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ロバート (robāto): August 2015
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A record of my year in Japan. Sunday, August 23, 2015. つくば祭り / Tsukuba Matsuri. The 22nd and 23rd August saw the annual Tsukuba Matsuri (festival) held in downtown Tsukuba. There were food stalls aplenty as well as music, circus acts, robot demonstrations and many other attractions. Photos don't really do justice to how lively a spectacle it was, particularly since my camera couldn't really deal with the darkness (hence the few photos I have are from before it got dark), but here's a flavour:. Sunday, Au...
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ロバート (robāto): Who is the President of China?
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A record of my year in Japan. Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Who is the President of China? Ask an English-speaking person who the President of China is and, assuming they know the answer, they’ll say Xi Jinping [1]. Ask a Japanese-speaking person and they’ll say Shū Kinpei. What’s going on? Both the English-speaker and the Japanese-speaker are referring to the same person, they just pronounce his name in very different ways. The second transformation the President’s name goes through is its pronunciati...
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ロバート (robāto): June 2012
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A record of my year in Japan. Sunday, June 24, 2012. Trains: Japan vs UK. This January the UK government finally confirmed the construction of High Speed 2. A high speed railway line stretching from London to Birmingham and eventually on to Manchester and Leeds. High Speed 2 will join High Speed 1. Which links the Channel Tunnel to Londons St Pancras station, as the UKs only truly high-speed lines. But this doesnt quite tell the whole story. Sunday, June 24, 2012. Sunday, June 10, 2012. Despite their Eng...
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ロバート (robāto): July 2015
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A record of my year in Japan. Friday, July 31, 2015. I'm back in Japan for another year's stay! This time it's as part of my PhD in particle physics at McGill University. I will be dong research at KEK High Energy Accelerator Research Organization. Japan's national particle physics lab, in Tsukuba City, Ibaraki Prefecture. Here's some photos of my rather nice flat/apartment:. Taken from the take-your-shoes-off-here area. Small but fully equipped kitchen to the left,. View from the balcony.
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ロバート (robāto): November 2015
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A record of my year in Japan. Saturday, November 7, 2015. Tokyo Motor Show 2015. On Saturday Michael and I set out for the Tokyo Motor Show. The show was held at Tokyo Big Sight, an odd-looking but very large convention centre on Odaiba, which is itself a rather odd place. Tokyo Big Sight, Odaiba. I’m not much of a petrol-head but the show was very interesting nonetheless. Of particular interest was how the Galapagosisation. I'm not sure these two are actually kei. Cars They might just. The driver to ped...
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ロバート (robāto): May 2016
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A record of my year in Japan. Monday, May 2, 2016. Ushiku's big Buddha 牛久大仏. It turned out that my GPS had got my position wrong. Thankfully it was still possible to work out which way I was facing so I headed in the vague direction of the Buddha before he finally appeared behind some trees in the distance. Buddha in the distance. Big Buddha is also really big:. At 120 metres high it holds the world record for the tallest bronze Buddha statue. One storey down was what I presume was a worship room. A ...
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ロバート (robāto): November 2014
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A record of my year in Japan. Thursday, November 13, 2014. After my three day stay in Tokyo. I used my fantastic-value JR Rail Pass to take the shinkansen. All the way down to Fukuoka. Seven hours on a train might seem like a lot but thanks to my pass it was considerably cheaper than flying. Combine that with a comfortable, spacious, clean train and it’s really a very pleasant experience. The only complaint I can ever find about the shinkansen. Thursday, November 13, 2014. Links to this post. New to me, ...
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ロバート (robāto): September 2015
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A record of my year in Japan. Wednesday, September 23, 2015. On Wednesday, taking advantage of yet another public holiday, I took a day trip to Yokohama, Japan’s second biggest city. Being a big port city the waterfront is a popular destination and affords nice views not only of the sea but also of visiting ships, if you’re into that kind of thing, as well as of Yokohama's skyscrapers. Yokohama Landmark Tower, the tallest. Building in Japan from 1993 to 2012. Wednesday, September 23, 2015. Mt Tsukuba, Ts...
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ロバート (robāto): June 2016
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A record of my year in Japan. Wednesday, June 15, 2016. Who is the President of China? Ask an English-speaking person who the President of China is and, assuming they know the answer, they’ll say Xi Jinping [1]. Ask a Japanese-speaking person and they’ll say Shū Kinpei. What’s going on? Both the English-speaker and the Japanese-speaker are referring to the same person, they just pronounce his name in very different ways. The second transformation the President’s name goes through is its pronunciati...