Just East of Thetford

 

Not a lot of people know this.

During WW2, the Royal Navy ship HMS Scurrilous intercepted a troopship heading toward Mindanao, and captures the Japanese Army's 433rd Contractor Battalion. Britain hadn't expected to capture many Japanese folks (you know ... Seppuku, etc) to had to ship them back to a camp in Thetford in Norfolk.

Rather than twiddle their thumbs, the Japanese Engineers obtained permission to feel trees from Thetford Forest, and used them to built an 80% scale replica of   the Higashi Hongan-ji Temple in Kyoto, Japan, featuring its distinctive traditional architecture with dark wooden structures and tiled roofs. The image showcases the expansive courtyard area between the main temple halls and the large Founder's Hall Gate (Goei-do Mon) in the background.

After the war, the Japanese returned to Japan, and the buildings were used for concerts, parties and Summer Fayres.  Alas, maintenance was neglected, and the building were torn down in 1961, and the timber used for firewood.  Very little remains to be seen.

Bonus : Just a Big CAT scan

There are Seven Camouflaged Snipers in this Picture..

 

...can you spot any of them ?

Glory Be, it's a slide with some info on it, so for those who want to know :

"Takamatsu Ritsurin Park,  Lisette Cot 1969"

So, if you fancy visiting That Location

Bonus - The Stupidest Glitch Imaginable Killed a $72 Million Lunar Mission in a Single Day

Hey, let's try that Japanese Restaurant on Fifth and Hawthorn

 

Seems surprisingly adventurous for Seventies Suburban America,.

Bonus : Six chances to guess a capital city

Loughborough Town Hall

 

In the late 1980's, Toyota were looking to build a car factory somewhere in the English Midlands.

Loughborough, desperate to diversify from their core industry of manufacturing whoopee cushions, spent all their cash reserves on remodelling the existing Town Hall into a replica of the Sapporo Town Hall. The results were startling, as you see, but alas it was in vain. Derby got the factory.

Two years later, the town hall burned down in a mysterious event, a week after upping their Fire Insurance cover.

Bonus - Google will no longer be keeping a backup of the entire Internet. 

No Hear...No Speak...No See

 

No info on the slide, other that "Nikko" and 1969, but many of the slides in that box had a definite "Japanese" look. It didn't take long to track it down to being the Toshogu Shrine.  The Shinkyu or Sacred Stable is relatively plain – probably the least adorned building in Tosho-gu. Yet it contains its most famous single carving, that of the Three Wise Monkeys:

Bonus - Pooky Park (AI-generated 1950s TV commercial for a creepy puppet theme park)

We're not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

 

...unless we're in the East Kansas Municipal Japanese Themed Garden, ready to eat at the Old Nakajima's BBQ and Teriyaki Ranch.

Or maybe we're in Japan.

Bonus -  Curious Photos of Cynthia, a Superstar Mannequin in the ‘30s

Nijo Castle Visit

 

Gotta be grateful for small mercies.

Like people who write "Kyoto - Nijo Castle Lisette" on slides, which allows me to confirm that this is Nijo Castle.

Again, not that it bothers me, but I am struck by the possibility that "Lisette" is in fact in possession of a functioning penis.

Bonus - America ! 

A Little Japanese Girl

 

Today's slide... well, you can figure it out yourself.

Or maybe I'll be accused for cultural imperialism, as it might be a little Korean Boy. I don't really know.

But, I can't figure out what she is holding. Two blue Macaroons? Yo-yos?  Amazon Alexa Dot things?

Bonus - More importantly, Wash Your Ass.

The World Series of Snowball Fights 1975

 

No info on this slide, other than the date of 1975.

However, the presence of TV cameras from Japan (NHK), America (ABC) and the Canadian mounties makes it very easy to conclude that this is The World Series of Snowball Fights 1975.   The rioting after the event has wisely been forgotten by history.

Bonus - THE ELEPHANT WHO COULD BE A PERSON

The Japanese Wedding

 

I was going to say that this is a wedding in Japan, but to my non-expert eye, the gardens don't look very Japan-ish to me. And the venue could be almost anywhere - possibly the Japanese Garden in Stoke-on-Trent. (Venue of the 1937 Tea Ceremony Riots.)

Bonus - 

Flower Samurai Statue Outfit

 

I see it and I can assemble words to describe it. But I cannot figure out what or why.

Flower festival?  Traditional story?  Art Project?

I Dunno.

Bonus - The barking mad story of the decade-old Jack White record found inside furniture.

Slide number 4200

This is slide numbered 4200, (related to the answer to Life, the Universe and Everything) but strangely it seems to be Blog Posting number 4146.

That numerical discrepancy will cause me some sleepless nights. Perhaps.

The subject is Nijo Castle, in Kyoto, with the lovely Lisette featured in a restrained manner.

Bonus -  First Day in his new job, Ben Sliney had to make a big decision...

Bonus 2 - Stolen therapy goat found, reunited with depressed cow

Meanwhile, in Japan

A mysterious ceremony is being enacted...by dummies.

Bonus -

Blah...slide. Blah .... Japan. Blah.

Great.  I've come down with some Man-Flu.

I feel crappy.


Take this slide, and let me suffer alone.

A Gaggle of Geishas in a garden

Whether is is authentically Japan, or local themed planting...I don't know.

Bonus 1 - Did you know there's a natural forest in Greenland??

Bonus 2 - WTF, Cat !?

A Japanese Bride

After yesterday's more traditional ceremony, here we have a Japanese Bride seemingly clad in pink candy floss.

Let me think about that briefly.   A Japanese model wearing just candy floss...


Ah. Yes, where was I ?

Bonus - Left Land / Right Hand Oops

Bonus 2 - Whoa.   Street Art

A Japanese Wedding

A very moving ceremony.

Bonus - Speaking of moving...

( Would have preferred a Salisbury Steak )

Looks like someone's not thrilled with her colleagues wish to try that new restaurant.

"Would have been happier with a Breaded Salisbury Steak at Joe's Diner" is what she might be thinking.

I know which I would prefer.

Bonus - Speaking of Salisbury Steak...  Tom Waits, Eggs and Sausage

The Gaze of Medusa

I reckon that you would not want to anger the harridan on the left.

One hard stare from her and ...  death would be a sweet release.

Bonus - Leaning tower illusion

Bonus 2 - Show Off

Mildred's Anger

No wonder. Having found the downstairs closet blocked by some horrid, coiled, brown monster, Mildred's needle-sharp stare is focused on the presumed guilty party.  Mrs Ethel Grosshammer. Damn her.

Bonus - Someone doesn't want to help with the laundry.