KISS is on their way to Japan now to begin their 2015 Japan tour on Monday.
(Click here to see my post about the announcement of this tour, the tour dates, and their special guests for the Tokyo Dome show).
The T-shirts and other merchandise that KISS will be selling for their shows in Japan have been revealed.
I like towels from concerts. These types of towels are unique to Japan, aren’t they?
Click here to see the page with the complete list of official KISS Japan Tour 2015 merchandise (Japanese only).
The American Major League Baseball (MLB) teams Seattle Mariners and Oakland Athletics (A’s) are here in Tokyo, Japan now to play a total of six pre-season games at the Tokyo Dome.
They’re scheduled to play two games against each other on 2012 March 28th and 29th.
But before those games, the two American teams will play games against the Japanese baseball teams the Tokyo Giants and the (Osaka) Hanshin Tigers.
Today the Seattle Mariners played the Hanshin Tigers and lost.
Ichiro (Suzuki) and the Seattle Mariners lost to the Hanshin Tigers in the Tokyo Dome today.
And then, after that game, the Oakland A’s played the Tokyo Giants and won.
This was third-generation Japanese, Ken Suzuki's (of the Oakland A's) first trip to Japan. The A's beat the Tokyo Giants in today's game.
Tomorrow, the two Japanese teams and the two American teams will change opponents (it will be Oakland A’s vs Hanshin Tigers and then the Seattle Mariners vs Tokyo Giants).
I have been a fan of the band KISS since I was about eight years old in the late 1970s (at the height of KISS‘s popularity in America).
I have a number of KISS-related posts on this site. For example, click here to see one that gets many visitors (I wrote it in 2008 August, and it still gets alot of hits.)
KISS has recently announced that their first studio album since their 1998 “Psycho Circus” album will be released this Autumn (2009).
KISS is getting old. Founding members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley were in their late-forties when they released their last album eleven years ago, already a bit old for a rock ‘n roll band…but now they’re both almost 60!
Although KISS is notorious for over-commercializing their brand by putting the KISS logo on anything and everything (they sell KISS notebooks, KISS golf equipment, KISS dolls, KISS comics, KISS condoms, even a KISS funeral casket and much, much more!), and KISS bassist Gene Simmons is infamous for behaving like a “dirty old man” (when he was young and single, it was acceptable for him to flirt with young women. But now that he’s old and has a family…he just embarrasses himself).
But, regardless, I’m still a KISS fan. And I’ll be buying the new KISS album when it’s released in Japan (there are about 40 albums in the KISS catalog so far, and I have them all (I have some of them on LP record, cassette tape and CD!)).
I will also see them in concert again if they include dates in Japan on the tour to promote this new album.
KISS has also announced the titles of three songs that will be included on their new album (the album has yet to be titled).
The song titles are:
“Russian Roulette“, “Modern Day Delilah“, and “Stand“.
It was also announced by KISS that on the new album, lead guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer will sing lead vocals on a song each.
This is interesting to a KISS fan because the current line-up of KISS is: bassist Gene Simmons, rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley, lead guitaris Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer…of which, only Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have ever sung lead vocals.
Current KISS line-up
Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are founding KISS members…but the lead guitarist and drummer position in the band has changed members a number of times (there have five different lead guitarists and three different drummers in KISS). All of the original KISS members have sung lead vocals on various songs…but of the replacement members, only Bruce Kulick and Eric Carr have been allowed to sing lead (one song and two, respectively). Vinnie Vincent and Mark St. John never sang on a KISS album.
Anyways, I’m looking forward to hearing the new KISS album (and seeing the artwork)!
Have you ever owned a KISS album? Which one? Have you ever seen one of their amazing concerts? Which tour?
What’s your favorite KISS song?
It’s a new international baseball competition. Like soccer’s World Cup.
The World Baseball Classic 2009 started today.
This is only the second time that the World Baseball Classic occurred.
The World Baseball Classic 2006 was the first and only other time this competition took place so far.
Japan was the champion team of the World Baseball Classic 2006 games.
The first game of the World Baseball Classic 2009 was Japan vs China. This game took place this afternoon (Japan time) at the Tokyo Dome.
Japan beat China with a final score of 4-0.
The next game will be Korea vs Taipei, also at the Tokyo Dome. Japan will face the winning team of that game on March 7th (again at the Tokyo Dome).
At the Tokyo Dome
The Japan team has high hopes of winning the World Baseball Classic again.
The host cities for the World Baseball Classic ’09 are Tokyo, Japan; Mexico City, Mexico; Toronto, Canada; San Juan, Puerto Rico; San Diego, USA; Miami, USA; and Los Angeles, USA.
The countries that have teams competing are: Japan (with Ichiro Suzuki and Daisuke Matsuzaka on the team), South Korea, China, Taipei, Australia, Canada, USA, Mexico, Dominican Republic (with Alex Rodriguez on the team), Cuba, Italy, The Netherlands, Panama, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and South Africa.
The World Baseball Classic 2009 will go from today’s game that Japan won until the final in Los Angeles on March 23, 2009.
Do you like baseball?
Are you following the World Baseball Classic? Which team are you supporting?
Did you watch the Japan vs China game today? If so, did you watch it on TV…or were you at the Tokyo Dome?
By the way, if you wanna visit the official World Baseball Classic homepage…then, click here.
Did you hear these news stories? What do you think?
Hillary Clinton, the current U.S. Secretary Of State is currently in Tokyo on her first official overseas trip for her new position.
It’s the first time a U.S. Secretary Of State begin a overseas tour in Asia.
Japanese baseball players Ichiro, Daisuke Matsuzaka and other Japanese baseball players are back in Japan from America to play for Japan in the World Baseball Classic.
The Japan team will play China in the first game of the tournament on March 5 at the Tokyo Dome. The final game is scheduled for March 23 in Los Angeles, USA.
The Japanese Finance Minister, Shoichi Nakagawa, gave a press conference last weekend at a G-7 meeting in Rome, Italy last weekend…while he was drunk!
He resigned his position today.
Here’s a video of his embarrassing act:
(Not that it excuses his behavior. But it seems that Nakagawa-san wasn’t the first politician to give a drunken speech at a G-7 conference…politicians from other countries have done the same. Kinda makes me wonder how productive G-7 meetings are!)
Yesterday was a Japanese holiday, 秋分の日 (Autumn Equinox)…so we all had the day off.
Both the 秋分の日 (Autumn Equinox) and 春分の日 (Spring Equinox) are holidays in Japan. Japanese people pay a visit to their family grave on these holidays.
(See my FAQ here to read about Japan’s holidays).
After we went to our family grave site, we decided to go to the Tokyo Dome City amusement park because we still had ride tickets from our last visit there.
I agreed to ride on the big, wild roller-coaster with my kids.
I’ll never do that again! I used to really like roller-coasters when I was my kids’ ages…but I’ve decided that I don’t like them anymore!
I thought I’d be able to take a video of the ride…but the amusement park staff wouldn’t let me bring my camera on the ride. It’s just as well…I couldn’t have been able to use my camera since both of my hands were holding the handrail on the roller-coaster with a deathgrip for the entire ride!
(But last month I took a video of this roller-coaster while I was standing safely on the ground. It’s on this post).
After the amusement park, we walked to 根津神社 (Nezu Shrine).
This is a video of the shrine’s entrance:
Nezu Shrine has a row of over 150 Torii Gates.
Here’s a video I took while walking under all of the 鳥居 (Torii Gates):
Here’s the rest of them:
A few more videos of the shrine:
From there we walked to 上野 (Ueno) and went to some temples, the park, and a few stores around there.
We found this small 蝉 (cicada):
We had dinner in an 居酒屋 (Japanese izakaya restaurant).
We went home from 上野駅 (Ueno Train Station)…and walked past the Hard Rock Cafe, Uyeno-ekiTokyo.
Here’s a video I took walking to the entrance of 上野駅 (Ueno train station):
My oldest daughter plays the trumpet in her Jr. High brass band.
Today her school’s brass band participated in the annual 東京都中学校吹奏楽コンクール (Metropolitan Tokyo Junior High School Brass Band Competition).
She did excellent!
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After that, we went to 東京ドームシティ (Tokyo Dome City).
It’s an amusement park and shopping center next to the Tokyo Dome (which is the home to the Tokyo Giants baseball team. And many concerts and events are held here, too) and the very tall “Tokyo Dome Hotel“.
Here’s a short video of the area behind the Tokyo Dome:
And here’s another short video I took while looking out a window in the shopping center:
When I walked past the Kentucky Fried Chicken there, I noticed the Col. Sanders statue out front.
“KFC” (or 「ケンタッキー」 (“Kentucky”) as it’s known here) in Japan usually have a near life-size statue of Col. Sanders out front. He is often dressed to fit the current season.
Here’s a picture of him from last X-mas:
And here he is today (he’s wearing a Japanese 半被 (Happi coat)…which is a common sight at Japanese summer festivals):
Tokyo Dome City has a few food courts. At lunchtime, we went to the smallest one and ate at an excellent bread shop.
Here’s a short view of that food court:
The “McDonalds” that you can see in that video gets pretty crowded. So they have something I’ve never seen before…for customers who want their food for “Take out” can go through the “Walk Thru Gate” (as opposed to a “Drive Thru”). I was also surprised that the sign for it was written in English:
There’s a wild roller-coaster ride at the Tokyo Dome City that goes through a building.
Here’s a video of it:
In alot of restaurants in Japan, there’s a display out from that shows realistic, plastic models of the menu items.
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Yesterday it stormed real hard and there was flash flooding.
Parts of the Tokyo sewage system became flooding and six workers were sent to repair it.
The current was so strong that they got washed away. One man escaped to safety, but two men have been confirmed dead.
The other three are missing, as of today, and feared dead.
When we left Tokyo Dome City today, we walked past 神田川 (Kanda River) on the way to the train station. As we did, we saw the Tokyo Fire Department and Police divers searching the river for the three missing men.
It’d be a miracle…but I hope they find them alive.
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Japan has vending machines that sell nearly anything!
From vending machines here, you can get rice, beer, cigarettes, flowers, eggs, candy, cola, tea, coffee (hot or cold), magazines, newspapers, stamps, condoms, underwear, telephone cards, train tickets, bread, etc, etc…
Here’s an 傘の自動販売機 (umbrella vending machine):
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Today my 「SUICA 定期券」 (I.C. monthly train pass) expired, so I had to get a new one.
When I first came to Japan, the train lines sold 磁気定期券 (Magnetic monthly train passes).
(This photo is from “JR East”‘s website. It’s not a photo of an actual pass…the name on it is “Tarou Higashinihon (East-Japan)”).
This pass would be inserted into the ticket gate like a regular ticket (and it would come out the other side). The customer would pay for either a one-month, three-month, or a six-month pass between any two stations. Then it could be used between those stations as many times as the owner of the pass wished…until the expiration date (at which it had to be renewed). The three and six month passes offered a greater discount.
If the pass owner went past either of the two stations on the pass, he would pay the fare difference in cash.
But a few years ago, Japan introduced a new Intregrated Circuit (I.C.) card (some countries call it a “smart card”).
The one’s issued by the main train line are green and called “SUICA“. Other train lines, subway lines, and bus companies all use the pink “PASMO” card.
The two are interchangeable…meaning either card can be used to pay for JR train lines, other train lines, subways, buses, as well as some vending machines and shops and restaurants near train and subway stations.
The SUICA card:
This card can be charged at station machines and used by swiping it at the train or store or vending machine sensors.
It doesn’t even need to be removed from your wallet.
But it can also be used, as I do, as a 「SUICA 定期券」 (I.C. monthly train pass). In the same way as the magnetic train pass that I mentioned above, this card can have a 1, 3 or 6 month pass between two stations.
What makes it better is that it can be quickly swiped as you enter the station and if you go past either of the two stations…it takes the fare balance from the funds that the card owner charged it with.
The 「SUICA 定期券」 (I.C. monthly train pass):
(Once again, this pic is from J.R.’s website)
It’s called “Suica” for a few reasons…スイ (“Sui”) is kinda like “swish” in English. A swiping sound. And カ (ka (or “ca”)) can be easily seen by Japanese as an obvious abbreviation for カード (card). Also, スイカ (Suika) means “watermelon” in Japanese…and the design on the card is train tracks in a circular pattern on a green background. It looks like a watermelon logo.
On the card, the name “Suica” is written with the “ic” a different color…because it’s an “IC” card.
Get it?
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At the subway station, I saw this advertisement for the 「東京マラソン２００９」 (Tokyo Marathon 2009):
It reminded me of “SF Runner“, so I took a picture of it so he could see it.
Yesterday we decided to take our kids to the amusement park at Tokyo Dome City, but on the way we decided to stop at the 国技館 (Sumo Arena) because there was a festival there today.
One of the most popular booths at the festival was the one that had a few sumo wrestlers serving Chanko.
Chanko is Sumo wrestlers’ staple food. It’s kinda like a big soup / stew. It’s quite tasty…and filling!
Here’s a movie I took of the Sumo wrestlers serving Chanko:
From the festival, we took the train to the Tokyo Dome. My kids rode the roller coasters, water flume ride, etc while my wife and I watched (and I took pictures of them).
After that, we had dinner at an 居酒屋 (Izakaya…a Japanese “blue collar” type restaurant). “Izakaya” is a great dining experience…but not so easy to explain—come to Japan and try one.
Tokyo Five 
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