For ages, I have wanted to go South until Nagasaki, the western port-city of Kyushu island. I'm happy to announce that my first resolution for 2014 has been to fulfill this wish.

Sadly famous world-wide for being the second and last city to date to have experienced a nuclear attack, Nagasaki is actually, just like Hiroshima, a very lively, bright and colourful city. Even if the memory of the atomic violence has not faded yet, the city seems determined to celebrate its history in a positive way. For a long time, Nagasaki has been one of the very few gates to Japan for the foreigners, espacially for Europeans. The old fisherman village became a meaningful town when the Portuguese tarders and missionaries settled there in the 16th Century; in the early 17th, the Dutch came too, and later the British. Strangely, in addition with their own economic interests, the Europeans also participated to the China-Japan business relations, when diplomatic matters were forbidding the two nations to communicate with each other.

Welcome to the cosmopolitan port of Nagasaki!

Sofuku-ji, a zen temple in Nagasaki

One of the most famous landmark of Nagasaki is the Megane-bashi, with its double arch that makes like a pair of glasses. Build in 1634, ans still standing!

Megane-bashi, the "spectacles bridge"

Because of the Portuguese and the Dutch communities who have been living there, Nagasaki is strangely ponctuated with pointed church roofs. It feels so weird to see their familiar and unexpected figures in the skyline...

Is it Japan here, really?

On the top of Glover Garden hills, old Dutch mansions have been conserved in memory of these Europeans who decided to start a new life in Japan, in these old times when there were no phone, no internet, no plane to keep connected to your hometown. I'm always moved to discover the life of these pionneers who suceeded in make Japn adopt them, in such circomstances.

Glover Garden Dutch heritage

The Portuguese preached two things in Japan : Christianism and castella (castillan cake). Well, the second grew definitely more popular than the first. Castella is a smooth, sweet sponge-cake, absolutely delicious with a cup of tea. It's funny because the recipe disappeared in Portugal, and is now the very best sweet speciality of Nagasaki.

But as always when it deals with international Japanese cities, you can't deny the Chinese touch.

Nagasaki Chinatown

Nagasaki Chinatown offers the most delicious street-food ever : kakuni-manju. So yummy I could have cried. Imagine a piece of meltingly soft braised pork, inside a tasty manju. Oh my, oh my.

And now, the big show. I told you Nagasaki enjoys celebrating its roots; let me introduce the most Dutchy-dutchy place ever out of the Netherlands : Huis ten Bosch, the mini-Holland, an enchanted world of tulip, mills and gouda cheese!

Huis ten Bosch, Deutch paradise

That's all for today! Don't miss the chance to go Nagasaki if you can. Some places have this ability to make you feel alive...

What is your definition of hell? Spending your priceless lifetime to perform unpleasant tasks, to stay alive ? Oops, no, they call that "work". Restlessly pursuing illusions, hopelessly expecting to find your soul sister on earth ? Nope, this is "love". But let's get back to a more traditionnal image of hell : steaming rocks, burning lakes, sulfur mists all around, thunder noises coming from the depth of the ground... In Oita, Kyushu, there is a place called Beppu, where you can visit eight different hells. The Japanese volcanos, which also make sweet and relaxing hot spring bath, are responsible for these "curiosities" of nature. There you can feel the power of Earth ! Let me show the way through hell...

The way to hell : Oita volcanic region

When you get close to Beppu accross the countryside, the lanscapes start to steam. Rivers are steaming, rocks are steaming, and so do the watercourses and the fields. Everywhere under your feet, the power of volcano is boiling.

The hells are now divided into eight touristic venues, also featuring exotic animals like hippo, flamingo or crocodiles, apparently very happy to rest in the natural hot waters. I have to say I had another vision of hell, but anyway. Let me show you the parts I prefered.

Hell, no. Come on. Let's be serious.

Umi-jikoku : the sea hell

With its 98° blue steaming waters, Umi-jikoku is from far the most beautiful hell ever. What is impossible to describe is the strong smell of rotten eggs (sulfur, actually) lingering around. You can also small real eggs, because boiling it directly in the pool is so much fun, isn't it.

Hard eggs on the way

Umi-jikoku is partly covered with water lilys and large leaves that can bear more than 20 kilos. If you dare, you can put your baby on it.

Oniishibozu-jikoku : the mud bubbles hell

This is the clay in the ground that gives to this hell this very special white color. After umi-jikoku, I found this hell the most impressive.

Yama-jikoku : the mountain hell

Kamado-jikoku : the "cooking pot"

Pretty, isn't it ? It's a pity it's really too hot to take a bath...

... but a foot-bath will go !

Shiraike-jikoku : the white pond hell

Chinoike-jikoku : the blood pond hell

Exotic looking plants enjoying the micro-climate...

Your Eurydice, a bit drunk with sulfur steams

Tatsumaki-jikoku : the geyser hell

This last hell geyser is bursting every 40 minutes with a real devilish sound.

Did you enjoy the visit ? Next time, let's go and see a bit of heaven, for a change !

Mid-September : the deadline for a sea-bath in Honshu, the main island of Japan. There is still a chance to fly to Okinawa in autumn to get the final touch on your tan, but it's far away, and quite expensive. But the Tokyo sunflowers are lucky : 3 hours away from Shinagawa station by local train (change at Atami; around 4000yen in total), Izu peninsula is waiting, with its white sand beaches, its beautiful coast, its waterfalls and its fresh sea-food... All you need is a three-days week-end as there are so many in september-October, and to make your way between the seasonal typhoons. So if you're the lucky type of girl like me... jump into your swimsuit, baby!

The great thing with the region of Izu is that the shore is not made of dark sand like most of the Japanese beaches. Here the coast is bright, sun-catching, and miraculously clean. For some reason, the tourists seem to respect a bit more their white shores than the dark ones. Look at this transparent waters!

 Nabeta beach

Enjoyyyying

Shimoda city is a small town with a deep historic background because this is the place Perry came in with his black ships in 1853 to force Japan to open their ports (and their economy) to the Western trade. His famous quote "I came here as a peace-maker" is written everywhere, though you could replace "peace" by "pressure". Some see this event as the end of pure, honor-driven and traditionnal Japanese spirit; others as the first step of Japan towards modernity. Anyway : this is Perry Road, a very cute street along the canal with nice jazz bars and small restaurants.

Perry Road

Shimoda, it's also big Western-style mansions along the coast...

... and old-fashion coffee and tea places.

Now, the hotel! We booked at Tokyu Hotel, for we could go by foot from Shimoda-Izukyu station. The hotel also has onsen, and it was a delight to stand in the outdoor bath, totally naked, with the sweet sun beams falling on me...

The view from my room!

Spotted between the palm-trees : our hotel private pool!

Very close, Shimoda Park offers refreshing shadow, stunning sculptures lost between the trees and a great view on the port.

And now, THE major reason to come and spend time in Shimoda... Shirahama beach. Pure, soft, shining ivory sand; transparent waves, green cliffs and SPACE, my friend. Is it Japan for real??

By the way, what should you eat and drink around Shimoda ?

Summer hits : fresh lemon juice and green tea kakigori

Grilled fish and my favourite ikura-don

Greatest sashimi ever

Local cola : Shizuoka cola (green tea flavor) and Fuji-san cola

Hey, next week is a three-days week-end too. Where do you plan to go ?

Dear readers, today, I need you to open not only your eyes and minds, but also your ears!

Here is my first single with the Japanese label Pretty Pop, which promotes synth music for your entertainment. The music and edition are signed by Ken K, and I added my lyrics and vocal.

Please listen to it on your sleepless nights!

COUNTING SHEEP

Noemi by Pretty Pop

I am keeping exploring the West side of Tokyo, especially the wide Setagaya-ku. Last Saturday, the sun was shining bright, so I decided to visit Todoroki, on the Oimachi line. There is a charming little trail in an unexpected fresh wooden valley along the stream.And a shrine at the top of the hill, or it wouldn't be Japan.

I was enchanted by the walk, you should really go and have a look, it is a beautiful and peaceful place with plenty of green. It is rare to see such a "wild" nature around Tokyo. I just loved it.

It's always a shame for me to admit that one of my favorite meal in Japan is yaki-gyoza... because gyoza are not exactly from Japan. But this Chinese dumpling got insanely popular in Japan, and you can find them in any good ramen-shop. I like it so much I could eat it everyday. So when my best Japanese friend Miss A. told me she was a gyoza goddess, we decided to have a gyoza-party at home to celebrate this little gift from heaven. May the gyoza be with you !

First step : mixing the meat and the vegetables

And now, let the gyoza take shape!

My very first gyoza

The French team, focused on the mission...

... and our poor results

Miss A.'s gyoza, so professional

But once it's baked, no one can see the difference !

My personal touch : choco cake and apple crumble

Yummyyyyyyy

Et bon appetit !

Energy. They say that universe is nothing but energy. The huge and the small, air, earth, water, you, me - energy. On the human scale, energy means food, heat, light and communication. It means music, humour, art. It means love.

And it means danger. Because the needs of the so-called modern society in energy are insane, we have let our cars, our planes, our factories and our poor cattle spit so much CO2 in the atmosphere that we have messed up the world climate in no time. The ice flow will never be back. And we have let our leaders sell us the nuclear miracle as the only possible alternative to fossil fuels. As a result : dangerous aging nuclear plants which are too expensive to be dismantled. Radioactive garbage that nobody wants to manage, and which is leaking in our undergrounds, contaminating our soils, our water, endangering our health and the ecosystem. And, of course, increased probabilities of terrible accidents, because of the nature of this industry itself and because the corporations which are supposed to manage it are more driven by cutting their costs than insuring the safety of the community. Hey, man, what did you expect, it's business after all.

They say: after fossil fuels, the nuclear industry is the only one able to provide us all the energy that we need. Solar, wind, water, geothermy power can only represent peripherical options. According to them, we are bounded to the nuclear power and there is no other way for us in the coming centuries.

I am not a scientist. I'm not a big businesswoman. I'm not a specialist. But I am a citizen, and a human being, and as far as I know, I have the right to question what "people" say to me. Especially when the information comes from the stakeholders of the industry I am watching.

Einstein himself said: "Nuclear power is one hell of a way to boil water". Yes, the source that actually "makes" the energy in most of the nuclear plants is water, not uranium, plutonium and so on. Hot water that makes helix turn very fast and very strongly : nothing else. The truth is : all we need to create electric power is movement. Don't tell me that nature itself is not full of superpowerful, gigantic movements. Bottom waters. Tidal currents. Rivers. Waterfall. Hot springs. Wind. Volcanos. Come on!

What I can easily believe is that at least at the beginning, all these clean energies, as a business, may make less money than the nuclear industry. I accept the comment. And so what ? Less profit for the people who have been used to pay themselves too much? I am not going to cry on this.

They pretend to be more social-oriented than us and they say : think about the jobs!... But we still need the smart guys to boil the water, you know. We will still need the ingeeners, the scientists, the builders, the maintainance technicians, we need everyone. We will need them to keep doing what they, and only they, can do: create, capture, transform, distribute power to the society. We need all the brains and all the hands to safely close the nuclear plants, and to build the green energies' ones. We need to keep all the jobs, and to create new ones. Look at IBM: if they had kept doing what they were doing at the start, they would be dead. But they knew that they were not only doing tabulation equipments, but technology-based business solutions, and they moved on. From machines, to software, to services. Let's do the same. Our energy providers will stay our energy poviders. But they will provide clean, safe, and beautiful energy.

They say: green businesses will never be enough. We now have massive needs. To this, we reply : there are some ways to save energy. There are ways to make every single home independant, each house being its own energy-providers. Fridges working without power, devices under the wooden floor  capturing the vibrations of our steps, materials stocking the warmth in summer delivering it in winter, solar power boats and planes... So many prototypes that are just waiting to be developped on a wide scale. Come on, if we can think about a space elevator for 2050, so we can save energy here and now. So be afraid, nuclear gurus, because very soon nobody will believe you anymore.

Every Friday night this season, the loyal followers of Intrepid Model Adventure (IMA) run by Dean Newcombe added their voices to the ones of the Japanese protesters shouting : "原発やめろう！原発いらない" (let's stop the nuclear plants, we don't need it) around the National Diet of Japan. They have lit candles, exhibited "No nukes" signs and simply talked to the people walking on the street. It's peaceful, quiet, it doesn't make harm to anyone and it is certainly too small to worry the nuclear industry, but it counts. Let's spread beautiful energy. Be the change you want to see in the world.

Light up the world with Beautiful Energy

Chris (from the group WORD), me and the drum-team

Aoyama, the blue mountain in the heart of Tokyo. Shinjuku's skyscrappers shining on the horizon. A very high building with a balcony. And the first hanabi of the season for me.

Watching hanabi ("flowers of fire" in Japanese) is a major summer must-do in Japan, just as hanami in spring. Everybody wants to watch the same thing at the same time from the same places. Lucky me I have friends who have friends with amazing terrace apartments.

It starts with an empty sky...

Then, it gets red

green

white

pink

purple

golden

Last Monday, I went to see a sumo fight for the first time at Ryogoku. As many Westerners, I had always been a bit disturbed by the aesthetics of this wrestling sport - naked, huge bodies and inscrutable faces. But it was the perfect opportunity to try to understand more about it, and so I did.

A rikishi (wrestler - in Japanese, "professional of strengh") on the ring... The clash is coming !

First, the place : Ryogoku Kokugikan, in the Eastern area of Tokyo. At the entrance, colourful banners welcome the visitors. Inside, the atmosphere is lively - people drink and eat, shout the name of their favorite rikishi and loudly comment the fights.

The dohyo (figting ring)

The dohyo iri (wrestlers presentation)

Even the cleaning of the dohyo looks like a choregraphy

For your information, us women are not allowed to walk on the dohyo, even when nobody's around. And even nowadays. We are such impure creatures. Jeeeeez.

Sumo champion showing-off

The gyoji (referee)

The rikishi throw salt on the ring before fighting, to purify it.

This world-wide famous gesture is for chasing away the bad spirits

Fists on the ground to accept the fight

The tachi-ai (clash) - trust me, they are surprisingly fast !!

The sumo fight is all about make you opponent walk/touch/fly the area outside the ring. This is why the wrestlers have to be so heavy. Still, there is no weight categories like in boxing, so the two rekishi's weight can be 100 kilos different ! Ouch, my spinal column... They say that 150 kilos may be the best for a wrestler : heavy enough not to fly too much, but offering a minimum of flexibility.

The rikishi have to follow a very strict physical discipline to maintain their body in the right shape - a bit like classical dancers in Europe. They wake up at 5am, train themselves all day long and eat carefully - mostly boiled vegetable and meat (nabe). Being a sumo fighter requires a permanent body and mind controle. 

This rikishi is Bulgarian-born. More and more foreigners (especially Mongols) try to make a career in sumo, so the Japanese Sumo Association had to restrain the number of non-Japanese to one new member per year. Not so bad. Among the Japanese, the number of candidates is decreasing. A rikishi life doesn't make people dream anymore...

What do the sumo rikishi fight for ? To please the gods. For sun, for rain, for harvest and for long life.

Thank you for your heavy prayers, guys !

Being settled abroad doesn't mean you can't play the tourist sometimes. It was an old dream for me : being one day folded in a Japanese kimono. Putting a kimono on is a delicate operation requiring a very precise know-how and at least one skilled kimono dresser. You have no idea of the great number of layers, strings, pliers needed in the operation. So, even if you spend a nice amount of money to get your own, you'd probably never be able to enjoy it on yourself. By chance, the brand Aoki was proposing kimono rental and dressing services at Tokyo Midtown during the sakura period, so me and Miss E. could enjoy the very special feeling of wearing a beautiful kimono !

Three dressers and 15 minutes of dressing up for this result. I can almost breath freely. But I'd better not drop anything on the floor...

Show me your obi, I'll tell you who you are

Kimono in the light

Kimono in the shadow

The kimono was pretty more comfortable than I imagined. Ok, we are not used to wear a narrow obi, but actually it maintains the back very nicely. My principal issue remains the shoes : graceful geita are definitely not my cup of tea.

Can't be cold in a kimono ! Best heat-tech technology ever

Unusual figure

Wearing a kimono will stay one of my best experiene in Japan ! Wearing such a gorgeous cloth really makes you feel special. Not even mentionning the little stars in the eyes of Japanese kids and grandmas...

Thank you Miss E. for sharing this adenture with me !