I also like visiting these somewhat run-down resort towns. I have cycled extensively around the Kanto area and seen my share. Personally, I think part of the problem is that many of the owners of these onsens are really old-fashioned and unwilling or lack the know-how to modernize or market themselves better.

If you look at a city like Karuizawa though, it seems to be quite the opposite. They've managed to maintain the spirit of the city while at the same time modernizing it enough to attract tourists.

I think part of the problem is that many of the owners of these onsens are really old-fashioned and unwilling or lack the know-how to modernize or market themselves better.

I agree.

If you look at a city like Karuizawa though, it seems to be quite the opposite.

Actually, I disliked how touristy and gaudy Karuizawa was, so there's the rub: updating too much means getting rid of the old charm. There's got to be a compromise somewhere.

I stayed up in Kita-Karuizawa for a week last summer, which was beautiful, but the town itself is also in visible decay.

This is a genuinely tough one. Where do we start the reform general? We're all awaiting orders.

May I humbly suggest we keep 6 - 7 of them, or maybe just one in every ken, and stuff the rest so we can proceed with the larger plan. There's more important work to be done in the cities.

Actually, I disliked how touristy and gaudy Karuizawa was, so there's the rub: updating too much means getting rid of the old charm. There's got to be a compromise somewhere.

It's been awhile since I was in Karuizawa. That bad huh?

Yeah, I passed through Atami on my 6 1/2 hour Nagoya-Tokyo futsuu densha marathon last week, and it looked like a pretty cruddy place to spend the weekend. I think part of the problem is that, in the initial, ill-conceived rush of development, a lot of the area's charm got lost amidst clunky hotels and assorted tourist clutter. I'm from England originally, and the same thing happened to a lot of the south coast tourist towns - with the exception of Brighton, most of them are now in terminal decline, rusting away and populated almost exclusively by pensioners. To be honest, though... is it really such a great loss?

Sounds like a great place to visit, if only to search out the two-seater space invaders video games. Alot have been converted into sideboards or place tables, but it's great to find a working model.

Also, where's the tale of your night out? How many bottles of Triangle did it take before Mitsuko got you drunk?!

Nice little travelogue marxy!

I've been to Ikaho, Gunma, and although it was off season and deserted, I liked it a lot. It's a bit like the ghost town in Miyazaki's "Spirited Away". I would certainly go there for a holiday when it was crowded, and steep in the hot spring baths with great pleasure. I'd leave instantly if it filled up with kayak-krews or extreme sports fanatics jumping out of helicopters with MTV crews in tow, though.

I think most people like their resorts a bit peely-wally, don't they? Isn't patina charming? Does everything have to look like Disney Sea?

I can't imagine a bright future

That would be a much better title for this blog than "Neomarxisme".

Personally, I prefer the cafes with old cracked leather couches, old records and chilled out staff. It shows the place has a quality that's not going to expire with the last-minute design trends in the fitout.

Development is a mixed bag. It's a tricky business retaining what made the place nice in the first place.

the cost for land with or without house in onsen country is relatively cheap, Anybody can buy real-estate in japan. Why don't some Japan-loving , tradition-loving foreigners sympathetically and sensitively buy into that and try to fuse some funk into it all without actually ruining it. ?

Odd. The only person I've met who was into this "canyoning" as you describe it was Brazilian. He was one weird dude - apparently raking it in as an Agonshu priest. I also heard that this near-drowning practice is part of their training.

I've heard about sawanobori which sounds like a less insane but equally ecologically destructive sport.

Get enough fanatics "canyoning" and we'll really need some of that erosion protection.

By the way, two things disturb me about this entry. One, you say "we" but don't say who "we" is. Two, this:

a triumph of will greater than I could currently hope for.

Isn't "triumph of will" a rather unfortunate choice of phrase, so soon after a discussion of swastikas?

Also, the Shobus blog reports that you were present recently at one of their performances. So are you going to blog about it? I mean, it's not compulsory, but you seem to be the only one who hasn't blogged their interesting doings.

two things disturb me about this entry. One, you say "we" but don't say who "we" is

Disturb?! Is it allright with you that I have friends?

Isn't "triumph of will" a rather unfortunate choice of phrase, so soon after a discussion of swastikas?

Right, but I wish you would just give me some Lebensraum to write how I want to write...

Also, the Shobus blog reports that you were present recently at one of their performances.

I was kindly invited to play with them on a roof in the hot summer sun. Way too short...! I am jealous of their coming adventures in Japan's hidden cities.

Get enough fanatics "canyoning" and we'll really need some of that erosion protection.

Canyoning did not strike me as very ecologically-destructive, but I'm not an expert on these matters.

Development is a mixed bag. It's a tricky business retaining what made the place nice in the first place.

Yes, I only want Atami or Ikaho to be 25% less run-down. I don't need polish, I just need stability.

Isn't patina charming?

Patina is charming, rust is not.

I'd leave instantly if it filled up with kayak-krews or extreme sports fanatics jumping out of helicopters with MTV crews in tow, though.

Shit, I was thinking that a Mountain Dew sponsorship would be the solution to Ikaho's financial woes.

To be honest, though... is it really such a great loss?

How is Portmeirion?

>I can't imagine a bright future
>
>That would be a much better title for this blog than "Neomarxisme".

Or maybe "1998: The year Japan broke"

Canyoning did not strike me as very ecologically-destructive, but I'm not an expert on these matters.

I'm thinking of the erosion to the face of the cliff and stream beds. I'd guess there are organisms living there that don't live in other types of environment.

I'm not an expert on this, however the destructiveness of the sawanobori sport was pointed out to me by a prominent ecologist who had done PhD with EO Wilson, if that means anything to you.

Back home, we call him "Captain Eo" Wilson.

we call him "Captain Eo" Wilson

I'm afraid that's a bit over my head. Is it based on physical appearance or some other idiosyncratic personal characteristic? Or is he still anathema in the social "sciences"?

the tender perv be sayin': Also, the Shobus blog reports that you were present recently at one of their performances. So are you going to blog about it? I mean, it's not compulsory, but you seem to be the only one who hasn't blogged their interesting doings.

and i say: this is like the 2nd or 3rd time we've seen nick asking for david to blog more "personally" isn't it? i for one kind of like the faux-objective voice that david assumes here on this blog. DON'T be tempted, dave! i'm sure you 'will' will triumph, dude!

r.

What about the patina of wisdom that comes with being the title 'artiste plasticien contemporain'?

- Virginie Lebeau