Minmaxing Life

Spent a few days in Kyoto.
Had never seen it in autumn.
Felt like sharing the beauty.

Today I was in the city of Nara - about half an hour by train from Kyoto - where I visited the Todai-ji, a temple which is said to be the largest wooden building in the world and is home to a huge 15 meter bronze Buddha.

I also spent a little time at the local [...]

I think I’ve just had the ultimate Tokyo experience…
About half an hour ago, northern Japan was hit by a 7.0 magnitude earthquake. There were a few casualties. I was woken up by a loud squeaking noise coming from the windows. At first, I thought it was the window cleaning guys. But then the squeaking got [...]

…can you have lunch at a “dog cafe”, were the owners have a small sandwich while their dogs feast on designer cookies while waiting for their beauty session at the dog grooming shop. I even saw an impeccably dressed guy spoon feed his (pictured below) chihuahua. Then he let the dog lick him on his [...]

Some Japanese like dogs…

…and some don’t.

Just from looking around, it is fairly clear that Japan has a thriving gaming culture.
I am not just talking about local specialties like Shogi or Pachinko but of a broader understanding and acceptance of gaming as a normal part of life. It is ingrained deeper than anywhere else I’ve been. Mario and other gaming icons [...]

I only visited two museums during my whole stay in Japan: the Ota Memorial Museum of Art and the Ghibli Museo d’Arte. The first one is a tiny place where you take off your shoes before going in and has a rotating collection of ukiyo-e. By an immense stroke of luck, while I was in [...]

Heading home from another amazing dinner at a funky Roppongi restaurant where I had tsukune, tofu and Kobe beef yakitori - the waiters and cooks kept shouting orders back and forth in a very entertaining way - I walked down to Tokyo Tower before catching a cab heading for my hotel back in Shinjuku. Took [...]

Just made it back from Kyoto where I had a wonderful time, to say the least.

Yesterday evening, I had dinner at the Wakuden, an ancient traditional restaurant, where I was treated to an unbelievable kaiseki while listening to shamisen and the sweet voice of a Maiko. Among the interesting dishes that were served, alongside the [...]

Between TGS last week and my deambulations in “electric town” Akihabara, I’ve had ample opportunity to check out local DS titles that will probably never leave the island. Among other things, I saw: a yoga instructor, a beetle card fighting game, a skin beauty advisor, a bunch of translators, a face trainer, a mouse driven [...]