Thanks for all the fish.

Well, I've been at this blog for almost exactly 12 years now, and I think the time is coming to wrap things up. There are almost no events taking place in Kagoshima anymore, and I'm finding it increasingly difficult to find anything worth writing about or taking photos of. As mentioned a couple weeks ago, the government is cracking down on unauthorized uses of manga and anime (which I doubt will change anything regarding fans uploading scans and videos of copyrighted material to youtube and other host sites). So, I'm not going to post reviews of what I'm reading anymore (which may be what the publishers want, anyway). The government is just starting to open up travel between prefectures, but with the big Obon holiday period coming up in August I'm expecting tourist travel, and people going back to their hometowns to be way, way down. Travel to and from other countries is still highly restricted. Which means that I'm not going to be going anywhere to take touristy videos. The next few months just look to be as grim as the last 4 have been.

I'm not taking down this blog. Not just yet, anyway.
Feel free to check back in occasionally to see if anything new has been posted. In the meantime, thanks for hanging around with me this long, and we'll see what the future brings.

Mar-July. articles in the media

Here's the batch of articles to show up in the media from Mar.-July, regarding anime, manga and related stuff.

Japan Times

Japanese monster goes viral on hopes for end to coronavirus pandemic

Anime cons 'will never be the same' after the coronavirus

Forget about anime production delays by streaming these classics

In Japan, ‘Sazae-san’ — world's longest-running TV cartoon — switches to reruns

Homemade anime: Studio Ghibli producer offers online lesson on how to draw Totoro

Fifty years of Doraemon, and still there are lessons to be learned

‘Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man’: 15 years as Studio Ghibli’s bridge to the world

‘Japan Sinks: 2020’: When disaster strikes, keep your family close

Tokyo home of ‘Astro Boy’ creator and other manga legends opens as museum

Universal Studios Japan to open 'Doraemon' ride on Aug. 4


Daily Yomiuri

EVA invades Shimano Town Hall!

Japanese child actor Kurumi Inagaki enters ‘Pretty Cure’ world through voice acting

Japanese anime ‘Genie Family’ emerges from bottle after 50-year wait

Japan’s beloved manga assassin becomes the latest coronavirus fatality

Japanese manga 'Demon Slayer' draws to close

Japan’s anime song singers aim to cheer up the public

Hayao Miyazaki’s manga to become audio drama

Manga archive to preserve original drawings to open in Japan

‘Tokiwaso’ mangaka apartment resurrected in Tokyo

Famed Japanese animator creates Yubari film festival promotional artwork


Asahi

'Kingdom' anime season 3 to start airing on NHK from April

'Millionaire Detective' series starts in April; teaser unveiled

Second season of 'Fruits Basket' to start on April 6; clip released

Main visual from new 'Detective Conan' movie released

Anime characters guide visitors at tourist spots via NEC's AR service

'Evangelion' film series finale set for theatrical release June 27

'Josee, the Tiger and the Fish' to make its anime debut in summer

Yamaguchi’s ‘Blue Period’ wins Cartoon Grand Prize 2020

Tezuka’s hand-drawn Melmo finds a home in sushi parlor

7th New Chitose Airport film fest to run Nov. 20-23 in Hokkaido

Size matters: Gundam Cafe Akihabara to get four times larger

'Lucky Star'-themed marriage form offered in anime’s locale

Mamoru Oshii's latest series 'Vlad Love' drops visual teaser

'Doraemon' collector's edition made to last into the next century

‘Nyx’s Lantern’ wins top manga prize at Tezuka Osamu awards

Studio Ghibli, TV stations post free wallpapers for video chats

Manga on Soviet women in WWII shocks industry, wows readers

A happy ending? ‘Demon Slayer’ manga concludes as popularity soars

Coronavirus pushes release of ‘Detective Conan’ film to April 2021

Dragon Quest Walk Sticker

Dragon Quest Walk is a "augmented reality role-playing video game", but I don't have a smartphone and was completely unaware of this game until just recently when I found the above sticker on a vending machine in Tenmonkan. According to the wiki article, the player wanders around the city to various real world locations, where they can encounter monsters to fight for items, leveling up, or advancing quests. The game creators struck a deal with Suntory to use some of their vending machines as in-game "healing stations."



So now you know.

Prepare for Rain

Japanese umbrella stands are weird.

"Prepare for rain.
Raindrop is a drop of water with the size of more than 0.5 mm in diameter and comes down from the sky."

Dog Star

It's rough when you have to act as your own guard dog.

Google Doodles, 2020, Part 1

I'm still collecting the links to the Google Doodle's that I find interesting, for science, math, Japan, animation, and game-related doodles. Not many to work with for this year so far, though.

Sir John Tenniel's 200th Birthday



Girls' Day 2020



Wubbo Ockels’ 74th Birthday

Dr. Signated Smoking

What, doctors put up signs in the smoking room? Do the signs say "smoking is bad for you"?

Dolphin Port - All Gone

June 25th, and Dolphin Port is all gone. The deconstruction crew has also moved out. Very quick.



Tearing down paradise and putting up a parking lot.
Or, rather, tearing down a parking lot and putting up a new parking lot.

Tully's Tom and Jerry's Card

Found this on the receipt at Tully's coffee shop. If you buy a Tully's prepaid card for getting coffee, you get a TandJ card case. Tom is popular here.