Dragon Quest X Cafe and Car

At Roppongi Hills you can enjoy a meal or a drink while checking out the tenth installment of the famous Dragon Quest game series. There’s a special menu, cardboard figures on display and even a car decorated in the usual itasha fashion. The handsome waiter didn’t flinch at all when I took his picture and they even had the famous blue slime nikuman for sale! Although not for take out I was informed. I missed them when they went on sale in the convenience stores a few months ago. If you are a fan of the Dragon Quest games you must attend! This whole thing is done in collaboration with the official Dragon Quest bar in Roppongi that I have passed a hundred times but never had the courage to enter. One of these days I will have to make a blog post about it!

Night Fishing Fleet in Miyagi

As I have stated many times before on this blog, I love ships and boats and submarines of all kinds. While walking along the industrial harbor front of Shiogama City in Miyagi Prefecturre (way up north of Tokyo) I came across these fishing vessels gearing up to go out for a night of fishing on the east cost of Japan. I believe that the huge banks of light (that are lowered and extend far out across both sides of the vessel) are meant to attract Squid that are hooked on long line trailing the ships. Just look at all that glorious machinery! Commercial squid fishing is no walk in the park and it takes serious resources to do it profitably. I believe these vessels were all part of the same fishing corporation. Dusk, Saturday night, Miyagi.

Helicopter Destroyer – Hyuga

It’s time to balance up this blog with something for the boys – some pictures I took in May of the recently launched Hyuga – the biggest Japanese naval warship built since World War 2. Technically it is classified as a Helicopter Destroyer to fight submarines but it can also be interpreted as a Helicopter Carrier, should that actually be allowed under the current Japanese constitution. It is based in Yokosuka, a naval town very close to Tokyo and also the home of the US fleet in Japan. I am not a military buff but I am a ship buff – my brother doing his service in the navy and me working extra during my eduction on a river boat.

It is possible to rent a boat or go on a tour of Yokosuka harbor and see all these magnificent ships for yourself, and it is an impressive feeling gliding up next to the Hyuga or even better, the USS George Washington (also in harbor when I visited).

The Huyga (named after the old name for Miyazaki Prefecture) is 197m and was only commissioned in March 2009. In these pictures you can probably tell that she is unloaded and riding very high in the water. In active service there will be about 360 sailors and pilots serving on this ship.