Miss Air Force

At the Air Force show in Iruma City last week I managed to get these shots of two of the contestants for the annual Miss Air Force competition. They are not actual members of the Japanese Air Force, rather local students selected for their academic achievements as well as their beauty. I kind of like the first girl, but I think the second girl won. How often do you get to see beautiful women in kimono be driven in camouflage jeep? Not very often I assume.

Dango

Yesterday I went for a long walk with a good friend, Kotomi, around a big park in southern Saitama prefecture. It was a perfect day, sweet autumn sun, warm winds and just the right seasonal chill. On the way back we came across a little shop selling these very traditional Japanese sweets called Dango. Kotomi tried a skewer of andango while I went for a variety I have never seen before, the kurumimisodango (hazelnut-miso-dango). Fantastic! I am a huge fan of all kinds of dango, and there’s nothing better than finding the local speciality dango and try it while traveling around Japan.

Interestingly, the dango that my friend had is made from the same azuki beans that were used for the Pepsi I wrote about earlier this week. Have a look! Mochi (the mashed rice part of the dango) is used is so many traditional sweets in Japan. One of my favorite being the ichigodaifuku (strawberry and azuki bean paste covered in sugared mochi) and also the coffedaifuku (a local speciality of Nerima Ward in Tokyo, with a coffee flavored bean paste instead of the strawberry). What’s your favrite dango or daifuku?

Blue Impulse

Earlier this week I visited the air force base closest to Tokyo, in Iruma city up in Saitama prefecture. Once a year the base throws on a big air show and this years sunny but cold weather drew about 220 000 people. It’s free and just 30 mins by train from Tokyo so I was very surprised to not see more than a handful of obviously foreign people there. The main event of the air show is obviously the Japanese Air Acrobatic team, the Blue Impulse and their Kawasaki T-4 Trainers. They performed a stunning air show complete with sky writing of fearsome precision. I did my best to keep up with them but shooting planes moving at over 800km/h with a slow Sigma 50-500mm lens into the sun is not the easiest of photographic tasks. I was blinded so bad by the glare my eyes are still smarting. Still, to get even this sort of focus surprised me. I hope you enjoy them! Obviously my favorite is the first of the images, isn’t that an amazing formation? Half way through a huge loop coming straight at us. If you look hard enough you can even see the two pilots (and the one guy flying solo, plane number 2).

I will post more pictures from the Air Show later next week, I have a busy weekend in front of me, so please enjoy these Friday Fun photos! I’ll make sure that I can visit the Air Show next year again. The best fun for free you can have in early November!

A Trip Down Arakawa River

As I mentioned earlier in a couple of posts about the western parts of Saitama prefecture I spent a little time on or near Arakawa River (I know kawa means river but it seems easier to be specific with geographical names in English). The river’s name means “Wild River” but after being used to seeing much further downstream in Tokyo I always thought the name was a little bit over the top. Luckily, it is a tad bit wilder up in Saitama where it also originates. From the pictures you wouldn’t believe it when I tell you that it eventually becomes the biggest river in Japan: 2537 meters at its widest point.

If you go to Chichibu and then a few stations up the line to really get into deep Saitama you can catch one of the river cruises. The cruise is a good way to see a different part of Japan than the concrete of Tokyo, but it is a little bit short: it is announced as lasting about 30 minutes but with the rapid flow of the river at any other point in time than in near drought season, the tour is much shorter than that. Still, it was worth every yen to see the scenery around the river.

Now, it should be known by now that I am not a good nature photographer. I have no idea how to make cliffs and whirling water look interesting so forgive my rather bland photos. I did manage to get some wildlife and two ridiculously handsome Saitama Prefecture River Police officers. It that the best job in the world? Considering that they spend a lot of the day watching over water-inexperienced tokyoites in mini-bikinis at the other side of the river. Great job, if you can get it.

Oh, and please, if you can identify the species of bird in the last picture I would be very happy indeed!