Gindako and Kimetsu no Yaiba

Takoyaki (octopus dumpling) shop tie-in with Kimetsu no Yaiba. They're such cut-ups.

Second Barbershop Tribute to Smiling Salesman

Second barber shop marker art paying tribute to Fujio A. Fujiko, creator of the Smiling Salesman manga. The owner has two shops in the area, and the art on the first sign wasn't very good. This one's an improvement.

Mikan Manhole Cover

Manhole cover in Kagoshima, advertising mikan (small oranges) from nearby Sakurajima (the island with the active volcano).

The Daihanya that wasn't, 2022

Daihanya is a big dance and music event in Kagoshima. It had been held annually for a few years up to the start of the pandemic, but has been on hiatus for since 2020. It was supposed to be held on April 23 and 24, and in the past has had upwards of 100 dance groups making appearances at 5 different locations around the city, with the main outdoor stage down at Waterfront park.



Unfortunately, we had heavy rain on Saturday, and the Waterfront park stage was closed for the day. I had to work in the afternoon, and one of my students said they'd seen one of the dance groups going to Ten Park, but there was nothing happening there when I got out.



At 4:30 PM on Saturday, I found about 5 or 6 groups in the open area in Tenmonkan, being given certificates. Usually, there's a big contest on Sunday to determine the best group. But, with the activities so scaled back, they may have just held the contest in Ten Park for 1-2 hours then called it quits.



The dance is called "yosakoi," and is used for cheering people up in the Summer. The groups can be company employees, university students, or workers at specific hotels. Each one can come up with a story and costumes to go with the dance.



Representatives of one group getting a certificate.



Of course, it stopped raining on Sunday. Two of the groups were loitering around at Central Park, and over at Ten Park, but it looks like everything was over by 2 PM. This group is from Japan Rail, Kyushu.



More of the JR Kyushu employees.



Back at the main event space, some of the dancers from the Southern Cross pop group were performing for the closing ceremonies



The audience was made up almost completely of Southern Cross fans wanting to take photos of their idols. The dancers had a lot of trouble remembering the moves, and the singing was off. I assume they've been out of practice, or that they brought in all new members.



I did find one yosakoi group walking around Tenmonkan, and they agreed to posed for me.



One other group, at Ten Park on Sunday, looking really subdued. Overall, not a great weekend.

Henry

There's this chalk art sign on the counter at the Seattle's Best Coffee shop in the main train station. The text says something about a cat named Henry that wandered up to the front door of the roastery in 1970.



And now you can get Henry brand blends.

Apr. 17 busker

I've been seeing more people doing karaoke in front of the main train station, and trying to sell CDs. Makes me wonder what happens if two singers show up to perform at the same time and place, do they have a sign-up sheet? Or do they just fight to the death for the right to be the next one up?

ePuyo

On the 17th, Amu Plaza had an eSports event in the open plaza in front the main trainstation. One of the "sports" was competitive Puyo Puyo. The game was also displayed on the big monitor overlooking the plaza space. The only people playing, though, were a couple of employees.

Ciena Chalk Art Butterflies

Second half of the April chalk art for Cie'na. I couldn't take this picture earlier because people kept standing in front of the sign while I was there.

Toyama MD Marker Art

Toyama hair salon with marker art for Mother's Day.

Shiro Spring Chalk Art

Sakura saku (eating cherry blossoms).

Smiling Salesman Art

Fujio A. Fujiko, co-creator of Q-taro and Doraemon, and creator of Warau Salesman (Smiling Salesman), passed away Apr. 7th. A men's hair salon in Tenmonkan tried to whip up some marker art as a tribute to him.

JR-USJ

Marker art in front of the Japan Rail (JR) booking office in the main train station, promoting travel to Universal Studios Japan for their Super Nintendo World show.

Shitasu Marker Art

The shiatsu massage parlor has a new sign again. Chopper.

Crossover Walk

A few weeks back, I wrote about a parking lot across from the prefectural hospital, where work had been ongoing for a big, long metal structure, and that one day it just disappeared.

This is the area in front of the main train station. I think I figured out where the thing got to...

Still not sure how they got it from the lot 1 mile away to here, and then hoisted it up onto the leg supports, though.

Ciena Chalk, Cup with Flowers

Ciena coffee shop usually has amazing chalk art. The flowers this time, though, aren't that great. The cup is drawn well, anyway.

Abide Sign

Yes, I got a replacement camera. You're welcome.



Bright Men's Used Clothing may not have changed hands, but it definitely changed names. Abide, go pound sand.

Update 3

 Ok, I gave up on waiting for the police to contact me and say someone turned in my pocket camera, and decided on Sunday that I would commit and go to Yamada Denki (Electronics) to buy a replacement. Most of the current Canon cameras are between 40,000 yen and 70,000 yen ($400 to $700 USD) and are "special" simply because they're 4K. I don't need high resolution - I need large zoom factors (x40), while the remaining 4K cameras are only x3 or x4. So, I just want another Powershot SX 720 HS, although all I'd been able to find recently has been the SX 740 HS.

I went to Bic Camera first to confirm the 54,540 yen price for the 740, and check whether it included the 10% sales tax or not. They had the camera 2 weeks ago, but I couldn't find it anywhere this time. So, I went to Yamada next, and while they had a 740 display unit out on the counter for 48,000 yen (before tax), the salesman told me they had nothing in stock in ANY of their stores country-wide, and the computer showed a one-month wait time on special orders. Sigh.

Amazon.co.jp shows one seller listing just the 740 camera (no memory card, battery or recharger) for 58,000 yen, and a second with some accessories at 59,000 yen. I'm not happy with either listing.

I'm going to try checking with one of the few camera-specific shops in Kagoshima to see if anyone carries good pocket cameras, and if they do I'll try to get there some time within the next week. This is really restrictive because I either have to get there on foot, or by bus, and the nearest big shopping mall is at least 10 miles away. Otherwise, I'll have to bite the bullet and order the camera from the more expensive option online. Double-sigh.

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Regardless, it looks like the Canon SX line has been phased out. I checked the Edion store website, and they don't have anything, either. Going back to Amazon.jp, I realized that my camera had actually been a SX720 HS, not a 740. The main difference between the two seems to be that the 740 has a movable display screen and the 720 has a fixed screen. I'm finding the 720 at Amazon with battery and charger for 40,000 yen. I may have a spare memory card, otherwise I can get one easy enough from Bic. But, what a pain.

Kimetsu no Yaiba Milk Campaign

Still no camera. The below image is a page scan.

Ad sheet found in front of the dairy case in a grocery store. Buy Daily milk, and possibly get the chance to win cups, stickers or a calendar with Demon Sword characters on it.

Update 2

Still no word from the Kagoshima police on my pocket camera being turned in. I'll give it another few days, then I'll give up and buy a new replacement. I'm currently leaning towards another Canon Powershot SX 740 HS. I was checking prices at the local big boxes, and Bic has it for 54,540 yen, but I don't know if that's before or after the 10% sales tax. Amazon shows it for around 58,000 yen. Yamada Denki has it for 48,000 yen, but again I don't know if that's with or without sales tax. Even if Bic's price includes tax and Yamada's doesn't, Yamada is still the slightly better deal. However, I have points cards for both stores, but I do all of my shopping for whisky and printer ink at Bic, and they have a better points pay-back program, so that tips things a little more in Bic's favor. I'll have to figure out the details better when I get ready to make a decision.