Went out for sushi on the first Sat. night we were here. Oishikatta
– it was delicious!

This shot shows the interior of the Shinkansen
bullet train’s Green Car. The Green Car is “first class” for
train travel in Japan. No, I am not sure why the Green Car is brown…

My daughter Katie watches Japan go by from the Narita Express
train from Narita airport in Chiba to Tokyo Station. It takes nearly an
hour by train from the airport to Tokyo Station.

When I lived in Japan in the early 90s, Halloween might have been an
American holiday that people were aware of, but it wasn’t something
they celebrated…

This shot from one of the shopping avenues here in Fujinomiya
shows that times have changed, and Halloween is now a part of even this
“country” (i.e. non-Tokyo) town…

Tried to take a picture of the Mister
Donut at the food court but  Donarudo Makudonarudo jumped
up to block my view. Did you know that Ronald McDonald is known as Donald
McDonald at Japanese
McDonald’s?

Ronald, Donald… Either way, they’re lovin’ it.

My previous post introduced
the Bobby Burger, an revolution in hamburgers “produced” by Bobby
Valentine, former NY Mets
manager and now kantoku of the Chiba Lotte Marines.

Now it can be revealed: How did Bobby come up with the idea for the
Bobby Burger? The placemat at Lotteria,
the only place in the world where the Bobby Burger can be found,
reveals Bobby’s magic. First, Bobby looked at all the veggies, and
chose pineapple to be the leadoff hitter. Extra cheese then moved the
“pine” over, and barbecue sauce loaded the bases. Now a taste of that
magical Bobby Burger – It’s a Home Run!

Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager, is now in his second year as kantoku or manager of the Chiba Lotte Marines. The Lotte conglomerate also owns Lotteria, a fast food chain which serves up a pretty mean teriyaki burger.

Lotteria has introduced the Bobby Burger, with pineapple and extra cheese. Made just the way Bobby likes it. This poster says the Bobby Burger is “Produced by Valentine Kantoku”.

I went with the Straight Burger instead. Not that there’s anything wrong with the other kinds of burgers…

Here’s a neat picture of Mt.  Fuji  (富士山) that my wife took while she
was out today.

Did you know that Japanese people refer to Mt. Fuji as Fuji san?
That’s not san as in Miyagi san or Mr. Miyagi, but the kanji character
for mountain 山 can be read as yama or san, and when it
is attached to the proper name of a mountain like Fuji it is
read as san. So when my daughter Katie wakes up every morning
and says Ohayo Fuji san she is not saying Good morning Mr.
Fuji she is saying Good morning Fuji mountain. Though at
the age of 2 1/2 I don’t think she actually knows that yet.

There are lots of fields and parks along the river in Fuji, Japan.

A stroll through the neighborhood back in November.

At the Fujinomiyama
Kokusai Hanaen: Now that’s a nice place to sit and have a
coffee. Or even a beer 😉