Sugiyama Jogakuen University's Elementary June 24, 2010 18:16

Every morning we visit a school.  And every morning I think, "That was magic, we'll never be able to top this."

And every time I'm wrong.

We visited Sugiyama Jogakuen Elementary yesterday morning, and, well, how am I going to explain this?  You know what, for right now, I won't.  I'm in Kyoto for a couple of days so I'll see if I can't work on something that will maybe get it across.  For now, I'll just leave you with a picture or two that won't do justice to what happened.  The temporary story is this -

We arrived at Sugiyama, which is an all-girl school.  Before we went to their assembly hall we visited with the Head Master, who was charming beyond belief.  Two of the students arrived to escort Dean and I to the hall.  I hopped up and started out the door, but suddenly got a vibe that I should bring my little Flip video camera.  So I turned around and picked it up.

That decision was probably the best one I'll make this year.

More on that later.  For now, here is a picture of Dean leaving the assembly hall after our question and answer session.  He is being swarmed by the younger group of 354 girls somewhere from 1st to 6th grade.  Dean is carrying flowers that they gave him and is actually trying to not fall over.  I'm about eight feet behind him in a similar situation.  The next to last picture is the entire hall  giving a super high energy shout-out to a row of TV video cameras that lined up on the stage after we left it.

The very last picture is a detail I had to pluck out of that picture for you.  I think it does a better job of explaining the community at that school better than I could.

What a place.  That morning I was the luckiest guy on Earth.

OHK! :) June 24, 2010 10:45

If you read my previous post you understand this picture.

This is me and OHK.

OHK gets me.

Its alright that Dean is in our picture.  OHK is cool with it.

Even though this is really just a picture of me and OHK.

Yeah, OHK

Uchiyama Kindergarten June 23, 2010 18:06

June 23.  Too many things happened to fit in one post - I'll never be able to narrow it down to one picture or video.

I started the morning by taking the Bullet Train from Fukuoka to Okayama.  We visited Uchiyama Kindregarten.  Uchiyama Kindergarten is where Japan keeps the cutest kids on the planet.  About 70 or so children gathered in their auditorium/gym to ask some questions about our movie and what we do for a living.  Then everyone split into four groups to paint some large dragons.  We were supposed to talk to the kids as they worked, but Dean and just I ended up painting with them.    After the painting they made a giant circle and did a bit of dancing before we had to leave.

We had lunch in an italian restaurant across from a real palace.  Dean and I were told that this town was famous for a legend about a boy who was born out of a peach, and went on to defeat demons.  As we left the restaurant I noticed that an illustration of the boy from the legend was molded into the manhole cover in the street.  At least I'm pretty sure that's who it is.

Then we drove to a TV station for a live TV appearance.  When we arrived I immediately became distracted by what seemed to be the station's mascot - a little animal named OHK.  It's pronounced OH-koo.  He wears a black cap that covers his ears, and orange pants.  I immediately focused all my attention on him.  I helpfully identified every OHK I saw as we walked through the building, waving at plush OHK I saw in offices and poking at the eyes of the ones printed on posters.  I asked if he was working there somewhere, and if I could meet him.  It didn't take long before they dug up some OHK stickers and a OHK file folders for Dean and I.  They even had a little rubber stamp they had made with OHK's autograph, which they stamped a business card with.  This made me extremely happy, and I was buzzing with joy when we went on the TV show.  Dean and I each drew Toothless for the hosts as we answered questions.  Dean drew Toothless' head, and I drew Toothless sitting on a lawn next to OHK with a big shiny heart floating between them.  I think the show went well, and everyone seemed enthusiastic about the accuracy of my OHK drawing.  When we got back to the green room I couldn't believe my eyes...."

OHK!!!!!!!  He was there!  The real actual OHK!  There he was in his orange pants, waiting for me!  I ran to him and asked him many questions.  They showed him my drawing and he threw up his tiny, perfect white paws in exclamation.  I didn't have my camera handy, so Dean shot a few pictures with his cel phone.  I'll get hold of them and post them later.  Alas, I couldn't stay with OHK as long as I wanted (he has many responsibilities) so we bid him farewell and moved on to our next appointment.

Bullet trains June 23, 2010 10:19

This morning I traveled from Fukuoka to Nagoya on a bullet train.  Specifically, the Nozomi Super Express - the fastest of the bullet trains at over 180 mph.  These arrive on time, and leave on time.  They glide out of the stations without a sound or a shudder, and quickly accelerate with several noticeable surges.  You can tell it has reached top speed because the air pressure around the train changes, and your ears suddenly feel it -  like when you change altitude in an airplane.  This sort of speed eliminates the need to clean the windshield, as I'm sure bugs are simply vaporized by atmospheric friction.

This video was shot just before the train reached top speed, so this is actually a little slower than it normally goes.

Nozomi Super Express from Chris Sanders on Vimeo.

"People of Fukuoka..." June 22, 2010 17:09

We ended the day by appearing on a live radio show, that was also broadcast on giant screens all over the city.  Very super-Villain-ish.