Hiroshima, a city of contrasts

It was time to say goodbye to the lovely landscapes of rural Kumamoto-ken today and head back for the busy streets of big japanese cities. Or so I thought. I headed for Hiroshima this morning and the friend who helped me out in Kumamoto accompanied me until we reached Hakata, the train station of Fukuoka.

Too many things to see in Kyoto and way too little time

After strolling around the streets near to the central station in Kyoto I headed for some of the better known tourist spots. The only problem is that most of the sites are located on the outskirts of the town which males it very difficult to see a lot in one day. And keep in mind I was still hurting from wandering all around Osaka yesterday, so this became a test of endurance.

More than a number two – Osaka

I had been looking forward to visiting Osaka, but right now I just don’t remember why. Maybe it was because of the local baseball team, the Hanshin Tigers. Maybe because of the food as the city is known as “Japan’s kitchen”. Maybe it was because everybody told me that the inhabitants of Osaka act a lot like the people in Cologne. I have no clue. So I set off this morning trying to find out what it was.

Game center fun at Odaiba

I didn’t have anything planned for today so I slept for a really long time which was really helpful after yesterday’s exhausting trip to Nikko. Which is why not that much happened at all. I got up and then my host’s mother was kind of enough to keep me company and fi me something to eat. The yakisoba was very very delicious.

Out on my own – Tokyo’s quiet spots

Today I didn’t have any guides because my friends have their own lifes and have to make a living by working, which is why I stepped out on my own to discover some areas of this big city which might not all show up in your usual guidebook.

Summer Koushien 2009: Day 17 (final) – A worthy finish

So this is it. Two weeks of high school baseball have finally come to an end again. And what a finish it was to a tournament which saw a lot of upsets and surprises. High favourites PL Gakuen crashed out early, underdogs like Miyakonojyou Shogyou went deep into the final rounds defeating Chiben Wakayama under the bright stadium lights in an unforgettable game, star players like Hanamaki Higashi’s ace pitcher Yuusei Kikuchi were tragic fugures in their team’s defeats. It had it all.

Sports all the way…

Because of the nice and warm summer weather I decided to spent my Saturday afternoon outside after being stuck in the office all week on the late shift. I live rather close to the university campus so I went there to hang out a little bit. Turned to be a very “sporty” time.

Summer Koushien 2009: Day 16 – Two left standing

So after all those games over the past two weeks there’s only two schools left who will decide the champion for this year in tomorrow’s final. The school’s who lost over the course of the competition will support the team’s the lost to and both finalists will carry a heavy load of paper cranes with them, a tradition with the Koushien tournament. They will be sure to try and live up to the expectations of the teams they beat.
And while the kids in Japan were fighting it out another young Japanese pitcher made the headlines across the ocean. Tazawa Junichi was exposed to a national television crowd holding the New York Yankees in check for the Boston Red Sox. He allowed no run over six innings. Tazawa made it to Koushien only once, in his second year of high school (if I read his Wikipedia profile correctly) where he was a relief pitcher. When he became the ace the following year his school was knocked out in the regional tournament in Kanagawa by Yokohama Koukou, a regional powerhouse and the Alma mater of Boston teammate Matsuzaka Daisuke.　

Summer Koushien 2009: Day 15 – Gifusho and Chuukyou complete the semis meatchups

As NPBTracker tweets that Yu Darvish was taken off the roster by Nippon Ham to skip his start and to work on his pitching form, the summer high school tournament is reaching the final stages. Out of the 49 schools at the start of the competition only four are left now to determine who will win the whole thing this time.

Summer Koushien 2009: Day 14 – Quarterfinals already

We have already reached the quarterfinal stages of the tournament and things are starting to heat up. It’s funny because I somehow still have the feeling that there are a lot of teams involved in the outcome of the competition, but now there are only eight schools left. Make that six, as two quarterfinals took place last night. Speaking of schoolkids playing baseball there is a nice article about the German “wunderkind” Max Kepler-Rozicky which can be found at a rather unusual place (via MLBtraderumors). I didn’t know the Wall Street Journal had a sports section.