Lady Gaga レディーガガ Here in Kobe

Although I am not really into her genre of music, I am still impressed that Lady Gaga is performing in Kobe this evening. She is performing at the concert hall (World Kinen Hall)here on Port Island (the barren wasteland I call home). Last night there were huge crowds at the Port Liner station in Sannomiya when I was coming home from work. I realized that the throngs of good looking young women were in line to see a concert, but I didn't know who they were going to see. while waiting to buy my monthly train pass early this morning I saw the "What's Happening Events" calendar sign in the station and saw that Lady Gaga is playing here as part of her Monster Ball Tour.

Here is my little "jlandkev" vlog about it.

Let's Eat Snacks

Let's eat Japanese snacks. Many folks who are interested in Japan based blogs and vlogs are more than familiar with the standard food test blog. I wanted everyone to check this one out because it is a little different. This Japanese snack review is done by a well-known and AWESOME Korea-based vlogger, "qiranger."

Kevin's 5 Favorite Podcasts

I commute to work everyday like many , if not most people in japan. I spend a lot of time everyday squished on trains filled with despondent office workers and students. i also have a need to here English since the media I encounter on a daily basis is normally in Japanese.

Like many folks out there, I connect with the world outside of Japan through podcasts. I simply wanted to share with those out there, my top 5 podcasts. the ones I look forward to and am excited to see download each week, or day, in my iTunes tray.

Kevin's Top 5 Fave Podcasts

1. Stuff You Should Know
Josh Clark and Chuck Bryant, two staff writers for the "How Stuff Works" website have a twice weekly podcast where they look at amazing facts and interesting topics on every subject imaginable. They are witty, intelligent and normally leave me laughing out loud on crowded Japanese trains! With How Stuff Works, not only will you learn a lot, but possibly leave your pants wet with urine from laughing so much!

2. Q
5 days a week I listen to this AMAZING arts and culture show from CBC Radio. The host, Jian Ghomeshi is possibly one of the best interviewers I have ever heard. His is intelligent, insightful and knows the global cultural scene like no other.

Here is a recent interview with singer Nora Jones on Q.


3. Diggnation
This weekly tech/culture podcast has hilarious and knowledgeable hosts, Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht taking a funny and informative look at tech and tech culture around the world. This podcast is often booze-fueled and usually has me laughing out loud in inappropriate locations!


4. Seoul Podcast
This is a weekly (not so much these days) podcast created by 3 English teachers based in South Korea. Joe, Stafford and Jennifer give their interesting and often amusing viewpoints on life in South Korea as non-Koreans. They look at history, news and culture and also look at the expat community in South Korea. Often, interesting bloggers and other panelists are on the show. In recent months, the show's three hosts have become busier and have not been producing regular shows. Once weekly, now there are episodes once or twice a month. Since I lived and worked in Korea for more than five years (hence my You Tube name BusanKevin), I am still interested in the goings on there. I have always looked forward to listening to Seoul Podcast each week and hope it becomes a more regular installment once again.

5. Japan Talk
Very well produced and of a very high quality, Japan talk is a weekly roundup of news and interesting stories in Japan. It is produced by the creator of the Japundit website. If you are in any way interested in Japan, this amazing podcast is a must listen.

You Tube Hiatus Continues and some news

The week is half through and so far so good. No complaints from my end aside from the pain caused by going to the gym for the first time in 6 months.

Looks as if this will probably be the last full on weekend for Hanami in this part of Japan. Most of the cherry trees are in full bloom and many are losing many of the flowers already.

When I see stories about kobe in the English media, they naturally catch my eye. Upon reading his one, I realized that this would never receive any sort of media coverage in North America.

14-year-old girl arrested in Kobe for possessing marijuana
KOBE - A 14-year-old girl was arrested Saturday in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, on suspicion of possessing marijuana, police said Sunday. The third-year junior high school student is suspected of having about 0.09 of a gram of marijuana in the pocket of her school uniform at her home Friday in violation of the Cannabis Control Law, police said.

The student told police that she is acquainted with one of four junior high school students arrested in Kobe in December and January on suspicion of marijuana possession, but said she was given the marijuana involved in the latest case by another junior high school girl in the city. Japan Today

Although, upon reading this, you might think it strange that there would even be this much coverage about such a small amount of what we North Americans consider a "soft" drug, but in Japan, they don't mess around with drugs of any sort. Much like Korea, if caught with even the smallest amount of an illegal narcotic in japan, you are royally screwed. I would always shake my head when some "numb-nuts" English teacher in Korea would brag about getting his/her hands on weed (this didn't happen very often luckily). I would just inform them that unlike Canada, if caught here, even with a small amount, jail time is a distinct possibility!


A little Korea news....
SMOE won't be hiring this fall, EPIK to take care of it.
From the ever interesting Brian in Jeollanam-do blog.

On a lighter note, I am very much enjoying my little You Tube hiatus. With my work schedule and family life, I have been finding it a little stressful to give my little You Tube community the attention it deserves. I suppose this is mostly since my "little" You Tube community is no longer so little. With more than 5000 subscribers to my You Tube channel, trying to reply to comments, answer as many emails as possible (if they were well thought out questions) and producing content has caused me a little anxiety of late. After a little break I should be back in fighting form and will again, be producing fun content for the peeps who dig my stuff! For the folks who care, and luckily there are a lot of you, hang in there and I will be back soon :)

Hanami 花見 "Cherry Blossom Viewing"

Spring is not just in the air; it has officially arrived. For the past two weekends, people in this part of Japan have been celebrating spring’s arrival by having picnics and parties in local parks. Japanese people enjoy picnics at any point in the year (maybe not Winter), but the most anticipated season is cherry blossom or hanami season. In Japan, cheery blossoms are know as “sakura” 桜 and the act of going out to look at the cherry blossoms and potentially picnic or party in their midst is referred to as “hanami” 花見．

Last year was my first opportunity to enjoy Hanami in Japan. I went to several parties and family outings during the few weeks of the cherry blossom season. I was able to enjoy the revelry and more “hard core” drinking around Osaka Castle Park and then the following weekend, spend quiet time having wonderful picnics with my in-laws and wife in different part of the Kansai area.


These are some pictures I snapped of some cherry cheers close to my apartment.





I assume that this weekend may be one of the last weekends for Hanami in this part of Japan. Already, lots of the cherry blossoms have begun to fall off the trees. Next year it will be such a great experience to enjoy this very Japanese tradition with my wife and new little one!

Time Lapse Japan

I thought some of you might be interested to see some pictures from the Tokyo marathon last month. If you ever have the chance to run a 10k/half/full marathon, you may notice loads of very professional cameramen sitting on the sides of the road with high speed cameras. They make these very professional "action" photos. You can later go to their website and choose from about twenty pictures and then purchase them for a very high price. I simply copied and pasted a few of the preview shots (hence the All Sports watermark on the pictures). When I ran my first full marathon a year and a half ago in Osaka, I bought a few, but won't be doing that again for awhile!

Here I am running in the very wet and miserable conditions of Tokyo marathon 2010.


Still running. At the end of the race the sun came out and it ended up being a very beautiful afternoon.



A few days ago I posted my first attempt at time lapse video on You Tube. I was quite happy with the way it turned out, but learned a lot about how to improve on this style of video while editing it.


The final product and positive viewer feedback prompted me to go outside and film a lot more. i took some wonderful footage the other day in and around Kobe. I plan to post some more time lapse videos later on in April.



While standing under the Kobe Bridge (connecting Port Island to the mainland) I snapped this photo. I was filming various boats and ships sailing around Kobe Harbor. The footage I took was pretty good. Again, you can see the results later on in April.


I begin work tomorrow. The new school year officially begins next Monday, but I have been working a lot from home for the past few days preparing. Since I will be busy with work and am making more of an effort to study Japanese, I will take a little leave leave of absence from You Tube. Making videos for You Tube is a wonderful hobby and I really do love it, but it can be extremely time consuming. Creating and editing videos is one thing, but building and maintaining community with my viewers is the truly time consuming part (yet very rewarding). I will however, be back within a few weeks.


I plan to update my food blog Kansai Eats, regularly as well as this one.

Korean man Marries Japanese Pillow

So folks, it is a sunny and beautiful day here in Kobe, Japan. Last night I found out some great news. My "unedited/blog style" You Tube channel, JLandKev just got You Tube partnership. that basically means I can make about $2.00 a month from it and can brand it with my own banners and whatnot.


Korean Man Marries Pillow

This isn't new news, but it is so weird that I just have to share it.

I saw this story on Brian in Jeollanam-do's blog. It is by far one of the best blogs about Korea out there!

Lee Jin-gyu fell for his 'dakimakura' - a kind of large, huggable pillow from Japan, often with a picture of a popular anime character printed on the side.

In Lee's case, his beloved pillow has an image of Fate Testarossa, from the 'magical girl' anime series Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Now the 28-year-old otaku (a Japanese term that roughly translates to somewhere between 'obsessive' and 'nerd') has wed the pillow in a special ceremony, after fitting it out with a wedding dress for the service in front of a local priest. Their nuptials were eagerly chronicled by the local media. Source: Brian in Jeollanam-do

A lot of stuff about Japan

it is another rainy and cold day here in the Kansai. I am still on vacation, but as it draws to a close I find myself doing work at home. I just finished typing some reports and will soon head out and buy some new supplies for my new classroom. I have changed schools this year and will have a new role. I am quite excited to mix things up and work with new students and people.



I have sumo hands! these are two souvenirs i picked up while at the sumo tournament on the weekend in Osaka. The one on the left is Baruto's hand (he is an up and coming Estonian wrestler) and the one on the right belongs to Hakuho. Hakuho is the curent Grand Champion or Yokozuna. the hand prints were about three dollars each.

Random stuff I wanted to post:

Looks like South Korea and Japan are at it again....disagreeing with each other.
Japan, S Korean scholars again differ over history

it just isn't my home country of Canada that is having a doctor shortage. Japan is facing the same problem. I remember while living in Ottawa, seeing OC Transpo buses covered in advertisements about the medical professional shortage we were suffering from. Looks like that here in Japan, the government will make things easier for foreign doctors to practice here.


if you are in Tokyo this upcoming weekend you might want to take in the Tokyo You Tube Hanami party. You don't have to be a You Tube person to take part. It will be held in Yoyogi park on March 27th. Hanami means "cherry blossom viewing." Basically it is a great chance to drink under the blossoming cherry trees. For a lot more info, check out the Tokyo Cooney vid with all the details:

Sumo Time in Osaka

On Sunday I went to the Osaka Sumo Tournament. It was my first time seeing live sumo wrestling and I seriously plan to do it again next year. It was simply that fun. The crowd was energetic and since I know a little about sumo and am familiar with many of the top division wrestlers, had a lot of fun watching.

It was a little pricey at 5,400 yen for the second cheapest tickets, but even in the "nosebleed" section, I still was able to see everything easily.

If you are ever visiting Japan during one of the six annual sumo tournaments, I would completely suggest taking one in.


This is the video I made about my sumo experience in Osaka.




You can see the Estonian wrestler, Baruto. he is rising through the ranks and having a great tournament. Many people are hoping he will soon be promoted.


Here is the Grad Champion (Yokozuna) Hakuho. He is a Mongolian fighter.


Here is the Grad Champion (Yokozuna) Hakuho. He is a Mongolian fighter. This is him performing a ritual before the top division fighters began to wrestle.


These are the top division fighter. BIG boys!

Magnolias in Kobe

Yet another sign of Spring in Japan. The magnolias are Blooming around Kobe. I took these pictures earlier in the week (I am vacation and have ample time to photograph flowers) in Motomachi.

I took this picture across the street from the Starbucks close to the entrance to Chinatown. In the background you can see the old American Consulate (I believe it is a big and tall clothing shop now).

It was an overcast and dreary day, but I was still happy to have the time to frolic through the streets, taking pictures of very "Un-masculine" things!