to escape from the daily grind but in the process brave massive downpours. (Japan Times)

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tag : Cool_Japan, News, Travel

The Miharu Takizakura (三春滝桜, litt. waterfall cherry tree of Miharu) is an ancient cherry tree in Miharu, Fukushima, in northern Japan. It is a weeping higan cherry (Prunus pendula "Pendula Rosea", benishidarezakura in Japanese) and is over 1,000 years old.

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Japan, Kyoto from Sky part 2

Today also taking up herewith Kyoto(京都). Please enjoy the above Video by YouTube, that is to say, the Video titled "Japan, Kyoto from Sky part 2".
The geography of Kyoto is as follows:

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(Yuki Kakiuchi)
The Grand Prix of the 52nd Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in 2011 was awarded unanimously to Japanese Yuki Kakiuchi.

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Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton was named American League player of the month and Yu Darvish earned AL rookie of the month honors for April.
Hamilton, who turns 31 this month, led the league with nine homers, 25 RBIs, 64 total bases and a .744 slugging percentage and was second with a .395 batting average in 22 April games.

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("The Scream" by Edvard Munch)
According to CNN News, "'The Scream' sold for nearly $120 million".

New York (CNN) -- A pastel version of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch fetched nearly $120 million from an anonymous buyer Wednesday at Sotheby's in New York, setting a new world record for a work of art sold at auction.
Experts had expected the masterpiece to break new ground at the famed New York auction house; its presale estimate of at least $80 million was the highest ever listed at Sotheby's.
It sold for $119,922,500, which includes the premium paid to Sotheby's.

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tag : World_News

Today, May 3, is the "Constitution Memorial Day" and one of national holodays here in Japan.
Constitution Memorial Day (憲法記念日) is a national holiday in Japan. It takes place on May third in celebration of the promulgation of the 1947 Constitution of Japan. It is a part of the collection of holidays known as Golden Week.

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tag : Japanese_Constitiution