The West Coat of Okayama...

...Can be found in the middle of the mountains near Kuse. It's a recycled clothing store of gargantuan proportions.It has everything you can imagine, from vintage, and retro, through to homemade, and this season, including traditional Japanese clothes.I would recommend at least two hours of browsing time just to pass by everything once.And don't worry about breaking the bank - most of it is between 500 and 1,500 yen!

Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?

The decision to head down to Kurashiki to see some live music instead of go to the Gaina Festival in Yonago was a hard one to make, but James sold it so well that I went.

The Cookie Jar is a swanky little live music venue that attracts a variety of punters and performers.

For just 1,300 yen I saw punk rock and rollers Oyaji Rock...Red (Hot) Chilli (Peppers) and Jimi Hendrix cover band Miami Blue Moon...Extraoridinary Iron Maidenesque Elegant Muscle....And the kooky yet funky beats of R Meister....Who came all the way from...................NIIMI CITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Counting the minutes

My absolute last day at S JHS, and everyone showed up late.

Nothing of note happened.

For two hours I listened to a scatological conversation between two teachers. One teacher narrowly avoided stepping in sh*t when he got into his car this morning. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that he couldn't identify what kind of sh*t it was. The ensuing dialog related to the size, texture, colour, and scent of the sh*t, what possible animal it could have been, and what their motive was for leaving it there. In the end, it was narrowed down to either a cat with problems, a vengeful tanuki, or a lost fox.

I spent the afternoon scooping ping pong balls into nets with the girls, and watching Final Fantasy with the boys.

Then I just wandered off early to catch the train home.

About bloody time

Finally the rainy season is over, and the summer festival season is here. Have you bought your yukata yet?

If you've ever stayed in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn), then you will have seen people strolling around in their yukata robes after a bath, attending meals in them, and even walking outside in them with the ryokan-supplied wooden geta sandals. Even business hotels supply simple yukata to be worn after an onsen, or even in bed.

But what I'm talking about is the summer version of the kimono. These yukata are made of cotton, and are much more light weight and less constrictive than a kimono. They are usually worn at festivals during the summer, but fashionable young couples strolling the streets of Roppongi in them have created a revival, and they can now be seen wherever you go.

I hear that this season's colour of choice is purple, and the more dangly things you have hanging off your obi belt and out of your hair, the better.

Here are some examples of this seasons yukata, obi, accessories, and hair styles.

Yukata are not just for women either; men wear them too, although in more subdued colours and without the bells and whistles.

Go, the Man Bag........And if that wasn't sexy enough, the unisex jinbei is making a comeback too. Usually worn by both toddlers and old men day and night, they make for good around the house wear, and can be used as pj's too.

Is that sexy coming back at ya or what?

Bored at Work

Yesterday, Tara and I spent the day sitting around being bored at M JHS.

We were so bored, we had fun with donuts.

Going out in style

Today was my last official teaching day at S JHS. Only two more visits to go!

I was forced to participate in a volleyball tournament - a sport I haven't played since I was 16 years old. Just to make my departure felt I managed to miss most shots, and even smack a second year student directly in the face with a ball.I learnt a new Japanese-English phrase - "No mind, no mind!"And my upstairs fan club clapped me off-court with "Neba maindo Bikkii".....

So long, farewell.....

Sex Ed

Today was a very sexy day at school.

In the staffroom, the vice principal and third in command gossiped behind raised clipboards (literally), about a teacher with the "lolicon" and some indiscretion I couldn't quite understand.

In the halls, one of the third year girls was being taunted for crush on a local high school boy that she kissed.

And in my first year class, the special student was running amok writing penis on the blackboard in katakana (penisu), and drawing me pictures of penises and vaginas when he should have been drawing a picture of his favorite thing.....well...... Meanwhile the girls were asking me what "penisu" meant.

It got me wondering about sex education in Japan - something I've not heard mentioned at school, ever.

It seems to me, children are exposed to the perverted side of sex at a very young age - to get to childrens books you must go past the adult magazines and manga at the book store, and to get to the childrens DVDs, you have to go past the porn first.....

However, there's no evidence of AIDS and STD education, and the abortion rate for women under 20 is climbing....

Perhaps Japan's parents need to get over themselves and get Japan's antiquated sex ed methods updated?

Inaka Surreal

Surreal Japan exists not just in the back alleys of Tokyo or Osaka, but in the middle of nowhere as well. Attracted by comments made in Dogs and Demons, we took a trip out to the Nagi, just north of Tsuyama, to visit the controversial Nagi Museum of Contemporary Art.

The interesting thing about the museum is not only where the money came from to build it, and who was commissioned to make the artwork, but also that the architecture is part of the exhibit.

Three rooms, entitled Sun, Moon, and Earth, are designed to be entered and "bodily felt".

Pass between "existing and not existing" in the Earth Room.

Leave reality at the door and "step into Ubiquitous Site-Nagi's Ryoanji-Heart to learn how not to die".

In the Sun cylinder "the balance between self-consciousness and perception of one's body is broken down, the "axis" shifts, consciousness leans out, is "doubled," and "something" emerges." "Listen to the secret talk of physical things" in the Moon Room.Experiment with the acoustics making whale song and ghost noises.....or just scream bloody murder and attract dirty glances from the reception staff on the way out.

A legend in his own lunchtime

I stumbled across professional writer and journalist Patrick Macia's blog (An Eternal Thought in the Mind of Godzilla) when looking for some pop-culture information, and got lost in it's web for hours. He posts on several topics listed as: otaku, games, manga, TV, movies, podcasts, works, books, current affairs.....and he does it with humor.I strongly suggest you check it out and see if there's anything that strikes your fancy.

Just what the world needs......Death Note Dobby.

Sometimes, I'm a teacher

PAAAAAAARRRRRTTTTYYYYY!!!!!!!

We had to wait a year, but it was worth it. The annual San-In Beach Party, held on Kozomi Beach in Tottori Prefecture, went off. We drank, we danced, we messed about, we hung out, we caught up, we burned to a crisp, we swam, we learnt....and all the while, things were lost, found, left behind, started, and ended. FANTASTIC.

The hookah bar. Great place to meet new people, enjoy fruity flavours, and fine conversation.

Party people on a Friday night that never ended.Chilling out on the rocks.Copoeira lessons.DJ Kaori.......meh.I don't actually remember taking this.Sunday morning in tent town.Nevermind the safety warnings.Sunday morning surfers.

I just can't explain how great the weekend was, so I won't try. I didn't even take many photos. You just had to be there. I will say that from Friday at 5am to Sunday at 10.30pm I only managed 2 hours sleep....how much fun can you fit into that amount of awake time?

Bugaloo

On my way out to Izumi, I made another new insect discovery.

Knight on the town

The farewells continue in Okayama Prefecture with various get-togethers on evenings and weekends. Unfortunately, living in Niimi means it's a time and money consuming endeavor to get to the city. Also, it's always a mystery how we're gonna stay up all night to wait for the first train of the morning. This weekend I made the effort, and met with everyone as they waited outside import store Jupiter near the train station.

The evening began with an Indian meal at Swad, an Indian restaurant in the red light district often frequented by foreigners. Amazingly, with only 15 minutes heads up, they were able to rearrange the restaurant to fit us all, and had started cooking for our meals.

Naturally, dinner was followed by a ridiculous amount of karaoke at Joyopolis. Standout performance of the night goes to Lash singing Girls, Girls, Girls (according to me). Good job on Smack That, Sexy Back, and Love Shack though.

Finally it was time to go to Aussie Bar. In the two years I've been here, the one constant I can rely on is the bar staff. It was fantastic to catch up with them - after 4 months of Aussie Bar abstinance, and everyone else, while listening to NZ and Oz music and drinking red concoctions so strong I couldn't stand up in the end. Some very funny video clips were recorded.

Bumping into people I always seem to bump into on my rare nights in the city, I split from the group and explored new territories not yet discovered by JETs before passing out some time around 7.30am.