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Primary Format : Travel Language : Unknown Also Listed as: City : Tokyo State/Province : Unknown Country : Japan Region : AS User Tags: User Votes: RSS Feed Website People found this Podcast Searching for: View this Podcast on a Google Map. Podcast iTunes Link Text Only listing of JapanVisitor Podcast Podcasts Methings.com listings of JapanVisitor Podcast Podcasts If you like this podcast, you might also like:

View the full archive of JapanVisitor Podcast Giant Squid On The Sidewalk 歩道のイカI have seen some odd things dumped on the sidewalks in Japan, especially when city authorities would pick up sodai gomi (large items of household waste) on specific days for free.This much-loved practice, which provided the furniture for many a short-term foreigner's apartment and offered up the odd priceless antique, has now come to a sad end and you must contact your local ward office and pay for them to collect any bulky refuse.As this type of free refuse collection has be ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Diwali Festival, Nishi-Kasai, Tokyo ディワリ祭り　西葛西Last weekend I went to the Nishi-Kasai district of Tokyo, in Edogawa ward in the far east end of the city. Nishi-Kasai has the largest Indian community in Tokyo - and probably Japan - and the occasion on Saturday was the 10th celebration of the Hindu Diwali festival.In spite of it being an Indian event, it was aimed at much at the local Japanese population as it was the Indian. The majority of the crowd was Japanese, and even the performances were largely Japan ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Bledisloe Cup Rugby Match in Tokyo ブレディスロー・カップI had the fortune of getting tickets - per kind favor of the Brastel telecommunications company and New Zealand Telecom - for the Nissui Tokyo 2009 Bledisloe Cup rugby match between the New Zealand All Blacks and the Australian Wallabies at the National Sports Stadium in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward.The massive National Sports Stadium, or Kokuritsu Kyogijo, (built for the 1964 Olympics) was close to a full house, with a crowd of about 45,000. There was a large cont ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kabukicho Tokyo 歌舞伎町Kabukicho is one of Tokyo's largest "entertainment" areas and well-known for its red-light sleaze.Kabukicho near Shinjuku Station is home to over three thousand bars, cinemas, hostess joints, karaoke boxes, nightclubs, pachinko parlors, love hotels, soaplands and massage establishments and has been a center of organized crime since the end of World War II.The Koma Theater in Kabukicho is a venue for musicals and samurai dramas. the historic Hanazono-jinja (Tel 03 3200 3093) is t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Tsukiji: The Fish Market At The Center Of The World Tsukiji: The Fish Market At The Center Of The Worldby Theodore C. BestorISBN: 0-5202-2024-2456 ppLong a popular destination for foreign visitors to Tokyo, Tsukiji, the world's biggest fish market with some 450 different types of fish and a daily turnover of more than 2,000 tons of fishy products, is nevertheless facing a crisis in Japan's changing business and food culture. Though it is only a short hop from Ginza, its appeal to foreigners has left some locals bemused. A recent article in t ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Crows in Japan カラスWith the possible exception of stray cats and barking dogs (both pet hates of mine), the biggest urban pest in Japan are crows - karasu (in Japanese).Crows are the Taleban of Tokyo - large, aggressive, noisy and clad all in black.With wingspans of around a meter and sharp claws and beaks, Japan's crows have moved in from the countryside to the towns to scavenge on the easy pickings of household garbage.Household waste in Japan is not usually placed in a bin or can but left in a pla ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Japanese kids kendama dance to Michael Jackson 大久保祭り　剣玉　マイケル・ジャクソンToday, October 12, is a holiday, Health and Sports Day, (usually October 11, but moved to the 12th this year) and it is also the day of the Okubo Festival in the Okubo district of Tokyo's Shinjuku ward. Okubo is Tokyo's most prominent Korean town.It was a perfect fall day with clear sunshine and cool breezes, and hundreds of people lined the streets to watch the festival.The parade I was there to watch was particularly interesting for ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Daibonsho Bell Zojoji Tokyo 大梵鐘Zojoji is the main temple of the Jodo (Pure Land) sect of Buddhism. It is right next to Tokyo Tower. It was founded as the sect’s eastern Japan seminary in 1393 and was relocated to its present site in 1598. In those days it was a massive complex containing 48 subsidiary temples, over 3000 priests and over 150 grammar schools. Times have changed and it now occupies but a fraction of its former area.Coming from Daimon or Hamamatsucho stations, the first you will see of Zojoji is i ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Nagoya Festival 2009 名古屋まつりListen to the sound of Nagoya FestivalThe upcoming weekend of 3-4 October sees the annual Nagoya Festival, the 55th festival so far.Nagoya's biggest festival takes place over two days in various parts of the city, including daily parades of large floats with around 700 participants in period samurai costume parading down Otsu dori celebrating Japan's and Chubu's three great medieval warlords: Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, and Tokugawa Ieyasu.Other events include marchi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Asashoryu 朝青龍Mongolian born yokozuna (grand champion) Asashoryu is the bad boy of Japanese sumo wrestling but probably the most talented wrestler in the sport today.Born in the Monglian capital of Ulan Bator, Asashoryu reached sumo's highest rank in 2003 and was the first Mongolian wrestler to do so. He is the trailblazer for the other Mongolians who have entered the sport in his wake including fellow yokozuna Hakuho.Asashoryu has courted controversy throughout his career and was given a tempor ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website September Sumo Tournament Tokyo 相撲Sumo is a sport of ritual and tradition.Watch the video below to see the lead in to a day's main wrestling action at the annual September sumo basho (tournament) in Ryogaku Tokyo.© JapanVisitor.comYahoo Japan Auction ServiceBook a Japanese Hotel with BookingsJapanese FriendsRough Guide To JapanTagsJapanese sumo Tokyo Ryogaku Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Au Revoir Simone in Tokyo Au Revoir Simone is a three-girl band from Brooklyn, New York, who make electroncia/indie music. They came to Tokyo again on September 15, not to sing, but to DJ and meet the fans at the agnes b shop in Minami Aoyama.Au Revoir Simone are Erika Forster (vocals/keyboard), Annie Hart (vocals/keyboard) and Heather D'Angelo (vocals/drum machine/keyboard), but, as they were not performing their music at this event, all we got to see were their very cool, eclectic choice in music, and their charmi ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Brazil Festival Tokyo ブラジル　祭り　東京Japan, and Tokyo especially, has a huge Brazilian community, mainly made up of Brazilians of Japanese descent. The annual Brazil Festival in Tokyo turns the Jingumae area of Shibuya ward into Brazil for a day with the kind of let-your-hair-down party atmosphere that just doesn't happen anywhere else in Japan.The air is filled with the scent of great food cooking, the sound of get-up-and-dance rhythms, and the whoops and laughter of a crowd that won't stop havin ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Gay Shinjuku Ni-Chome Rainbow Festival 2009 レインボー祭り　新宿二丁目2009 was a good year for Tokyo's gay community in that, unlike, last year, a public pride gathering took place - although unlike the very public Tokyo Gay Pride of 2007, this year's celebration was a little less "out" in the sense that it took place on the home turf of Shinjuku Ni-Chome, Tokyo's most popular gay area, part of the all day-all night Shinjuku station district.This summer has been a cloudy, wet one, and, while the sun chose not to shine on ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Sumida River Tokyo 隅田川Listen to an announcement on a Sumida River cruiseThe 27km-long Sumida River flows through the heart of Tokyo into Tokyo Bay and along with the Arakawa River (荒川) is one of the major rivers in the city.The Sumida River passes under 26 bridges on its way to the sea near Odaiba and past some of Tokyo's main areas of interest including Asakasa, Ryogoku, Hamarikyu Gardens, Shiodome, Nihonbashi and Tsukiji Fish Market.One of the best ways to get the feel of the river is on a Tokyo R ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Kinshicho backstreet festival 錦糸町　お祭りI stayed this weekend at an address inKinshicho, a relatively impoverished town in Tokyo's east end. I was awoken Sunday by what I thought first was a crow. As I listened, I realized it was human: a constant, strident, parade-ground-type shouting of a single voice, repeating the same words over and over.I blearily went out onto the veranda to see what the commotion was, and was surprised to see afestivalin full - but somehow listless - swing, with scores of men shoulder ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Taking A City Bus In Japan バスFew people depend on taking a bus to work in the major Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. At best, a local bus will take you from your suburb to the nearest subway or rail station from where you can complete your commute. In general, Japanese city buses are cheap, crowded and slow.In smaller cities such as Kyoto, which has only 2 subway lines, buses are essential for getting around town, if you don't have your own transport, whether that is a car or bicycle.Car-mad Japan seem ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Fuji Rock Festival 2009 フジロックフェスティバル'09The line up for this year's Fuji Rock Festival July 23-26th includes Oasis, Paul Weller, Patti Smith, Weezer, Public Enemy, Franz Ferdinand, and many more.This year's theme is 'global warming/natural energy', 'biodiversity' and 'human rights.'Tickets are 39,800 for the three days or 16,800 for one day. A one-day car park pass is 3,000 yen as is a camp site ticket on Naeba Ski Resort. Bicycles and motor bikes are free to park. Naeba Onsen hot spring can ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Nagoya Sumo Tournament 相撲名古屋場所We visited the Nagoya sumo tournament last Sunday which was an unforgettable day out.Sunday was the day before the Ocean Day public holiday and the packed house at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium was really up for the sumo.There were wins for the home town favorite Kotomitsuki, popular Bulgarian ozeki Kotooshu (aka Kaloyan Mahlyanov) and veteran Kaio. The defeat of controversial Mongolian yokozuna Asashoryu to Kisenosato in the day's final bout really brought the house down ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website Gion Festival Kyoto 祇園祭Listen to the sound of Gion MatsuriKyoto's Gion Matsuri takes place throughout the month of July with something happening nearly every day.Gion Matsuri began over a thousand years ago to placate Susano-o no Mikoto, the god of wind and water in an effort to halt a devasting plague that was sweeping the country. The gorgeous floats were traditionally maintained by merchant guilds (now neighborhood associations) who vied with each other to produce the most ostentatious show of kazari ... Listen | Listen in your iPhone | Download | View full cache | Visit Website