Images of Kochi. February 2026. “Kōchi is the capital city of Kōchi Prefecture located on the island of Shikoku in Japan. It is the main commercial and industrial centre of the prefecture. “As with all of Kōchi Prefecture, the area of Nahari was part of ancient Tosa Province. The river plain now containing the city […]
The year of the animal. I got to see a boar, bear, leopard, ape, pig, penguin, and eagles and dragons. Here’s my list of 55 books read and rated in 2025. (* Indicates it has been read before.) Five stars The Boar and the Eagle, A. D. Hamilton, 2025Bastard out of Carolina, Dorothy Allison, 1992The […]
Images of Iwaki, Mount Akagi, Aomori and Hirosaki. November 2025. “Iwaki is located at the southeastern end of Tōhoku region and borders on Ibaraki Prefecture. The city occupies around 8.9 percent of the total area of Fukushima Prefecture. The eastern part of the city is made up of 60 kilometres (37 miles) of coastline which […]
Images of Hannover, Braunschweig, Wolfenbüttel, Bremen and Hamburg. June 2025. “Hanover [English spelling is with one ‘n’] is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. From 1714 to 1837 Hanover was by personal union the family seat of the Hanoverian Kings of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, […]
Seventh heaven beckons with this album review of Low-Life by New Order. Review Number: 7Review Date: 13 May 2025 Album: Low-LifeArtist: New OrderCountry: EnglandRelease Date: 1985Genres: Synth-Pop, Dance-Pop “Let’s go out and have some fun.” Not a small step for a band, but a giant leap for Mancunians. Just as New Order’s second album Power, […]
Images of Morioka, Kanazawa and Fukushima. March 2025. “Morioka is the capital city of Iwate Prefecture located in the Tōhoku region of northern Japan. The area of present-day Morioka has been continuously inhabited since the Japanese Paleolithic period. “Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Japan. The name ‘Kanazawa’, which means ‘marsh of […]
Images of Kawasaki and Takasaki. January 2025. “Kawasaki is a city in Kanagawa Prefecture, one of the main cities of the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area. “Takasaki is a city located in Gunma Prefecture. Takasaki is famous as the hometown of the Daruma doll, theoretically representing the Buddhist sage Bodhidharma and in modern […]
Images of Yokosuka, Shizuoka, Hamamatsu and Utsunomiya. November and December 2024. “Yokosuka occupies most of Miura Peninsula, and is bordered by the mouth of Tokyo Bay to the east and Sagami Bay on the Pacific Ocean on the west. “Shizuoka is the capital city of Shizuoka Prefecture, and the prefecture’s second-largest city in both population […]
From Machiavelli to musketeers, it was a memorable year for literature. Here’s my list of 51 books read and rated in 2024. (* Indicates it has been read before.) Five stars The Tale of Genji, Murasaki Shikibu, c. 1021The Inheritors, William Golding, 1955The Satyricon, Petronius, c. 63-65Julius Caesar, Shakespeare, 1599*Oedipus Rex, Sophocles, c. 429 BCThe […]
A review of Michael Radford’s film 1984. Review Number: 5Review Date: 30 October 2024 Title: 1984Director: Michael RadfordStars: John Hurt, Suzanna Hamilton, Richard BurtonCountry: United KingdomRelease Date: 1984Genre: Dystopian Sci-Fi, Drama “April the 4th, 1984. To the past, or to the future. To an age when thought is free. From the Age of Big Brother, […]