Osaka Sumo Blues

Disappointment is definitely a word that comes to mind when I found out that the March Sumo tournament in Osaka was to be canceled amid the match fixing scandal here in Japan. Sumo is the ancient Japanese sport that pits two wrestlers against each other. There have always been suspicions that the sport had been filled with rigged fights and other shady dealings, but it recently came to light that these suspicions were a reality.

Last year there was a baseball betting scandal involving several wrestlers who were betting on games with the help of yakuza members. One top ranked ozeki, Kotomitsuki was even banned from fighting for life because of his involvement. During that investigation police seized several sumo wrestler's mobile phones. On their phones they found text messages where wrestlers were planning to throw their fights.

I am not by any means a die-hard fan of the sport, but I do enjoy watching it when it is on television. Last year I went to the Osaka tournament on a Sunday with one of my friends. I had a great time seeing the massive wrestlers live, having beer and the general atmosphere of the day. This year, I was hoping to go again, but with my family. We were thinking about getting a family box so I could sit with my wife, son and in laws. That is why I am disappointed.


A picture I took at last year's Osaka Sumo Basho (tournament).

I was looking forward to a great first time sumo family outing. Apparently my in laws, who are from Osaka have never been to live sumo. Now there is even talk of the remainder of 2011 sumo tournaments being cancelled. I suppose we’ll just have to see. It would have been a great family event, but it looks like I’ll have to wait until next year!

Here is a video about the Osaka Tournament cancellation by a very knowledgeable sumo fan. JasonInJapan AKA myargonauts is a popular You Tube vlogger who vlogs about Japan and Sumo:





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Mukogawa Half Marathon

As some of you may know, I am a fun runner. I am by no means a natural athlete. I didn't grow up in an athletic environment, but later in life I discovered that I enjoy running. I have run four half marathons, three full marathons and about a dozen 10k races. As a fun runner, I find running fun. After running my first sub-four hour marathon in November, I signed up for the Mukogawa Road race half marathon. Today was the day to run.


The Mukogawa (Muko River) is located between Nishinomiya and Amagasaki in Japan.


Unfortunately, going into this race I was somewhat injured. After my full marathon in November, something weird happened with my knee. I suspect it was a new pair of shoes. Something different about the ASICS Gel Kayanos that I have been wearing for years changed with the new model. I ran many times during my Winter vacation, but my knee got worse. I rested for the week before this half marathon hoping my knee would be fine. Going into today's run, I planned to just take it easy, run slowly and have fun. I didn't even turn on my stop watch.








When all was said and done, I finished the half marathon in 1hour 56minutes 27seconds. It was about 9 minutes slower than my PB (personal best), but far faster than I expected. At the end of the day I finished 183 out of 1347 runners.


It was especially cool for me since my son was able to come out for the very first time and see his father at a race. Mind you, he was sleeping when I finished and just plain confused when he woke up, but it was great for me!


Here are a few videos I hot during and after the run with my iPhone:




One of the things I thought was really funny about this race was the fact that there was no bag check. Normally there is a secure area where you can leave your belongings. This race was so small that there was no such thing. At first I was surprised, but then I just found a tree to leave my bag under. The great thing about Japan is the fact that I knew my bag would be safe. No one would ever think to steal from it. I like that about living in this neck of the woods.

Run by the River and Yoshinoya Pork Buns

It was a wonderful long weekend here in Japan and I took the opportunity to get outside and put some kilometers under my feet. I'm still working on my base for the upcoming marathon in Osaka so my distances are still not impressive, but they are increasing steadily. Today I was able to run a half-marathon distance. I ran bout 21 kilometers. I ran from my place on Port Island, towards Nada-ku and then to a river close to Sumiyoshi. The river run was really nice. I ran along it a few times in 2008 when I first started the whole marathon running thing.


Here I am stopping for a pose. Unfortunately my running has been very sporadic over the last few years. I have run a handful of full marathons, half-marathons and 10 k's, but often take months off in between and pack on the pounds. This time around I will hopefully stick with the running well after my next two races are finished! I've actually registered for a full marathon in November and one in December. I applied for the Tokyo marathon 2011, but am waiting to see if I get a spot. It is a lottery. I got in last year, but there's a chance I may not get in again for next year's run.


This river is actually more of a storm drain than anything. This helps drain the rain water from Mount Rokko. There are many of these "rivers" throughout Kobe. They are always pleasant places to run for a few kilometers.


There were so many children playing in the water and several families barbecuing along the way as well. It is a long weekend and many kids were enjoying a nice Monday away from school!



For a nice little post-run snack, i bought something new. These appeared on store shelves just a week or two ago. They are Yoshinoya 吉野家 brand nikuman 肉まん. For 136¥, I decided to grab one.


Verdict: Not bad, but tastes like any standard pork bun you can buy at any convenience store in Japan, just a little more expensive.

It was a nice overcast day for a long run. I ran 15 km yesterday as well so now I am officially spent. My quads are screaming for a day off and I will listen to them. Thursday is another public holiday in Japan also I plan to get at least 15 km on that day as well. My goal for this week is to run between 60-70 km. Lets see if the legs hold up! I need plenty of sleep and to eat well.


For a nice little slice of some rural Japanese living, I watched a nice video today by the You Tube vlogger, sofypapa.

In this video you can see this American vlogger have a nice Sunday dinner with his Japanese family.

Back in my shoes again

I've been running again. I have actually been taking it quite seriously as well. I registered for the November 7th, Osaka Yodogawa Citizen's Marathon and has seriously started to get ready for it. I honestly haven't run seriously since I completed the Tokyo Marathon in February. I occasionally go out for a trot around the block, but nothing intense or regular.

I also have to admit that since my wife and I had our awesome little baby, I've been too busy and tired to train at anything. I didn't even have time to put a podcast together last week and I love dong my podcast!

it is time to get back into serious shape though and focus on one of my many hobbies. I decided to work on a hobby that gets me out of the house and healthy though. The more energy I have from training, the more fun I can have playing with and enjoying my little son!

I have logged 30k in the last three nights. About 40k this week so far. I ran about 11k this evening and plan to take a rest tomorrow. By the beginning of October I plan to average about 70k per week. After that, we'll have to see what my schedule allows. Running is a time consuming hobby and I simply don't have the time I used to!


This is a shot I took last night while running through downtown Kobe. I ran from Port Island to Kobe Station and back. I passed through Sannomiya and Motomachi on the way.


Here's another night time shot from my run last night.


Here's a rather long and bouncy (possibly headache inducing) video I posted last night on my jlankev channel on You Tube about my run through the downtown. I plan to make a similar video again soon, but with my HD camera as opposed to my iPhone.

Typhoon Melor hits Kobe

Typhoon Melor passed over us last night. It was moving faster than forecast and hit us starting around 12am. Buildings in Japan are not insulated so the wind howled through our apartment all night. It was my first time dealing with a direct typhoon so I have to admit that I was a little freaked out. I couldn't sleep most of the night because of the howling wind, rattling windows and the shaking building.

This morning, I awoke to the news that the weather warnings were still in effect, meaning no school. It is rainy and windy, but nothing more than a normal rainy day. Typhoon Melor has moved North towards Tokyo. I hope all of the folks in that dierection will be alright.

Here is my latest You Tue video. This one is about Melor:

Japanese lunch boxes 弁当

I'm pretty sure this past weekend will be the last Hanami for me. I'm now working 6 days a week and up to my eyeballs in work since the new school year just began. I cannot blog or You Tube as much as I normally do, but I still try to squeeze in a bit of "geek" time when I can!

Yesterday I went to the Mukogawa with my wife. It is one of the last weekends (if not THE last) with intact cherry blossoms. We had a great picnic. We bought obentos (lunchboxes) at Hanshin Department in Kobe. These ones were true "gourmet" lunch boxes, unlike the ones you can normally get at a convenience store!



This is what my wife's lunch looked like. It was heavy on the seafood.


Here was mine. It was a "gourmet" tonkatsu or breaded pork cutlet.


The inside of the pork cutlet (very lean white meat) had asparagus and cheese. It was AMAZING! The shop we got it from was KYK in Hanshin Department Store.



Just thought this Coke Zero ad interesting. "Wild Health!" This is Okinawan j-pop singer Namie Amuro and she is indeed impressive!



Here's my most recent You Tube endeavour. I was working on this collaboration video for a few weeks.
A Trip Around the World

Home Made Okonomiyaki お好み焼き

Japanese food is great stuff and I'm loving the fact that it's everywhere here in Japan! Funny how that seems to work. You'd think that's a no-brainer, but for some expats, Japanese food is something they only eat when they go out to dine. Within the confines of their own apartments or houses, 'Western' cuisine or that of their own native countries is what they consume on a day to day basis.

when I lived in South Korea years ago, I attempted making Korean food at home. Normally it ended up a disaster and it took my stomach years to forgive me for it. I'm sure it was the gochujeong (hot pepper paste) that I toyed with in such a haphazard way that really did me in.

Japanese food seems to be far more forgiving. At least, when I attempt to cook it at home, it is relatively edible. Luckily, my wonderful wife (who happens to be Japanese) is a kick-ass cook. We normally take turns cooking. On Sunday night she whipped up a batch of one of my favorite Japanese foods and a point of pride for the people of Osaka; okonomiyaki.

According to Wikipedia, okonomiyaki お好み焼き, is a Japanese savoury pancake containing a variety of ingredients. The name is derived from the word okonomi, meaning "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki meaning "grilled" or "cooked" (cf. yakitori and yakisoba). Okonomiyaki is mainly associated with Kansai or Hiroshima areas of Japan, but is widely available throughout the country. Toppings and batters tend to vary according to region.

Osaka Okonomiyaki - Kansai (Osaka)-style okonomiyaki is the predominant style of the dish, found throughout most of Japan. The batter is made of flour, grated yam, water or dashi, eggs and shredded cabbage, and usually contains other ingredients such as green onion, meat (generally pork or bacon), octopus, squid, shrimp, vegetables, kimchi, mochi or cheese. Okonomiyaki is sometimes compared to an omelette or a pancake and may be referred to as "a Japanese pancake", or even "Osaka soul food"
Read more...



Let's take a look at what was happening in my kitchen last Sunday night and a few of the things you need to do okonomiyaki (Kansai style) right.



Some of the toppings (once the okonomiyaki is cooked) include "tonkatsu" sauce. This sauce is normally poured on top of "tonkatsu" which is a breaded and deep-fried pork cutlet.


"Karashi" or Japanese mustard. it has a lot more kick that American style "French's" mustard! You mix it with the sauces that you pour on the cooked okonomiyaki.


Japanese folks love mayonaise (the white bottle). We also mixed "ousta" sauce (I think it's like Worcestershire sauce)with the tonkatsu sauce.



Okonomiyaki wouldn't be complete with a healthy sprinkling of dried sea weed (nori) flakes on top!




"Bonita" flakes. Dried smoked bonita fish.



The batter, pre-cooking. Some of the ingredients included, shredded cabbage, eggs, shrimp, green onion, noodles and pork.




The beautiful okonomiyaki after I added all the awesome toppings!



"Bon appetite!"

By the way, this food goes VERY well with an ice cold glass of draft beer!

Sakura and Weird Japanese Candy

Yesterday was a rainy day here in the Kansai, but a nice one nontheless. I went to Nishinomiya 西宮 and to the Sukugawa (Suku River) to check out the cherry blossoms. This place is so famous amongst Japanese for cherry blossom viewing that the train station is actually called, "Sakura Station" さくら夙川駅. Most of them were out. Most people weren't able to have their Hanami parties, but some rather clever groups had jerry-rigged tarps over their heads and were able to party all afternoon!

Some sakura (cherry blossom pictures):





A few days ago I recieved a surprise package in the mail. I quickly noticed the name "runnyrunny999." I know him from the world of You Tube. He's a fellow v-logger here in Japan. Recently he hit 100 subscribers and had a contest. He was giving away odd and bizarre flavours of "Japan only" Kat Kat bars. I WON!! Thanks runnyrunny999. I he sent me a package of Carmel Corn, some Umeboshi (plum) snacks and the "Yuzu Hot Pepper" Kit Kats. Yuzu is a Chinese citrus fruit. It's a cross between a lemon and a lime.

Yuzu and Hot Pepper Kit Kats.



Here's a video I made last year where I taste tested some different "Japan Only" Kit Kat bars.
Japanese Snack Attack

Learning About Food and Corn Pizza

I love Japanese food. Let my correct that, I love many types of Japanese food, but not everything. I will be the first to admit that there has been, somewhat of a learning curve for me when it comes to embracing all foods new. Point in case; fish. Fish is something that I doubt I will ever "love", but I am indeed growing to tolerate it. Some types I'm even beginning to enjoy eating.

Growing up, I could have been easily placed in the "picky little eater" category of Canadian food consumers. I'd like to blame it on my parents and geographic locale by saying thing such as, "I was never exposed to different foods." Or something like, "I only ever knew meat and potatoes before I came to Asia." I'd say those things, but they'd be outright lies. My parents valiantly attempted to introduce new and wonderful foods to my palate as a youth and I was only exposed to meat and potatoes.

Now, here I am. Living in Japan and exposed to a wide and fantastic cuisine. Previous to moving to Japan I spent more than five years living and working throughout South Korea. I consumed more vegetables than I ever thought humanly possible and ate things I never could have once imagined myself eating (I'm still not really into the kimchi thing though). Here I am, married to a wonderful Japanese woman who is doing her best to convert me to a new religion. That of, "Fish Fan." Will it ever happen? Maybe, maybe not. I am getting better though.

Along the theme of trying new things, there are some I have tried and feverishly see as wrong. Some foods are dear to me. Some foods are sacred. Pizza is one of those sacred foods. Those who have had the fortune to spend time traveling in Asia and have craved something they know, such as pizza, may have been in for a rude awakening at some point.


Corn on Pizza!

It's more common and well-loved here than you might think. It tends to be when you order pepperoni and cheese pizzas. They come slathered in sweet corn.I know what you're thinking! "That's just plain wrong Kevin!" And you are correct in that thinking. The sweet and spicy combination simply fails miserably in this case. At least to the "Western pizza fan" palate.

I took these pictures in my local 7-11 with my camera phone. This is "Pizza Toast", a popular snack here in Japan. Basically, it's bread, instead of crust, with pizza toppings. In this case you can clearly see the corn.


Here it is "up close!" Corn on pizza!! A travesty.


A few days ago I posted a BRILLIANT video of someone making "Korean Pizza." In that video you can see him adding the "very necessary" ingredient of sweet corn.

Suicide Trains

My long vacation finished, I dragged my sorry bones out of bed earlier than normal. Even earlier than I normally would if I was heading to class since today I was heading for a day of training and workshops in Osaka. I don't work there, but the head office of my company is located there and it's the most central location for all teachers to meet. Normally, on a good day; it should take me about 90minutes to get there. I take the JR (Japan railway) then switch in Osaka to the subway.

As I raced through Sannomiya Station (the main JR station in Kobe) and pushed my way through the crowds (a technique deemed rude here, but one I perfected in Korea) I got to the train platform and foolishly realized I should have looked at the schedule boards downstairs before making my way through the turn-styles. The trains were all delayed by about one hour and the platform was a madhouse of black-suited salarymen looking more than a little stressed. I was forced to dash back out of the station and head to the Hanshin Railway, where I had the misfortune of taking THE most crowded train I've ever been on in Japan...to this point.

I've gone through this drill before many times while trying to get to work. The trains are abnormally late, or at least what one might deem as abnormally late. For those wise to the ways of the riding the JR in Japan, you'll know there's only one reasonable explanation for your train arriving one hour later than scheduled...suicide.

Jumping in front of a JR train is one of the most popular ways of offing yourself in Japan and of course, Japan has one of the highest suicide rates in the entire world. People here, for a wide variety of reasons, take their lives and apparently the JR is a wonderfully convenient way to do it. What happens in the end? You have a dismembered lady or fella, a destroyed family left behind and commuter hell.

This REALLY pisses me off because it normally happens at least once or twice a week while I'm trying to get to work in the morning. I realize my opinion is quite cold and maybe even a bit on the "asshole" side, but there you have it...deal with it. If you have experience commuting here, you'd agree!

In the end, I got to my training session only 30 minutes late. Lots of people throughout the Kansai region got to work late as well. I'm just amazed at how common it really is. It's just a sad and inconvenient truth about being a commuter in Japan.

Hanami 花見 in Osaka and Beef

The weekend has passes, Hanami season in Japan has officially begun and my vacation is grinding to s slow halt. Sunday involved me heading into Osaka and taking part in my first Hanami party. In a nutshell, Hanami is Japanese for "flower viewing." The cherry trees are beginning to blossom and to ring in this seasonal change, people all across Japan throw blue tarps on the ground under the cherry blossoms, fire up their bbq's and get pissed!

On Sunday afternoon, some local Kansai-based video bloggers (including myself) got together at Osaka Castle Park and had a little party.


People doing the "Hanami" thing in Osaka-jo Koen.


More Hanami in Osaka Castle Park.


Here's my Osaka Hanami contribution to You Tube!

Hanami in Osaka 花見





Last night I joined some coworkers for some Yakiniku 焼き肉. Yakiniku is basically Korean-style bbq! It was all you can eat and it was spectacular. I'm pretty sure that this as only the second time I've eaten this type of food in Japan.

Some great beef about to be grilled!



This yakiniku restaurant is located in Amagasaki, close to the JR Amagasaki station.


Yakiniku (焼き肉 or 焼肉), meaning "grilled meat", is a Japanese term which, in its broadest sense, refers to grilled meat dishes.

Today, it commonly refers to a Japanese style of cooking bite-sized meat (usually beef and offal) and vegetables on gridirons or griddles over flame of wood charcoals carbonized by dry distillation (sumibi, 炭火) or gas/electric grill. In North America, China and Taiwan, Yakiniku is also referred to as either "Japanese barbecue" or "Korean barbecue" [1][2] due to its Korean origins.

It is thought to have originated from horumonyaki, a dish of grilled offal, invented by Korean immigrants in the Kansai area after the Second World War.
Wikipedia....read more.

Wow, it's Setsubun! 節分

It's been almost a week since my previous blog. Simply put, I'm damn busy. It's coming close to the end of the Japanese school year, I'm putting together final student assessments, student portfolios and making a graduation DVD. Also, I have my Japanese class and my running schedule to attempt to keep up with.

Today I went for a run and hunkered down for the afternoon to edit some videos for my You Tube channel as well as work on some collaboration videos. Hopefully, very soon, there will be some very cool things happening with my channel.

It's almost February, and it's almost time for Setsubun. Setsubun is another Japanese festival that has to do with ridding the world of evil and bringing in the new, so to speak.

In Japan, Setsubun (節分) is the day before the beginning of each season. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun (立春) celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival (春祭, haru matsuri?). In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be thought of (and was previously thought of) as a sort of New Year's Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away disease-bringing evil spirits for the year to come. This special ritual is called mamemaki (豆撒き, lit. bean scattering). Wikipedia

Here's my video about my Setsubun preparations.

Wow, it's Setsubun! 節分


Here's the video I made about last week's 10km road race I ran on Rokko Island.

Is He Running Again?

Original here.

Being Sick Sucks

Wednesday night after my Japanese class I was suddenly struck by some sort of stomach virus. After a very rocky night I had to experience a Japanese hospital for the first time yesterday morning. I'm on a lot of meds and not feeling very good at all. I'm missing another day of work and looks as if my long weekend plans are scrapped.

Hopefully I'll be able to get out on Monday and get some film footage of Seijin shiki 成人式 "Coming of Age" day in Japan. That's the reason for the long weekend. On that day 20 year olds around the country celebrate their passage into adulthood.

I came across this video today and thought it was pretty damn funny. I'll never have the lack of shame to be able to do this. Also, if I ever attempted anything like this, my wife would probably kill me!!

Dave Eastgate vs Scott Gregory - GAIJIN STREET SUMO

This was filmed in Dotonbori, in Osaka. See the original here.

Sleepless in Kobe...

Ah....Kevin's sleepless in Kobe! How sweet. Wait...no it isn't. He's sleepless in Kobe because he has a horrible cold and every time he lays down in bed, his lungs fill with goopy green crap and he starts coughing!!! Nothing romantic here at all. One of the downsides of being a teacher is that you're sick a lot. There are far more rewards than negatives, but it's true...you get sick a lot. More so here in Japan than in Canada and for a few reasons. I didn't get sick so much in Canada since my students weren't sick as often as the kids I teach now. Why? My students here are a lot younger. In Canada, I spent my time being ignored by 3rd and 6th graders. In Japan, it's senior kindergarten kids who choose to ignore me. Little people who's immune systems aren't fully developed therefore they often have colds. They also tend to sneeze, cough and generally drip fluids all over the place. I have taught them to cover their mouths when they cough and sneeze, but it's really just a drop in the bucket...a bucket filled with germs and other cooties!

So, long story short, I have another bad cold. What has been frustrating me so much this Fall/Winter is that I have been basically sick the entire time. Luckily and I mean VERY luckily I was healthy for both my wedding and my marathon, but those were basically about my only "ailment" free days of the entire season.

So, I'm sleepless in Kobe because I can't stop hacking and wheezing in my sleep. I was however able to go out for a nice little run this evening. I am running a 10k run on December 23rd (that's right...the Emperor's Birthday). The Kakugawa Marathon is about 30 minutes away by rapid train in....you guessed it, Kakugawa. I'll be there bright and early on the morning of the 23rd. The great thing about 10k is that I can run it in less than an hour and not be tired afterward. I think I'll even bring my camera along and take some footage for a video blog.

Ah well...back to writing my student reports. Now,since I feel like crap, I'll just write a few tonight and they'll be some of the better students in the class. those are always the easiest reports to write. The lazier kids or ones with behavior problems are always the tough reports to write.

Oh yeah...3 more days til my vacation starts. 3 weeks of work-free bliss. My plans...spend a lot of time studying Japanese (my Japanese class resumes on January 7th)since I have started to fall behind my studies because of my work schedule. Also..some hiking, a lot of running and maybe a few short trips.

The Shoes are back on!

When I moved to Japan earlier this Spring, I was somewhat plumper than I am now. A year at grad school had made me a litle soft around the edges. I set a goal for myself when I arrived. I would run a full marathon in 2008. I started running in early Summer and found a simple training plan in Runner's World magazine. I choose a race and resistered. Earlier this month I ran the Osaka Yodogawa Citizens Marathon in 4:44. My watch time was 4:41:51...I like that one better.


Here I am at 40km into the marathon. I saw the cameras and put on a brave face. I was in absolute agony at this point, but happy as a little clam!


Running has been something I've fallen in love with and Kobe is a great city for runners. There are some great places I've discovered and running has been a great way to get to know the city a lot better. I'd taken a break after my marathon. The following week, my family came to Japan to visit and the week after that I got married.

The shoes are back on though. It's time to start training again. I'm registered for the Kakagawa Marathon, on December 23 (The Emperor's Birthday), but will only run the 10k. In January I'll run a 10k on Rokko Island and in February the Port Island Half Marathon.

Yesterday, before heading into Osaka for some shopping,, I stopped by Junkudo bookstore in Sannomiya (the main shopping area in Kobe) and stumbled across this great book.

This is a great resource guide for runners living in Kobe. It lists all of the races in the city as well as maps of good places to run, including distances and elevations! It is in Japanese though and my Japanese skills are minimal at best. Luckily it's very visual and my wife has been helping me translate.

So, today was my third training run of the week. I ran 50 minutes from Port Island to HarborLand and back again. During my 3+ week layoff from training my feet have softened up so unfortunately I'm battling blisters. I'll be out on the road again Tuesday night...or possibly morning before work.