May 11, 2018: Blood on the tracks, Asian mini-summit, if the shoe fits, Japan needs kids and more.

In this week’s episode: The horrific murder of a small child found on the railroad tracks in Niigata City; Japan, China and South Korea meet to discuss ending Kim Jong Un’s nuclear program; PM Abe’s strange dessert in Jerusalem; Japanese finance ministry officials get trained on what sexual harassment is; the number of children in Japan is at an all-time low and more news from Japan Today.
https://japantoday.com/

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May 4, 2018: The not-so-great escape, zero-fare bus strike, Cool Biz, small town sex and more.

In this week’s episode: A prisoner’s “not so great escape” from a remote island in Ehime Prefecture ends after three weeks on the lam, a motorist gets “all revved up” and drives his car into a bike gang in Chiba, bus drivers enact “strike force zero” in Okayama, the Japanese government promotes “cool biz” wear for summer and an exodus of pink salons from Tokyo may help “small town sex.” News and more from Japan Today. https://japantoday.com/
Rate and review us: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/podcast/japan-today/id517133982?mt=2

April 27, 2018: Unjust desserts, sexy yoga, scuba diving murder, Olympics woes and more.

In this week’s episode: Unjust desserts for Japan at the inter-Koreas summit, the Japanese education minister practicing “sexy yoga,” a fatal scuba diving accident in Wakayama Prefecture is now ruled a murder, more Tokyo 2020 Olympics woes and more news from Japan this week.
News and more from Japan Today. https://japantoday.com/
Rate and review us: https://itunes.apple.com/jp/podcast/japan-today/id517133982?mt=2

April 20, 2018: Abe and Trump in Florida, immigration center hunger strike, sex scandals and more.

In this week’s episode: Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is still looking for assurances from President Trump, immigration center detainees launch hunger strike in Ibaraki Prefecture, two politicians are brought down by sex scandals and in major league baseball, Shuhei Ohtani’s electrifying start with the California Angels and more news from Japan this week.
News and more from Japan Today. japantoday.com/
Rate and review us: itunes.apple.com/jp/podcast/japan…id517133982?mt=2

7D Magic Lantern Time-Lapse

ML Yokohama TIme-Lapse StillI finally put Magic Lantern on my Canon 7D after humming and hawing about it for over a year. So today on my way home, I stopped off at Zou-no-Hana Park to take a quick, unplaneed timelapse.

The main reason I wanted to put Magic Lantern on my 7D—apart from some audio capabilities for shooting video—was the intervalometer function. It seems like a function that should be commonplace on any camera better than a point-and-shoot—especially a higher-end DSLR. It’s really just a timer that allows you to set intervals to take photos automatically—for example, one shot every five seconds—without having to press the shutter. YOu can buy intervalometers at Yodobashi Camera (or online at Amazon, BH, etc.—for $40 to $160, depending on what your after. On the low end they are just basic timers that plug into your cameras input while the higher spec ones are wireless (so there is nothing hanging from the camera body) with an array of funtions. The beauty of Magic Lantern is that once running on your Canon DSLR (it supports models 550D, 50D, 60D, 5D etc.) it adds an intervalometer!

[youtube]http://youtu.be/s2PCpsuFZYI[/youtube]

Yokohama Time Lapse

Yokohama Bay Time Lapse Still

Yokohama Bay Time Lapse Still

I decided to try out the new Time Lapse feature in iOS 8 today. Rather simple really: set the phone (in this case, my iPhone 5) in a clip that attaches to a tripod, choose your subject, open the Camera app and select Time Lapse and press the big, red button. Then I went inside and did something else for about half an hour. Result after the jump… [Read more…]

Diamond Princess

Diamond Princess in the port of Yokohama, Saturday, September 27.

Our new place in Yokohama has a view of the port and Osanbashi Pier, the international passenger terminal. It receives ferries cruise ships from all over the world like the Queen Elizabeth, Celebrity Millenium and regularly has Princess Cruise liners that traverse from Yokohama to cities up and down the Japanese archipelago and in China, Korea and Russia. [Read more…]

Apple Juice

Suntory Strong Zero Double Apple Chu-hai

Maybe it’s just coincidence, but the latest libation available in Tokyo’s convenience stores is the Suntory Strong Zero “Double Apple” chu-hai. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus just released last week, this might be a genius move on the Suntory marketing team’s part—though I highly doubt it. [Read more…]

Café Soul Tree

Coedo draft beer at Cafe Soul Tree

Coedo draft beer at Cafe Soul Tree

A few weekends ago we went to a new restaurant in Futako Tamagawa along the Tama River called Cafe Soul Tree. Styled after an old Route 66 garage, they have a BBQ outside on their deck, a very spacious concrete and vaulted ceiling decor and Coedo craft beer on tap (one of the few places in Tokyo that do). [Read more…]

PlayStation 3 Sound Bar

Sony PS3 SoundbarIf you already have yourself a sweet little surround sound setup for your PS3, then this post isn’t really for you. If, however, you just can’t stand your TV’s flat sound when gaming or watching a flick then it might interest you.  [Read more…]