Orrin

Had “kakigori” the other night at a small local shrine festival. The ice wasn’t shaved but just chunks of ice.

Dude, those cameras just take a picture…

Ocean waves braking on a barrier.

Son trying to paddle on a boogie board. We eventually got to try and ride on a few small waves.

Dinner: Butter corn Bbq chicken Potatoes Grilled shrimp Steak skewers Taco dip

Camping (glamping) near the beach.

I’ve seen an TV ad in the train that shows multiple spots for a cool escape.

From Osaka to the NHL: Jordan Spence hopes to inspire young Japanese hockey players The Ottawa Senators defenseman briefly returned to Japan last month to help run a hockey camp in Hokkaido.

From Osaka to the NHL: Jordan Spence hopes to inspire young Japanese hockey players www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2025/...

Fireworks off in the distance.
#fireworks #花火

Ordered pizza for tonight. They delivered 2/3 wrong. Called and they gave us the correct two. Now we have 5 pizzas. 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕 🍕

Fireworks off on the distance.

Camera set up at the station waiting for the oncoming train.

Easy walk back to the train station. Finished the roll of film at the station.

One note, there were a lot of mosquitoes around the waterfall.

Gojo waterfall in Saitama prefecture. It’s about a 12 meters tall. Easy walk from the train station.

At Gojo Waterfall. Brought multiple cameras. I think I got some decent shots with the digital. I’ll be lucky if I get one decent shot from the TLR. I think I got some with the SLR. The film in that camera is like 16 years expired.

First image is the mountain road to the waterfall.
2nd and 3rd images are at the ticket gate at the waterfall. ¥200 admission

My stop
Musashi-Yokote Station
From here it’s about a 20-30 minute walk

Normally don’t cover my legs in summer but not sure what to expect, ie leeches.

Off to a later start for today than I wanted. Went to bed and woke up with a headache. I seem to be ok now.

The cover of the November 1949 American Library Association "ALA" bulletin features a black and white photo of author Marguerite Henry alongside her small pony, "Misty."

This week marked the 100th annual Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Co. "pony penning" in Virginia, famously featured in Marguerite Henry's 1947 bestseller "Misty of Chincoteague." Did you know the real Misty was "librarian for a day" at an American Library Association conference in 1949? 🥰

Heading out tomorrow for a solo trip into the mountains of Saitama.
What cameras to bring? Digital is Fujifilm XT100. For film maybe Yashica TLR or Nikkormat FT2.

Our local LaLaport has a Lego ONE PIECE (Netflix) promotion going on. We got to make a mini Gumgum fruit and got to make a pirate minifig for free. The minifig I made for my youngest has two faces. The other two we got don’t have two faces. Is this head a misprint?

Today, July 31st, marks 14 years of living in Japan 🇯🇵.

Looks like my ¥110 MJU camera has died. The shutter button no longer works. It was showing issues last summer but with the move I didn’t look into it. Took it out today with a new battery and nothing. 🤷
No worries since it was so cheap.

X post by @nobushiromasaki. JP text: カムチャッカ半島付近の大地震（M8.0）による津波、日本各地にも1m程度の津波が来るという注意報が出てる。侮らないで。1mは、ふつうに自動車が流されるレベルです。画像は拾い物だけど、これが本当だから。沿岸地域の方、特に気をつけて！

On X, Masaki Nobushiro posts a recurring (and useful) drawing about how people wrongly think a 1m tsunami is a cresting wave when it's actually a wall of water filled with dangerous and deadly debris that's strong enough to sweep up a car.

#tsunami

A tsunami wave hit the coast of Japan on July 30, 2025, causing a temporary surge in sea level. This footage, showing the immediate impact of the wave, was captured at Kuji Port, in Iwate Prefecture (northeastern region), around 1 PM.

#japan #tsunami #earthquake

😩
Stay safe

So the Hiroo Station jingle sounds like it’s from Kirby.

A Japanese person took their 10-year-old son to see the new Superman movie, and the kid said "it was totally like the story of Momotaro" (a Japanese folk tale about a hero who was discovered as a baby & raised by a childless couple, and later teams up with a dog, bird, & monkey).

Seeing both?

Apparently this Daiso Disney cup is under a voluntary recall.

At Oze National Park, my friend and I hiked about 22km round trip in a single day to see Sanjo-no-Taki, a top 100 waterfall in Japan. It is 100m tall. Our return walk in the marsh was in a thunderstorm.

Stag beetle that was killed and eaten by another animal (crow?)

Beetle carnage

Middle child has been all the Ghostbusters movies the past couple days. He says Frozen Empire is his favorite.

Bought some supplies to keep a beetle at home. Let’s see what we can find tonight.