Skiing Mount Daisen

After my Christmas vacation in Hokkaido, I have been bitten by the ski-bug, so begun researching places closer to home where I might be able to ski. Mount Daisen in Tottori prefecture, only an hour and a half from my front door fit the bill. So I set off with some friends and Maki to give it a try. The convenient thing is there are so many mountain in Japan and with winds from Russia bring regular snow to cap the mountain tops it makes for a good skiing/snowboarding country. The weather was clear with blue skies unlike the blizzards we experienced in Hokkaido. After a trying drive up a very slippy road with a 2 wheel-drive car, we were able to park up and get to where we need to be via a shuttle bus. It felt really good and I seemed to be progressing quickly, so decided to venture from the green, beginners course to the intermediate red course. Once at the top of the gondola lift the view was incredible, with a panorama of the coast line and Yonugo town beyond the hills. 

The slope, however, seemed to drop steeply, at what seemed like an impossible angle. It took me a minute or two to pluck up the courage; so did, as it appears, many other Japanese people exiting the gondola. I decided there was nothing but to throw myself down the mountain and hope for the best. The speed was inevitable, but I managed to control it and made it down the slope on two feet. The rush was amazing. “I never figured myself for an adrenaline junkie”, I thought to myself as I boarded the gondola for another run.

Proof of How Japanese People Like to Queue

The Truth About Japanese Vending Machines

Japan and vending machines seem to go hand-in-hand. They are everywhere and you can bet you are never far from one when you're in Japan. There is around 1 vending machine for ever 23 people in Japan. It's so convenient as you never need to worry about taking drinks with you as there is always a vending machine to hand to dispense you some Pocari Sweat (Sports drink that doesn't taste of sweat) or some cold milk tea. And what they offer can be a little of the normal track such as beer and cigarettes (You need a special ID for these as they are age restricted), ice-cream, fruit and veg, hot food like chips, ice, souvenirs, milk, ties and I could go on; however, I am still see the urban myth of the used ladies underwear vending machines, for the discerning fetish-freak (I don't know, some Japanese men are odd when it comes to underwear). Of course, some are much less common, but the drinks vending machines are everywhere. In the winter parts are changed over to off hot beverages. The ice coffee and tea, turns to warm coffee and tea. People are paid money to place vending machines at the front of their homes or businesses as a kind of renting space.

But there are three reasons why only really Japan has so many vending machines in my view. 1) Nobody is going to steal them. If you placed a vending machine in the middle of nowhere in the UK, someone would break it or steal it. Japanese people won't do that. Japan is safe. 2) Japanese people, and this is a sweeping generalisation I know, try to avoid contact with others. They don't have as strong people skills and by using a vending machine takes out the worry of an awkward interaction. 3) They are fast and convenient, as Japanese people like convenience and they work too long to waste time, vending machines suit their needs.