sanjo

N Korea lobbing a nuke over the sea.

I don't call the soldier a hero. And I don't have the inclination or time to go and "protest" either. There you go. I must get back to my un-heroic computer work.

People at Kagura today with umbrellas I bet.

Do you go to local izakayas often? I have one fairly near me that does a killer yakiniku and "jambo aburage". Fun people too. Always a good time to be had. Ace!

Lots up here in Niigata too

I like the way at enkais when your boss or whatever is pissed, you can actually talk to them much more openly (and them to you much much more openly) and actually feel rather friendly about it all. Pity is in the morning all that's forgotton and it's back to the norm.

Loud election rituals

Not so much actually

daisuki

First frogs singing heard just now this evening near where I live (Sanjo, Niigata).

No eating of fingers for me

A couple a week usually.

All gaijin smelly? My gear gets cleaned at the end of the season and just before the start. I thought that was normal - seems not.....

Where is the official Snow Country? (I heard it was Yuzawa, down to the south of me - is that right?)

Sleeping (!), using the internet, reading this forum every day...

So they all used to charge that extortionate amount did they?

Well, why do you?

grungy-gonads. Yes, Mikuni is still in Niigata prefecture, right on the boarder with gunma and next to (behind) Naeba.

Difficult to define local, I suppose what I am meaning is the smaller resorts that don't seem to get talked about so much. Lots of us probably live near lots of these small places. I live about 30 mins south of Niigata City, and so the resorts I have been able to get to most are: Tainai (near Shibata - quite good actually); Mikawa (small resort that some of my friends live near fairly near the Fukushima border) Both aren't worth journeys to get to, but are decent for those of us living nearby. Any like that near you?

I went to see Die Another Day, the new bond movie yesterday. Good fun, better than the other recent ones.

Hi there It seems that even the smallest village in Japan has something that it's "famous for"! I'm living about 30 minutes south of Niigata city right near Sanjo. Sanjo is famous for cutlery. A small village right near us is, I hear, famous for cucumbers!! No word on how widerange that word famous covers! What's your town famous for?

Just outside of Sanjo city, about 30 mins from Niigata city.

I've been skiing since I came to Niigata last year. Places I go to most? Tainai, Mikawa, Yuzawa, Myoko. It's really cool.