Tag: japan

Photos of Dragon Ball offsite at Comic-Con 2024!

The vast entertainment empire that is Dragon Ball is on full display in San Diego during Comic-Con 2024. Their free-to-the-public offsite activation, on the Marina Terrace behind the Marriott Marquis hotel, is a feast for the eyes to anyone who loves the movies, television shows, anime, manga, video and card games produced by Dragon Ball.

I must admit I’m no expert when it comes to Dragon Ball, but I love looking at all the graphics and detailed figurines on display. And there’s the gigantic statue of Goku, too!

I saw excited kids and adults wandering about trying to take it all in. Visitors to the offsite can try their hand at video games and learn how to play the Dragon Ball card game. They can even make Son Goku models. I was told that if you arrive at the offsite between 9 am and 11 am, you get free stuff including an awesome swag bag. I’ve done that in past years. It’s well worth it.

I wandered about like everyone else on Thursday and took some cool photos…

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If you’d like to view my coverage of Comic-Con so far, which includes hundreds of cool photographs, click here!

San Diego Bonsai Club’s Spring Show!

Fantastic examples of bonsai could be viewed by the public this weekend in Balboa Park. The San Diego Bonsai Club hosted their Spring Show and Sale in Casa del Prado’s Room 101.

A series of long, narrow tables appeared to be lined with tiny, ancient, wind-blown trees. It’s uncanny how the beautiful art of bonsai can trick and fascinate the eye.

These bonsai were carefully sculpted by members of the club. The show and sale also featured supplies like pots, soil and starter trees, and expert bonsai technique demonstrations.

Check out these photos. I felt like I was walking beside a miniature forest!

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I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Boat loads of inspiration in San Diego!

An inspirational art exhibit is now on display at the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park. Beautiful paintings remind us that rebirth can come unexpectedly after a period of destruction.

Boatloads of Mizuaoi are works by artist Shintaro Araki, who is a member of the Mizuaoi Project.

As the Japanese Friendship Garden’s website explains:

The Mizuaoi Project, initiated by a group of artists receiving a seed found in Fukushima from an artist, Shigenobu Yoshida, celebrates the “rebirth” of the nearly extinct Mizuaoi plant…a genus of flowering plants…considered a weed species in Japan…exterminated so as not to corrupt rice cultivation.

Thought to have been eradicated throughout most the country, the Mizuaoi lay dormant until the Great East Japan Earthquake, on March 11, 2011, and tsunami, brought the Mizuaoi seed back to life and sparked a poetic Movement, spreading the Mizuaoi image as a symbol of hope, and regeneration throughout Japanese society.

Members of the Mizuaoi Project cultivate the plants in pots, metaphorically referred to as “Boats” and distribute their boats nationwide…

These individual works by Shintaro Araki do indeed resemble boats filled with robust green life. Their simplicity and beauty float before our eyes, flower in the mind. The art expresses hope. It reminds us of nature’s inherent power to renew living things.

The exhibition can be viewed in the garden’s Exhibit Hall through April 28, 2024.

Here are just a few of the beautiful pieces on display…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

An invasion of dragons in Balboa Park!

Numerous dragons invaded Balboa Park this weekend! As did tigers and elephants and hummingbirds and panda bears, and almost every sort of creature, great or small.

All were the subjects of amazing works of art, displayed in the Casa del Prado during the Friends of Sumi-E 21st Annual Art Exhibition!

According to the Chinese lunar calendar, we’re now in the Year of the Dragon. So it’s not surprising that many of the brush paintings I saw today depict dragons.

Friends of Sumi-E is a group of San Diego artists who practice traditional Japanese brush painting, which is called sumi-e or suiboku-ga. They also provided classes for those interested in learning the art.

One cool aspect of sumi-e exhibitions in Balboa Park is the public can watch skilled artists at work. And anyone can try their own hand at creating a beautiful, one-of-a-kind piece of art!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Ikebana and visual poetry in Balboa Park.

Works of visual poetry were read by many eyes today in Balboa Park. The San Diego Wabi Chapter of the Ohara School of Ikebana presented their Annual Flower Show in the Casa del Prado.

Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art form of flower arrangement. Certain rules and a certain symmetry, containing contrasts and elegance, make this art form a bit like poetry. Every part of the arrangement, like every word in a poem, is potent in itself and vital. The assembled composition is more beautiful than the sum of its parts.

During the flower show, participants could learn the essentials of ikebana while watching live demonstrations by masters of the art.

If you love exquisitely beautiful things–or unspoken poetry–keep your eyes peeled for future ikebana shows in Balboa Park.

Meanwhile, enjoy these photographs…

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Two big March events coming to Balboa Park!

Two huge events are coming to Balboa Park in March. The amazing Cherry Blossom Festival and the epic Thursday Club Rummage Sale are just days away!

Pink cherry blossoms have begun to appear in the Lower Garden of the Japanese Friendship Garden. When the Cherry Blossom Festival opens later this week, walking through the cherry trees will be like walking through a dream. The event always attracts a large crowd. There’s Japanese food and entertainment, too! It’s a good idea to arrive early.

The 2024 Cherry Blossom Festival runs from March 7 – 10. Learn all about it at the JFG website by clicking here.

The second big event is the Annual Rummage Sale of the Thursday Club. For 2024, the rummage sale will be held in the Municipal Gymnasium, which is located between the Comic-Con Museum and the San Diego Air and Space Museum.

Arrive early for this one, too! The massive event, billed as San Diego’s Largest Rummage Sale Since 1927, attracts thousands of bargain-seekers. You’ll find gently used furniture, decor, clothing, electronics, collectibles, art, books, music, you name it!

Doors will be open Saturday, March 9, from 9 am to 4 pm. On Sunday, March 10, you can swing by from 10 am to 2 pm. Click the Thursday Club website here to learn more.

Proceeds from the rummage sale go to very good causes:

The Thursday Club, a group of volunteers dedicated to educational, cultural and civic community involvement and leadership for over 100 years in San Diego, has returned almost $2 million to Balboa Park and the community through club activities… Each year, half of the proceeds of the sale go to benefit a variety of programs and projects within Balboa Park, and half goes to support non-profit organizations in the San Diego community.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Japanese brush painting classes in San Diego!

Would you like to learn the art of Japanese brush painting? Do you live in San Diego? Read on!

Today I enjoyed the 48th Annual Japanese Brush Painting Fall Art Exhibition in Balboa Park. The event was presented by the Friends of Sumi-e. I’ve checked out this fine exhibition several times over the years.

In addition to all the stunning artwork on display, artists were greeting visitors with live demonstrations of this traditional Japanese art.

I watched for a bit. Before my eyes, elegantly applied ink turned magically into stunning, sublimely beautiful images.

Speaking to the smiling artists, I learned there are San Diego Community College Continuing Education classes that teach the art of Sumi-e. Naoko, who you see in the next photo, is one of the instructors!

If you’d like to try your hand at creating brush art, check out this webpage for the classes!

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Japanese Navy ships arrive in San Diego.

Two ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force docked today at San Diego’s Cruise Ship Terminal. I noticed them this afternoon during a walk along the Embarcadero.

Every couple years, it seems, I notice Japanese naval ships in San Diego harbor, paying a friendly visit. The vessels this year are training ship JS Kashima and the guided-missile destroyer JS Hatakaze.

According to this article, the ships are visiting many ports in the Americas. For those who are curious, the Kashima will be open to the public on Saturday, Sept. 23, from 10 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. It’s the ship on the right (near the pier) in my photographs.

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Thanks for visiting Cool San Diego Sights!

I post new blogs pretty often. If you like discovering new things, bookmark coolsandiegosights.com and swing on by occasionally!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or X (formerly known as Twitter)!

Shōgun live fight performance at Comic-Con!

Shōgun is an upcoming FX television series that will premiere on Hulu. Through this weekend, at Comic-Con 2023, dramatic fight performances can be viewed several times a day at the FX offsite on the lawn in front of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.

A good crowd gathered this afternoon for one of the live performances. It lasted for perhaps five minutes. But as you can see in my photographs, it was very exciting.

Everyone clapped when it concluded. Then fans lined up at either end of the stage for photo opportunities with the elaborately costumed performers.

Check my photo of the sign for the times when you can watch. There was no wait to enter this expansive Comic-Con offsite, but there were long waits for the separate activations that promote several other FX shows.

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!

Cool photos of Dragon Ball at Comic-Con!

Enjoy a cool batch of Dragon Ball photographs! This year’s Dragon Ball offsite at San Diego Comic-Con is just as impressive as ever!

I took these photos in the morning shortly after the activation opened at 9:30. The line was moderately long but moved quickly. You can find all this coolness behind the Marriott Marquis hotel, on the outdoor Marina Terrace.

Many people stood in a separate line to purchase Dragon Ball exclusives. Make sure you queue in the correct place! (Those who simply walk through the exhibit are given a really great swag bag.)

If you can’t make it to San Diego Comic-Con this year, check this out…

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I’m covering Comic-Con again this year. To see all my current and past blog posts concerning Comic-Con, click here and scroll down!

I live in downtown San Diego and love to walk around with my camera! You can follow Cool San Diego Sights via Facebook or Twitter!