As a child, I used to look through my father’s scrapbook from when he was in the Army with a sense of wonder at this strange place called Korea that he had been. He had joined the army at 17, in 1947, and was almost immediately sent to Korea to be part of a “peacekeeping contingent”. Without going into too much detail, Korea had been under oppressive Japanese rule for 35 years, which came to an abrupt halt at the end of World War II when the Japanese were pushed out of the peninsula by Russian and American troops. Much like Germany, after the war, Korea was divided into two halves, with the Soviet Union stationing troops in the north, and the United States stationing troops in the south. Those troops are what my father became a part of.

He has fond memories of that time in his life, and his scrap book reflects those times. He learned to speak Korean, took a liking to the food, and enjoyed the culture. Looking at the book through a child’s eyes, I saw all of these strange people wearing funny clothes and living in primitive conditions, yet I was fascinated and wanted to see them with my own eyes. Maybe that’s where my own love of travel really began.

Things changed quite a lot in late June, 1950, when the government of the Republic of Korea (aka North Korea), led by Kim Il-Song, invaded South Korea with the intent of reunification under a communist government, an idea that the Soviet Union backed for obvious reasons. Within a few days, the much larger and better-equipped army from the north had captured Seoul, and by August, the South Korean army had been pushed back to a small area surrounding the city of Pusan. My father was amongst those who did this march, and he would spend the next 18 months in combat both gaining and losing ground as he carried a machine gun nearly the length of the peninsula. For obvious reasons, the pictures from that period are far different.

The Korean War, as it became known (though technically it was a UN conflict), went on until July 27, 1953, when an armistice was agreed upon and the country was once again divided along the 38th parallel. It was a stalemate. Virtually nothing was gained by either side, and more than a million people (civilian and soldiers) had lost their lives in pursuit of…nothing. Yet it seems that most people have forgotten that it happened, as its legacy has been overshadowed by other wars. So, this is my small memorial to it so that the stories my dad told me as a kid will live on.

There’s obviously a lot more to the story of the war itself, and I highly encourage you to check out the Wiki link above, which has a decent summary of all of the phases of the conflict.

After the war, North Korea went into a mode where it wanted to become completely self-sufficient. I can understand this - years of being ruled by other nations had taken their toll. Their leader, Kim Il-Song, took it to an extreme, and his son, Kim Jong-Il (who I’m sure you all have heard of) took it even further. So, today, North Korea is one of the most isolated nations in the world.

That changed a little bit today. In Yongbyon, North Korea, the cooling tower for a (defunct) nuclear plant was demolished as part of an agreement the North Korean Government has made with a coalition of countries including the US, China, and Russia. While this was largely a symbolic gesture, documentation was also provided outlining their nuclear program - something very real. This was done in order to lift sanctions and to have a more open relationship with the outside world. It’s a start.

So why am I mentioning this? Well, there’s a part of me that wants to go there. More on that next time.

About a month ago I got it into my head that the reason that I was a poor photographer had nothing to do with me, but instead had to do with the inferior equipment I’ve been using. (Yes, I know I’m misguided - it’s all about blame assignment, folks.) While the Sony DSC-T1 I’ve been using for the past few years has served me well, I figured it was time to splurge for a proper digital SLR. So now instead of having something I can slip into my pocket when I travel around, I’m going to have the full-on badge that screams OMG I’M A TOURIST!!!

Warning: nerd pr0n ahead (But there’s cute dog photos afterwards, so feel free to skip by)

We’re finally at a point where digital SLRs have hit the sweet spot of sub-$1000 and quality that rivals a proper 35mm film camera. Or so I’m told…I’m a total noob when it comes to photography, though I’m trying to learn. It seems to involve some math, which makes me cry. But I digress…

The camera I picked up is a Canon EOS 450D, also known by it’s terrible American name - Canon Digital Rebel XSI. I’m not going to even attempt a proper review because I’m still trying to figure out what all the knobs do, but so far I’m really impressed. The photo quality is superb even with the stock lens and my lack of skill, and I’m not dealing with a lot of the noise that I had to deal with on the small cam. Less photoshop time is always a good thing.

Rather than drone on about the camera, let me just show you what it does. I took some semi-willing volunteers (aka my three Border Collies) into the backyard on an overcast day, and took some shots. After you click on the image, click the green arrow at the bottom to see the full 12MP (4272×2848) glory.

This is Rohan (Gaelic for Red-Haired or Red). He’s the youngest of the three, and perhaps the most photogenic. Also a little bit insane…but that’s kind of part of the deal with herding dogs.

Gromit (as in Wallace and Gromit) is the middle child of the bunch. Pretty but…well, not so bright.

Finally, Zydeco (named after a type of Cajun music), the eldest and top dog of the house. He’s scary smart…I’m trying to teach him how to post to the blog. Okay, maybe not quite…

Anyways, should be fun to take next time I go somewhere interesting. I have a 55-250mm lens on order so I’ll look like a hardcore tourist. Now I need to find a hat…

One of their galleries is dedicated to the teenage girls (and guys) that dress up in fashions that range from odd to truly bizarre (though, I have to admit, quite interesting). They tend to hang out in an area of Tokyo between Shibuya and Shinjuku called Harajuku, hence the name Harajuku Girls.

I know I’ve made some references to some of this in past blog entries, but a picture is worth a thousand words and all that. The fascinating thing for me is that even within this subculture exists further subdivisions - specialty groups that tend to cluster together. For example, there are groups of girls that get these super-dark fake tans and dyed blonde hair called Ganguro:

Yeah, I know - WTF? comes to mind. You also get gothic lolitas (kind of like the first picture) and all sorts of other variants. Really, check out the gallery I mentioned to see things that range the gamut, including a Marx brothers thing. Yeah, I shit you not.

There’s another group of people that dress up like their favorite anime or manga characters, which is called Cosplay. Some of these costumes are amazingly elaborate, and there are professional cosplayers that make a living doing it.

Once again, there’s a cosplay gallery at JapanForum, but be a bit careful in that some of the shots may not be stuff you want to look at work. It’s not tentacle porn (which, really, demands its own post), but it’ll likely generate some questionable looks.

Well, just a little subculture post. Next time: North Korea.

* Images provided by Wikipedia under Creative Commons licensing. Basically, I feel like too much of a perv taking photos of teenage girls so I’ll leave that to others.

Used panties.

I’m so proud…*sigh*