#biginjapan — Public Fediverse posts

🇺🇦 #NowPlaying on #KEXP's #SonicReducer

Big in Japan:
  🎵 Big in Japan

#BiginJapan

▶️ 🪄 Automagic 🔊 show 📻 playlist on Spotify

▶️ Song/Cover on Bandcamp:

Big In Japan, by UMMO

サムライ — 侍の魂 & SAMURAI NO TAMASHII -
#Yeni #New JAPAN EPIC HEROIC MUSIC SONG ALBUM

Lyric (Söz) & Music by Ali OKUR MEDYA KONYA PR MUSIC

#Full #Video on #YouTube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VAJkXqifVh4

#Samurai #JapanMusic #サムライ — #侍の魂 #SoulofSamurai #NoCopyright #Free #freeshare #AIVideo
#Background #FilmMusic _ #GameMusic #Soundtrack #Japan #japanesestyle #BiginJapan #reelsjapan #background #Music

LP-Radiowerbung (Sommer 1984) trifft Plattenschrank.
Summer Melody Hits (CBS)

#compilation #sampler #cbs #koolandthegang #fictionfactory #alphaville #howardjones #chrisdeburgh #billyjoel #earthakitt #matthewwilder #slade #mikebatt #peterhofmann #biginjapan #thenits #lanihall #radio #radiowerbung #radioads #vinyl #record #1980 #80er #80s #80smusic #synthpop #poprock #retro #nostalgie #throwback #flashback

Post Punk Classics. No 119 in an occasional series:

Big In Japan - Suicide Highlife

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcLuE3kHJLk

#BigInJapan #PostPunk #PostPunkClassics

Me is going home now. I'm a bit emotional now, as I could have stayed longer... But I got a long flight home ahead of me, so enough time to think about all the amazing experiences.
And once again in case you had a certain song stuck in your head while reading all my toots about Japan, that's my fault. Every single toot using this hashtag started with a word from the song by Alphaville, picking up where I ended with my last trip three years ago.
#BigInJapan

To me, monorails always looked a bit futuristic. Even though they are a bit impractical. So I took the Tokyo Monorail to Haneda airport. The ride was bumpy, the cars look a bit dated but the view is amazing! And I finally rode a monorail!
#BigInJapan

Did not expect to find a full sized Mini 4WD car in the Tamiya shop. It even looks like it's a driveable car underneath. 👀
#BigInJapan

You can also get model kits and parts for them at the Tamiya Shop in Tokyo. I collected a few parts, contemplated getting an original track for my Mini 4WD models. As I couldn't figure out what the costs for an additional piece of luggage would be, I decided against it.
#BigInJapan

What else is there for me to do in Tokyo? I went to Kappabashi Hondori Shopping Street. It's lined mostly with shops selling supplies for restaurants. And of course there's also shops selling Chochins, traditional paper lanterns used for advertising. As I wanted two of these for quite some time, I finally bought them.
And got myself a nice sake set as well.
#BigInJapan

Did not expect to find another H-II rocket in Tsukuba. But there it is, just in front of Tsukuba Expo Center.
And that's all you'll read about Tsukuba from me today.
#BigInJapan

You would probably guess that I'll definitely get something from the shop at JAXA Tsukuba Space Center if it involves Japanese food and space. And you'd be right. They sell space Onigiri! 👀
#BigInJapan

Scenes from outer space and big rockets... I went to JAXA Tsukuba Space center which is about 1 hour outside of Tokyo.
As I didn't have enough time, I didn't get on the tour through some of the facilities unfortunately.
But the Space Dome exhibition is also really interesting with many satellites, a model of the HTV cargo vehicle, the Kibo module of the ISS and more. Outside they have an entire H-II rocket which you can see from up close. And of course a souvenir shop.
#BigInJapan

Ugly? I don't think so. But interesting for sure!
This morning I went for a walk along Kanda river. I really like how you can see the layers of grown infrastructure of this city here.
#BigInJapan

Other experience of Japan than in Hokkaido... The Shinkansen took me all the way to Tokyo. It's big. It's crowded. It's busy. It's too much. I love being here.
I'm just gonna drop these few pictures I took while travelling around the city in the evening.
#BigInJapan

For the last part of my journey, I'm hopping on the Shinkansen. The service between Aomori and Hakodate had it's tenth anniversary just recently. The train passes through the mountains in Hokkaido with a series of small tunnels before it disappears into the 53,85 km long Seikan tunnel (the Eurotunnel of Japan?). And on Honshu the train finally accelerates to it's 320 km/h top speed.
#BigInJapan

View of everything that's around the fortification? That's why Goryokaku was built from 1855 to 1866 according to the designs of European forts. The spiked star design reduces blind spots and is optimised for the use of cannons. After the Boshin war between Japan and separatists Hokkaido (Back then called Ezo) all buildings were torn down. In winter ice was collected from the moats and sold in Honshu.
#BigInJapan

Of course we can't leave out an observation tower in the middle of a city.
Goryokaku Tower stands at 107 meters tall and is right next to the fortification it got it's name from. But more on that in the next post.
The view from the tower provides a different perspective on Hakodate compared to Mt. Hakodate. On the observation floor, models tell the story of the fortification and it's role in history.
#BigInJapan

Point of special interest?
Post appreciation post?
A map in Hakodate had the position of the oldest concrete electricity pole in the whole of Japan. So of course we went there and admired a concrete post. And now, so can you.
#BigInJapan

My god, aren't these trams cute? Hakodate also has a tramway, operating two lines (numbered 2 and 5 obviously) on 1372mm gauge.
They have some quite old cars they use for snow removal in the winter. The two cars being used for that were built as passenger cars in 1934 and have converted to snow clearing trams later. At least that's what I found here: https://www.hakobura.jp/features/251
And again, I'm wondering what the oldest train/tram car is that's still in active use. 🤔
#BigInJapan

Change of setting required... So we set our alarm clocks to 3:30 and decided to see the sunrise from the same location. Instead of hundreds of people there were... 10?
I would say the view was even better and definitely worth it!
#BigInJapan

And from the cape we finally went to our next destination: Hakodate.
Upon arrival we strolled a bit through the town and then went up on Mt. Hakodate using the cable car. While it was incredibly beautiful watching the sunset from up here, it was also really crowded with many busses arriving and spitting out entire school classes.
#BigInJapan

Go south? Well, after the observation deck in Muroran we continued to where we wanted to go initially, the lighthouse at Cape Chikyu.
Again nice view over the ocean but sadly no whales or dolphins which can be spotted here occasionally.
#BigInJapan

I suppose y'all like bridges as well? Before heading further south we visited the town of Muroran. From an observation deck we had a beautiful view over the relatively new suspension bridge after driving over it.
#BigInJapan

Should maybe add a view of the beautiful lake that our last hotel was at. Also, we found another late blooming cherry tree.
#BigInJapan

Or wasn't Noboribetsu-onsen the only onsen town we visited yesterday?
Well.
We booked a room in a Ryokan (traditional Japanese guest house) in Toyako. Which is another onsen town. And it was... Interesting? The hotel has 9 floors with about 30 rooms each. The entire top floor is the onsen as it should. The lobby looks like a capsule from the last millennium.
Certainly a vibe.
I mean see for yourself.
#BigInJapan

Zoo for interesting vehicles? That's what the parking lot at the volcanic felt like with the weird "busses" bringing visitors from one spring to the other.
#BigInJapan

The smell of sulfur in the air. 🥰
Our next stop was Noboribetsu-onsen. First this is the largest hot spring town in Hokkaido and it looks similar to all the big Austrian ski resorts. There are big hotels everywhere and it looks slightly out of place.
And second, that's what we came for, there are many volcanic springs with lakes, colourful rocks and funny fumes.
#BigInJapan

At Shikotsu-Toya, a lake in the national park with the same name we found a former railway bridge that was built by the British in 1899. Now it's just a pedestrian bridge for a walk around the lake.
#BigInJapan

Here in Japan you can collect stamps nearly everywhere. I think I mentioned Eki stamps at railway stations before.
Service stations on the highway have them too. So do visitor centers in national parks. Even a hotel we stayed at had one.
#BigInJapan

Stay and don't fall apart, little tower tower... On our way to our next destination, we stopped at a small observation tower. Going up we noticed it was rusting away so we just took a few pictures of the surrounding are and continued with our journey.
#BigInJapan

I am not sure if I'm the best scale for the amount of snow that can still be found on the mountains. But as I had no banana with me, this will have to do. These pictures are from Tokachidake observatory which is both an observatory and a volcano shelter, as mount Tokachi is an active volcano. The last major eruptions were in 1926 and 1962. A small eruption occured in 2004.
#BigInJapan

Shall have added this to the previous post... But at the lower station of the Asahidake ropeway there's also still a lot of snow and spring is just starting.
#BigInJapan

Mannequins lined up in the snow?
Today we decided to go a bit higher than yesterday and went up Asahi-dake, a 2.291m mountain. Asahidake ropeway goes up to 1.600m and from there we walked as far, as our moderately appropriate equipment allowed, probably up to 1.660m.
#BigInJapan

Illuminated mountain range in the distance, big city in the plains. As we arrived at our next destination, Asahikawa, we headed up a hill in the west and enjoyed the sunset.
#BigInJapan

Of course we stopped at another reservoir lake with a view on the mountains in the distance. That's Taisetsu lake with a view of the mountains that we just passed. (I think)
I have to say, visiting at this time of the year makes all the landscapes in Hokkaido look even more interesting.
#BigInJapan

Silhouettes of mountains in the distance... On our way we went over the hightest mountain pass in Hokkaido, Hikuni pass at 1.139m. The road up to the pass is just incredible and even the view from up doesn't really show on the picture.
A cafe is right before the pass where we stopped for taking pictures and enjoyed a good cup of coffee and some cake before descending on the road on the other side.
#BigInJapan