Rugby on Christmas Day

Christmas Day is not a big celebration in Japan. No turkey, no roast potatoes, and the only stuffing to be had was at the Chichibu Nomiya Rugby Ground in central Tokyo where Daito Bunka University's season was brought to a premature close by Kanto Gakuin University. Oh well, there's always next year. Merry Christmas!

Yoga station

This is another photo taken on my mobile phone. Every time you press the shutter, there is a loud noise to tell you and the surrounding community that you have indeed just taken a photo. Taro, my son, tells me this is to prevent happy snappers from sneaking photos of people on the sly without their permission. Bang goes that project then.

new shirts for the team

FC Kyosai got their new away uniform on Saturday, and here it is, being modelled by Tetsu and me. A bit of a cross between Derby County circa 1975 and Real Madrid 2004. The numbers are a tad on the large size, and Tetsu's son told him his two 3s look like the katakana for 'ro' - apart from that, we'll well chuffed.

Moggycoddled

This cat wants it to be known that it only allows itself to be pampered under duress (and when copious amounts of high-grade cat food or minced beef are involved as a sweetener).

Doing the dog

The Japanese (or at least those in Tokyo) are going mad about dogs, and they insist on dressing them up. This pooch is sporting a suede coat. I have yet to see a cat being mollycoddled like this, but then cats aren't big on mollycoddling. As a rule.

You lack yell!

Two students were to meet at Haneda airport early one morning before flying to Okayama. Ms A got there first (with no make-up on); a few minutes later her friend Ms Y turned up (with her make-up immaculate). Ms Y took one look at Ms A, and in utter amazement said, "You lack yell!" Question: What on earth did she mean?

Brain location service

For those days when you just can't seem to remember where you put that all-important brain of yours, here is the company for you. They operate out of a small shed underneath the overhead expressway that connects Tokyo and Nagoya. For a small fee I'll even tell you their phone number.

Starting on a Saturday

Hello, good evening and welcome. This is a test.