The Art of Localisation

EN-JA Variety Streamer, Freelance Translator/Interpretor/Host. Follow me on Twitch: www.twitch.tv/Chrouya. Portfolio: www.mandoran.com/portfolio. Can't stop complaining about Japanese romanization.

[chrouya]

[2023-01-30] Amanohashidate - Bridge to Heaven Since the Kansai Wide Excursion Pass is a three day ticket I used the third day to travel to one of the Three Views of Japan: Amanohashidate, literally translating to the Bridge to Heaven - I know I know, it's not Japanese castle ruins, but I'm running out of castles on the list that are accessible with this pass! Trying to make a one day trip to north Kyoto required the use of limited express train with paid seating, so I already got my value out of the ticket with trip alone! (For reference: the Kansai Wide Excursion Pass costs 10000 yen, Kobe <> Shingu was about 16500 yen across 2 days, Kobe <> Amanohashidate ended up being 11400 yen for a single day) Amanohashidate is a natural strip of land spanning across 3 kilometers between the ends of the Miyazu Bay. It got its name back in the day as people felt that this sandbar looked like a bridge that fell from the heavens. Another tale is derived from viewing the landscape upside-down, making it seem like a snake-like dragon is ascending towards the lands above... Though this sounds a little farfetched if you ask me. The viewing can be done from either one of the nearby mountain ranges; the Amanohashidate Viewland on the south, or the Kasamatsu Park. While I kind of wanted to check the view from both ends, turns out that a 3km walk across the sandbar is still quite a long walk regardless. I expected more people to be wandering along this trail but honestly there's not much to see other than the 7000 pine trees that have been planted here. Oh, and I guess I should mention the elephant in the room: while a lot of the snow has melted into small patches of frosty ice, the snow made a surprising comeback on this day. #天橋立 #籠神社 #傘松公園 #amanohashidate #konojinja #kasamatsupark #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CpZ_BmdrcDC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[61/200] Akagi Castle Ruins (2023-01-29) I didn't know quite what to expect deep in the Kumano mountains but the rare occurrence of blizzard the past few days made the whole experience a memory of its own. The itinerary for today was actually quite the walking challenge: a single bus operates 4 times a day, and to make it to the last bus back, I'd have to hike for one hour and trek for another two. But all the effort was worth it. As the bus passed some tunnels, I was greeted with a white landscape. While it has been sunny for the past few days, the mountainous areas were still completely covered in snow from last week. That said I did have to muster up some courage, hoping it wouldn't be too bad for the hiking part. As it turns out, as long as the snow isn't slippery ice, it's not too bad! And the scenery is dazzling too. After hiking through of the Toritoge pass, I arrived at the pictoresque Maruyama Senmaida, the "Thousand Rice Terraces". Seeing layered rice fields has always been on the bucket list, and what are the odds that I would get to see them in a snowy fashion? Not too shortly after, I arrived at the Akagi Castle Ruins. It's kinda similar to Naegi Castle, ruins on a relatively small hill overlooking the mountain passes. From here on out, unfortunately the closest bus departs from a resort 2 hours on foot. That's also where you can get the stamp for this castle. Overall though, I'd say this trip was a great success. Just 139 castles to go! #赤木城跡 #丸山千枚田 #通り峠 #熊野古道 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #akagicastle #maruyamasenmaida #toritoge #kumanokodo #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CpPvXE6ry6R/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[60/200] Shingu Castle Ruins (2023-01-28) Only a few more castles left in the Kansai region! For this trip, I used a special kind of ticket instead of the usual Seishun 18 ticket: the Kansai Wide Area Pass, a variant of the almight JR pass. Normally it's similarly restricted to foreigners that come into Japan as a Temporary Visitor, but until March 2023 they released an "Excursion Pass" that allows any non-Japanese resident regardless of their visa status. And yes, that includes shinkansen rides between Okayama and Shin-Osaka! While my original plans did not include any shinkansen ride, I did end up riding one eventually because I overslept and missed the first bus I needed to ride. Because of my strict scheduling it almost lead to missing my 4 hour train ride to Shingu, but this limited edition ticket already paid for itself. That said, turns out there was no need for hurrying to begin with; due to recent heavy snowfall and such, the aforementioned train got delayed by 100(!) minutes. Oh well, what can you do. At least I was able to get to my destination. Shingu is located in the southern end of Wakayama; a remote place but still known for its strong cultural history to this day: it's part of an old network of pilgrimage routes known as the Kumano Kodo. These routes are of importance to those who want to visit the three major Kumano shines: Kumano Hayatama Taisha, Kumano Hongu Taisha and Kumano Nachi Taisha. The first of the three, Kumano Hayatama, is located in the center of Shingu. Due to my delayed arrival, I couldn't really explore the area as much as I would like to, but I got what I came for: a quick stop at the Asuka Shrine for the castle stamp and a castle seal for commemoration. Apparently, the park used to be privately owned with a cable car and all, but after that got deserted the government slowly bought everything back to its current state. #新宮城跡 #熊野速玉大社 #阿須賀神社 #熊野古道 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #shingucastle #kumanohayatamataisha #asukashrine #kumanokodo #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/Co1d6VNLRAZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2023-01-09] Toka Ebisu Festival Happy New Year! Although by the time you read this it's probably already well into February... It took me a while to get through the picture backlog. Anyway, I didn't do anything in particular for New Year, but I did end up going to a meetup with some online friends in Kyoto. Since my days off are usually on the Sundays and Mondays, I often stay for the night to do some fancy traveling in Kyoto on the Monday. As it turns out, there happened a festival on this very weekend: the Toka Ebisu Festival. In fact it was my mom who informed me about this. Thanks mom! To summarize shortly, the Ebisu is the god of prosperity. For good luck, people buy fortune bamboo grass to provide luck for the year. At the same time, lucky charms of the previous year are collected and burned at a later date. I google'd which shrines are most popular for this event and ended up going to three: Imamiya Ebisu Shrine, Nishinomiya Ebisu Shrine and Yanagiwara Ebisu Shrine. However, Imamiya was mostly just a very, very large crowd in line for the bamboo. I sat that one out to buy some anime merch at Nipponbashi instead. Nishinomiya Ebisu Shrine lies in between Kobe and Osaka, and already from the station there were stalls lined up all the way to the shrine. Guess I'm skipping out on dinner tonight. One food I'll highlight is hashimaki: the name sounds interesting, but it's quite simply fried batter wrapped around chopsticks. My favorite stall food remains the good old yakisoba (fried noodles). I'm not spending my money on bamboo grass anyway... Though I will take a shrine seal stamp of both Nishinomiya and Yanagiwara for my collection. #今宮戎 #西宮戎 #柳原えびす #十日戎 #十日えびす #imamiyaebisu #nishinomiyaebisu #yanagiwaraebisu #tokaebisu #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CozVfJLLg21/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-11-21] Arashiyama Momiji (Day) (Cycling) https://www.relive.cc/view/v36A3RX7DZv Now that I've seen the typical Japanese autumn colours at night, I should at least take a day to appreciate them in broad daylight as well. After my previous cycling experience in Kyoto (the "Kamo Kamo" route), it has easily become my preferred transportation method. I rented a pedal assist e-bike - not really necessary if there's no mountain climbing - and basically just headed to some of the temples/shrines that I had still marked as "Want to go" on Google Maps. Our first stop is at Suzumushidera. A very peculiar temple that houses about 5000 (!) crickets. And they're not particularly worshipping this specific insect either. From what I've heard, a certain priest just liked the sound of the insect and decided to keep them during Buddhist rituals. The whole experience at this temple is very unique, as you're welcomed to join a 30 minute sermon about values, goals and happiness in life. The Jizo statue here is also unique as it's wearing sandals. Word has it that the Jizo would visit those who make a wish, so the tradition is to mutter your address during your prayer here... Not sure if I like a stalking deity. After a short visit at Matsuo Shrine (which did not have any special event going on), I got a bit stuck in traffic as I reached Arashiyama's main street. Seems like tourism is slowly getting back on its feet. A little up ahead was Jojakko Temple, similarly bustling with people. For a good reason, this is apparently the #1 spot for autumn colors in Kyoto. By sheer coincidence I bumped into a senpai from my Dutch university, who apparently was taking a stroll with their girlfriend whilst roaming around as a digital nomad. Imagine meeting someone who lives in a different prefecture on a weekday at a specific temple, out of dozens upon dozens in Kyoto. Our final stop it at Daikaku Temple. Not quite known for its autumn colors but its overall scenery. Anice place to check out if you're running out of options in Arashiyama. Stats: 2h57m24s 11.1 km/h 32.9 km #鈴虫寺 #常寂光寺 #大覚寺 #紅葉 #suzumushidera #jojakkoji #大覚寺 #momiji #japancycling #サイクリング #japanphoto #relive #電動アシスト自転車 https://www.instagram.com/p/CowzQY8P4c7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-11-20] Unreal Eikando Momiji (Night) Sometimes, targeted advertisements do have their benefits. Whilst going through my emails, I noticed an email that listed a few local events I would be likely interested in. One of them was called Unreal Fest West '22. On a whim, I registered and then forgot about it until I received a reminder that it would be happening the next weekend. Thus, an impromptu trip to Kyoto ensued. Often, these small exhibitions seem to make use of university grounds instead of a dedicated hall; this one was no exception. Several classrooms were decorated with small booths, and a large lecture room was used for, well, lectures. The first floor had some indie games (in development) that used the Unreal Engine. Of course I ended up visiting all the booths, giving all the games a try and provided some feedback here and there. The second floor had some businesses which used Unreal Engine ranging from 3D home modeling to vocal input based mouth animation. They also sold some merch so I picked up a sweater with a fancy Unreal logo on the back, all set for winter now. At the end of the hall, they were displaying the results of a mini Game Jam that they did prior to this event. Definitely gets me interested in game developing if it weren't for the fact I already have a full-time stable job. The third floor with the lecture room had some presentations by some high profile people: Lead developers talking about Valkyie Elysium, King of Fighters XV and Live-a-Live among others. I ended up listening through the whole lecture of the difficulties regarding the HD-2D art style in the Live-A-Live remake. Turns out they really went out of their way to maintain crispy sprite animations! I didn't just want to leave Kyoto after a single event, so I looked for some specific temples that are famous for "Momiji", autumn foliage colors. Eikando Temple apparently has a limited night time viewing during the autumn season. Quite the waiting line, but afterwards I was rewarded with scenery that I've never seen before. Definitely worth checking out! #unrealfestwest #永観堂 #禅林寺 #夜の特別拝観 #もみじのライトアップ #紅葉 #eikando #zenrinji #momiji #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CouEv06LpJG/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-10-23] Aina Satoyama | Mt. Kikusui (Cycling) https://www.relive.cc/view/vmqXBXV9roO October - The end of the typhoons and the beginning of autumn where leaves start changing colors. Every weekend it had been raining so I've been delaying my weekly cycling for quite some time now. That said, at this point I've already cycled to a lot of interesting places in my vicinity, so I'm slowly running out of ideas. However, one place that I did not check off the list yet was... (reads from Google Maps) "Kokuei Akashikaikyo Koen Kobechiku Ainasatoyama Park"... Aina Satoyama Park for short. In order to get to this place, I actually have to take the same route I used to get to Shiawase no Mura back during the "Futatabi Park" route. However, this time we take a left instead of a right. I didn't quite know what to expect from this park, but it seems to have an educational purpose; a group of elementary schoolers were just leaving as I got to the entrance, and upon entry I was asked if I wanted to join a workshop of crop maintenance and harvesting. Sure, why not. After taking a walk around the area, I joined a bunch of families as we picked some komatsuna (mustard spinach), pulled some sweet potatoes and cut some tsurumurasaki (Malabar spinach). Pretty surprised the vegetables were all for free; one family was kind enough to provide a plastic bag so I can take this all home in my now stuffed backpack. Not quite what I expected from a casual day of cycling. No idea how I'm going to use this for cooking though. * The mustard spinach was used for toasts, and the Malabar spinach was a nice addition to carbonara spaghetti. We don't speak of the sweet potatoes... (つд⊂) Stats: 4h01m14s 13.3 km/h 53.4 km #あいな里山公園 #国営明石海峡公園 #菊水山 #ainasatoyamapark #akashikaikyopark #kikusuiyama #japancycling #サイクリング #japanphoto #relive #電動アシスト自転車 https://www.instagram.com/p/CormwsmvPJF/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-09-19] teamLab Planets The rainy weather continued in Tokyo, but I still had a few hours left before I had to take the night bus back to Kobe. A friend who I've met during BitSummit was attending Tokyo Game Show as well, and as I was brainstorming on what kind of indoor activities are available in Tokyo, we ended up booking some tickets for teamLab Planets. Some of you may have already seen some of these artwork displays before, but basically the museum has 4 "body immersive" exhibition spaces and 2 peculiar gardens. When entering you put your shoes into a locker and curl up your jeans to above ankle height. This is because several artworks are basically image projections on a water surface. They often seem to interact with the guests through some sort of software algorithm, e.g. colourful fish exploding into flowers on contact. Therefore the artwork boasts that it is unique and never the same. How do you feel about this? My favourite room has to be the one with mirrors on all sides and chained LEDs which cycle through different patterns. Together with some soothing synthwave, it's truly a mesmerizing experience. Especially the one that looks like you're going through a warp drive. Another one I really liked is the exit on the aforementioned colourful fish room. Because of the mirrors together with dimmed lighting it looks as if there's an exit in the middle of nowhere, which is just mindblowing. After lying on the floor in a dome-shaped room where projections spin around the room which messes with your perception, the final rooms are the inside and outside garden. The inside garden has, you guessed it, more mirrors, but with flowers that have grown upside down. Pretty cool! The outside garden has... alien eggs? ...Pretty cool too, I guess (they're supposed to be acorns???). Totally not nightmare inducing or anything. #teamlab #teamlabplanets #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/Coo-9SkrJ_D/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[59/200] Tsuchiura Castle Ruins (2022-09-19) Post-TGS. My legs refuse to cooperate. Can you imagine that my travel itinerary originally had 4+ hours of cycling planned for today? I severely overestimated the amount of energy I would have left after 3 exhausting days. Here's where that regret kicks in where I walked for more than an hour straight back in Yokohama; that energy would've been useful if I were to go cycling today. Regardless, all of those plans got canceled when I read that it would be raining today. My hotel was awkwardly located in the southern part of Tokyo while most of the Tokyo castles are in the north... But then I noticed there were castle ruins in Chiba which were pretty accessible from my nearest station. Without delay I scurried off to Tsuchiura. As I exited the bus at Kijou Park (apparently the alternative name for Tsuchiura Castle is 亀城 "kijou", lit. Turtle Castle), the rain clouds basically bursted into heavy rainfall for a few minutes... but after a while it cleared up instantly. Seemingly similar to Dutch weather, I'll just have to seek shelter every now and then for the incoming short bursts of rain (no hood to just deal with it). The park is very reminiscent of Ogaki Castle park, with a rebuilt turret and a fancy gate. I panicked once I actually noticed that the turret is normally closed on Mondays, but I lucked out this time: Due to neighboring museum being closed for renovations, they left the turret open with free entry (normally it's 105 yen). Inside there's some relics on display and you can get to the second floor for some... disappointing views. But somehow I still managed to take pictures that make it seem like the weather was amazing. Those do not reflect reality; don't trust them. #土浦城 #亀城公園 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #tsuchiuracastle #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/ComIm9fry-7/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[58/200] Shinagawa Batteries (2022-09-16) After the small detour to Yokohama, I returned to Tokyo. You'd think that the first castle I'd go to would be none other than Edo Castle, but you'd be mistaken. As it turns out, that one is closed on Fridays and Mondays. Yep. It's open on Saturdays and Sundays, but those are exactly the days I'm attending Tokyo Game Show, so I guess I'll need to visit on a Thursday or only go to TGS for a single day instead next time around. Thus, the remaining "castle" for today is the Third Shinagawa Battery. Technically not a castle, but still a relevant history landmark. For those who are familiar with Japanese history, the Sakoku decree (i.e. isolation nation) basically ended with the arrival of Commodore Perry's naval fleet, known as the Black Ships. In order to fend off potential future naval attacks from foreign countries, several of these artillery batteries were constructed along the coast of Shinagawa, however nowadays only two remain. The Third Shinagawa Battery is connected with a land bridge and turned into a park, whereas the Sixth Shinagawa Battery is sea locked and closed off to public. Ultimately they were not put to use, but to this day they left more of an impression than you might believe. After all, the Japanese for this kind of battery is 台場 "daiba", and this name of this region now known as "Tokyo's Entertainment Paradise" is: Odaiba (the O is an honorific prefix). Every once in I while I come here for the biannual Comiket at the Tokyo Big Sight convention center. Might be fun trivia to share if you happen to live in Tokyo! #品川台場 #台場公園 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #shinagawadaiba #odaiba #japanesecastle #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/Cojr-qvr-bs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[57/200] Kozukue Castle Ruins (2022-09-16) With Relive video! https://www.relive.cc/view/vdOR4DNj1Kq It's time for my yearly trip to Tokyo! While Tokyo Game Show is the main reason for the excursion, I figured I might as well try and fit some additional activities here and there when the schedule allows it. Of course, this included the usual Castle hopping. Normally I would use the Aki no Norihoudai ticket for this purpose, but this year I couldn't really find the right timing as work also had a decent amount of priority. As such, the couple of castles I will visit this weekend here will be the final ones for the year. Since I took a night bus to Tokyo, I arrived around 6AM in the morning, leaving enough time to squeeze in a visit to the Kozukue Castle Ruins in Yokohama, the Tokyo's friendly neighbour. But these castle ruins were all but friendly. The lack of maintenance led to mosquitoes swarming freely in the area; I couldn't take a single picture without getting bitten at least once. I also couldn't take a few steps without running in a huge spider web. I thought spiders were the natural predators of mosquitos but it seemed they have forged an unholy alliance against me. Ultimately I left with itchy arms and legs. Absolutely the worst experience I've ever had, especially considering there wasn't much to see here anyway. In my frustration I decided to kill the time and seek out other interesting tourist attractions nearby. Google Maps informed me of an "ancient village with rebuilt dwellings" called Otsuka-Saikachido Iseki Park, that one piqued my interest. At a 6 kilometer distance it wasn't exactly nearby, but I didn't really have better options in Yokohama otherwise. It turned out to be a pretty cool park, basically a taste of what you can find at Yoshinogari Park in Saga for free. Several elementary school groups were having a culture day over here as well, making it quite a wholesome experience. But I repeat for future me: do not go for excessive walks or hikes before Tokyo Game Show. I regretted it and I will regret it again. #小机城 #大塚歳勝土遺跡公園 #青春18きっぷ #お城巡り #日本100名城 #続日本100名城 #kozukuecastle #otsukasaikachidorelicspark #japanesecastle #japanphoto https://www.instagram.com/p/CohPYHyrJ1s/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-09-03] Awaichi - Awaji Full Circle (Cycling) https://www.relive.cc/view/vrqDAJk3pwv Awaichi. One of the most popular cycling routes of Japan. It's a full circle around Awaji island, which is relatively close to where I live. Back when I had a standard mamachari (in Dutch we'd call this an omafiets), I did not have the courage to even attempt going for a 150km in a single run. But now with my fancy pedal assisted e-bike, I had to give it a try. And not only am I cheating with my bike, I'm also stretching it over two days instead of one. But it's the experience that counts! Thank the gods that the weather was amazing... Actually perhaps a little bit too amazing, I almost felt the water in my body vaporizing. Along the road I didn't have any particular sites that I wanted to visit, but I did make some detours here and there, one of them being the Oishi Park. This park is a designated Setonaikai National Park as it contains the remains of Oishiyama Batteries. After the hike, I stayed for the night at an elementary school that was revamped into an agricultural museum. Not something you hear everyday. I have to say, sleeping in a school building is pretty exciting. The second hike detour was to the Wakoudonohiroba Park, where there's a monument erected for students who have fallen in war. Not sure if the museum is normally free to enter; it just happened to be free when I visted. The scenery is amazing so I definitely recommend stopping by if you ever try this cycling route. The last half of the route, I was mostly just wanting to finish the challenge and go home. Despite all the cheats enabled, my body wasn't used to this amount of exercise in a short amount of time. And not just my body; I wasn't even sure if the battery would last (it definitely wouldn't if it was just 1 day). But, somehow I managed to finish the full circle and record it perfectly for Relive. A memory that will last an eternity. Stats: 11h41m57s (over 2 days) 16.0 km/h 186.8 km #アワイチ #淡路島 #生石公園 #若人の広場公園 #awaichi #oishipark #wakoudonohiroba #awajishima #japancycling #サイクリング #japanphoto #relive #電動アシスト自転車 https://www.instagram.com/p/Coel7QHLVtt/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-08-28] Futatabi - One More Time (Cycling) https://www.relive.cc/view/vPv4e8nBK3O The name of the park, Futatabi Park couldn't have been more fitting for the situation. Futatabi translates to "once more" and it basically took me two tries to get to this area. One week prior, I tried cycling the same route as I did today, but the temperature on top of the humidity were getting so high my phone overheated and turned off. I could've just continued if it wasn't for the fact I usually record GPS for Relive videos. Just trying to think about how to fix the recording got me too annoyed to continue so I gave it another try a week later. While the landmarks here aren't that special compared to some of my other cycling trips, there are some remarks I have to share with you all. For example, sometimes you really can't trust Google Maps' cycling route suggestions. This time, it lead me through a forest that ended with a staircase. Perhaps this was still pretty doable with a mountain bike, but with a heavy e-bike it wasn't that easy. What lies after the staircase is seemingly a resort for the elderly called "Shiawase no Mura", a.k.a. Village of Happiness. Nice and cosy on a hill, separated from the city. Not something I would enjoy in my later years but I can understand the charm. Heading towards the Futatabi Park, we also come across the Kobe Municipal Foreign Cemetary, apparently for the foreigners who resided in Japan during the Meiji period (you can find those residents in Kobe's city center). It had a small little chapel, not surprising. Futatabi Park itself is mostly just a large pond with a small cafe. Was it worth the effort of heading there? For a hermit like me, I guess any decision to go out is a wise decision. (￣▽￣;) Stats: 4h01m19s 11.8 km/h 47.6 km #しあわせの村 #外国人墓地 #再度公園 #大龍寺 #shiawasenomura #foreigncemetery #futatabipark #tairyuji #japancycling #サイクリング #japanphoto #relive #電動アシスト自転車 https://www.instagram.com/p/CocHgkMLqjS/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-09] Tokyo Game Show 2022 This post is not quite chronologically accurate, but considering the previous post was about BitSummit, I believe it's most fitting if I follow it up with an album about TGS. This convention is on the same level as E3, but without the big concert hall with announcements. That said, a fair amount of newly announced games will have updated trailers showing here and there, so if you're a AAA gamer and you really want to have an early demo experience with some of them, this is the perfect event for you. For me, well, not as much. You'll usually end up waiting in line for about 1 to 2 hours before you can even try the demo. Ended up checking out Alone in the Dark (I don't even enjoy horror games but there was no waiting line yet), a Re:Zero mobile game (no voicing...?), and Tower of Fantasy. I normally play Genshin Impact whenever there's new content to explore, but during the downtime I picked up Tower of Fantasy. At the time of writing this post, already dropped, but hey, at least I got quite a huge acrylic stand for waiting in line at TGS. Ultimately I do end up checking out the Indie corner, and grabbing as many promotional freebies as I can (in Japanese they're coined as "novelties"). A free mouse mat for playing a "pinball tower defense" game? Sure. A Discord T-shirt for playing a Pokemon Unite match with a pro? Bring it on. Some fancy bags and stickers for downloading apps? Don't mind if I do (delete the apps afterwards). No Google Play gachapon this time around however. #tokyogameshow #tgs #東京ゲームショー #幕張メッセ #makuharimesse #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CoZvwMWPdHy/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-08] BitSummit X-Roads After two years of canceled events due to the pandemic - technically the 2021 edition was only open to those with a business ticket as public access was limited to online - BitSummit finally returned again as the one (and only?) Japanese indie game convention at Kyoto's Miyako Messe. Back in 2019, I volunteered to do booth interpretation while also being a member of the Nishi no Housoushitsu, Kansai streamer community; an unforgettable experience. This time around, the streamer community hasn't quite recovered yet but that won't stop me from applying as a volunteer again! One thing I need remind myself of for future events is that I shouldn't max out on physical exercise the day before an event where I end up standing and walking around all day (for context, see the Instagram post labeled "Kamo Kamo"). Anyway, similar to most game conventions, the first day is for those with a Business ticket whereas the second day is open to public. This means that there's barely any waiting lines on the first day, so if you ever thought about skipping lines, consider volunteering! I love this event as it's a great opportunity to meet with people who are interested in indie game development, game localization, or to just simply greet streamers that I've followed for a long time online. If you ever want to meet me IRL, just go to BitSummit; you'll probably find me with a volunteer T-shirt every year. #ビットサミット #bitsummit #みやこメッセ #miyakomesse #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CoXYwZMvq9L/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-04] Golden Week Kansai Trip A fellow Dutchie that I got to know through the internet recently started studying in Japan, so Golden Week was a prime opportunity to meet up and travel around Kansai. While I've travelling around Kyoto/Osaka/Nara several times already, it doesn't get boring at all. In fact, there was a time I actually signed up to be a freelance tour guide for Kansai. Unfortunately that was also when Corona struck so I never actually got to do a proper tour until today! ...But we couldn't have started on a worse day than today. The mood was hanging low with the stormy weather. We skipped out on a few temples as our energy got drained, though I think we covered our grounds with Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari, Ginkaku-ji and Kinkaku-ji. One request that became the highlight of the trip was to go on a 聖地巡礼 "seichi junrei", i.e. a pilgrimage through locations that were used in a specific anime. Turns out the anime Hibike Euphonium was staged in Nara, and the local train station even had a map that charted out where you could find these locations within the town. I've done a similar pilgrimage before back in 2014, and it's a pretty magical experience if you happen to like an anime that uses real life locations. At the end of the trip I was unable to withdraw cash from an ATM, having to update my residential status at the bank... Yep, sums up the whole living in Japan experience in a nutshell. #清水寺 #伏見稲荷大社 #銀閣寺 #金閣寺 #響けユーフォニアム #kiyomizudera #fushimiinari #ginkakuji #kinkakuji #hibikeeuphonium #kansai #japanphoto #pixel6pro https://www.instagram.com/p/CoUm7jbP2k_/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[chrouya]

[2022-08-05] Kamo Kamo Full video: https://www.relive.cc/view/vXOdY7Wm4k6 This time I was cycling in Kyoto because of the BitSummit indie game festival I usually do volunteer work for. Arrived a day early so I might as well enjoy some leisure cycling and end up in places I haven't been to before. Main locations were Shimogamo Shrine and Kamigamo Shrine. They're both located along the Kamo River, hence the name of this album! #鴨川 #下鴨神社 #上賀茂神社 #kamogawa #shimogamoshrine #kamigamoshrine #japanphoto #pixel6pro #電動アシスト自転車 https://www.instagram.com/p/Cih7Kb5P9FT/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=