Metabo Oyaji

Off the top of my head, Matsushima and Hiraizumi, perhaps?

Be careful in the backcountry around Tengendai, lots of cliffs. Someone fell down one and died last season.

Thinking about the run down thing, I think I'd say, utilitarian. Definitely no splurging on esthetics, but functionality-wise, it seemed to be fairly actively maintained. Thinking about the economics of it, say they get 100 people a day at 2,500-4,000 a pop (and that's probably optimistic outside of weekends). That is only 25-40 man-yen/day, and they have a staff of several people, plus cooling, fuel for the groomer, and rent/property taxes to pay for, so that probably doesn't leave much profit margin. They probably make most of their money from a few hard-core training types. Kind of lik

Definitely better than hot and humid. Really did manage to forget that it was summer for a bit. Until I stepped out and my glasses instantly fogged up. As for the color, good question! I don't remember it looking so green in person, but most of the photos do have that tint. I had forced the flash off, and the camera was on complete auto-dolt mode, so maybe that was the result of some sort of exposure correction? Or perhaps the ceiling really is green.

We did 2 hours, which on a weekend is 3,150 for an adult and 2,650 for high-schoolers and below. About another 1,000 yen for a 4-hour pass. Also, you have to become a member, which is another 1,000 yen (good for one year). You can get a 500 yen discount for signing up for their mailing list (which I did). You also get a couple of discount coupons for future use when you become a member, and there is a frequent-flier type point system for future discounts.

Their homepage says the slope is 60 m long. It's also about 11-14 degrees steep.

Cheers! Marunuma Kogen has skiable mats laid down on their Yellow course for use in the summer and fall. Still want to try to hit there some time.

We'd been planning to try to hit one of the summer slopes at some point (Marunuma or GALA), but the weather has been completely uncooperative so far this year, with rain every single weekend that would have been possible for us. With a typhoon dashing hopes yet again for this weekend, finally figured heck, let's try one of the Snova indoor slopes and see what it's like. We hit the one in the Mizonokuchi area of Kawasaki, a bit off Route 246, imaginatively named Snova Mizonokuchi-R246: The entrance is on the second floor, at the base of the slope. Windows to the right offer views of th

I guess the question is, will Japan really cede the right to decide who gets what, and taxed at what rate, to a foreign government just because one of their newly-deceased permanent residents has bought the farm while holding a foreign passport? I'm finding that hard to swallow somehow. (And don't think they should, for that matter.)

Near the bay in Edo-ku, Tokyo.

Very disturbing if true. Will have to look into this. Thanks for the heads-up.

I should think Japan would get first cut, and the UK whatever is left-over, or better yet, nothing. But that would be logical, and therefore probably not true.

Speaking of Sasuke, looks like they have set up a temporary Sasuke park in Toyosu that anyone can go try out (for a fee), through the end of August: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLtv-cFilfk Looks like it could be fun...

Looks healthy!

Isn't an estate the portfolio of a dead person?

Haha, me too -- but then doing that, I probably wouldn't have $1 million for very long.

Plus gravy.

Did you get it done in Japan? What's the process for that?

Loco moco from 7-11. Especially with Tabasco poured on.

In all seriousness, it was standard TV drama fare, no better or worse than could be expected. It is fun to play "spot the course," and figure out where they are at any moment. So, light watching for snow fans. But one grating element was the skier/boarder dynamic presented: boarders are presumed at first to be immature, reckless spoiled brats, though a few turn out to have hearts of gold by the end, helping the (skiing) heroes solve the mystery and catch the bad guys. Which all seems rather out-dated and likely to turn off a lot of viewers, especially post-Sochi. They really should ha

Technical advisor Uemura Aiko said she was impressed with how natural Watanabe Ken looked doing things like putting on goggles and taking them off. Of course, he should look natural, having grown up with a ski instructor for a father, and in a family that did ski area management. Incidentally, Okada Masaki, second male lead, is a snowboarder in real life, but portrayed a skier in the movie. Such versatility will surely not go unnoticed in future casting decisions.

It had all the elements of Shakespearean drama: Characters, dialogue, action. Watanabe did his own stunts, reportedly, chasing evil out-of-bounds snowboarders through the trees. (Somehow, though, the boarders managed to outrun the skiers every time, which seemed a bit unrealistic.) Hirosue apparently can't ski, so she mostly stood around in the gondola line holding a pair of fat powder skis (for use in the visibly spring-snow conditions).

Which one?

No idea if it will be good TV or not, but a movie set at Appi Kogen is on TV tonight (they were filming it while we were there in March): 白銀ジャック 9:00 on TV Asahi. Supposed to be a ski action movie revolving around bomb threats. Watanabe Ken and Hirosue Ryoko. (We didn't see them in March, just the film crews.)