Finally Kobe, but no Kobe-Gyu

After doing my first trip to Japan in 2010 it took me 7 years to finally visit Kobe for the first time, but not for the beef. Althought the Kobe-Gyu is the most famous Japanese beef abroad it isn't in Japan, because the Matsusaka-Gyu is more famous regarding taste especially when serves as the extremely delicious dish Sukiyaki.

But beside the beef Kobe is known for its harbor and the Kobe Tower. I went there this Fall to check it off on my bucket list and to get a souvenir coin of the Tower just like many other medals offered at various sights like castles or Towers, for example the Osaka Castle, Tokyo Tower, Nagoya Castle or many others.

You can easily get to any of the most interesting spots by walking, starting at the harbor where you can directly find the Kobe Tower. Along the way there are also several shops for every different need.

Shortly before returning to Osaka I also got a new stamp for my Shuincho.

Enjoy the pictures, I hope you like it

Danjiri Matsuri - the end of the vacation

It's been a while since the last entry, I will try to increase the frequency of new posts.

During my last trip to Japan one day before returning back home I visited Kishiwada going to the Castle and the Danjiri Matsuri. It was a little tricky to find the festival grounds, but just because I took the wrong railway, instead of using the JR I used the Nankai Railway ending up quite far from the matsuri. I just visited a shrine nearby the Kishiwada station before starting off to the JR station area passing the castle before arriving at the Danjiri Matsuri.

The castle's structure shares a few similarities with the Osaka castle like the golden ornaments of the frame right under the roof. I already went there in spring at the Hanami high season seeing all the cherry trees blossoming.

In the Danjiri Matsuri wooden carts called Danjiri are pulled around the whole town, it looks very dangerous when they turn, especially the guys on top jump and motivate the audiance like crazy almost falling off.

The atmosphere is really awesome, hearing the taiko drums and flutes, you can actually feel the energy. A few times I have already been able to participate in some of the festivals, but sadly not this time, but there will always be the next festival and so far the next chance to be part of it.

Here are the impressions, enjoy!

Fushimi Castle - White drone down

On my vacation to Japan this Fall I went to Fushimi Castle in Kyoto to take a few pictures and videos with my drone.

The Fushimi area is mostly known for the Fushimi Inari shrine (Good old Kyoto) with thousands of red Torii, but there is more and you can easily get to the castle grounds, it's just a little bit of walking from the Fushimi Nankai station.

In case of using a drone I prepared a lot better this time than in Fall 2016 (Drones in Japan). Fushimi Castle is no RED ZONE so it's allowed and completely fine to fly there, also because there is no sort of administration - the gras had grown high compared to Hanami Season, everything looked a little wild and the castle can't be entered or has a museum inside.

I had already visited the castle grounds in March during the Hanami season, when many people gathered beneath the cherry trees drinking beer while doing a picnic.

 

 

In Fall the people around were a few elderly people painting pictures of the area. They where a little suprised when I started my DJI Phantom 2 drone with a gimbal for my GOPRO 4, but didn't get shocked like last year in Ueno Koen. I have been "up in the air" for around 9 minutes flying around the castle tower and up to 75> m high also seeing a baseball field nearby and the whole city of Kyoto. I was just getting my drone down before the gimbal got loose 15 m above the ground making it falling down and completely destroying the gimbal, but luckily not my Gopro or any data.

Now enjoy the pictures, especially those from above before the "WHITE DRONE DOWN" happened.

MONSTER HUNTER WORLD @ Tokyo Game Show 2017

As almost every year since 2012 I visited Tokyo Game Show this September. One of the biggest and maybe the most exciting booth every year was the CAPCOM booth, especially because of the new installment of the Monster Hunter series, MONSTER HUNTER WORLD. The first public presentation and a playable DEMO was available at GamesCom but people had line up for several hours because the demand was a lot bigger than expected.

To compare the atmosphere here you can find some old TGS articles:

Tokyo Game Show 2012 - the first time at Makuhari Messe
Tokyo Game Show 2014 - Thursday - Opening Day and press day #1
Tokyo Game Show 2014 - Saturday - Cosplay Selection
Tokyo Game Show 2014 - Sunday

Tokyo Game Show 2016 - Monster Hunter Stories - RIDE ON!

Monster Hunter World is really awesome, a freely wild world that you can explore without being devided in separate areas to always reload before entering. A monsters were available to hunt down as well as the opportunity to track them and gather items.

Like every year they had a giant flagship wyvern statue to take pictures of, especially when one of their hired Cosplayers was posing in front of it.

Monster Hunter World was definitely my highlight of this year's TGS.

Other Interesting areas were Capcom's shooting range, as well as other nice games from Square Enix like the Upcoming Remake of Seiken Densetsu 2 (Secret of Mana) for PS4 and PSVITA.

As usual there are always some funny things to see or try/play. The new Warriors title, FIRE EMBLEM WARRIORS from Koei Tecmo for Nintendo Switch got me really psyched.

Beside the games and the new merchandise the Cosplayers are a huge attraction on Saturday and Sunday.

Enjoy the pictures!

See you again next year!