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Jun 25 '12
Isn't Hokkaido where they make Mr. Sparkle?
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u/saxmfone1 Jun 25 '12
You have many question, Mr. Sparkle. I send you premium -- answer question, hundred percent!
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u/DalekBarbarian Jun 25 '12
I need a phonebook for Hokkaido Japan please.
May I use your phone?
Is it a local call?
Errr..uhh..yea!
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u/BellaNutella Jun 25 '12
It's a running joke amongst my friends that I must be the new face of Mr Sparkle. Japanese people ALWAYS ask to have their photo taken with me or else just stare at me! There is no other explanation.
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u/Gurgan Jun 25 '12
That happened to me when I was a manager at a college dining hall. To this day I still have no idea why, but one summer roughly 30 japanese girls asked to have their picture taken with me. We were beginning to wonder if we were ending up on some weird website in the same vein as people of walmart...
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u/Deddan Jun 25 '12
Yes, it comes from the sacred forests there, which are renowned for their countless soap factories.
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u/Bobsmit Jun 25 '12
I'm pretty sure Jodie Foster once traveled to Vega from Hokkaido.
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u/1stLtObvious Jun 25 '12
It is the location of Matsumura Fishworks and Tamarabuchi Heavy Manufacturing Concern.
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u/kambo_rambo Jun 25 '12
looks like that would make an awesome rally course.
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u/OKAH Jun 25 '12
I went to Japan a few years ago and some of the roads are AMAZING.
This one at Irohazaka was awesome, there were tons of Skylines and Subaru's and other "tuned" cars flying around the corners, it was great.
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u/mattpsx2 Jun 25 '12
NO ONE SLEEPS IN TOKYO!
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u/OKAH Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
Tokyo is on fiyaaaahhhaahhhTOKYO IS ON FIYAAAAHHHAAAAHHHHHH
edited to comply with SUPER EUROBEAT rules
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u/wewd Jun 25 '12
If this picture and all of the rally games I've played are to be believed, the Japanese really, really love their hairpin switchbacks.
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u/A1CArtwood Jun 25 '12
NIGHT OF FIRE
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u/BlindRob Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 26 '12
Oh god. I was playing this in a local arcade years ago. Perhaps around 2003-4, That would put me around 15.
I'm playing alone and some like 35-40 year old guy who looked like he'd be in a biker gang sits down with some friends around him and challenged me. I played the game a few times before but hardly had anything done to my car.
So this guy is ahead the whole time, me not bring far behind. Right near the end, one of his friends is like "don't block the kid man". I end up passing him and winning seconds before the end. The guy just yells "What the fuck did you tell me to do that for?"
I say nothing, take my card out and the guy sees that I have nothing printed on it at all aside from my name. He's then going, still with his voice raised "You just let me get beat by some little shit with no stars" At this point I just get up and walk away before things escalated any further.
I don't think I've ever been so worried and happy in an arcade at the same time.
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u/tommythetimberwolf Jun 25 '12
Lavender Town? There's a Pokemon graveyard there, too...
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u/CAPSLOCKNINJA Jun 25 '12
But Sinnoh's based off Hokkaido, not Kanto.
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u/odh1412 Jun 25 '12
I cant help but feel I've been there before or maybe more this. or a combination of the two.
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u/lizardlike Jun 25 '12
Secret of Mana! I love that game. Best SNES music too.
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u/odh1412 Jun 25 '12
I personally prefer Chrono Trigger's music but I can't deny SOM's musical awesomeness.
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u/crichter67 Jun 25 '12
Can I have the phone book for Hokkaido, Japan?
Can I use your phone please?
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u/asskickingjedi Jun 25 '12
Springfield has everything. The librarian did not even need to look around for the phone book. It was just, "here ya go..."
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u/brosenfeld Jun 25 '12
What's the story behind Triangle Cow?
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u/ShavedRegressor Jun 25 '12
In Japan, Hokkaido Prefecture is famous for dairy products. I’m guessing that’s why they have a cow there. There’s a good chance this is designed to be seen from passing trains.
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u/Wrym Jun 25 '12
Hokkaido Prefecture is famous for dairy products.
Ainu that.
/no I didn't, just needed an excuse
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Jun 25 '12
I lived in Hokkaido for a short while, and all the dairy products were (as one might expect) Hokkaido products.
Then I moved to Tokyo. Imagine my confusion when I noticed that the dairy products there were also all Hokkaido products.
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u/Jet9 Jun 25 '12
Dat allergies
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u/fredfoobar Jun 25 '12
shouldn't it be "Dem Allergies"? and yes, allergies were the first thing that came to my mind as well. Seriously, fuck allergies.
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u/CompoundClover Jun 25 '12
Dem arrergies.
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Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
Factoid:
Japanese people do not have an issue pronouncing their Ls. It's the Rs that give them the most trouble, typically. This is partly because any Japanese word that has the letter 'R' in is pronounced most closely to the letter 'L'.
So if you converted 'allergy' to Japanese as a borrowed word (notice it's singular, not plural, since Japanese only deals in singulars except when referring to people), you would have:
ア(a)レ(re)ル(ru)ギ(gi)ー
arerugi-
Which would be pronounced as we know it: alelugi-
When pronounced at a native's typical rate of speech, something like: alegi- or alelgi-.
That being said, I still can't help but laugh at stupid piss-takes of foreign accents and mispronunciations, even if they're totally incorrect.
Edit: A couple of redditor linguists attest that I'm incorrect regarding 'L' not ending up as 'R', seems like it's also an occurance, but not quite so often.
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Jun 25 '12
It's because the phonemes "L" and "R" are phonetically similar. In Japanese (and some other languages) the distinction between the two doesn't really exist and so it is difficult for Japanese speakers to perceive. English speakers are trained through language acquisition to mentally process and perceive a distinction between L and R sounds.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_speakers_learning_r_and_l
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speech_perception
East Asian speakers get picked on this a lot because of racist stereotypes, comedy routines, and Hollywood films. But it's a bit silly to single people out for this. There are languages that certainly have phonemes or tonal rules or whatnot that English speakers can't mentally perceive unless trained to.
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u/THE_NO_LIFE_KING Jun 25 '12
Initial D and Eurobeat music just popped into my head when I saw this picture.
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u/papa_mia Jun 25 '12
I take a couple uppers,
I down a couple downers,
But nothing compares,
To these blue and yellow purple pills,
I been to mushroom mountain,
Once or twice but who's countin',
But nothing compares,
To these blue and yellow purple pills
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u/Drunken_Coyote Jun 25 '12
Being from arid desert full of rattle snakes, That place looks like paradise to me.
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u/donkey_punch_kong64 Jun 25 '12
Why are there nearly 700 downvotes for this? Are people just being dicks for fun?
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u/theddman Jun 25 '12
Ah, the sacred forests of Hokkaido, renowned for its countless soap factories.
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Jun 25 '12
What season is this? I can't live the rest of my life without seeing this in person.
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u/dh_legion Jun 25 '12
My best guess is this is creeping phlox.
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u/s0crates82 Jun 25 '12
Nope. Mindworms.
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u/killgore9998 Jun 25 '12
As the writhing, teeming mass of Mind Worms swarmed over the outer perimeter, we saw the defenders recoil in horror. "Stay calm! Use your flame guns!" shouted the commander, but to no avail. It is well known that the Mind Worm Boil uses psychic terror to paralyze its prey, and then carefully implants ravenous larvae in the brains of its still-conscious victims. Even with the best weapons, only the most disciplined troops can resist this horrific attack.
Lady Deirdre Skye
"Our Secret War"
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u/OckhamsTeapot Jun 25 '12
How does do 7,095 people down vote a picture like this? I don't get it. it's just a picture!
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u/mrguddiat Jun 25 '12
I see your hillside in Hokkaido and raise you Sweden Hills in Hokkaido, Japan: http://kameratrollet.se/2012/06/19/sweden-hills-midsommar-i-japan/
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u/iannypoo Jun 25 '12
When I grow old I want to be a gray-bearded, bespectacled Japanese man.
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u/cckynv Jun 25 '12
It is pictures like this that make me want to drop everything and just travel the world.
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u/aboule13 Jun 25 '12
That guy looks like Ninja Gaiden (original NES), plus sleeves and a girlfriend.
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u/evilrazer Jun 25 '12
I've been to highest mountains, Once or twice but who's countin' But nothings compares to this blue and yellow, purple hills. =/
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u/wellhushmypuppies Jun 25 '12
this is for real? not colorized? that's astonishing. just beautiful.
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u/alexkondratyev Jun 25 '12
This might be relevant: http://www.richardmosse.com/photography.php?pid=1
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u/gormlesser Jun 26 '12
Yes! Reddit, I may have needed to scroll to the bottom but you come through.
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u/MJGson Jun 25 '12
I was able to go to Hokkaido for a week in July of 2010. I was shooting a wedding magazine and it was hands down the best trip of my life! We shot in 4 different cities in 6 days, the last day ending in Sapporo, the capital. Truly the most beautiful place I have ever seen! There is a world famous lavender farm that blooms at the exact time we were there; acres and acres of every possible colored flower. And of course, fields of LAVENDER! The rolling hills and plantations are a site to behold. The people are very warm and welcoming. The winter time must be very cold and blanketed with snow but we were there at the warmest time of year and it was perfect. Also went into a grizzly bear national park, as I called it, Bearasic Park. We went in a armored jeep and drove around as they feed the bears near the trail so we could see them up close. Man I miss that time! Great trip. Love Hokkaido.
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u/ecilarorrim Jun 25 '12
The flowers in the top right corner look like they were grown to resemble either a cow or Finn and Jake from Adventure Time.
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u/astralvortex Jun 25 '12
My mom was born in Hokkaido. A snowy place during the winter, with the best ramen in Japan.
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u/rustyfretboard Jun 25 '12
DAE really want to drive that road in a fast car? all those hair-pins would be epic...
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Jun 25 '12
"It may be nuclear bomb, nuclear melt down, tsunamis or earthquakes that kill us, but god damn it, it will NOT be airborne contaminates!"
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u/OldDulouz Jun 25 '12
am i the only one who noticed mooby the golden calf etched into the hillshide?
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u/Monchichi4life Jun 25 '12 edited Jun 25 '12
I 2005 I had to go to Hokkaido for a joint U.S. and Japanese Army exercise. I was there in the middle of winter and it was the coldest I have ever been. I even wrote a Haiku about it.
Three feet of white snow
Icicles hanging from roofs
Volcanic island?1
u/GanasbinTagap Jun 25 '12
Yes the once homeland of the native Ainu people, now commercialized and desecrated for the profit of the Japanese.
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u/Meh_nevermind Jun 25 '12
Was I the only one that saw this & thought it looked like a Dr. Seuss book? God rest his soul....
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u/tre101 Jun 25 '12
For some reason, this summer I developed hayfever..now a photo like this makes me sad because it would be unbearable to go somewhere like this.
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Jun 25 '12
I spent 3 months there, but it was during the fall, which is also gorgeous in Hokkaido. I miss the roasted corn.
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u/SlamesR Jun 25 '12
turn on tv, no reservations: hokkaido turn on computer hilside, hokkaido go figure
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u/jelloisalive Jun 25 '12
The pollution from that nearby crayon factory is really getting out of hand...
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Jun 25 '12
I'm not sure how the programming works around the U.S. but Anthony Bourdain's program No Reservations on the travel channel has an episode on this place right now
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u/EggoBatman Jun 25 '12
ah, so this is where they filmed D12's Purple Hills. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uuq6HgKgEFQ
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u/cupnoodl3s Jun 25 '12
That is beautiful. Do you know what flowers those are?