“It’s mine, or maybe it’s for you” – this might be a good idea…
Japan Today’s “Picture of the Day” (10/22/26) by Sabria Meghraoui. Text: A Family Mart convenience store offers free sticky notes you can take for your snacks or bento…
Japan Today’s “Picture of the Day” (10/22/26) by Sabria Meghraoui. Text: A Family Mart convenience store offers free sticky notes you can take for your snacks or bento…
As always, with thoughts of, and contribtions from, dear friends… Why no noren this year (as opposed to 2023 and 2025)? I will let my Hanshin Tigers and…
14 September 2026 Samprati Pani A long-time resident of a neighbourhood might suggest one to you. And when you set out looking for it, a chaiwala or a…
There were thunderstorms threatening to cancel the classic contest between the beloved Tigers and the dreaded Giants. But the rain stopped right before the ball game started and…
Please note that the Tigers Shop has moved from the 8th floor to the 1st floor just outside the main building. Apparently they made the move two years…
Disney Twisted Wonderland Exhibition │ Seasonal Memories information: https://dcc.disney.co.jp/tokuten/bf-event-twistedwonderland.html More information: https://matsuya-exhibition.com/twst-exhibiti…
Pop-up Shop Information: https://hanshintigers.jp/news/topics/info_11107.html
My first visit to Suzuden in the Yotsuya neighborhood in the southeastern part of Shinjuku ward in Tokyo was in July, 2024, after I gave a guest lecture…
Photo and headlines on display at「Daruma」: Arnold’s 1985 Visit to Japan: During his visit, Arnold heavily promoted the premier of his action film Commando (1985)… a moment from…
Previous「Daruma」on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2019/08/izakaya-darumain-monzen-nakacho.html
Alternative Ending: Previous「Daruma」on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2023/07/vaoj-s2023rt-arc-arrival-in-tokyo.html
The Nippon Steel SGL Stadium Amagasaki opened on March 1, 2025 as the home ball park for the Hanshin Tigers farm team, known as 二軍 (ni-gun, 2-gun), the…
Tachinomi Banpaiya Monzen Nakacho has been described as “a popular, ultra-cheap, no-frills standing bar (tachinomi) located in the traditional shitamachi (downtown) neighborhood of Monzen-Nakacho in…
Orihara Shoten is a liquor shop and a “standing drink bar” usually known as 立ち呑み屋 (tachinomiya). This shop many shelves with various kinds of alcohol and refrigerators filled…
Image: Inō Tadataka (1745-1818), the famous Japanese surveyor and cartographer whose bronze statue resides in the Tomioka Hachiman Shrine grounds in present-day Monzen Nakacho, joined…
This post started after talking with my friend and colleague, Inge. Since we probably wouldn’t see each other for a while during the summer break, she asked me…
Miwa Yanagi’s “Elevator Girl House” series skewers the superficiality of gender roles through staged images. | ©YANAGI MIWA Photo and text source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/07/10/art/…
For a good memory post: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/08/the-master-of-canal-with-his-long-pole.html
This rather large post documents the construction of a new apartment complex (corrected name on the apartment signage:「フォレストグクリエオーレ城垣町 I II」or, Forest Creaole Shirogakicho I and II) in my…
One day, while out on a jalan-jalan (“walking for nothing”) with my camera I happened upon this very old sign. It was located on a storage garage at…
21_21 DESIGN SIGHT will be hosting the exhibition “Soup is Life” from March 27, 2026. Directed by designer Natsumi Toyama, who has viewed the external environment of the…