The Chikuma River valley is narrow here, which makes for some nice views. On the west side, right above Kamiyamada, there’s a big Kannon temple (a branch of Nagano’s famous Zenkoji) that’s lit up a bit at night. If you’re feeling industrious, you can walk up there from a road at the south end of […]
Month: February 2010
- izakaya
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Yukari, Kamiyamada (ゆかり)
What’s that you say? More pictures of wacky Showa stuff? Here’s one of a shooting gallery at night. Folks, this is fer ril. They really do want you to pay money to shoot corks from toy rifles and try to win tiny prizes. Nifty. The specialty at Yukari is evidently yakitori, but everyone there was […]
Hagoromo, Kamiyamada (羽衣)
Various activities ensued after my ramen lunch and before dinner – walking to the (dead boring) temple on top of the local mountain, more photos, nap. You don’t get any pics of that. You DO get this neat picture of a retro streetlight. No processing; the colors here seem to be on accounta some confusion […]
- Other treats
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Men’s Table, Kamiyamada (麺’s Table)
What’s that you say, you’re eager for shots of decrepit buildings? It’s funny, I’ve got what you need right here. Haven’t played with the black-and-whiteage of these, but I’m sure they’d work a treat. Ooooh, panorama mode. Boy do I wish I had a digital camera that took pictures like a Lomography Horizon Kompakt. Not sure what […]
- coffee
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Kiki, Kamiyamada (樹樹)
Saturday morning in Kamiyamada, I woke up early and spent the morning walking around, being cold and taking pictures of old buildings. The weather was beautiful and clear, but the day-onsen only open at 9 or 10 AM, and at some point I just got too cold. Fortunately there was this kissa…which was very ordinary, but this […]
- izakaya
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Santensan, Kamiyamada (三天参,上山田)
I hit the city ’bout 9 PM, loaded, loaded… OK, not exactly – 9 PM, but not at all loaded, and with no sort of Rob Halford vibe going on, I promise. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. On a loose whim, I made another one of these short trips to random, depressed country […]
Kuruma, Tokyo (車, Tokia B1)
Continuing in a series of “Hey, I haven’t seen you for a year!”-type meetings, Roofie and I met up last night. Somehow these meetings with men from work always devolve into chicken-fests. In this case, I have the rare pleasure of questioning the existence of a restaurant, or at least providing a strong steer about […]
- izakaya
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Kawashima, Musashi Koyama (川島)
In one of the standard books on drinking sake in Tokyo, there’s an establishment called ‘Sake no Ana’. I like to translate that as ‘The Liquor Hole’, although I’m sure there’s a more delicate way of putting it. If I had to assign a name to Kawashima, it would be ‘The Liquor Cave’. It’s a […]
- Other treats
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Ricolo, Tokyo
Seafood teppanyaki? Well, when you cross out the places on the 12th floor that are over $30 for lunch, and disregard the places with lines, you’re left with this option (aside: an hour for Maisen? I wouldn’t piss on their tonkatsu if it was on fire!). And it was pretty good! For some reason I […]
Bengal, Akihabara
Bengal is a place I’ve seen many, many times but never tried. Now that I’ve tried it, I’m happy to say “I wasn’t missing anything, and neither are you!” As with some other places I’ve been with recently, I’m prepared to think I’m missing the point – they’ve been doing this since roughly 1970, so someone […]