Japan Days

Current Date & Time: In Japan, it is:
Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010, 6:14 PM; In Iowa, USA:
Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010, 4:14 AM

Information Links: Currency Converter; Japanese Calendar Year Converter; GaijinPot.com Jobs & Other Info; Learn Japanese Online; AskAsia.org; Japan Railways Homepage; Hyperdia -- Japan Train Routes & Timetables; Asahi Shimbun (en); Stars and Stripes; Yokota Air Base - USAF Official Site; Misawa Air Base -USAF Official Site; CFAY Yokosuka - USN Official Site; NAF Atsugi - USN offical Site; MCAS Iwakuni - USMC Official Site; CFAS Sasebo - USN Official Site; Engrish.com -- Love This Site!!!; Online Babelfish Translator

Welcome to Japan Days!

Welcome to Japan Days. Some of my fondest memories are from my days in Japan, therefore I have started this website. Originally, I had most of this content on another site, but the theme of the content was inconsistent with the theme of that site. For that reason, and also because I am an incurable geek who loves to experiment with code, I decided to open Japan-Days.info, dedicated to my days in Japan.

The site is for anyone with an interest in Japan. Members of the US Armed Forces and their dependents who are either currently stationed, previously stationed, or about to be stationed in Japan, are very welcome here. The time that I spent there as a member of the USAF in the 1970's changed my life, and my hope is that any of you who have the opportunity to go there can find information in here that will enable you to better enjoy your tour in that wonderful, fascinating country. and that will help you to make the most of this great opportunity to experience a most amazing country and culture.

I hope that you enjoy the website, and please check back often as I add more content.

--Bob

Some Random Photos

Currently, the picture gallery from which the random pics are selected include photos that we took in 2005.

As I develop more of the site, I plan to add more pictures to the gallery, and I plan to enhance the function that dynamically builds the slideshow to select photos by category, with categories being defined and selected for content relevancy.

Japan, Asia, and Travel News: News On Japan; Trucker busted with 260 stolen undies
Japan Times 2010-03-09 22:30:00
Kenichi Ikeda of the city of Nagasaki has carried around three bags and a secret he could not tell his family at home - inside the bags were hundreds of women's undergarments that he had stolen over 10 years, police said. Police arrested the 36-year-old truck driver, who allegedly had stolen about 260 pairs of women's underwear and kept them in bags behind the driver's seat of his truck. "I couldn't leave them home because I have a wife and children," Ikeda was quoted as saying by police. (Japan Times); Chrysanthemum or Samurai?
foreignpolicy.com 2010-03-09 22:51:24
In a thoughtful essay in today's Financial Times, Gideon Rachman asks whether Japan may now be tilting towards China after 60 years of aligning itself with the United States. This question is interesting on multiple dimensions -- including with regard to the future of U.S. primacy in Asia, the impact of China's rise on its neighbors, the nature of Japanese politics and identity, and our understanding of the deep structure of international relations at a time of systemic power shifts. Indeed, Japan is a critical case study for assessing how the developed world will respond to the rise of dynamic new power centers in Asia -- and what the implications will be for American leadership in the international system. (foreignpolicy.com); Heavy snow in Japan forces airlines to cancel flights
BusinessWeek 2010-03-10 07:49:42
Japan's national weather service issued warnings for heavy snow throughout the nation as the country's two biggest airlines canceled or delayed flights affecting more than 7,000 passengers. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued warnings for heavy snow in the northern prefectures of Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi and the island of Hokkaido, according to an update on the agency's Web site at 11:46 a.m. local time. As much as 100 centimeters of snow may fall in some areas, the agency said. (BusinessWeek); Citigroup sells Japan ski resort to Malaysia's YTL
Reuters 2010-03-10 08:17:36
Citigroup Inc (C.N) has sold one of Japan's most famous ski resorts, Niseko Village, to Malaysia's YTL Corp (YTLS.KL), with the property and power conglomerate seeking to develop it into a world class summer and winter destination. Niseko Village, sold for 6 billion yen ($67 million), is popular with Chinese and Australian skiers and a mecca for domestic snowboarders due to its quality powder snow. (Reuters); Pet shop manager caught stealing penguin from Japanese zoo
telegraph.co.uk 2010-03-09 22:42:27
A security guard at the Nagasaki Bio Park noticed Akira Honda, 24, ushering the Humboldt Penguin into his suitcase in January. According to the zoo, the penguin is worth about Y400,000. Mr Honda told police that he had run up debts which he intended to pay off by selling the creature to a collector. Humboldt Penguins are native to South America and grow to around 27 inches tall and up to 13lb in weight. They are currently listed as vulnerable, due largely to the destruction of their habitats, and an estimated 12,000 survive in the wild. (telegraph.co.uk); Movie director Kitano awarded France's top cultural honor
AP 2010-03-09 22:56:50
Japanese film director Takeshi Kitano has been named by France for the title of Commander of the Order of the Arts and Letters in recognition of his achievements, France's ministry of culture said Tuesday. Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand will bestow France's highest honor for artists on Kitano later in the day, the ministry said. To commemorate the honor, the films of the 63-year-old will be screened at the Centre Pompidou, a contemporary art museum in Paris, for three months from Thursday and artwork by Kitano will be displayed at another museum in the city from the same day. (AP)