Won't You Take Me Down to Snoopytown

Although we think of Charles Schulz's Peanuts characters as quintessentially American, they truly belong to the world. The Japanese passion for cuteness -- and for gift-giving -- likely drives the success of Peanuts collectibles in Japan.

While we were in Yokohama in August and September, we visited the Yokohama branch of Snoopytown, a Peanuts tchotchke store chain. (We saw a bigger store in the Harajuku section of Japan, but didn't go in.) Among the items tailor-made for the location were these hand-towels. (Hand-towels are often seen in gift stores there, possibly because many public restrooms don't provide paper towels.) One depicts Yokohoma's Chinatown; the other the downtown Yokohama skyline, complete with the Cosmo World Clock ferris wheel and the Landmark Tower.

The Peanuts images are copyright by United Features Syndicate.

I shot these clips on the first evening of our Japan trip (August 29, 2007) on the "Airport Limousine" bus that was transporting us from the Narita Airport to Yokohama.

The music is "Beautiful World," written and sung by Utada Hikaru. This song is from the Evangelion movie that premiered in theaters while we were in Japan.

I'll be posting more videos and other images from Japan in the near future.

2007 Hugos: Ultra-Skit

I shot this from the audience of the Hugo Awards in Yokohama. The Japanese fans sure know how to put on an opening skit.

The Long, Long day

I awoke at 6 am on Tuesday; and by the time the sun set it was around 11:00 p.m. Pacific time; and, at my destination -- Japan -- 5 pm on Wednesday. Now, here we are in beautiful downtown Yokohama, getting ready for the first day of Worldcon 2007.

We went on a JAL flight our travel agency arranged; and there were several LA area fans and pros on the plane with us -- including the couple that sat next to us in the center aisle of the 747.

Amy slept for a good deal of the flight. I, as usual, had trouble sleeping on a plane; so by the time I hit the sack at the Sakuragicho Washington Hotel in Yokohama I had been up 23 hours.

The trip went fairly smoothly. The only complications were finding the counter at which the cell phones we were to rent were reserved (it was at the other end of the Narita Airport terminal from where we were); and a cab driver in Yokohama who took us to the Washington Hotel instead of the Sakuragicho Washington Hotel. (Fortunately, my meager Japanese was up to the task; "chigao," "wrong" or "different," is a good word to know.)

Here are some photos from the airport, and from our hotel room.