hivans comments

I visited the keyhole tombs at Sakai once, and I think the previous poster's biking and city hall tips were spot on. The musuem near the Nintoku tomb also has a really good VR experience, where you get a simulation of floating over the tomb as it would have looked 1600 years ago. I felt it really added something to my visit. The volunteer guides at the tomb entrance were a great fount of information too, not least because the day I went two of them started keenly debating whether Nintoku should be regarded as a historical personage or not. Very interesting to listen to.

I am afraid I am an armchair fan tending toward the No camp in answer to tamanegi’s question, although of course I concede that “Gaffer” Moriyasu did a lot of things right, and you can’t miss the fact that he is a very decent guy (and perhaps an ideal assistant manager and tactical consultant?).

I have to declare a bias here: I’m a resident of Kagoshima where many are still moaning that he didn’t pick our local hero Osako Yuya in his squad. Even putting my local bias aside and recognizing that the experienced players left out were not as good as they had been in 2018, I really believe (FWIW) that someone like Osako or Haraguchi should have been in the 26-man squad (even if not starting members), and might have used their experience to provide the missing ingredient at a crucial moment. Oh well.

Even if I am wrong about that, taking a cold, hard look at what’s needed for the Japanese football to go one (or two or three) better next time, suggests to me it’s time for someone else to build on Moriyasu-san's legacy while adding something new to the mix. But he’ll always be able to look back in satisfaction at what he achieved against Germany and Spain and how that advanced Japanese football on the world stage.

Isn't it a wee bit harsh to describe Doan as a "journeyman attacker"? He made quite a significant contribution to the win over Germany after all. I once saw him (optimistically) described as the "Japanese Messi", but of course I have to admit that he hasn't justified that nickname yet. Who knows, perhaps he will tonight.

I just watched his FCCJ interview on You Tube, and it is very interesting. I see some posters here are being critical of Kubota san, but I would urge them to take a fresh look at his press conference with an open mind. To me, it seems he was just doing his job as a journalist getting information from a sadly little reported part of the world to a wider audience. What we do with that information is up to us, but I appreciate a journalist who takes risks to bring it to us.

Since I live in Kagoshima City, I thought I might post an update from the front line. Actually, everything seems pretty normal here, beyond the small radius of the warning zone; perhaps a bit more hazy than last week due to atmospheric ash? It really doesn't feel like the Last Days of Pompeii (but then I guess some residents of Pompeii didn't think they were living through the last days up to the end either).