In this video you can see the inside of one of Imabari’s novelty attractions – the towel art museum located in Asakura. In Japanese it’s called タオル美術館ICHIRO. It’s a pretty trippy place, but I give the museum props for taking a local industry and making a fun outing out of it. Imabari City makes 60% or more of the domestically produced towels in Japan, so it’s common to hear about the towels – but you don’t often get to see animals made from towels, or watch the row of mechanical looms create them at high speed. Unfortunately, all of the cute stuff (the art part) is in exhibits where photography is prohibited, so I can’t share any of it with you. But I can recommend that you go there once for yourself just to see what it’s like. 
Wow! Twofer Tuesday! This video shows us arriving in front of the Murakami Pirate Museum (which I’ve visited previously with my students). The restaurant operates a touring boat that takes you through the rapids (another thing I’ve done previously). And yes, this is totally where they hold the annual Pirate Race – so glad you asked! The Japanese name of the place is 村上水軍博物館. We tried on armor and goofed off a bunch. But we didn’t have much time, so we had to keep moving.
[Yup, these are both from the Imabari City Foreign Tourism Project daytrip. How ever did you guess? 
Last video from the daytrip will go up tomorrow, guys!]
Deas Customary Drivel, Media, Trips, Video
Hello, hello! I know, I keep making it harder and harder for everyone to believe I’m not dead. But I’m not, please rest assured. Allow me to break the radio silence I’ve had going for…almost all of June, and post a quick video I’ve uploaded. Last weekend (yesterday, actually), I went on the first chunk of the Imabari City Foreign Tourism Project’s Monitor Tour, or as I affectionately refer to it, ICFTPMT. (No, I really don’t call it that. Ha ha.) This was the daytrip portion of the project, so I jumped onto a charter bus with my fellow monitors, our ICIEA colleagues, and a few folks from the local government’s tourism board. We then bounced around all over Imabari – in both the city proper and out on the islands. This is the first video of a few, hopefully. Enjoy!
(Going to Tokyo for the upcoming weekend, if anyone fancies a meet-up. Anyone in Tokyo, obviously. Shoot me an email or give me a call.)
Deas Customary Drivel, Media, Trips, Video
Uh-oh, here comes trouble. Some people flipped out when I ate whale meat, and now I’m eating horse. If you’re against it, that’s cool – but please don’t yell at me for it! I get that it freaks some people out. But to me, it’s a culinary adventure. One that’s not possible in North America. Ha ha. Just FYI – I’m slammed this week, so posting may be slight. Apologies in advance! Ok, if you want your say, have it in the comments! Just keep it friendly, folks. 
Deas Culinary, Customary Drivel, Media, Unsolicited Commentary, Video
