DaiOni

absolutely.

Asahi is my fav - though many people find it very very bland/without distinctive taste. I think it is the ultimate 'dry' beer - so easy to drink, and great with food (not filling). It's kind of a 'soft drink beer' - sort of in the style of american beers (but something they fail miserably at). Second favourite would be suntory malts (particlarly, on tap), closely followed by kirin original. Sapporo is another very nice brew. One thing to be very careful of is happoshu (what I like to call 'fake beer'). This is something that was created to get around a beer tax. Basically, traditionally brewed beer attracts a certain tax, so they created a 'chemical beer' - unbrewed, 'beer flavoured' water (essentially). It's identifiable in two ways - it never has beer written on the can (hard to spot if you can't read katakana), and it is significantly cheaper than real beer (for example, 180yen compared to 280yen). Why avoid it? Well, it doesn't really taste like beer (some people wouldn't notice the difference I guess - so let's just say, it tastes like a bad beer!), and worse - it provides a killer hangover (way out of proportion to the amount you drink). AVOID! more pics later tonight

So what do I do? I'm a public servant - ie: senior high school english teacher. I teach at three senior high schools (I have the great pleasure to teach at a senior girls high school - 16, 17, 18 yr olds). It's a rewarding job, well paid, and I get to teach australian culture in addition to the basics of grammar, communication, etc Here's an example of a typical culture lesson...

I'm just going to call this one 'local fertility dance'... it really needs to be seen to be believed (inc. the climax...)

This one pretty much speaks for itself. The extremes of japanese beer. I'm definitely a convert. This year I'm adding to the beer intake with some local moonshine - 1.8l of 'white liquor', 1kg of rock sugar, 2kg of local 'plums' + 3 months brewing = delicious

here's a good example of 'bizarre japan'. In the middle of rice fields in the middle of nowhere, is this... ...massive statue of a famous buddhist monk The island where I live was once an island of exile - criminals, traitors, dangerous political figures, etc - were often booted off mainland japan and left here to rot (kinda like tasmania - including the inbreeding). There are quite a few notable people who left their mark (or grave), including poets, an ousted emperor, samurai and this guy (nichiren) - who went on to found a major religious sect that still flourishes today. Though I still haven't got a decent answer as to why this monstrosity is sitting, in a rice field, in the middle of nowhere

I mentioned summer and winter, but spring and autumn are also very distinct seasons (something I hadn't experienced before). Of all seasons, most people prefer the spring - the weather is good (not too cold, not too hot), it's a welcome relief from the harsh winter and... cherry blossoms (sakura)! Short-lived but incredibly beautiful. The japanese (and us, for that matter) don't need much of an excuse for a sake/beer or two - and this (hanami - flower viewing) is a very popular occasion for getting hammered in the great outdoors. Just grab some friends, plenty of drinks, and find a nice spot under the trees...

what's with the weather this week? I think we got lucky on sunday - we were low 30s and the coolest spot in this prefecture (must have been the sea breezes). Could be a really sweaty one this year. next pic... ...is another car pic well, we recently got rid of the skyline (shakken (rego) was due) - it's still nice to hang out at SAU though hope you don't mind Traded it in on a 98 subaru forester s/tb. It's a bit different to the aussie forester GT. No taming-down here! A full jdm wrx engine gives it plenty of power to play with (180kw-ish stock), and it only weighs in at 1380kg. Only visible mods are exhaust system, filter, lowering (way too low!), and strut brace. Might be more though, as the car doesn't seem to be limited to 180km/h... lots of fun. You can also see my house in this pic. I live above a fishing shop - which is also quite convenient (when the buggers aren't stealing my parking spots...)

I'm a sucker for moss, too (I know, it's kind of weird). Nature claiming back what man has changed, blah blah blah This is from a local temple I found a couple of weeks ago - it was a nice surprise. Sometimes the less popular sites hold the most interest.