ROR Comedian Headshots

I am lucky enough to have access to some funny and handsome comedians.  

Here are the faces of ROR Comedy, a group of stand-up comedians in Osaka, Japan.

Tony Romani

Rodney Smith

Scott Crowe

Tom Law

Waka

Osaka March Sumo Tournament - 大阪大相撲三月場所

I had the great fortune to attend one day of the 15 day long Sumo tournament held in Osaka on March 20th.

Opening ceremony for the high ranked matches:

Throwing salt to purify the ring:

Though the earlier matches in the day are between less famous and lower ranked wrestlers, they do not lack any of the excitement and drama of the later matches.   A further bonus is that before the seats fill, you can go down next to the ring to see the matches up close.

As there is no weight class separation in sumo, some matches are between wrestlers of considerable size difference.  Bigger wrestlers have an advantage of being harder to move and pick up, though it is offset by the greater speed and agility of smaller wrestlers.  

While the below wrestler was forced out of the ring:

A subsequent match of different wrestlers with a similar size disparity:

 

 Resulted in the smaller wrestler out maneuvering his larger opponent and winning the match. 

A Geisha or Maiko hired by an older couple to entertain during the matches.

 

Nipponbashi Street Festa 2014 - 日本橋ストリートフェスタ ２０１４

Photos from the 10th Annual Cosplay Festival in Nipponbashi

One of the most popular recent anime is 'Attack on Titan', with many people dressed as a giant Titan, or the soldiers that fight against them.  My friend Zach and his brother Pearce built a rather large costume:

The giant Giant was enormous and towered over the crowd:

No friends among the rebel alliance:

Pikmen seem ok with him though:

Misunderstanding:

Dominatrix for scale:

Valiant heroes from the 'Attack on Titan' anime:

Not sure that's how it works...

Giant photographing giant giant:

Group shot!

Other characters:

Kamen Rider 1

 More recent additions to the Kamen Rider series:

Batman:

Allergyman:

 Captain Jack Sparrow:

Umbrella Corp Security: effective against a zombie apocalypse

Raccoon City Police: somehow still effective against the same zombie apocalypse

Anti-piracy ad characters:

Link:

Nurses from Silent Hill

Fujiko Mine and Daisuke Jigen from Lupin the Third

Magic Warrior

Bane:

'Cops'

Enthusiasm