LazyJedi

Click image for details of A-Train 9 release

Tags: a-train 8, a-train 9, A-Train hx, artdink

I’ve been spending less and less time updating Lazyjedi due to my commitment with A-TrainHX.com. I expect this to reduce futher now that I have begun a new project, Tetsudou Otaku.

Much of what I have been posting has been train-related and I have a backlog of train posts waiting. It seemed better to integrate those items into the Fan Site in the form of a new Blog.

If you’ve found your way here for A-Train 8 or HX help, are one of the two people who’ve been visiting and clicking My Mini City or, like me, consider yourself to be a sub-species of Tetsudou Otaku, then please take a look.

It’ll feature all my Japan train news, train gaming features (including A-Train, naturally) and Japanese train images. It’ll also feature it’s own My Mini City.

Lazyjedi will remain, I just don’t expect to be here as often as before.

Tags: japanese trains, lazyjedi, tetsudou otaku

The cute booties you see in the photo above are for dogs. No lie! Count them – there’s four in every pack!

I once mentioned a stylish dog I spotted in Odaiba, walking around a shopping mall in shades and a black leather jacket.  The Japanese share a special relationship with their pet doggies and I was suddenly reminded of it again this summer in another shopping mall. Continue Reading »

Tags: dog clothing, japan, kyou-no wanko, mezamashi, yuko ogura

Breakfast TV in Japan is well worth getting out of bed for – and not just because they hire cute girls to present their shows. Mezamashi TV, (thanks to Mezamashi I’m also a minor fan of Superfly ) recently aired this feature listing the top 5 hotels for train enthusiasts. The video is pretty fun to view, even in the absence of subtitles. My personal favourite was the little boy in his uniform who was able to name the trains by their correct numerical designations.

Here is a transcription of the highlights in English:

Continue Reading »

Tags: hotel, japan, mezamashi, train

Il-2 finally got it’s release a couple of weeks ago. I mentioned the game back in June of last year. So far the buzz around the forums has been generally positive. I noticed the Xbox360 demo by accident so, if you haven’t done so already, you might as well download it and take a look.

The download includes two of the game’s missions, The Battle of Britain and The Battle of the Bulge. There’s no saving and the harder difficulty level must be unlocked through play so, unless you have the time to spare, you’ll only be testing the easiest difficulty. Either way it should be enough for you to decide whether or not you’ll enjoy the overall experience. Continue Reading »

Tags: 360, birds of prey, demo, flight stick, il-2, sturmovik, Xbox

My Darling arranged for a box of live crabs to be delivered to her parent’s house.  Having fresh food delivered to your door is easy and pretty popular in Japan. Generally you can choose the time of delivery to suit you – rather than have the company tell you when they’d like to deliver (here in the UK it’s usually no more specific than ’sometime between 9 and 6′).

I got upset when we visited Odawara Castle (It has an elephant, called Umeko, in a concrete enclosure. Very, very sad and a rare low-point of my visit this year). Oddly enough I didn’t have the same revulsion to the idea of handling these live crabs whilst preparing them to be eaten. In fact, as I watched my Darling and her parents prepare the meal all I felt was…..fascination. Ewww.

Continue Reading »

Tags: crab, japan, japan 2009, seafood

During the summer lots of Japanese boys (and many girls) keep Rhino Beetles (kabutomushi) as pets. When I realised how popular they were I was initially grossed-out because I have an instinctive aversion to anything with more than two legs. But that was just learned bad-habit. To be honest, if I had stayed in Japan any longer, I might actually have bought one. Continue Reading »

Tags: beetle, japan, kabutomushi, mushiking, toys-r-us

My Darling and I travel to Yokohama and visit a friend. We stroll around, eat lunch in the bay area and search for an antiques market which is no longer there. Yokohama seems far enough from Tokyo to have it’s own distinct personality, yet close enough to commute into the capital for work or occasional shopping. Continue Reading »

Tags: japan, japan 2009

My Darling and I have a double plan today: Early afternoon we visit Asakusa Sensõ-ji (last year I chose to spend all day in Akihabara rather than go to Asakusa); following this we will travel across Tokyo to Kagurazaka, spending the evening with friends and enjoying the Matsuri. Continue Reading »

Tags: asakusa, enka, japan, japan 09, kagurazaka, tokyo

Maki and Hide take us to the Chiba seaside. However, the sky is grey and overcast and eventually it begins to rain. At least we have a delicious lunch...

The inflatable beetle was one of just afew visitors to the beach that day including ourselves. I was to encounter more Japanese beetles, real ones, over the following weeks…

Tags: beetle, chiba, japan, japan 2009