The Virgin Sturgeon.

At the Aquamarine Museum yesterday, I regaled my companion with a tame version of the Virgin Sturgeon ditty. Granted, my version was slightly misremembered from about 35 years ago when I last sang it. (Have you ever heard of the virgin sturgeon? The virgin sturgeon's a very fine fish. The virgin sturgeon needs no urging, that's why caviar's a very fine dish.)

Here's a version of the Virgin Sturgeon for your virgin ears.

Unsurprisingly, he had never heard the tune. I have to admit that he was very patient in listening to my unending witticisms throughout the day and to his credit, he added a few to the narrative too.

First on the agenda for the day was a pair of sleepy Fennec Foxes.

We went back three hours later and one was still sleepy (dead?) though the other was a tad livelier.

At the gift shop...

Dan (the man), who tends to take his photos with more patience than I, snapped this one.

You oughtta see the otters!

You really ought to cuz they were tough to spot.

Enough with the mammals (for now), let's move on to some denizens of the deep.

A horseshoe crab.

A hagfish and a bunch of fossils.

 Fake News!

It's a gar, by gar.

A lungfish.

It's tough to see but it's my favourite amphibian, the Oosanshouou or giant salamander though this one wasn't very gigantic.

Back to see a few mammals, Steller sea lions and Larga seals.

I missed out on the really big seal who occasionally let out a roar.

Puffins and a Murre (That's a murre! Dan made a funny.)

Cap'n, there be whales!
(Fake News!)

Anguilla Japonica. Are you feeling eel?

Slightly more tropical...

I'm going out on a reef here.

Can you figure out what they're trying to spell?

I'm going to go to bed and continue the Marine-ating tomorrow.

Doll Festival Mobiles!

A pal and I trekked down to the Aquamarine Fukushima today and enjoyed gawking at the fishies, fauna and foxes. I'll show pics of the aquatic animals later but for now here are some Doll Festival shots since today is Hina Matsuri.

One section of the Aquarium was devoted to Hina Matsuri Mobiles created by locals. Here is a little tour of the mobiles.

This little papercraft was made by a teacher at one of my schools the other day. Sweet!

Have a Happy Doll Fest everyone!

Who's Da Boss?

ボス・ベイビー Boss Baby doesn't open here for another few weeks and I doubt whether there'll be a showing in English, so I'll just wait until it shows up on TV or perhaps it'll be shown on the plane. I did manage to scam some promotional stickers and I can send a sheet to whomsoever may request them. If there are no takers, I'll give them out to my graduating students.

Here is a Japanese trailer for your enjoyment.



And here's an English trailer for your perusal.



Hard to believe this got nominated for an Oscar!

Another Oscar nominated movie that is released soon is リメンバー・ミー Remember Me which non-Japanese audiences presumably know as Coco.

I have my doubts that it'll be released in English here either, but sometimes some Pixar movies squeak through undubbed.



The above theme song is presumably sung by the same gal who sang the Japanese version of Let It Go. I don't have time to research it further.

Here's a promotional flyer:

Hey, cool! One of the leads is portrayed by my favourite Japanese comedienne, Naomi Watanabe (of Ghostbusters fame).

I have one of her Gatcha-figures.

Another forthcoming Oscar-nominated Animated short feature is one that I know little about. ぼくの名前はズッキーニ. My Life as a Courgette/ Zucchini.



Hmm. That one is in a Swiss movie in French. No way it'll be released subbed in English.

I'll do some research on the other Animated features this weekend. Just in time for the 90th Academy Awards.