A little about myself.
I am an IT technician, participate in many projects, some HTML work, and reading a lot. I also contribute articles to IT magazines about Open Source Software as a core member of Japan Apache Users Group. I've been in computer related fields from 1978. starting in college, nuclear physics major, I had to take a class in FORTRAN and that was it, I was hooked on the machines. I started working first as an application programmar at a system development
company. Then moved on to a system integration company, and specializing in data communication, small & mid size systems. I run a small intranet at home, a router, Windows Servers, Windows Desktops and CentOS Linux . The Linux runs DNS, HTTP, FTP, SMTP, and POP3 making it nice for software testing and development.



Thursday, June 3, 2010

Mt. Jimba to Mt. Shoto trail

Everybody who like hiking have their favorite trails. One of mines is Mt. Takao to Mt. Jimba trail. I went to there about 20 times last year. But the trail is becoming very popular lately, especially after Mt. Takao won the three stars of Michelin's travel guide.  You must be really surprised to get there in weekend. They say Mt. Takao is one of the most crowded mountain in the world.
Actually, about three million people visit Mt. Takao a year.

I go to Fujino Station from Hachioji Statin at 6 o'clock Saturday, and begin to walk to Mt. Jimba.  The panoramic view from the top is really amazing.

Mt. Fuji from the top of Mt. Jimba

Then, I go to Mt. Shoto through some mountain tops. It is very tough but good exercise for me. Yes, Mt. Jimba to Mt. Shoto train is my favorite trail now.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hiking Guide Book in Utah

I bought a hiking guide book below last year when I went to Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. I went over the book last year. But I am reading again now.


In addition to, I bought/downloaded another hiking guide book from Amazon Kindle Store yesterday. I have guide books about Canyonlands, Arches, Zion and Bryce Canyon now.


I will stay Utah for one week and I can visit only, maybe two national parks. I have to choose among them.

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Hiking in Utah

I booked a flight ticket to Salt Lake City in Utah, yesterday. Yes, I'm going to Utah to go hiking this July.  There are many national parks in Utah, especially southern are, that is called Grand Circle. I haven't decided which national parks I will visit, but I want to go to  Zion, Bryce Canyon, Arches and Canyonlands. Perhaps I will go to two of them.

I went to Grand Teton national park last year. That was really amazing. How do I say, there were many mountains covered in fresh greenery. But national parks in Utah where I will visit are not. They call that High Desert, climate is really hot and I have to prepare for that.

Anyway, I have only one and half month to leave for. Many things I have to do.


Monday, March 29, 2010

Mt. Fuji from my room

I can see Mt. Fuji from my room very well as the picture below. This is my favorite view.


Monday, March 15, 2010

The 25th Mt. Takao Hike

The 25th Mt. Takao was terrible. There were many mud in the trail because of the melted snow. It was very hard to walk and climb up anymore. I finally gave up at Mt. Shiroyama, and climb down to Takao Station by Hikage path.

The Mt. Takao official site noticed the condition.  I should have seen it before.


Monday, February 8, 2010

The 24th Mt. Takao Hike

24th Mt. Takao to Mt. Jimba trail in all, and 3rd this year.

As you  know, we had a snow last Monday and I thought the snow left a bit the trail. But no a bit, over 30 centimeter deep or nearly 50 centimeter deep somewhere. This is a exactly snow-covered mountain! It was my first experience.


The panoramic view below from the top of Mt. Jimba was really amazing as always. Tea-houses at the top of Mt. Jimba were closed, but not a few hikers were there. I guessed they wanted to see and feel snow-covered mountain.

I made a cup of instant miso soup there, only poured into hot water. I really enjoyed it. 


Thursday, February 4, 2010

What is Eho-maki?

Eho-maki is a strange custom. They say that is originally from Osaka. I lived in Kobe, next to Osaka,  for 4 years when I was a college student , and had many Osaka friends. But none of them had such a strange custom. I believe that Osaka people didn't eat Sushi Rolls on Setsubun day, at least at that time.

I guess this custom began in 1990's.  If so, I understand why I didn't know.


Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Akihabara's new trend "Street Computing Gang"

Have you ever been to Akihabara? Akihabara is located in Tokyo City Center, and one of the most well-known area as a mecca for subculture in Japan or all over the world.

You can see many "Rojo PasoCon Zoku" or Street Computing Gangs there lately. In Japan, you can use Internet by wireless network anytime anywhere at a flat rate for  $50 or less.

As you know, young people really love Internet. I guess they in the below picture are chatting together over internet. They like talking over Internet better than face-to-face's. They must have a smart phone, but they like laptop better because they need full qwerty keyboard and wide screen.



Do you think what they are in the below picture doing? Akihabara is very crowded, and they couldn't find the room to use Internet, or couldn't wait for. They are really addicted Internet. They say Street Computing Gangs are increasing day by day.


Monday, February 1, 2010

The 23th Mt.Takao hike

I went on hiking to Mt. Takao to Mt. Jimba trail. It's the 23th and the second time this year.

The panoramic view from the top of  Mt. Jimba was really great as always


Friday, January 29, 2010

iPad is really cool, but...

Apple's iPad was finally unveiled. Apple freaks praised the new device. I think it's really cool, too. My friend who has iPhone, Mac Air and Mac Mini really is excited and seems not to be able to wait to get it.

But, I'm sorry Steve Jobs, I won't buy that. Honestly speaking, I don't like software keyboard. I must be clumsy. It's true, but it's me.  It's only reason I like Black Berry better than iPhone.


Wednesday, January 27, 2010

My little two questions

Why Americans are so surprised as they know I don't like peanut butter?

Why Australians are so surprised as they know I like Vegemite?






Monday, January 25, 2010

FAX server is convenient than I thought.

They say facsimile is old fashioned already. I have a phone with facsimile function in my home. But it's rare to use it, and ink-sheet isn't inexpensive. I ran out of the last ink-sheet for it last month.  I built a fax server instead of buy a new ink-sheet. I didn't buy anything. I only installed a free facsimile software and a facsimile modem which was unused. 

Unexpectedly, that is very convenient. The FAX server send email to me when it received a facsimile, and I can received the email with my cell phone.  That means I can get them anytime anywhere.

Facsimile is originally a paper-based tool, but if you don't use paper, you make it  one of convenient communication tools more.


Thursday, January 21, 2010

I'm moving.

I rent this house for six years, and the contract will be end this March. But I don't want to renew because the the house owner is really stingy and doesn't want to do house repair.

I am looking for a new apartment near here for a couple of weeks. I need a wide living room, two bed rooms and if possible one study for me. Some is too big, some is too small or expensive. It isn't so easy to find a  good property.


Tuesday, January 19, 2010

WiMax is out of service area

In Japan, WiMax service has begun last year. And I have to move next month. I thought I changed the broadband service in my home DSL to WiMax. A WiMax service company provide free trial service. I ordered the service from the website and a WiMax terminal has been sent after three days.

I tried it soon. But there was "WiMax is out of service area" appeared. I don't live in Tokyo City center, but this is Tokyo! Do you say I live in the wrong place? I brought it to a Star Backs, then I was able to connect Internet but that said "signal is very weak".

I gave up the project. I will continue DSL service.


Friday, January 15, 2010

Google may pull out of China?

When I heard the news, I remembered one of my Chinese friends.

He live in US after graduated from college. I drunk with him, and he said it in a low voice that honestly speaking, almost all Chinese people didn't believe Chinese government, and Chinese government didn't believe Chinese people, it was China. The population of China is about 1.3 billion. He is only one of them. But I was impressed of his opinion. I thought I could explain many, at least some behaviors of Chinese government and Chinese people with his opinion.

China is very important country for all over the world now. But we have to understand what kind of country China is.


Thursday, January 14, 2010

What to do in commuter train?

Almost all business people in Tokyo metropolitan area are commuting to Tokyo city center by public transportation system, especially train or subway. Riding allows you to multitask by reading, sleeping or working on your way.

What to do in commuter train is very important issue for us Japanese who live in Tokyo area. I have not only paperbacks but netbook PC, portable DVD player, iPod, Amazon Kindle and so on to spend the time effectively. Yes, commuter train is one of my study or library.


Wednesday, January 13, 2010

The first snow in Tokyo

I had the first snow of this season in Tokyo Tuesday afternoon.

The snow in Tokyo came 10 days later than the average year and three days later than last winter.


Sunday, January 10, 2010

The 22th Mt.Takao hike

I went on a hike to Mt. Takao to Mt. Jimba trail. It's the first time this year. This winter is not so cold, and I have not had snow day yet. Of course winter is winter. The mountaintop is very cold. But I like winter hiking especially this trail. Only reason is the view of Mt. Fuji from the trail is really beautiful. In winter, there are many day the sky is clear and I can see far away beautiful scenes like this picture.


Friday, January 8, 2010

The top of Mt. Fuji from my office

In sunny day , I can see far away the top of Mt. Fuji from my office like this picture. It's very small but really beautiful.


Thursday, January 7, 2010

How do you think about Nexus One phone?



I am really excited to hear Nexus One phone is finally released.

I am a Googler. I can't imagine my everyday life without Google for personal and business. I have a HTC smart phone, but that is a Windows Mobile phone. I think that is not so bad, especially from when I could connect to Google with Active Sync. But I am not satisfied enough.

Unfortunately, I can't buy Nexus One from Japan now. I sure buy it if I can immediately.

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

An old photo

I found this old photo a couple days ago. I can't remember where and when I took this. I guess I  went on a picnic to somewhere with my family and took a rest in a riverside. It seems my son was 3 years old and my daughter was 2 years old. They both are grown-ups now.


Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Tonjiru for Cold Nights

I want to eat Tonjiru at cold night. Tonjiru is a kind of Japanese miso soup with pork and lots of vegetables. Ton means pork in Japanese.

You can see the ingredients I used below but again, feel free to mix and match as you please. Mushrooms wouldn’t be a miss here either – use some fresh shitake or enoki. The recipe is very easy and dinner was on the table in about half an hour. It’s ridiculously comforting with the pork giving a rich flavour to the soup. It’s also very healthy what with all the vegetables in there!

serves 3-4

200g pork, not too lean – I used a pork chop
1 small carrot, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
1 small potato, cleaned and cut into bite-sized chunks
3-4 inch length of daikon, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
half a leek, sliced
3-4 inch chunk of lotus root, sliced and cut in half if too large
3-4 inch piece of burdock (gobo), sliced thinly
a medium sized chunk of firm tofu, cut into bite-sized cubes
2 tbsps sunflower oil
dashi (I used water and dashi powder)
red miso
2 spring onions, finely sliced
Soak the sliced burdock in water for 5 minutes. Slice the pork into thin strips and cut up all the vegetables.

Heat a large pot over medium heat and add the oil. Saute the pork until just cooked and then add all the vegetables, except the spring onions. Saute for another minute or two and add enough water to cover (or more if you like soup!). I used 4 cups of water. Bring it all to a boil and then turn down the heat and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.

For each cup of water that was added, you’ll want to use about 1 tbsp of miso paste – so, 4 tbsps was how much I used. Dissolve the miso paste into the hot soup – take care not to boil the soup after adding the miso. Sprinkle with the spring onions and serve with white rice.


Monday, January 4, 2010

What is Grand Circle?

I have a plan to travel to Grand Circle this year. And I am collecting information to the hiking there.

The Grand Circle is located in the Southwestern US. Encompassing portions of five states Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada; the Grand Circle contains America’s largest concentration of national parks and monuments.

That is a vast area and I can not go there all. I have to choose three or four destinations.  I want to go on a hike to Canyonlands and Arches national park in Utah this July or September.

Canyonlands NP

Arches NP