Small-town carshow - Chikuma, Nagano #RandomJapan

The cat's old man took me here the last time I was in Nagano because   I like cars. It was good to see a gathering like this in small-town Nagano, The only sad thing is that most of the rides weren't actually local.

Music:
Asahi by Tanada Band (The Cat's father's band)

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More of my stuff here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcnoodles/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcnoodles

More from the Japanese Underground:
web: http://darc.jp
YouTube: http://bit.ly/darcjp666
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darc.jp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcjp666

Yoyogi park weekdays, fishing in Nagano and more...#7Days7Minutes (2016-05-16)

A slightly more abstract video than the last, and a bit rushed on the cuts, but I need to make a point of pushing through the backlog, so quality may suffer.

Otherwise, I don't get on camera this week either. For which, you're probably better off.

MUSIC:

Terminus by May
http://bit.ly/mayterminus

Les Toreadores (Bizet)
Youtube Creator's Library

Wounded
by Avius & Kyoot
from Creative Comons on soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/creativecommonsmusicfree/avius-kyoot-wounded-creative-commons

original:
https://soundcloud.com/dubstep/wounded-by-avius-kyoot

More of my stuff here:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcnoodles/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcnoodles

More from the Japanese Underground:
web: http://darc.jp
YouTube: http://bit.ly/darcjp666
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darc.jp/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/darcjp666

Taking the piss #7Days7Minutes (2016-02-01)

The first minute sets the tone, and it goes downhill from there.

Music:
"No Idea" by Manny Marx
http://mannymarx.com

"Wataru Lights" by morgantj
licensed under a Creative Commons license.

"Linguistic" by Miles M with Ray O
https://soundcloud.com/russellcrossfire

Mt. Fuji, Akihabara and a few camera tests #7Days7Minutes (2016-01-25)

This is one of my more abstract 7D7M videos.
Bits and pieces from my last job mixed in with a visit to Akiba.

I am a bit busy these days so this is going to be the norm for a while.

Music:
Kurorak - Good Shit
https://soundcloud.com/kurorak/good-shit

Wontolla - Shape in the Snow
https://soundcloud.com/iamwontolla/shape-in-the-snow

both tracks licensed under creative commons.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Beautiful Nagano, ants and an army of fangirls #7Days7Minutes

music: "Ant Tube" by Tyler Abstract: https://soundcloud.com/tylerabstract/ant-tube

Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen Matsuri (Summer Festival) #RandomJapan #RealJapan

I was in Nagano for the Togura-Kamiyamada Onsen Matsuri a few weeks back. Here is a quick and dirty selection of the sights and sounds of a typical Japanese small-town summer festival. Shot on the Sony RX100m3.

Random Japan Phone Snaps #5 ランダム携帯で撮った写真

Sometimes I snap things with my phone that I only ever use once or intend to use in the future but never do. They gradually build up till I drag them all off my phone into a dump folder, where would usually spend the rest of their digital eternities...

Until now.

Enjoy these random images of random times in random Japan.

  

          

  

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-08-11) Shibukawa Dashi Matsuri, Obon Rituals and more...

00:00 MONDAY Ashes to Ashes
01:00 notTUESDAY Web Surfing
01:22 WEDNESDAY Obon Rituals
02:03 THURSDAY Caffenation
03:22 FRIDAY Homecoming
04:23 SATURDAY Shibukawa Dashi Matsuri - Day 1
05:32 SUNDAY Shibukawa Dashi Matsuri - Day 2

The Great East Japan Tour

I've been busier than a former AKB girl turned hooker over the last few weeks, and the places I've been generally didn't have connectivity or I didn't have the time to use the connectivity to blog. I apologise. 

I left for Shibukawa, Gunma on the 9th, and rode the 50cc 6 hours on the backroads to get there. I stayed with Yoshitatsu that night and the next morning we pulled out at 2am to go to Nikko Circuit for the DRiFTWiRED1 drift event. 

When I got back The Cat told me that her grandfather wasn't doing well and the next morning I got the call that he passed away. I met up with her and her sisters in Takasaki, Gunma we went back to Nagano for the funeral and proceedings.

After the funeral, I hopped the shinkansen back to Gunma and participated in the Shibulawa Dashi Matsuri. Which is and was one of the highlights of my life when it comes around every 2 years. It was good to be home. 

After 2 days of festival and a day to replace the Chain on my bike, I rode back to kawasaki and barely had a day to recover some semblance of sanity before hopping a Shnkansen for 5 hours to Akita in the far north.

I interviewed the heads of the Yamamo Soy Sauce company and a maker of Inaniwa Udon (one of the best known types of udon in Japan)

Back on the shinkansen to Kawasaki where I had a night in my own bed before heading west to Nagahama, in Shiga Prefecture, on the shores of Like Biwa, Japan's largest lake. 

The work was to interview the management team at Top Seiko, one of the world's most precise ceramic and tungsten machining companies. 

I then tool a look around the Kurokabe area, near Nagahama Station, where one of Japan'a oldest downtown shopping areas has been preserved and still serves the same purpose. Lack of money prevented me form taking too much time there. 

I hopped back on the shink and finally headed back home where I am now putting together a craptonne of articles, images and videos  over the next 2 weeks before getting on more trains and heading to more exotic destinations.

not my actual route or transport method but accurate sense of scale

Nagano in HDR

When I was in Nagano at the beginning of last month I fired off some brackets. 

Here are some of the Resulting HDR images:

Shots# 126 - The Next Generation

The Cat's younger brother and his new Daughter.
Ive never seen a happier father.

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-06-30) Nagano, A Holy Vending Machine, Driving and More...

00:00 notMONDAY Nagano is Beautiful
01:00 TUESDAY Just Driving
02:00 WEDNESDAY First World Problems
03:00 THURSDAY Bird Watching
04:00 FRIDAY Holy Vending Machine
00:00 notSATURDAY Anti-Nuclear Protest
00:00 notSUNDAY Always the best part of the trip.

Tuesday music was all shuffled form my iPod while driving.

Thursday Tune by Manny Marx. Support him and his epic music.

Locations:

Chikuma City, Nagano


Zenko-ji, Nagano City, Nagano (fri & sat)

Hot-Spring Town Pussy.

Anzu - Japanese Apricots

Chikuma City in Nagano is one of only a few places where Anzu, or Japanese Apricots are grown. They've been at it for 300 years and are pretty good at it. The best ones sell for around ¥10000 per box.

I've been shooting footage for a video, promoting both the Anzu, and the city, for the better part of the week. It's been a nice (and delicious) break from the rat race that is Tokyo.

shots #124 Nagano is Beautiful

I've been dealing with views like this for the past few days. I know. Terrible.

7 Days 7 Minutes (2014-06-23) Touchscreen Vending Machines, a cute caterpillar and more...

 

00:00 MONDAY - The Crossing <location>
01:00 TUESDAY - Jesus Plant
02:00 WEDNESDAY - 0.7x Wide Angle Converter is Wide
03:00 THURSDAY - Touchscreen Vending machine <location>
04:00 notFRIDAY - SOFA KING CUTE!!!!!!! <location>
05:00 notSATURDAY - DAMN! <location>
05:35 SUNDAY First decent drive since Okinawa <location>

notFriday Music: Mr. Punch by The Living

Cute Caterpillar is Cute

We came across this cute guy on an epic mission across a dam wall in Nagano earlier today.

The Last Cherry Blossoms of 2014

On the last trip to Nagano, we managed to catch the end of the Cherry Blossom season there. It's probably the last chance for the pink flowers this year. For those of you who don't like all the flowers, rest easy. This is it till next year's spring madness returns.

7 Days 7 minutes 2014-04-21 Boat Taxi, Cat Park, Mountain Roads and more...

00:00 MONDAY RAINbow Bridge from the Tokyo Monorail
01:00 TUESDAY Yokohama - Tokyo Bay Taxi
02:00 WEDNESDAY Cat Park (Ikebukuro)
03:00 notTHURSDAY The good life
04:00 notFRIDAY Mountain Roads
05:00 SATURDAY Butthurt
06:00 notSUNDAY Burning up the Dancefloor

GET MANNY MARX'S TUNES HERE!!!! 

A wild NSX appears!

Spotted this clean Honda NSX parked outside a Hot Spring Hotel in Chikuma, Nagano.