The Roving Ronin Report

According to popular belief, Jesus Christ was crucified and buried in Jerusalem in the early to mid First Century A.D. But in actuality ( cough! bullcrap! ) Jesus escaped and made His made through Siberia to Aomori in northern Japan where He lived out His days to the ripe old age of 106 with wife and kids and was later buried in the village of Shingo. One summer while I was visiting Aomori's festivals in August, I decided to stop in to see this auspicious grave for myself.  On a small hill sit two mounds from which two wooden crosses (obviously later additions) stand. These are the graves of Jesus and His brother or at least His brother's ears (it's a long story). Jesus's grave in the foreground and the grave of His brother's ears in the background Supposedly the story goes that Jesus was not crucified at all but that it was His brother known as Isukuri in Japanese who took the fall. Jesus took His brother's ears with Him and He left Israel far behind cr...

Japan’s Nebuta Matsuri – Giant Floats Frighten and Delight Fujin the Japanese God of Wind “Dragons, griffins, reptiles, fishes, birds there are, all dancing, waving fans, shouting, howling, singing, noising, in one form or another, in chorus perfectly bewildering.” - Amy Michael-Carmichael, American Missionary to Japan, 1895. Every summer, Aomori City’s Nebuta Festival brings in flocks of tourists from all over to gaze and wonder at the festival’s huge illuminated floats. Nebuta’s giant floats are the stuff of fantasy and nightmare depicting historical and legendary characters some of whom were of demonic origins. A samurai fights the Shuten Doji devil who once troubled Kyoto Visages of snarling faces of humans, animals, monsters, and demons of enormous proportions locked in grisly combat assail the eyes of visitors in a seemingly pagan-like splendor. If a 19th century Christian missionary had ever witnessed the Nebuta Matsuri, they would have probably thought tha...

Gundam Dining - Chic Geek Dining G-Dining Bar Zeon in Aomori, Japan While I was up in Aomori recently, I came across a Gundam-theme restaurant called G-Dining Bar Zeon. Gundam is popular anime series that debut in 1979 and spawned a ton of spin-offs, movies, manga, and one giant life-size model. Zeon was kind of the bad guys in the Gundam series. They fought using giant mobile suits called mecha and the Earth forces developed Gundam mecha suits in response (or something like that). The restaurant had quite a bit of Gundam props everywhere and TVs that played old episodes. Surprisingly it wasn't really for kids as you could drink and smoke in the place. I enjoyed a beer and some pasta while watching giant robots (sorry, mecha!) duke it out on the big screen. I was in Geek heaven.