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jadehand · 4 years ago

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exalted secret santa 2020 time

Jade Hand

Eclipse Caste Solar, Linguistics Supernal, he/him A life of war and politics in Lookshy as an airship pilot ruined him. As a young soldier, it led him to forming allegiance with the soldiers around him, creating pieces of writing to pass the time and build a silent community that questioned the militaristic culture of their home.

He wrote manifestos, he wrote children’s books, he wrote poems, and many, many letters. He was responsible for a rising political faction that threatened to change Lookshy forever - and when it came time for revolution, he failed. The depression he sank into caused him to leave everything he loved behind in exile and walked east until the world fell away to the Wyld.

He wouldn’t come out for 100 years - but when he did, he had skin of green jade, a firewand he has since broken on purpose, a green tiger raksha in his mind, and the exaltation of the Sun, none of which he remembers receiving.

Now he goes forward into life doubting the worth of power, doubting the gods, doubting himself, and the feeling both gentle and vicious that he has the chance to do things right.

He’s 6′1, a beanpole, and likes to wear earthy colors and nondescript clothing. He doesn’t go anywhere in public without full-body coverage due to society’s biases against mutation and his own tendency for repression. Everyone thinks his helmet is doofy, and they’re right. His anima creates little pieces of writing in the air, and his skin has lines of language reminiscent of tiger stripes. He wants to nurture others, but cannot forsake his anger entirely. Will adopt you, and is kind of silly when he isn’t so serious.

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Aryabhata

Defiler Caste Infernal, they/he/she/any

Aryabhata (or Ari for short) exists to defy everything. A mortal who not only attended the Heptagram as a mortal but excelled in it, who consorted with demons, and who frankly cannot go a day without trying to impress someone. You would think them desperate if weren’t onto the next mind-blowing project or discourse-provoking theory. Everyone thinks they hate them, but they are fascinated, too. What will the 4′11 sleepless manifestation of mania do today? Tomorrow? With their massive, easy smile, their life is sadder than they’d like you to believe. But there’s no time for it - Ari has rivals, and their work is never done.

Shortly after one such rival disappeared and labelled Anathema, they became obsessed, wondering where he had gone off to, how, why, when one day they just disappeared themselves after a concerning and incomprehensible speech about “being seen.” No one knows what they’re up to now, or when they’ll re-emerge. When they do, though, it will be with fully realized order of She Who Lives in Her Name, and the subverting mercurial silver of Szoreny.

They are tiny. They prefer a noble indigo stolen from princes and a glorious gold stolen from Solars. They have insane outfits regularly, and may be employing a demon to make them so consistently. They can also be a little sleepless gremlin in pajamas - there’s nothing they won’t do!

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The Garappa

Water Aspect, they/he

No one knows where the Garappa spawned on that mountain. A hearty antagonist who demands that passerby wrestle or a vicious beast that strangles travelers in the night -- there are many stories that survive the years about their true nature. It’s stories, too, that Garappa loves the most, wanting nothing more than to exist within societies that threaten to write them out entirely.

Whether they are The Garappa, a jovial trickster and sumo practitioner, or the Strangler, a silent murderer, it is a story that they have woven into their own reality. Other things seek to define them - the Black Carp Wanting, a story they have yet to know how to finish, particularly haunts him.

They were raised by a society of spirits, bickering bird-women philosophers, that he came to call his Aunts.

Fate or some such tale brings them to Gloam, away from their mountain for the first time, unknowingly there to meet other monsters such as he.

Garappa is about 6′4 hunched over and almost 7 feet stretched out straight. They only need minimal clothing, but they like to be agile and not burdened from getting wet. They could be convinced into outfits if it is treated like a story costume. He is extremely silly and speaks in dactylic hexameter when he is not nonverbal and muted. Will always want to hear a new story.

#exalted secret santa #jh #ari #garappa

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nautilusopus · 5 years ago

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I wrote a whole fucking review for Pokemon Shield but google ate it so I'm putting it up here and making it longer.

Pokemon SwSh is bright and shiny, but has many small systemic problems that ultimately pile up into a larger Not Fun whole. I know the easy criticism is to bring up Dexit, which I'm not happy about for a variety of reasons, but I still think they could've made a fun game in spite of that. Instead I'm going to bring up other problems the game has in the hope of having some of the game's other issues actually recognised before fans and critics alike fall into the same trap that I did. Dexit is honestly just the tip of the iceberg.

First, the good:

Trainer customisation has improved, and I'm always a sucker for the little things. Clothes are affordable once more AND come in a variety of designs, something I felt was a problem with Gen 7, and the player character model actually has facial expressions. This makes the world just a bit more fun to interact with when you're no longer a blankly-staring robot child. I often find myself spinning/doing the Leon pose just for fun because it’s nice to watch your character do something quirky and expressive like that, in the same way people are endeared to Wind Waker or BOTW Link more than Twilight Princess or Majora’s Mask Link despite both of them ostensibly being blank slates.

The curry minigame is fun even if I don’t quite understand how fanning works yet (and also another opportunity to see said facial expressions). Just a tad heartbroken I can’t import my team from previous games to play with them in camp.

Marnie's a neat concept for a rival, and one that I've personally wanted to see in the Pokemon series for a while. I'll avoid speaking about it too much for spoiler reasons, but I think most people will wind up liking her as well.

The game looks nice. Not like, astounding or anything, but the cities and towns have a lot of atmosphere baked into their design.

Lotta bangers in the soundtrack, and the presentation of gym battles as a World Cup-esque deal, complete with hyped up audience, brings a fresh, exciting take to the Pokemon League. I like the way the music changes as the battle progresses, and enjoy the little in-universe details, like the champion walking around with all his sponsors on his uniform.

WOOLOO

MY BOY TOBY FOX OUT HERE DOING GOD’S WORK, THIS SHIT SLAPS BEST TRACK 10000/10

Now for the bad:

The game feels very small and unfinished. It constantly implies cool things are happening in the background, but you never get to participate yourself, or even see them. The closest you get is your rival showing up with a news article explaining that a fun thing happened and was resolved in the time it took you to walk 100 feet. It makes the main questline feel flat and tedious, and something tells me maybe we were supposed to get to participate in literally anything, but there just wasn't time and they had to get the game out for the holiday season.

This pairs very badly with the second thing, which is that there really isn't very much to do in Pokemon SwSh. Most of what you wind up doing is backtracking. The Wilds are a neat idea in theory, but in execution they're kind of the worst part of the game. They're also, unfortunately, the biggest. It feels like there's really only two areas in the entire game -- the empty cities/towns with nothing really in them, and the giant, open-world-esque Wilds.

The Wilds themselves are nothing to write home about. Pokemon catching is gated off by level, but all areas of the wilds are available simultaneously. This means if you care about filling out the dex, you'll find yourself constantly walking back and forth between town and the same areas of the Wilds you've already been to, checking things off a list. There's less a sense of exploration, and more just a sense of wandering in circles occasionally checking the weather. And if you DON'T care about the dex, then there's literally no reason for you to constantly return to this gigantic, lovingly-modeled wasteland ever again, making the game feel even smaller as you hop from empty town to empty town, and there’s even less for you to do as a result.

The game is piss-easy, even for a Pokemon title. EXP share is always on because this game shares the same engine as Pokemon Let's Go, meaning you will be disgustingly overlevelled if you make the mistake of exploring the Wilds in between gyms the way I did, and remain that way for the entire game. I found myself throwing the fight against Opal a little bit just to hear all her dialogue. Otherwise you just oneshot everyone and everything, and all the fights start to feel samey very quickly.

Also, barren postgame. Like 30 minutes tops.

Maybe I’m a fool for expecting writing from a Pokemon game, but after Lillie from Sumo/USUM I went and got my hopes up, and Hop absolutely does not deliver. I don’t hate him like some do (Hugh is still absolutely the most annoying rival and no one will ever unseat him), but he just feels like many many missed opportunities. He feels extra redundant given Marnie’s presence on top of that.

Bad Pokemon designs. This one’s a personal gripe so it’s at the bottom of the list, but I feel like it’s still worth mentioning that I abandoned the shit out of my starter and am left with nothing to replace it with. Greedent is now my new least favourite Pokemon ever. Fuckin FNAF-ass lookin motherfucker.

As sort of a smoking gun exemplifying my point, I have 53 Revives just from wandering around in the Wilds forever. And I have 3 Hyper Potions in my entire bag and no other healing items, because the game has given me no reason to go back into town and buy anything because there’s nothing in the towns, and it’s never required me to heal because there’s really no significant battles to have either, in the story, or ones you would seek out for your own reasons.

On a personal note, I’m 7 badges into this mess and I still haven’t finalised my team because I can’t even find 6 designs I like that also result in at least a somewhat decent type coverage (or at least flashy variety of colour). To those of you that know me and my True 100% Run, that’s fucking unheard of for me.

Overall, disappointed. It's not terrible, but given how robust every other mainline title was, this is a big downgrade. Not worth $60. I've played more fleshed-out romhacks. This game reminds me more of Coliseum/XD than Gen 8's big debut. Mostly I just feel bad for the friend that bought me it.

This would just be kind of a bummer on its own, but coupled with the fact that 1. half the damn Pokemon aren’t in it and Game Freak has openly stated they plan to keep doing this and 2. in spite of that the game still felt unfinished, making you wonder what the hell they spent all their time making (Gigantamax maybe? Why? You can’t even do it in-game for the most part. At least Mega Evolution was readily available. Not to mention it won’t even be available next game. Stop making up gimmicks just to discard them), it makes me seriously concerned for the future of the franchise.

#pokemon #pokemon swsh

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crystalelemental · 4 years ago

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Now that HeartGold is done, some thoughts.

I absolutely love these games. Gen 4 is just so much fun to play, and the adjustments made in HGSS really add a lot. Like, there are more trainers, gym leader rebattles, an improved league. Red’s not just 20-30 levels above the rest of the world inexplicably.

That said...boy is Kanto just as much of a slog. There’s really not a ton to do, and the leader rebattling system is hidden behind really tedious gathering of phone numbers and calling at the right time to schedule a rematch. Platinum had the much better system. Sure, it was kinda random who you’d get, but at least you didn’t have to do anything other than show up.

I feel like everyone clamoring each generation for something where you go back to revisit another region after beating the first is blinded by nostalgia. It seemed like a great idea, but largely you’re just there to sweep everything, and the levels don’t keep scaling. Every random encounter is so far beneath you as to be a joke. It’s why getting Pokemon like Larvitar, Houndour, and Misdreavus is so ridiculous in GSC, they’re so close to the end of the game that they literally don’t matter anymore. The path to the Safari Zone at least helps, but I sure can’t figure out how the Safari Zone itself is supposed to work. I’m as lost as anyone. It’s just...not a great design choice, I feel like. It’s a victory lap that gives you something to do, but not much else.

I think I prefer Platinum’s structure. Where you beat the League, and there’s a smaller side area that’s designed to continue scaling. Like, there were all sorts of additional areas and paths in Platinum, and it keeps the game fresh after you’re done with the main goal. HGSS always feels like it kinda fizzles out after a bit. I don’t necessarily mind Kanto, but a lot of the battles in the region are lower level by a pretty wide margin, and you even start to get ahead of the Gym Leaders. Blue is the only one that can really take you by surprise, because he’s set up as being so far above the others, but frankly I don’t really like that either. It never bothered me before too much, but now amidst the sea of Gen 1 pandering, it feels like the start of it all. Thank god Gens 3-5 didn’t really keep up that trend of making everyone from Kanto the biggest, strongest dick OGs. I don’t feel like he should realistically be stronger than any of the other leaders. Although it is a little goofy that as a former champion, he’s weaker than Lance too? So continuity’s a bit wonky. Regardless, it doesn’t pose any true problems, just a personal irritation.

As a last note of frustration...it’s bullshit you need Rock Climb to get to Red. I get it conceptually, but adding in a dead move on something and locking your team into one of surprisingly few options that can use the move, or forcing one of your main six on the bench and fighting at a disadvantage, really sucks.

But on the flip side to that...the game just looks gorgeous. Like, it’s one of those things, right? Where going back and looking at the sprite work and the simpler animations, it still holds up. I did the Ho-oh summoning event at night, and just...the entire look of that area is stunning. I just really appreciate how good they made it look, without needing like...super high-end graphics to make it work.

I also really enjoy the gym leaders. Some regions just don’t have the best gym leaders to offer. Like, I don’t remember anything from XY, SuMo, and have very little interest in SwSh leaders either, aside from Opal. Like, they don’t stand out. Even Gen 3 and Gen 4 don’t have the best roster, with some of them being kinda forgettable. I feel like Gen 2 always stood out to me. I think it has a lot to do with being the first time gym leaders like...did stuff. Gen 1 leaders were just around, but Gen 2? You had Jasmine helping tend to a sick Pokemon, you had Morty’s entire ambition regarding meeting the legendary Ho-oh, you had Clair being a sore loser and knowing more about her temperament through her failure of the master’s trial. Gym leaders in this generation did stuff. HGSS brings that another huge step forward, since you can find them around the world doing their own thing. It’s not hugely exciting, but I always liked that a lot.

It was also a blast to run a team of Pokemon I’ve never really run before. Ariados, Lanturn, Stantler, Umbreon, Hypno, and Giratina. Giratina...honestly kinda worried me at first? I haven’t run an Uber on the main team since...I want to say Gen 3. Actually no, I kept Zekrom in Gen 5 because I felt like thematically it was appropriate. But outside of that one instance, I never use Ubers in my main game team. So I was like. Maybe this will be too much. But honestly? It was fine. Super strong and good, obviously, but not so overpowering that I felt untouchable at any point in the game. Umbreon was also an absolute beast. I tend to shy away from defensive Pokemon for main game as well, but wow what an event. Hypno was really good too? Like, not outlandishly good, but strong enough. Stantler was a little underwhelming, often lacking the damage off Stomp to really threaten, and the game seemed to sense my bullshit ways and prevented paraflinch from really doing its job ever. Ariados...was super fun to make work, but as you probably noticed in the late game, barely ever came into play. She just fell off in power.

Lanturn, though? Hot damn is it good main game. I was stunned. Surf, Discharge, Ice Beam, and Signal Beam really does handle like 90% of the game just fine. Its huge bulk and surprisingly strong offense thanks to super effective coverage really made Lanturn stand out. That was incredibly enjoyable.

So yeah, this was a lot of fun for me. I’m still not sure which game will come next, kinda leaning toward Emerald or Black 1, since I recently played LeafGreen. But we’ll see if I want to get closer to modern day with a replay of Y, if I can stomach it. Time will tell.

#pokemon heartgold

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itsthesinbin · 5 years ago

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Um... Is it okay if I ask about a normal monotype team withe a Lopunny for ultra sun/moon? Lopunny is my favorite Pokémon and has basically saved me many times. You don't have to if you don't want to.

RUBS HANDS TOGETHER.

I made a normal mono team for sumo, and god I wish I could’ve used Lopunny. Lopunny is a fucking POWERHOUSE if you know how to set it up. And thankfully I’m more familiar with the progression of USUM so I know where to find most tms LMAO. Since normal is such a BIG type group, I’ll be putting the ideal team (in my opinion), and some Pokemon you can trade certain ones out for if you so wish to.

And ofc, you can do what you want- these movesets aren’t the end all be all. If you want certain moves, feel free to use your own! This is just what I feel is the best for the team I pick out. And thankfully, we don’t have to worry about HM slaves!

Pokemon that can be traded out for another will have an asterisk (*) next to them!

Normal Mono Team- Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon*

*After making the team, I realized this heavily favors Ultra Moon. Ultra Moon is, sadly, just easier for coverage than Ultra Sun thanks to Oranguru and Drampa. If you’re playing Ultra Sun, though, you can use the other two replacement Pokemon in their stead, as they can both learn a Psychic move.

Toucannon

Preferred Nature: Adamant

Moveset:

Beak Blast (Evolve into Toucannon)

Drill Peck (Lvl 34)

Steel Wing (TM51- KoniKoni City)

Seed Bomb (Ula’Ula Beach Spot for 12 BP)

I’ve used Toucannon on my own Normal run through Moon, and she was a POWERHOUSE. Beak Blast is good if you’re facing a physical attacker.

Lopunny

Preferred Natures: Adamant, Naive, Jolly

Moveset:

Jump Kick (23) [Can trade for High Jump Kick if you want at level 66]

Return (Evolve into Lopunny)

Thunderpunch (Ula’Ula Beach Spot for 8 BP)

Fire Punch (HeaHea Beach Spot for 8 BP)

Lopunny is SUPER good, a great sweeper. If you play the post game and can get her mega stone? Chef’s kiss. Thunder and Fire Punch for coverage, Return for PHENOMENAL STAB, and Jump Kick for extra damage (and STAB if you get the mega stone)

Snorlax*

Preferred Natures: Impish, Relaxed, Adamant

Moveset:

Toxic (TM06- Aether Foundation Dock)

Belly Drum (Lvl 44)

Crunch (Lvl 49)

Bulldoze (TM78- KoniKoni City) / High Horsepower (57)

Our usual wall. You can hold sitrus berries to help w Belly Drum.

Wigglytuff

Preferred Nature: Modest

Moveset:

Dazzling Gleam (TM99- Vast Poni Canyon)

Flamethrower (TM35- Vast Poni Canyon)

Thunder (TM25- Seafolk Village)

Water Pulse (HeaHea Beach Spot for 4 BP) until Ice Beam (TM13- Mount Lanakila)

Our Special Attacker. Wigglytuff will cover what your team normally can’t deal with.

Stoutland*

Preferred Natures: Adamant, Jolly, Naive

Moveset:

Crunch (Lvl 24) / Play Rough (Lvl 63 if you get that high level)

Iron Head (Ula’Ula Beach Spot for 8 BP)

Rock Tomb (TM39- Wela Volcano Park)

Work Up (Lvl 20)

Stoutland is very strong, but it’s move pool is a bit…. lacking. This is still good, though.

Oranguru*

Preferred Nature: Modest

Moveset:

Psychic (Lvl 43 OR TM29- Aether Foundation)

Energy Ball (TM53- Route 8)

Shadow Ball (TM30- Route 14)

Calm Mind (Lvl 39)

I used Oranguru in my normal run as well (and Wigglytuff), and he got me through most of the game until I got a Drampa. A very strong Pokemon, and you can pit him against Ghost types safely since his primary typing is normal.

Replacements

Blissy (Replaces Snorlax)

Preferred Natures:

Moveset: Calm, Sassy

Toxic (TM06- Aether Foundation Dock)

Soft Boiled (Lvl 16)

Protect (HeaHea City)

Flamethrower (TM35- Vast Poni Canyon) [Use any move until then at your discretion]

Blissy is a Special wall with the ever fun Toxic-stall strategy. Flamethrower is for Steel types.

Miltank (Replaces Stoutland)

Preferred Natures: Brave, Adamant

Moveset:

Milk Drink (Lvl 11)

Brick Break (TM31- Verdant Cavern)

Iron Head (Ula’Ula Beach Spot for 8 BP)

Rock Slide (TM80- Route 17)

Miltank was another one I used in my playthrough- a very good attacker if you don’t want to use Stoutland. Access to more moves.

Drampa (Replaces Oranguru)

Preferred Nature: Modest

Moveset:

Extrasensory (Lvl 37, should have it upon capture)

Energy Ball (TM53- Route 8)

Shadow Ball (TM30- Route 14)

Dragon Pulse (Lvl 41)

Drampa is a VERY strong Special Attacker that can learn almost every move Oranguru can aside from Psychic and Calm Mind. Calm Mind is barely needed, though, with Drampa’s high SpA.

#asks #mods mono teams #Anonymous #mods team builds

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avenger-concerto · 5 years ago

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People out here saying that Ash winning a league = Ash’s journey is finished but...

...a recent interview with the PokeAni staff a while back had them talk about how there was more to being a “Pokemon Master” besides winning a regional league or tournament.

Then in another interview years ago, the director behind the Battle Frontier arc has stated that the day Ash becomes a “true” Pokemon master, the anime series will end altogether.

http://www.pokebeach.com/2008/07/second-pokemon-interview-with-masamitsu-hidaka-many-interesting-points

As of Diamond and Pearl, it is very clear that Ash winning a regional tournament or becoming a Pokemon Champion of a region does not equate him to being a Pokemon Master yet. Especially when the world of Pokemon is so vast. I actually think as of now, someone like Steven, Cynthia or Adler could beat Ash if they were going full out. He’s still a kid compared to the rest and while he is skilled, he isn’t quite Red level yet.

Keep in mind after the Mask Royale exhibition match, we still have four to six more episodes of SuMo to go. None of us have any idea where it’ll go from there - or if it’ll have foreshadowing for Galar. We don’t even know if Ash will keep his title or hand it over while still having the league win on his record because he can’t keep traveling otherwise.

Ash is the First Champion of Alola in the anime-verse, this is true. However, even he knows that there’s still a ton of room to grow and keep getting stronger in the face of aces like Steven, Alain, Cynthia and many others he’s faced off against in the past.

I don’t think Ash settling down in Alola is on the writers’ agenda especially when he’s the type to keep moving about.

That aside, real happy for Ash and I’m quite surprised as to how much media coverage his victory has had on multiple news feeds.

#pokemon anime #anipoke #pokeani

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i-growl-growl-growl · 6 years ago

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Hii, I wanted to ask you something, I read that you study in Japan and my friend asked me a while ago to go with her to Japan to study there because I wanted to study abroad cuz Europe is boring lol and so she asked me and I really don't know about it, could you maybe list some bad and goid things from your experience there ? That'd be helpful I think thanks for your time bubs❤

You should definitely take the chance to study abroad here, or where ever you have the ability to go, if you ever get the chance.

I would just like to start off by saying that many people come here excited to explore Japan but often leave disappointed because they had expectations that were far too high to ever be met. If you’re going to come to Japan be open minded about how it’s not going to fit every stereotype and every rumor that you’ve been led to believe about it. A lot of people come here believing that all of Japan is this futurist wonderland, like in all of those sci-fi movies, and although it does have its advanced technological aspects it isn’t the entirety of Japan that is like that, in fact it’s mostly just the major touristic spots that are typically that way. A lot of people also come here thinking the exact opposite, that it’ll be like stepping into a land that has been preserved by history: they’ll see samurai, sumo wrestlers, and geishas walking around in their kimonos everywhere, that is also not the case.

Now, I can tell you that this is going to be pretty lengthy so strap yourselves in and prepare for “a long ass ride.”

From my experiences ((and overall just random information that I think would be benefitial for you to know)), lets start with the BAD/shocking ones:

1. I don’t know what the bicycling situation is like in Europe but, here in Japan, bicyclists will use the sidewalks alongside normal pedestrians. The sidewalks are already pretty small, and considering how crowded it can get, things can get a bit scary when you find yourself having to play chicken with a bicyclist on the sidewalk. Always have one ear clear of any headphones or earphones so that you can hear the bicyclists approaching you from a distance so that you can prepare yourself to move out of the way. Japanese bicyclists will tend to not move out of the way for you so, if you find yourself in the position of playing chicken with them and you think you’ll have the chance at winning…. you won’t! They will ram your ass into the concrete OR stop dead in the tracks right in front of you and wait for you to step to the side for them. (I have a personal story that goes with this situation that explains why I have such an undying H.A.T.R.E.D for bicyclists here in Japan but it’d take centuries for me to write so I’ll leave it out.)

2. Bring a small bar or bottle of soap that only you will use and carry it with you in your personal purse or bag because many of the public Japanese bathroom DO NOT have soap, if they do then it’s usually a single bar of soap that everyone who has been in the restroom has used.

3. & 4. This isn’t an experience that I had because I did research before coming here but make sure that you bring a laptop that will work in Japan and make sure that you have a phone that is unlocked . There are many laptops that WILL NOT work once you try to convert them to work with the Japanese…… (I forgot what it’s called)….. computer systems…….. Luckily my laptop is an ASUS which works wonderfully in Japan. Unfortunately, I don’t know what other laptops work in Japan after being brought from other countries so I can’t help you much in that aspect. If your laptop isn’t compatible to work in Japan then you’ll have to buy one in Japan (which could be a hassle because you’ll have to convert it to function in a language that you do understand etc. etc.) As for the phone, unless you have worldwide coverage, you’ll need to order a SIM to put in your phone so that it’ll work while you’re here. Many international students weren’t aware of both of these things and found out that their phone was locked so they couldn’t remove the original sim and put the Japanese one in so they had to buy new phones in Japan (which is a pain in the ass) or they had to buy a new laptop. When ordering a SIM, if that’s the route you’re going to take, you have the choice of Data only or Voice and Data. Prices will vary depending on the provider you’re going through, how long you intend to use their SIM, and how much data + voice calling you want to have each month. I’d personally recommend that you go through SakuraMobile (the provider I’m using).

5. It is rude to eat or drink while you are walking around or sitting in public. On a hot summer or fall day, this will REALLY SUCK because you’ll want nothing more than to take a few swigs of your water, or whatever beverage you have, to cool you down. There will also be days where you want to rip open one of your snacks and eat it at the park or as you’re walking or waiting for the train or bus but you can’t, because it’s rude.

6. Blowing your nose in public is EXTREMELY rude. DO NOT blow your nose in public, EVER! If you find yourself to be in a pickle because you have allergies or have a runny nose you better run to a convenience store and buy yourself a good pack of surgical masks to put on over your face. It is considered a kind and considerate thing to do, especially if you are sick because no one wants to catch or spread germs.

7. make sure you know where you can use you credit card to pull out cash because Japan is a cash based country. It is RARE to find a place that will take credit cards, especially foreign credit cards. AGAIN, this could be where convenience stores are of convenience to you: convenience stores will often have an atm within them that accepts credit cards from various countries and you can use these to get cash so long as you pay an exchange fee for the transaction. Be aware that, if these atms do accept your card, you know how much you can withdraw within a 24 or 48 hour period because it’d suck for you to spend all the money you have while thinking you can just withdraw more once you run out only to find out that you’ve maxed out how much money you can take out within the specified 24-48 hour period.

8. CROWDS!!!!!!!!!! If you hate crowds you’ll hate Japan. Even if you don’t hate crowds you’ll simultaneously learn to hate crowds but learn to live with them at the same time during your stay in Japan. If you think Japan is crowded based off of what you’ve seen in animes, movies or tv shows or based off of horror rumors that you’ve heard from friends, family, or online and you wonder if it can really be that crowded… yes it is. IT’S WORSE ACTUALLY!!!! The rumors about being crammed against each other, packed in the trains or buses like a can of sardines is NO FUCKING JOKE!!!! If you’re a person who needs their personal space… good luck finding it in Japan, most specifically when on public transit. Tokyo, by far, is the ABSOLUTE WORST when it comes to crowds. ((just some personal advise, try and avoid Tokyo unless you’re going there just for a few days or a week. the crowds suck, it smells bad, the people aren’t as friendly as those in Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Nara, everything is expensive, and the public transportation is an absolute bitch to get around!))

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Now, on to the GOOD experiences:

1. & 2. food is CHEAP and food is FRESH!!!! You will find that the convenience stores have pre-made foods that cost anywhere from $1 USD to $6. These include pasta dishes, salads, soups, miscellaneous snacks, sweets, drinks… you name it!! If you look at the packages you’ll often find that NONE of the dishes are older than the exact day that you’re at the store OR, a good way to tell if they are older than 24 hours is you’ll see a red stamp on them that says 20% or 20cents… which means that you get 20cents to 20% off of that dish due to how “old” the dish is. In the entire 8 months that I’ve been here, I have never seen a pre-made convenience store dish that was still on the rack that’s 2+ days old.

3. Convenience stores ARE ACTUALLY CONVENIENT! Not only do they have a variety of fresh food and the usual chips and other junk food to choose from but they also have microwaves that you can use for a small added charge to your total if you wish to have a dish heated up for you on the spot! They will also provide you with a choice of chopsticks, a fork, or a spoon as well as a damp hand towel to clean your hands off with once you’ve finished your meal.

4. people are polite. When you enter a store or restaurant you will hear the word “irasshaimase“ (E-la-shy-mas-Ay) which means “welcome” and they will also bow to you. people will also apologize when approaching you or after bumping into you by saying either “sumimasen” (sue-me-mas-en) “excuseme/I’m sorry” or “gomennasai“ (go-men-na-sa-E) “I’m sorry” depending on the nature and severity of the situation. Japanese people will also greet you with “ohayou gozaimasu“, or sometimes just “ohayou” (Ohio/ go-za-E-mas)) “good morning”, “konnichiwa“ (ko-n- knee-chee-wa) “good afternoon”, or “konbanwa"- “good afternoon.” They are also extremely helpful and will do their best to help you if you approach them and ask them a question, do keep in mind that many Japanese don’t speak must English or any other language so they may have trouble explaining it so they’ll try and settle for repeating it in Japanese over and over again until they think that you understand.

5. Public transportation is convenient and cheap. Despite the crowds, public transportation is EXTREMELY convenient in Japan. There are different buses, trains and taxis that can get you ANYWHERE in Japan. It may be difficult to learn to navigate from the different railways when using trains but once you have it under control, it’s easy to get wherever you want to go. At the train stations there is a system where you go to buy the train tickets but, you have the option of buying a special card for $20 that you can recharge,I highly recommend that you get the card because it will become your best friend! All you’ll have to do it hold it up to a scanner each time you enter or leave a station and it will automatically deduct the cost for the ride rather than having to constantly pull out cash, insert it into the systems and tell them where your going, then insert the tickets into the gates each time you go somewhere. In Osaka the card is called “Icoca.”

6. The food is DELICIOUS!! (and have I mentioned it’s cheap?) Please please please be open minded about trying new foods. No matter where you’re traveling, be open to trying some of the native dishes, especially in Japan. I know it can seem a bit terrifying but believe me, if you just tell yourself “fuck it” and grab those weird, unknown dishes/snacks or order something random from the menu- you WILL NOT regret it 99.9% of the time ((this is actually how I’ve come to find out what my favorite Japanese dishes are))

7. You will have many chances to travel around the country. Take those chances and enjoy yourself! Japan is such a beautiful place with its historical and futuristic clashing culture and locations. The less chances you take, the more opportunities that you’ll find out that you’ve lost for making great memories, making more friends, seeing beautiful places, etc. Travel travel travel! Each city, each prefecture is drastically different from the last, so explore as much as you can as often as you can and don’t be afraid to try new things, don’t be afraid to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

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More general information:

1. cars won’t come to a complete stop for you as you are crossing the street, they will keep inching forward until you have passed them so that they won’t miss their light. It’s frightening to experience because there are times when you think that they’re going to run you over if you don’t cross the street fast enough but, believe me, they won’t run you over… they may intimidate you but they won’t harm you ever.

2. It may be a bit hard to make Japanese friends. You may be thinking that you’ll come to Japan, make lots of friends, and speak Japanese a lot but it’s more than likely the opposite. You may make Japanese friends but they’ll want to practice their English with you so don’t get uptight about not having the chance to speak Japanese to them often. One great way to make it easier for you to make friends with Japanese people is to apply for speaking-partner programs through your school and/or apply to live in the dorms with local Japanese students ((this is how I’ve made 99% of my Japanese friends)). Once you’ve managed to make some Japanese friends, make them a deal that you’ll help them speak English (or your native language, or both) in return for getting to practice Japanese with them.

3. You will become the minority here, no matter what part of Japan you end up going to. As a foreigner you will be stared at often and some people, especially the elders, will try to avoid you. Don’t be surprised if you find people staring at you and do not find it surprising if no one wants to sit next to you on the bus or trains, no matter how crowded it may get, because they may be intimidated by you as the “Gaijin” (guy-jin) “foreigner” that you are.

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There are many more experiences and much more general info I could give you but I feel like this post is too long as it is so I’ll leave it to you to look up.

I’d recommend that you learn some Japanese before you come to Japan. It may not be necessary but it would certainly be beneficial to you and your friend. There is a wonderful youtube channel and website that you can learn some Japanese from: JapanesePod101

There are many youtube channels that you can look up that can give you insight on what to expect and prepare. Rachel & Jun’s Adventures + Rachel and Jun (they have two channels), Sharmander, Ask Japanese, Abroad in Japan, & Asian Boss to name a few.

#japan #japanese #experiences in japan #traveling #study abroad #tokyo #osaka #asia #traveling experiences #what to expect #learning about japan

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arcaneranger · 6 years ago

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Final Thoughts - Hinomaru Sumo

An earnest, if not mind-blowing, run at the genre with an oft-mocked subject.

Let's face it, sumo is pretty inherently funny. It's stereotypically done by big, sweaty fat guys who compete with almost no body coverage, and it takes a very dedicated effort to get non-Japanese audiences to take it seriously.

I'm glad to say that if there's one thing Hinomaru does right, it's selling sumo. The dignity instilled upon the sport by the cast is admirable, and it helps that even though the plot is pretty unbelievable, it has nothing but respect for its subject.

But let's talk about that plot - firstly, I wanna bring up a specific callback to my Premiere write-up. I'm a little disappointed that the protagonist being literally too short to qualify for the pro league ends up totally not mattering, but that's mostly because of the fact that this is an underdog show that over delivers in the end and strains suspension of disbelief.

That's probably a spoiler, right there, but it's kind of a let down that the show goes for both a "and the story continues" ending, and a definite end to the adaptation, at the same time. Indeed, after a strong, highly watchable, well-paced run, Hinomaru Sumo kind of rushes through its falling action in order to finish the plot, with the good intentions of concluding the story (the source manga of which is still going at over 200 chapters) but the bad side-effect of relegating what I'm sure was an entire arc of the manga into a few lines of expository dialogue.

The production on display is also not particularly awe-inspiring, though I would at least call it "wisely economical". The days when Gonzo could make a good-looking show are long past, but aside from a few odd missteps, Hinomaru's animation budget has been carefully kept for the few short moments that matter (which is good, considering it's a two-cour show). It's not even as good as Major 2nd, but it gets the job done for a sport whose matches can last a few seconds and are mostly made up of short bouts of very intense movement. That being said, in a show where a lot of time is spent on still shots of mostly-naked characters, a little more focus on realistic anatomy and less Liefeld-ing would have been nice.

All in all, the ending of Hinomaru isn't bad enough to poison the well, but I do think that it would have made a decent ongoing adaptation if not for the Gonzo of it all. As it stands, it's a competent, well-paced affair that will fill your sports fix, even if it doesn't set the world on fire.

7/10.

#arcaneanime #final thoughts #long 2019 #hinomaru sumo #hinomaru zumou

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smlpodcast · 2 years ago

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The SML Podcast - Episode 875: Brace For Food

Download Episode 875 --

We've got a PartyCast filled with reviews, but first a chat with PR specialist Sam Brace!

The show kicks off with Sam Brace of Decibel-PR joining the show to chat all about his history in gaming and PR. Working for companies like Capcom and Bethesda, creating Decibel-PR, and maintaining a PR company all while touring around the world because Sam is ALSO a musician! Formerly of folk-indie band Skinny Lister, Sam joins to talk about his own debut album, some of the songs, and tons more! We end the chat with a song with a few more to come at the end of the show!

After the quick interlude, it's PartyCast time with Brooke Poole, Pernell Vaughan, Chris Taylor, and Aki all on hand to chat about food. We're all hungry, we're reviewing games with food in it, and we just can't catch a break. All we want to do is eat something and you have Pernell scarfing down broccoli while everybody else just sits there podcasting. Oh yeah, we also talk reviews!

0:00 - Intro/Sam Brace Interview 37:33 - Sam Brace - Year of Punk 40:58 - PartyCast Banter 46:22 - Monster Menu: The Scavenger's Cookbook - Nippon Ichi Software, NIS America (Brooke) 1:01:13 - After Us - Piccolo Studio, Private Division (Aki) 1:08:42 - Cook Serve Forever - Vertigo Gaming (Brooke) 1:23:50 - Bat Boy - X PLUS Co, Sonzai Games (Pernell) 1:31:38 - Zool Redimensioned - Sumo Digital Academy, Secret Mode (Chris) 1:44:11 - VIVIDLOPE - Jaklub (Pernell) 1:54:14 - Miracle Snack Shop - Talesshop, CFK (Aki) 1:59:25 - Dice Legacy Definitive Edition - DESTINYbit, Amplifier Game Invest (Pernell)

The show ends with three more tracks from Sam Brace off of his debut album Fever & Bones! Grab it now!

2:13:20 - Sam Brace - Ultraviolet 2:17:58 - Sam Brace - Brave 2:21:26 - Sam Brace - Panic

https://www.sambrace.com/ https://www.decibel-pr.com/ https://www.nippon1.co.jp/ https://www.nisamerica.com/ https://twitter.com/piccolo_studio https://www.privatedivision.com/ https://www.vertigogaming.net/ https://xplus.co.jp/en/ https://www.sonzaigames.com/ https://www.sumo-academy.com/ https://wearesecretmode.com/ https://twitter.com/jaklub_ http://www.talesshop.com/ https://www.cfk.kr/ https://destinybit.com/ https://www.amplifiergameinvest.com/ https://sambrace.bandcamp.com/ https://www.keymailer.co/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sml-podcast/id826998112 https://open.spotify.com/show/6KQpzHeLsoyVy6Ln2ebNwK https://twitter.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/theSMLpodcast/ https://store.streamelements.com/thesmlpodcast ALL REVIEWED GAMES HAVE BEEN PROVIDED FOR FREE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ANY COVERAGE ON THE SHOW #PS5 #Xbox #Switch #Keymailer

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ladystylestores · 5 years ago

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Brazil’s Bolsonaro tested again for coronavirus: Live updates | News

Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Kate Mayberry in Kuala Lumpur.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has been tested again for coronavirus, after showing symptoms of the disease including a fever.

A group of more than 200 scientists are urging the World Health Organization to acknowledge that the coronavirus can spread in the air.

Nearly 11.6 million people around the world have now been diagnosed with COVID-19, and nearly 537,000 have died, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The United States and Brazil have reported the most cases and the highest death tolls.

Here are the latest updates.

Tuesday, July 7

03:15 GMT – Sinovac starts late stage vaccine trials

China’s Sinovac Biotech is starting Phase III trials of its potential coronavirus vaccine in Brazil, after securing fast-track approvals from the country’s regulator.

The study will involve 9,000 people working in specialised COVID-19 medical facilities.

Phase III trials test a vaccine’s efficacy.

It’s the third experimental vaccine to enter late stage trials after products developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University, and China National Pharmaceutical Group (Sinopharm). Moderna plans to begin late stage trials later month.

03:00 GMT – Five sumo members confirmed to have COVID-19 antibodies

Japan’s national broadcaster NHK has reported that five members of the Sumo Association have been confirmed to have coronavirus antibodies.

It did not say whether they were wrestlers or had other roles in the association.

28-year-old wrestler Shobushi died from the diseas in May, the first death in sumo.

02:50 GMT – Bali eyes September return for foreign tourists

The Indonesian resort island of Bali is planning to reopens to tourism with domestic visitors returning by the end of this month and visitors from overseas on September 11.

COVID-19 cases have increased recently, with Bali reporting 1,900 confirmed cases and 23 deaths. Indonesia itself has 65,000 cases and 3,241 deaths.

Bali is preparing for the return of local tourists by the end of this month [Sonny Tumbelaka/AFP]

02:20 GMT – Students in China sit university entrance exam

More than 10 million students from around China have started sitting the highly competitive gaokao or university entrance exam that was delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.

The state-run Global Times says it’s the largest public event since the health crisis.

Born around the time of the SARS epidemic in 2003, more than 10 million high school graduates are taking the national college entrance exam, known as #gaokao. This year’s gaokao comes one month later than usual due to the #COVID_19. pic.twitter.com/FcheqHjZcG

— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) July 7, 2020

Candidates in #Wuhan enter examination site for this year’s college entrance examination, or gaokao, after measuring body temperature on Tue. This year’s gaokao, which is being held in most parts of China from July 7 to 8, is the largest public event since the #COVID19 pandemic. pic.twitter.com/dYc5rff0zf

— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) July 7, 2020

01:35 GMT – Mexico outbreak could last until April

A top health official in Mexico says the outbreak there could last until next April.

Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told Radio Formula, a local channel, that cases could persist throughout the winter.

“Flu season begins in October and there are some reasonable assumptions that we could also have a spike in COVID-19 along with the flu throughout the fall-to-winter season,” he said.

Mexico has recorded 31,119 deaths from the disease, the fifth highest in the world.

00:00 GMT – New Zealand to limit citizens’ return in quarantine squeeze

New Zealand citizens who want to return home may have to wait longer than anticipated after the government moved to limit arrivals from overseas to ease pressure on mandatory quarantine facilities.

Officials said they had reached an agreement with Air New Zealand to put a hold on inbound bookings for the next three weeks and were talking to other airlines.

“The last thing we need are hastily set up facilities to meet demand, so we must have a manageable number of fit-for-purpose, safe facilities that do the job of stopping COVID-19 at the border,” Housing Minister Megan Woods said in a statement.

There are currently nearly 6,000 people in quarantine at 28 facilities.

23:30 GMT – Bolsonaro tested after showing COVID-19 symptoms

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has had another coronavirus test, after reporting symptoms associated with the respiratory disease, including a fever.

Bolsonaro told supporters outside the presidential palace that he had just been tested for the virus, and that a medical examination had shown his lungs were “clean”. The results are due on Tuesday.

The right-wing populist has repeatedly played down the impact of the virus, even though Brazil now has the second-highest number of cases, and deaths, in the world.

A woman walks pass graffiti in Rio de Janeiro showing Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro. He is awaiting the result of a second coronavirus test after coming down with a fever [Sergio Moraes/Reuters]

—

Read all the updates from yesterday here.

SOURCE: Al Jazeera and news agencies

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cinnvgc · 7 years ago

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VGC17 - Dual Weather + Trick Room Support

Aaaaaaa sorry this is so late!!

This team was a bit of an oddball for me. It’s three things at once, but it still manages to work just fine, oddly enough. This team has a lot of room for improvement, that’s for sure. I’m open to any suggestions!

Kommo-o @ Fightinium Z

Ability: Overcoat

Level: 50

EVs: 244 HP / 252 SpA / 12 Spe

Modest Nature

IVs: 0 Atk

- Clanging Scales

- Focus Blast

- Flamethrower

- Protect

When I initially started on this team, I wanted to build around and support Kommo-o as much I could, since it’s such an interesting Pokémon to me. Its unique Dragon/Fighting typing is an offensive blessing and a defensive curse, allowing it to handle Steel and Ice types with its Fighting STAB, but it also grants it more weaknesses and worsens its Fairy weakness, meaning this ‘mon will require a bit of support to use effectively. I decided to go for Overcoat over Soundproof to let it work with Ninetales and Gigalith more easily without worrying about weather damage. Clanging Scales is its most reliable STAB move, hitting both opponents relatively hard, aside from Fairy types and Soundproof Kommo-o variants. With Fightinium Z, the normally unreliable but powerful Focus Blast becomes a one-time nuke in the form of All-Out Pummeling, capable of OHKOing most, if not all, Porygon2 variants. This is a feat that very few Pokémon are capable of, which was one of the reasons I wanted to try Kommo-o out. Flamethrower is the coverage move of choice, discouraging Ice and Steel types like Alolan Ninetales and Celesteela from sticking around for too long. Protect helps Kommo-o survive a little longer by avoiding moves like Ninatales’ Blizzard and other super effective moves.

Ninetales-Alola @ Focus Sash

Ability: Snow Warning

Level: 50

EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe

Timid Nature

- Blizzard

- Freeze-Dry

- Aurora Veil

- Protect

Alolan Ninetales is a valuable asset to any team, with it being the only fully evolved Pokémon to have access to both Snow Warning and Aurora Veil. Ninetales makes the entire team much bulkier, helping them survive longer with its Aurora Veil. Blizzard allows Ninetales to go on the offensive after setting up its Aurora Veil, dealing decent damage to both opponents, having a chance to freeze them both with each hit, though not a high enough chance to particularly matter. Freeze Dry allows it to handle Pokémon like Pelipper, Gyarados, and Gastrodon with ease, and serves as a nice alternative to Blizzard if the Hail is replaced by other weather or runs out time. Both Protect and its Focus Sash help it survive longer, since Ninetales is fairly fragile. Without a doubt, it is Kommo-o’s best partner in battle since they cover each other nicely.

Celesteela @ Leftovers

Ability: Beast Boost

Level: 50

EVs: 228 HP / 44 Atk / 116 Def / 116 SpD / 4 Spe

Adamant Nature

- Heavy Slam

- Leech Seed

- Substitute

- Protect

Celesteela is my solution to Fairy and Ice types, hitting them especially hard with a STAB Heavy Slam. The combination of Leftovers, Leech Seed, Substitute, and Protect make Celesteela especially hard to take down. This set is fairly simple and standard, so there isn’t much to say about it.

Metagross @ Psychium Z

Ability: Clear Body

Level: 50

EVs: 132 HP / 252 Atk / 124 Spe

Jolly Nature

- Meteor Mash

- Zen Headbutt

- Bullet Punch

- Protect

Metagross is an alternative to Kommo-o in case it just can’t handle the opposing team well enough. Meteor Mash and Zen Headbutt are its primary STABs, with Bullet Punch for revenge kills and finishing off weakened ‘mons. Zen Headbutt can also become a one-time nuke in the form of Shattered Psyche, dealing some nasty damage when needed. Protect helps it survive longer while also helping it avoid Gigalith’s Earthquakes, since it makes a fairly decent partner for Metagross.

Gigalith @ Assault Vest

Ability: Sand Stream

Level: 50

EVs: 228 HP / 188 Atk / 92 Def

Brave Nature

- Stone Edge

- Heavy Slam

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

I’m going to be completely honest right here. Gigalith was the last Pokémon I expected to be using on a VGC team. I somehow managed to overlook how strong this often forgotten Rock type became in SuMo, and that is a mistake I hope I never repeat. I’ve always been a fan of Gigalith’s design, but was always disappointed by how weak it seemed outside of its strong Defense. With the combination of Sand Stream, Assault Vest, and its naturally high Defense, Gigalith has become quite the tank. Stone Edge is a powerful STAB, with Rock Slide as the secondary STAB for flinching opponents under Trick Room and for dealing damage to both targets when needed. Heavy Slam puts out some serious damage due to Gigalith’s weight, making it a nice coverage move to have on hand. Earthquake allows it to deal massive damage to both opponents, with Tapu Koko being the most notable one it deals with.

Oranguru @ Mental Herb

Ability: Inner Focus

Level: 50

EVs: 252 HP / 140 Def / 20 SpA / 92 SpD

Sassy Nature

IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe

- Psychic

- Instruct

- Trick Room

- Protect

Oranguru is on the team mostly to support Gigalith as much as possible, allowing it to counter Tapu Koko and Tapu Lele quite effectively while also dealing quite a bit to Tapu Bulu. Psychic is the STAB move of choice, though Instruct will be the move it uses most to help Gigalith put out as much damage as possible. Trick Room helps both Gigalith and Celesteela out immensely, though it has little use otherwise. Protect helps Oranguru survive a little longer, and its Mental Herb insures that it can set up Trick Room when needed.

#pokemon #pokemon sun and moon #pokemon vgc #kommo-o #alolan ninetales #celesteela #metagross #gigalith #oranguru #my teams

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tripstations · 5 years ago

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16 Japan experiences every traveler should enjoy

Editor’s Be aware — CNN Journey’s sequence usually carry sponsorship originating from the international locations and areas we profile. Nevertheless, CNN retains full editorial management over all of its stories. Learn the coverage.(CNN) — There is no scarcity of causes to fall in love with Japan. Whether or not you are searching down prime eats in Tokyo and Osaka or basking within the nation’s beautiful landscapes, it is not possible to take all of it in in a single go to.

However you will definitely have a superb time making an attempt.

We have constructed the final word cheat sheet of prime Japan experiences that will help you plan your subsequent go to. Additionally, remember to click on by way of the gallery on the highest of this story of lovely Japan locations for extra journey inspo.

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

Although Japan may be most well-known for its dazzlingly fashionable cities, you will need to spend a minimum of a number of days exploring its beautiful pure choices.

It is a nation that really has all of it, from rocky mountain peaks to white-sand seashores.

Listed here are few Japan experiences that may permit for each leisure and journey.

Winter sports activities

As winter storms rush although Japan’s Zao Mountain Vary, bushes are remodeled into unimaginable “snow monsters.”

Nagano, which hosted the Winter Olympics in 1998, has lengthy been a snowy escape for international vacationers. However in recent times, Niseko on the northern island of Hokkaido has turn into one other main vacation spot for powder hunters due to its contemporary, high quality snow and superb meals scene. Down on the island of Honshu, in the meantime, Zao Onsen in Yamagata prefecture affords snowboarding, onsen (extra on that later) and “snow monsters.” For one thing utterly completely different, the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route, dubbed the ‘Roof of Japan,’ affords vacationers an opportunity to drive down a freeway framed by huge partitions of snow that tower as excessive as 17 meters over the street.

Seashore hopping

It is easy to see why this beautiful Iwate prefecture seaside was named “Jodogahama,” or Pure Land.

JNTO

Being an island nation, Japan’s seaside choices are simply as spectacular as its skyscrapers and bullet trains.

Within the north of Japan’s primary island, Jodogahama Seashore (Pure Land in English) is a tranquil hidden seaside with crystal-clear water and stark white rocks. If you happen to desire softer (and darker) sand, Ibusuki Seashore is your dream vacation spot. The subtropical seaside is famed for a novel exercise — sand bathing, or suna-mushi.

Onsen soaking

Even macaques in Japan know the best way to take pleasure in an onsen.

Koichi Kamoshida/Getty Photos

For anybody who hasn’t been to a Japanese onsen, take be aware: Nudity is not simply the norm. It is the rule.

The phrase “onsen” refers to Japan’s pure sizzling springs but it surely can also signify amenities like spas and inns that pipe the waters into their very own bathing areas.

Although hundreds of onsen exist all through the nation, Beppu is Japan’s sizzling spring capital — and for good motive. It is house to greater than 2,500 sizzling springs and is the world’s second-largest supply of thermal spring water.

For vacationers with ink, nevertheless, stripping down at a Japanese onsen can get difficult as many ban tattoos, which have been related to yakuza gangs.

Thankfully, there’s Tattoo-Pleasant, a web site that includes properties that permit ink. Customers can slim down the search by selecting the kind of facility they need to go to — health club, pool, hotel-and-ryokan (inn) or sento (public baths).

Every listed property features a transient description of the place and its facilities, as effectively its particular insurance policies on tattoos.

Hanami

Each spring, Japanese have a good time cherry blossoms by gathering and picnicking at parks whereas admiring the pink blossoms.

Buddhika Weerasinghe/Getty Photos AsiaPac/Getty Photos

For only a few weeks each spring, Japan celebrates an annual ritual referred to as hanami: stopping to view and admire the attractive spring blossoms.

It is so common the Japan Climate Affiliation’s annual sakura (cherry blossom) forecast is broadcast stay on TV, whereas the Japan Nationwide Tourism Group has a usually up to date timetable of cherry blossoms predictions on their web site.

Mountain climbing

A hike alongside the Kumano Kodo path is a Wakayama spotlight.

Pongpat Patumsuwon/CNN

Being a mountainous nation, trekking is a particularly common Japan exercise.

For a religious journey, attempt Kumano Kodo, a multiday pilgrimage throughout Wakayama prefecture — fueled by nice meals, cute rural villages and wealthy tradition alongside the way in which.Greater than a thousand years in the past, imperial leaders and aristocrats made their approach to the primary Kumano Kodo shrines by way of a community of hikes throughout the island. On the finish of the hike we advocate spending the evening at a temple within the mountaintop city of Koyasan, the middle of Shingon Buddhism.

Right here, historical cedar forests share area with historic pagodas, paved roads, eating places, colleges, cafes and memento outlets.

TRADITION

Japan excels at placing the appropriate steadiness between custom and modernity, main the way in which in technological advances whereas additionally embracing its previous, whether or not it is structure, artwork, vogue, meals or sports activities.

Listed here are a number of experiences that provides you with a style for Japan’s conventional facet.

Keep in a ryokan

Nishimuraya Honkan is a seventh-generation ryokan in Hyogo prefecture.

Courtesy Nishimuraya

Searching for that traditional Japanese inn expertise, full with tatami flooring, onsen and sliding doorways?

Staying in a ryokan, a standard Japanese guesthouse, is the way in which to go. Catering to all budgets, they are often discovered all through Japan — mostly within the countryside outdoors of city facilities.

Friends are inspired to put on yukata (home kimonos) and socks, whereas conventional Japanese meals are ready in-house.

Tea ceremonies

CNN’s Paula Newton travels to Fukuoka and the encircling tea-rich lands to expertise the normal winter tea ceremony.

To make it, inexperienced tea leaves, grown within the shade, are dried and floor right into a superb powder. This permits the tea to retain its vitamins. Throughout the ceremony, which focuses on the rituals and psychological states achieved within the course of, the powder is whisked with sizzling water in a small bowl till a slight foam seems.

The highest place to expertise Japan’s matcha tea ceremony — or simply take pleasure in a number of cups of the valuable drink — is Kyoto. There are many tea making lessons and demonstrations obtainable in English and different languages.

Kimonos

It might take as much as two years to make a high-end kimono.

CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP/AFP/Getty Photos

Japan’s most stunning conventional apparel, kimonos are undeniably an costly memento to convey house. One motive for his or her hefty price ticket is the painstakingly detailed course of that goes into making them.

One other respected kimono-making firm is Okaju in Kyoto, based in 1855 and now helmed by the fourth technology Shigeo Okajima.

If you happen to’d merely wish to don one throughout your Japan go to, there are a selection of rental corporations all through Kyoto.

Favor to understand these stunning clothes from afar? Kyoto’s Gion district is the place vacationers can view swish geishas, conventional Japanese entertainers, strolling down the road of their kimonos.

Sumo watching

Sumo wrestling dates again a minimum of 2,000 years.

AFP Contributor/AFP/AFP/Getty Photos

Sumo is as historical as it’s quintessentially Japanese. Historians agree that the game dates again a minimum of 2,000 years, and in its present type has remained largely unchanged for the reason that Edo interval.

However scoring a seat at one in all Japan’s six main sumo tournaments per yr would possibly as robust as entering into the ring and wrestling your self, although with slightly advance planning you may make it occur. Tickets can be found by way of Japan’s official sumo web site.

There are different methods to get near a sumo wrestler.

After they’re not competing, sumo wrestlers practice yr spherical in designated sumo stables, or beya.

These stables, that are principally primarily based in Tokyo’s Ryogoku neighborhood, are the place town’s wrestlers stay, eat, sleep and observe on a close to every day foundation. In recent times, it is turn into extra frequent for foreigners to go to the morning observe, which begins at about 5 a.m. and lasts three to 4 hours.

Learn extra about Japan’s sumo stables right here.

CUISINE

Japan is a culinary wonderland due to its distinctive heritage, a nationwide obsession with meals and an nearly spiritual embrace of freshness and ideal manufacturing.

Listed here are a number of of the nation’s must-try eating experiences. Been there, ate that? For a deeper dive into the nation’s culinary wonders, take a look at our record of 25 prime Japanese dishes.

Sushi

Chances are high, sushi might be the very first thing that involves thoughts once you suppose “Japanese meals.”

Greater than only a slice of fish over vinegar rice — that is just one sort, referred to as nigiri — mastering the artwork of sushi can simply take a lifetime. Fortunately, there’s Sushi College, the place vacationers can be taught to differentiate nigiri from nori-maki.

Nearly poetic in its simplicity, good sushi depends on two issues: the freshness of the elements and the knife expertise of the chef.

Whether or not you want your uncooked fish draped over bite-sized balls of vinegared rice, rolled up in toasted nori seaweed or pressed into fats rectangular logs, scrumptious sushi could be present in each value vary.

If you happen to’re up for a splurge, Sushisho Masa (106-0031 Tokyo, Minato Metropolis,Nishiazabu, four Chome−1−15) in Tokyo’s Roppongi neighborhood is nothing wanting perfection.

After which in fact there’s Sukiyabashi Jiro, the fabled restaurant in Tokyo’s trendy Ginza district broadly considered the most effective sushi restaurant on this planet. Hidden in a basement hooked up to the Ginza Metro Station, Sukiyabashi Jiro earned international fame following the 2012 documentary “Jiro Desires of Sushi.”

Kobe beef

Solely 3,000 cattle are categorized as Kobe grade every year.

©JNTO

Identified for its pervasive marbling and melt-on-your-tongue texture, Kobe beef is one in all Japan’s most prized meats.

A kind of Wagyu beef named after the area by which the cattle are raised, Kobe is comparatively uncommon — solely 3,000 cattle every year are licensed as Kobe grade.

This has prompted a good bit of confusion however here is a simple approach to keep in mind it. Wagyu (which accurately means “Japanese cow”) refers to particular breeds of cattle that come from a direct, traceable and pure bloodline.

The Kansai area, the place Osaka relies, produces the three “king” sorts of Wagyu: Matsusaka, Kobe and Ohmi. Nevertheless, beef from different areas could be equally tasty.

Discover out extra about Japan’s varied kinds of beef right here.

Soba

Desire a seat at Kyourakutei? You will have to attend in line. CNN meets up with the person behind this common Michelin-starred Tokyo soba restaurant.

Soba, or Japanese buckwheat noodles, are normally served chilly with dipping sauce (referred to as zaru soba) or served sizzling in dashi broth.

Triumphing over all of them is te-uchi, which suggests “handmade,” soba in Japanese. The hand-kneaded and lower soba affords the most effective firmness and, therefore, is extra a lot tastier than the mass-produced selection.For a very distinctive soba expertise, head to Iwate, a prefecture in Japan’s northeast the place you may take pleasure in a 400-year-old all-you-can-eat noodle custom referred to as “wanko soba.”

One wanko soba restaurant claims a diner ate 570 bowls in a single sitting.

Yakitori

Probably the greatest causes to go to a pub in Japan? Yakitori, Japanese fashion rooster skewers.

©JNTO

A yakitori restaurant is the place you may pattern each a part of the rooster — from rooster breast to skins to gizzards — all introduced on skewers, Japanese fashion.

Tokyo’s Torikado is among the greatest locations to take pleasure in them. A high-end omakase yakitori restaurant, Torikado’s diners will go away it as much as the chef to determine what they eat.

Kaiseki

Kaiseki meals had been initially meant to be loved earlier than a tea ceremony.

Japan vacationers researching a visit to Kyoto will inevitably come throughout the phrase “kaiseki.”

To the outsider, it seems to easily be a multicourse Japanese dinner made up of superbly plated dishes. However there’s a lot extra to this meticulously ready, exquisitely served and, normally, very costly meal.

To practitioners of this haute delicacies, kaiseki is the embodiment of “omotenashi,” which suggests wholehearted hospitality.

Wanna know extra? We adopted chef Hisato Nakahigashi of Miyamasou, a two Michelin-starred restaurant and ryokan, to place collectively this newbie’s information to kaiseki meals.

Ramen

Ramen is the final word Japanese consolation meals.

©Hiroshima Prefecture/©JNTO

Nothing’s extra comforting than slurping again a bowl of ramen on a chilly wet day.

There are 4 fundamental types of the world-famous soup-based dish: Shoyu (soy sauce seasoning); shio (a lightweight soy sauce model of shoryu); miso (made with fermented soy beans); and tonkotsu (a creamy-white pork bone broth).

CNN Journey requested Brian Mac, founding father of the weblog Ramen Adventures, to share a few of his favourite ramen varieties in Tokyo and past, which embody Hokkaido’s miso ramen, Kyushu’s Kumamoto ramen and every kind of shoyu variations. Learn extra about them right here.

Sake

A one-minute tour of Japan’s northern Tohoku area, which produces a number of the nation’s greatest bottles of sake.

Japanese rice wine, sake has a long-standing historical past courting again to the third century.

It is produced everywhere in the nation — and lots of brewers are open to excursions — however Japan’s Tohoku area within the northeast is the place you will discover a number of the greatest bottles.

A part of what makes Tohoku’s sakes so completely different is geography: The winters are extreme with heavy snowfalls and traditionally, due to its remoteness, agriculture has been the mainstay in Tohoku.

For guests making the journey north, a number of breweries provide excursions in English, in addition to tastings — however you have to to guide upfront by way of their web sites.

Learn extra in regards to the Tohoku area’s well-known sake producers right here.

The post 16 Japan experiences every traveler should enjoy appeared first on Tripstations.

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ianmrid · 6 years ago

Text

...And The Future Will Decide...

Pokémon Emerald: Completed!

And, although it isn’t quite 100%, my Hoenn Pokédex is as completed as it can be.

As in previous generations, the Mythical Pokémon (Jirachi and Deoxys, this time around) don’t actually count towards your Pokédex being ‘completed’ as far as the game is concerned. This means I can visit the head of Game Freak - this time on vacation in Hoenn, staying in a Lilycove hotel with rest of his development team - and as expected, receive another pretty underwhelming diploma for my efforts.

At least the artwork is a bit nicer? But it’s still pretty underwhelming - but I’m used to that now! The main thing to talk about is who was my third and final Hoenn team? Well, Pokémon Emerald is a long game, so I had plenty of time to spend with latest squad:

SMIRKENORF the Salamence: One of the most powerful non-legendary pokémon in Hoenn, this part Dragon-, part Flying-type was named after the dragon from 1980′s British kid’s TV show, Knightmare, with a slight tweak of spelling to account for the character limit. I didn’t care too much for Salamence before this jaunt, but since he is slow to evolve through all three-stages I decided best way way to do it in a play-through. I traded over one of the the Bagons I hunted down in my Kingdra mission, trained him up and, as usual, I took much more of shine to him through this process. Salamence hits incredibly hard and was also my team transport as the resident FLY user. I did need to be careful with the Elite Four however, due to Drake’s Dragon-type team and Glacia’s Ice-type pokémon exposing a crippling (4x!) weakness!

NEV the Whiscash: Hey, it’s my favourite type combination again! Water- and Ground-type is just so useful - I loved it on Quagsire, I loved it on Swampert, and I love it here. It is so satisfying to be able to switch in on Electric-type moves and then hit back with a STAB Earthquake. Unfortunately, being the resident Water-type, Nev needed to use up a bunch of move slots for all the required Water-type HM moves needed to progress in the game, but at least Surf, Waterfall, and Dive are all useful moves in their own right as well. And he is named after Nev Schulman. Because Whiscash is a catfish? And Nev Schulman presents MTV’s Catfish? Ah, you get it.

HONDA the Hariyama: Named after E. Honda from the Street Fighter games - due to the fact Hariyama is based on a sort of giant Sumo wrestler - Honda was one of the many appealing Fighting-type pokémon introduced in Hoenn, I mainly stuck with a STAB Brick Break for taking out Rock-, Steel-, Dark-, and Normal-types, but I also added Fake Out as it is definitely one of the most useful moves in the entire game. Fake Out has an elevated priority so nearly always goes first and although it doesn’t hurt much, it always flinches the opponent, meaning they can’t attack. This is especially useful in Double Battles as you can flinch a scary pokémon on the opposing team and either let your partner attempt to take them out, or switch in a pokémon better suited to deal with the threat. Tactics!

AT-AT the Metagross: Along with Salamence, the other of Hoenn’s two ‘pseudo-legendary’ pokémon, Metagross is a sort of robot, four-legged, spider thing. It’s certainly one of the stranger pokémon out there, but it is very popular and I can see why: Steel/Psychic is a great combination and Metagross has a great range of STAB and coverage moves, with the powerful stats to back them up. I named mine after the AT-AT walkers from Star Wars, and used Meteor Mash and Psychic as my dual STAB moves. I added Shadow Ball as coverage - very handy against other Psychic-types since I wasn’t always able to hurt them as much. The move-set was rounded off with the ever trusty Toxic - a nice all-purpose move that I knew Metagross would be able to use, even in dire circumstance, due to the huge defensive power of the Steel typing.

NAPS the Slaking: Another absolute powerhouse, Skaking has some of the best stats in the entire game - outside of the legnedary pokémon - beating out even Salamence and Metagross. However, this is tempered by the fact it has an infuriating ability in Truant - which makes it miss every other turn because it is ‘loafing around’. This makes the name Naps pretty appropriate. When Naps does deign to follow orders and attack, his Thunderbolt provided some much needed Electric coverage, and STAB Slash hurt a lot. I rounded this off with Slack Off - his signature ability - in order to stay healthy, and Yawn. Yawn was fun - it is a guaranteed sleep move, but takes a couple of turns to take effect - however it really helped to make up for the Truant ability when the opponent spent half the time dozing.

CRAYDILDO the Cradily: A classy nickname for sure (and another stolen from Haydunn), but he really does look like he is wearing some sort of Elizabethan ruff made of dildos. I really like Cradily - it looks super derpy, which I have been proven to be fond of before - but actually the ‘eye’ patterns are just that and the actual eyes are far more sinister and peek out from the darkness in it’s head-thing. Unlike most of the rest of the team, Cradily was built to last and stall. Amnesia to raise it’s SpDef, Ancient Power to potentially raise all stats while still dishing out damage, STAB Giga Drain and a Shell Bell held item to reliably recover health, and Substitute - a move that allows you to sacrifice HP to provide a wall to hide behind. Very tricky to take out!

Meet the team:

A pretty cool bunch, I’m sure you will agree - and it was nice to try out such a high-offense team for once, as this isn’t my usual play style at all.

So, it’s some sexy graphs and then even sexier art up next, right?

Wait...what do you mean National Pokédex?!

#pokemon #pokemon playthrough #e plays pokemon #nintendo #game freak #Pokemon Emerald

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pwrestlingxpress · 8 years ago

Video

youtube

The video above is the official commercial for G1 Climax 27 presented by LAWSON ticket. The video is courtesy of New Japan on YouTube. Down below is the full schedule of the G1 Climax including the video that highlights the Key Matches taking place during the event. Those key matches are in parenthesis.

Monday July 17th (A Block): Hokkaido at the Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center Hokkai Kitayell - Event will start at 3 PM Japan Time

Hiroshi Takahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Key Match)

Kota Ibushi vs. Tetsuya Naito (Key Match)

Yuji Nagata vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Togi Makabe vs. Bad Luck Fale

Hirooki Goto vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Thursday July 20th (B Block): Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

SANADA vs. EVIL (Key Match)

Minoru Suzuki vs. Kenny Omega (Key Match)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Toru Yano

Michael Elgin vs. Tama Tonga

Satoshi Kojima vs. Juice Robinson (aka former NXT Superstar CJ Parker)

Friday July 21st (A Block): Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Kota Ibushi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Key Match)

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Tetuya Naito (Key Match)

Yuji Nagata vs. Hirooki Goto

Togi Makabe vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Bad Luck Fale

Saturday July 22nd (B Block): Tokyo at the Korakuen Hall - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Kenny Omega vs. Tama Tonga (Key Match)

Minoru Suzuki vs. SANADA (Key Match)

EVIL vs. Juice Robinson

Kazuchika Okada vs. Michael Elgin

Satoshi Kojima vs. Toru Yano

Sunday July 23 (A Block): Tokyo at the Machida Gymnasium - Event will start at 6:00 PM Japan Time

Kota Ibushi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Key Match)

Togi Makabe vs. Hirooki Goto (Key Match)

Tetsuya Naito vs. Bad Luck Fale

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Yuji Nagata

Tuesday July 25 (B Block): Fukushima at the Big Palette Fukushima - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Toru Yano vs. Kenny Omega (Key Match)

Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA (Key Match)

Tama Tonga vs. EVIL

Juice Robinson vs. Minoru Suzuki

Satoshi Kojima vs. Michael Elgin

Wednesday July 26 (A Block): Miyagi at the Sendai Sunplaza - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Togi Makabe vs. Kota Ibushi (Key Match)

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Hirooki Goto (Key Match)

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Bad Luck Fale

Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Tetsuya Naito vs. Yuji Nagata

Thursday July 27 (B Block): Niigata at the Ao-re Nagaoka - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Minoru Suzuki vs. EVIL (Key Match)

Michael Elgin vs. Kenny Omega (Key Match)

SANADA vs. Toru Yano

Juice Robinson vs. Tama Tonga

Kazuchika Okada vs. Satoshi Kojima

Saturday July 29 (A Block): Aichi at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium - Event will start at 6:00 PM Japan Time

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. YOSHI-HASHI (Key Match)

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tetsuya Naito (Key Match)

Hirooki Goto vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Kota Ibushi vs. Bad Luck Fale

Togi Makabe vs. Yuji Nagata

Sunday July 30 (B Block): Gifu at the Gifu Industrial Hall - Event will start at 4:30 PM Japan Time

Satoshi Kojima vs. Kenny Omega (Key Match)

Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada (Key Match)

Michael Elgin vs. SANADA

Minoru Suzuki vs. Tama Tonga

EVIL vs. Toru Yano

Tuesday August 1 (A Block): Kagoshima at the Kagoshima Arena - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Key Match)

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kota Ibushi (Key Match)

YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto

Togi Makabe vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Wednesday August 2 (B Block): Fukuoka at the Fukuoka Citizen’s Gymnasium - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Satoshi Kojima vs. Minoru Suzuki (Key Match)

Kenny Omega vs. EVIL (Key Match)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga

SANADA vs. Juice Robinson

Michael Elgin vs. Toru Yano

Friday August 4 (A Block): Ehime at the Item Ehime - Event will start at 7:00 PM Japan Time

Tetsuya Naito vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (Key Match)

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Togi Makabe (Key Match)

Kota Ibushi vs. Yuji Nagata

Hirooki Goto vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Bad Luck Fale

Saturday August 5 (B Block): Osaka at the EDION Arena OSAKA (aka the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium) - Event will start at 5:00 PM Japan Time

Satoshi Kojima vs. SANADA (Key Match)

Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL (Key Match)

Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin

Tama Tonga vs. Toru Yano

Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson

Sunday August 6 (A Block): Shizuoka at the Act city Hamamatsu - Event will start at 4:00 PM Japan Time

Togi Makabe vs. Tetsuya Naito (Key Match)

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tomohiro Ishii (Key Match)

Hirooki Goto vs. Bad Luck Fale

Kota Ibushi vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Yuji Nagata

Tuesday August 8 (B Block): Kanagawa at the Yokohama Cultural Gymnasium - Event will start at 6:30 PM Japan Time

Kenny Omega vs. SANADA (Key Match)

Kazuchika Okada vs. Minoru Suzuki (Key Match)

Juice Robinson vs. Toru Yano

Michael Elgin vs. EVIL

Satoshi Kojima vs. Tama Tonga

Friday August 11 - Sunday August 13: Tokyo at the Ryogoku Sumo Hall (aka Ryogoku Kokugikan) - The Friday and Saturday events (aka August 11th and 12th) will each start at 6:30 PM Japan Time while the August 13th event (aka the Sunday Event) will start at 3 PM Japan Time

August 11, 2017 (A Block): Kota Ibushi vs. Hirooki Goto - Key Match

August 11, 2017 (A Block): Tomohiro Ishii vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

August 11, 2017 (A Block): Bad Luck Fale vs. Yuji Nagata

August 11, 2017 (A Block): Togi Makabe vs. YOSHI-HASHI

August 11, 2017 (A Block): Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito - Key Match

August 12, 2017 (B Block): Toru Yano vs. Minoru Suzuki - Key Match

August 12, 2017 (B Block): Tama Tonga vs. SANADA

August 12, 2017 (B Block): Michael Elgin vs. Juice Robinson

August 12, 2017 (B Block): Satoshi Kojima vs. EVIL

August 12, 2017 (B Block): Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega - Key Match

August 13, 2017: G1 Climax 27 Finals - A Block Winner vs. B Block Winner

youtube

New Japan World will provide coverage for all the events in which 6 of these will provide English commentary. The G1 Climax starts on July 17th in Hokkaido and will end on August 13th in Ryogoku Sumo Hall. The press conference for the event will be coming very soon. I’m expecting it to air after WWE RAW’s Pay-Per-View event scheduled for July 9th since I believe that’s where a lot of the G1 Climax Press Conferences take place which is at least the week before the event. Stay tuned to all wrestling sites for more updates on the G1 Climax and enjoy the month-long event starting on July 17th.

#new japan pro wrestling #G1 Climax 27 #G1 Climax Match Card

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intoabrownstudy · 6 years ago

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“So are you United or City?”

This is the inevitable follow-up question after, on clocking my accent, someone has asked me where I’m from. I always say that I’m from Manchester. I feel there is a reasonable expectation that they might know where that is or maybe have at least heard of it.

And I enjoy that follow-up question. It shows interest and knowledge that Manchester is, at least these days, probably best known as a football town. But I never like my answer.

“Well, actually, I’m from a town a few miles out of Manchester called Bolton, and it has its own team, Bolton Wanderers, they used to be in the Premier League a few years but now…”

I try to stop myself at this point. The poor questioner was anticipating a simple one-word answer but is now being faced with the prospect of having to feign interest in far more information than they expected going in.

“Oh.”

I’ve found that striking up a conversation whilst watching games in bars over here is almost inevitable. I moved from Bolton to San Diego, CA, just over ten years ago. Since then, I have spoken to many people with varying exposure to football. One aspect that seems to fascinate those not used to the sport is the idea of promotion and relegation in club football.

“If you’re not good enough, you get kicked out the league. My team were relegated a few years ago from the Premier League.”

“Oh right. So who’s your team now?”

This question stems from the fact all the major sports in the US don’t have the jeopardy of falling out of the league and that even the franchises themselves can be moveable feasts. Sometimes the sports fan in the US are asked to change allegiances.

“Oh, no, It’s not a case of that. I just follow them in whatever league they are in.”

Bolton Wanderers: A club that very few choose for. Manchesters United and City have, respectively, established and growing international fanbases because of, respectively, historic and current successes. It is extremely unlikely that Bolton Wanderers will ever garner anything like the attention that their noisy neighbours attract.

So why do I bother? Why do I follow this team in lower leagues, where the standard is awful and the coverage is limited. What has got me to the point where I, as a moderately-intelligent forty-two-year-old, more than five-thousand miles from home, still get all hot and bothered about a team that has only ever brought me disappointment? Well mostly.

I want to explore the origins of my love for Bolton Wanderers. The memories that have formed it. These memories are genuine, with the only research undertaken was to make sure timelines are correct.

oOo

In early 1987, Bolton Wanderers are struggling. A once mighty club1 are in a bad way financially and in the bottom third of the old Third Division. Relegation to the old Fourth is a very real possibility.

As a ten-year-old however, I was blissfully unaware of all of this. All I knew was that I liked football and I liked watching football matches. My first interest in the sport was being allowed to stay up for the 11 pm kick-off to watch the instantly-forgettable nil-all bore-off that was England’s group stage match versus Morrocco at the 1986 World Cup in Mexico. A game in which nothing happened, save England’s captain, Bryan Robson, being carried off and England’s vice-captain, Ray “Butch” Wilkins getting sent off for throwing the ball in the general direction of the ref. Awful. Loved it2.

A combination of our enthusiasm for football and the dire situation in which Bolton Wanderers found themselves must have been the catalyst for my dad to take us to some home games. Usually, this would be the point in the piece where I am supposed to wax lyrical about my first game. The intoxicating aromas of wintergreen, second-hand pipe smoke and the half-time pies. The roar of the crowd. The elation of seeing my first goal. None of that. I can’t bring it to mind at all. I assume that we did go to some home games before the first game that I do actually recall, which was an away game. And it’s not a particularly cherished memory.

Looking back, I’ve no idea what my dad was thinking really. One of Bolton last few away games of the ill-fated 1986/87 season was at York City. As a family, we had been to the city of York many times. So, the plan was that we would drop my mum off in the city centre to do some shopping, whilst me, my dad and my younger brother would head over to Bootham Crescent for the 3 pm kick-off. We parked up around the corner from the ground and found our seats in the away end. My only recollections of the game were that the real Robbie Savage3 had his shirt ripped and that he refused to replace it. And that we were one-nil down at half-time.

This, apparently, was all that was needed for some Bolton fans to start causing mither4. The seated section of the away end was separated from the terraced area by railings to our right. Some Bolton fans started to climb them. An image that is seared on my retina is a deranged face poking through the railings, as he swung on them to force them to fall over. Other fights broke out behind us. This was Bolton fans against each other. I was frightened. As was my brother. I recall my dad asking for calm. I don’t recall if there ever was. We left the game before the second half started, as my brother and I were in a pretty inconsolable state. We picked up my mum and headed for home.

This incident is consistent with a fairly stereotypical view of football crowds in the late Eighties. It is the only time that trouble has happened so close to me at a football ground, but it must have had an impact, as I didn’t go to any other away games until my adulthood.

Bolton were relegated a few months later. The fourth division. A historic new low for the club.

Bolton Wanderers as a football club didn’t have a great deal going for it at this time. Burnden Park was an outdated stadium and in order to pay off debts, a corner of the ground was sold to the Co-Op so a Normid supermarket could be built. Sympathetic away fans would later chant “You only sing when you’re shopping”. The club asked regular supporters for financial help. They set up what they called Lifeline. Supporters could set up a monthly direct debit to donate money to the everyday running of the club. They needed fans to step up, and they did. Amongst those fans was my dad and I remember helping him spend his winnings from the monthly draw on the occasions his numbers came up. And I think it was in this spirit that he decided that buying season tickets for the first ever season in the fourth division was the right thing. It was this idea that, I believe, triggered my love of Bolton Wanderers.

As a young fan, the fourth division would be a baptism of fire. We were at our lowest ebb. In theory, things should only get better but certainly not get worse. We should have a good season.

The manager, Phil Neal, England and Liverpool legend, was able to bring in new players. I actively followed the moves made before the start of the season in the Bolton Evening News, the local paper. We had signed an impossibly-bronzed right-back from Halifax Town called Phil Brown5. A frontman from Bristol City called Trevor “Sumo” Morgan, who’s backside had its own gravitation pull. A striker from Preston, John Thomas, who seemed like he might score goals. The new home shirt6 was great; the best one there ever has been and since. I definitely recall a sense of optimism around the place when the first match of the season finally arrived. A home game against Crewe Alexandra.

And we scored first. The goal came from another new signing, from Grimsby Town, the box-to-box midfielder Gary Henshaw7 with a volley. We were cruising this division, right up until the point that Crewe equalised, by some no-mark called David Platt8. One-all, the final score. Ah well.

This was, and hopefully will forever be, the only season Bolton Wanderers spent in the lowest professional league in England. We gained automatic promotion to the third division by clinching third place on the last day of the season.

During this season, a matchday routine was crystalised. Parking up on the same street and then walking on the ground, buying the matchday programme from the same corner and asking my dad where on Earth Scunthorpe or Hartlepool or Darlington is.

Inside the Burnden Park itself, the amenities were less than salubrious. We sat in the Great Lever end which was nominally designated as the family end, although I was never sure what it was that made it family-friendly. It was dark, had just-about serviceable toilet facilities and a portacabin serving your half-time Bovril. As season ticket holders, we had designated seats which were right behind the goal almost all the way towards the back of the stand. In actuality, we could have sat anywhere we chose, but we always very deliberately sat in “our” seats. There was no earthly reason to do so, as in the seat in front of us, was a very elderly gentleman, complete with flat cap, who sat quietly on his own but would chain-smoke his way through every game. Looking back, we must have been a persistent annoyance to him also, as we would bring along a genuine World War Two ARP rick-rack, which we had painted club colours. On the appearance of the teams, we would swing that thing around for all our worth, making, on reflection, a very unpleasant noise. But neither side relented. Every week, same spot.

What I do remember with fondness about Burnden Park were the times, as a family, that we would go to lunch to what was dubbed the “Executive Lounge”. This is where the top brass of visiting clubs would be entertained and what passed for the fancy-eating quarters for the players after training. But during the day, any old scruff could avail themselves of the plentiful buffet for a very reasonable price. You would often see the players tucking into their lunches and best of all, the club legend and lifetime president of the club, Nat Lofthouse would be there. A nicer, more considerate and conscientious man I have yet to meet. Sir Nat had time for everyone.

In his pomp, he was the most feared striker of his generation. After scoring two goals against Austria whilst playing for England, he earned the title, The Lion of Vienna9. To this day, Bolton’s six-foot-plus furry mascot is named Lofty the Lion. As a tribute to the great man and this epithet, local folk band, The Houghton Weavers produced a song of the same name which they released on 7-inch vinyl. Sir Nat was gracious enough to sign my copy even as I interrupted his meal one day. My mum has kept our copy10.

Nat Lofthouse was an important part of why Bolton Wanderers survived as a club. And for him to not mind some oik asking for an autograph, and in fact made to feel actually welcomed, meant a great deal. Even in the moment, but probably more so now.

It was around this time that I must’ve had it bad. With definitely my dad as the enabler. The whole family would often go to see the stiffs11 play on cold midweek evenings. Even travelling to Blackburn’s Ewood Park and Oldham Athletic’s Boundary Park to see youth team cup games. I enjoyed that a typewriter had been used to produce the teamsheets that were handed out at these games, that you could hear the players’ voices as they hurled insults toward the ref, as well as the creek of the wooden stairs in the Manchester Road end12.

There were other occasions, such as the day, we all woke early on a dreadful Saturday morning to go see a Bolton A13 team match against Manchester United at their old training ground, The Cliff. It was a disgusting day; the type when the rain drives at you sideways. It also happened to be Christmas Eve! The redeeming aspect of this adventure occurred before the game even kicked off. Manchester United’s first team were there for a light training session before their Boxing Day game. I was able to get the autographs of players that I’d seen on the telly and who I knew were really good. Gordon Strachan, Paul McGrath, Mark Hughes, Steve Bruce and, best of all, Bryan Robson14. A hero. Amazing. Then Bolton A played in a match.

As I planned this piece, my research revealed that I had misremembered gaining promotion to the third division in the same year as we won a Wembley final. That glorious day in North London remains the best I’ve had as a Bolton Wanderers fan. Alas, that happened in May 1989. Eek. I had remembered us fighting on all fronts, cup and league when in reality, we had clinched mid-table mediocrity by February and had only the Sherpa Van Trophy to play for in the rest of the season. These were the years when only clubs from the third and fourth divisions could enter15, so after we had beaten Blackpool over two legs in the semis, I felt confident that we could go on to beat a fourth division team, Torquay United, in the final. That final was at Wembley.

It probably goes without saying that I had never been to Wembley before. In those days, there were only a handful of games shown live on television. A few hand-picked first division matches on a Sunday. And, of course, the FA Cup Final. At Wembley. Where it was always sunny. The field, implausibly green and twice the size of any other. The crowd, unfeasibly large. I really couldn’t wait to see my team down there.

We stayed overnight at my auntie’s in Stevenage and, as a family, marched on Wembley Way, bathed in the prerequisite sunshine. It was the time when supporters had started to bring inflatable objects to games; a craze started by Manchester City fans, who honoured their striker, Imre Varadi16, with inflatable bananas. Bolton produced their own inflatable, a pig, as we are known as the Trotters (Even though it is believed that the nickname doesn’t actually relate to pig’s feet, but to a colloquial term for a practical joker). I had brought one of these for the big day, but when it was made clear that I would be responsible for carrying the thing all day, a decision was made to leave it in the car. However, the rosette created especially for the game did make it to the ground. I miss the use of a rosette for finals, I think they look smart and are due for a revival.

Bolton won. But not before conceding the first goal of the game. Four different scorers for Bolton made it four-one at full-time, which included one of the best goals ever scored by a centre-half at Wembley17. To this day, I remember Dean Crombie cushioning a pass on his chest after making a lung-busting 50-yard run and then slotting home like it was his job. Everyone around me was understandably ecstatic and were stood up during the trophy lift. I decided to stand on my seat, the kind that flips up, to get a better vantage point. So what I remember most about Bolton receiving the coveted Sherpa Van Trophy is the excruciating pain of trapping my leg in the seat after losing my balance. Even now, this mental scar twinges whenever I’m navigating a partially-empty sports stadia.

Looking back, I’ve used the word “we” a great deal. We won the cup that day. It was an important day for the club, as it reminded the whole community how important it was to the town.

Bolton were bang average for the next few seasons after the Sherpa Van Trophy success. Phil Neal was never able to gain promotion to the second division after several attempts. These seasons have, over time, merged into nothingness. It was only after the appointment of Bruce Rioch did the club start challenging for promotion. Under him there were great cup runs, defeating, most notably, Liverpool at Anfield in a FA Cup replay, and promotions to the second division and ultimately the Premiership/Premier League18 through the playoffs.

oOo

It was my dad’s enthusiasm for his football club, and his sense of civic pride, that first nudged me down the path towards Bolton Wanderers fandom. Continuing what he started is a huge part of why I still care.

I support because of the great days the club has afforded me. I support because of the sense of sharing with friends and family and with absolute strangers. I support in hope, rather than in expectation.

Bolton Wanderers has always been a club that represents the town. I take pride in how our 1958 FA Cup win was achieved by 11 blokes who were born and raised in the town. That has not happened since by any club, and will probably never happen again. Nat Lofthouse epitomised that. His love of the club meant that he would do whatever was asked of him. Filling in as manager if needed. For our club to be associated with a great figure like Sir Nat is a privilege. His example is one that we as Bolton fans should always be mindful of. Throughout its history, the club has existed for the fans, and also because of the fans. Currently, the club is in a difficult period. We need to be watchful and supportive in ways that might extend further than simply cheering on the team on a Saturday afternoon. It should be treasured, and we must not be complacent. The club should be maintained so that it can thrive and remain the great representation of our town into the future.

Bolton Wanderers is a significant, historical sporting institution. As I Boltonian, I am extraordinarily proud of it.

Footnotes

1 Founding member of the Football League; scored the first-ever goal in that League; Four-time FA Cup Winners; Winners of the first FA Cup Final held at Wembley in 1923

2 On the back of this, me and my brother both got full England kits, which we both wore out of the sports store in York.

3https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robbie_Savage_(footballer,_born_1960)

4https://www.yourdictionary.com/mither

5 Now famous for being impossibly-orange in management at Hull City et al and number two to Sam Allardyce at Bolton.

6 Alas, my replica of this shirt is lost. Either at an Airbnb in Milwaukee or Chicago. Tragic.

7 On my first day of a summer job as a driver’s mate for a local delivery company, to my surprise and delight, Gary Henshaw was the driver of the van. Together, we made sure the good folks of Scunthorpe got their fridges and washer-dryers that day. I was definitely star-struck.

8 A few years later, David Platt went on to play for Aston Villa, then, Arsenal, Juventus, Sampdoria and of course England. He scored “in the last minute of extra time”.

9 For more reading about Nat Lofthouse, this is a fabulous article from TheseFootballTimes.com https://thesefootballtimes.co/2017/09/29/nat-lofthouse-the-lion-of-vienna-and-the-gent-of-bolton/

10 The photograph courtesy of my mum; note that Sir Nat signed with Thanks.

11 The reserve team.

12 So here’s where I allow myself to wax lyrical, about reserve team games.

13 A third-string team of reserves and youth players.

14 This photo courtesy of my mum who still has the autograph book.

15 In its current iteration, the Checkatrade Trophy, Premier League and Championship clubs can submit academy teams (if they wish).

16 Some kind of corruption of Varadi into Banana. No, I don’t either.

17 All views expressed are my own.

18 Delete as appropriate for that year.

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