Hello Kitty’s got a suntan! @ Canal City Hakata

August 20, 2007 - 9:06 am by akko@hakata in Others, Travel  

Forgot sunscreen?
Sunbaked Hello Kitty visited Canal City Hakata yesterday to amuse little children, and also, grown-ups!

If you have no time (or money!) to go all the way to Sanrio Puroland, a Hello Kitty theme park in Tokyo, this would be the perfect place to satisfy children.
Character show is held every other Sunday, with different characters.
This [...]

Enjoying the evening cool at Gojo-zaka Toki Matsuri Festival

August 18, 2007 - 4:47 pm by Yuk in Others  

It is natural that it is hot in the summer of Kyoto, but it is also terribly hot this year. I did not want to go out in daytime because too hot. However, the heat is at least better in the night than the daytime. Therefore, I went out to Gojo-zaka Toki (Pottery) Matsuri [...]

Get over heatwave! Outdoor air-conditioner @ Canal City Hakata

August 17, 2007 - 7:01 pm by akko@hakata in Others, Travel  

There’s a way to escape from the crazy heatwave of Japan (hit above 40 degrees centigrade (more than 120 degrees) in several cities!), other than to stay at home, whicih may be to go to Canal City Hakata.

Just touch it!

It’s being foggy now.

This is what makes Canal visitors cool and comfortable, let’s say, outdoor [...]

Cool yourself with `Shirokuma’, white-bear-ice!

August 10, 2007 - 7:56 pm by akko@hakata in Culture, Others  

Shirokuma literally means white bear, but here it means a bowl of shaved ice with condensed milk syrop and freezed colourful fruits.

It is a speciality of Kagoshima, as I introduced in my previous article as the mecca of Shochu, distilled spirit.
Kagoshima’s summer is realy hot, since it places in the southernmost prefecture of Kyushu Island, [...]

Cool yourself with Shochu-on-the-rock? Shochu (Distilled Spirit) boom of Kagoshima

August 9, 2007 - 6:32 pm by akko@hakata in Culture, Others  

Shochu (distilled spirit) is one of the main Japanese alcoholic beverages following Sake.

Kagoshima is the largest, popular, and traditional Shochu mecca, providing 155,900 kiloliters in 2006 (July 2006 to June 2006), which is the record high, with an increase for the 8th consecutive year!
Satsuma Shochu (meaning Kagoshima Shochu, Satsuma is the old name of Kagoshima) [...]