Category: Technology

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Friday/ postage due stamps ✉️

Here’s another interesting envelope that I picked up on Ebay for a few dollars. It was dispatched in Johannesburg to Philadelphia, Pa. The franking on the stamp was done with a metering machine in 1951.
(Franking machines were first used in South Africa in 1926).

The franking of 9½ pennies fell woefully short of what was actually needed, though.
The US post office demanded 27 US cents more for delivery. The last ‘Postage Due’ stamps in the USA were issued in 1985.  They were rendered obsolete by tracking technology and the requirement of full prepayment of postage in most cases. 

Meter Stamp
Printed in South Africa for 9½ pennies, dated May 9, 1951, with Universal “Multi-Value” (MV) metering machine (first used 1933).

Postage Due Stamps
Issued by United States, 1931-1956.
Perf. 11×10½ | Engraving by American Bank Note Company | Rotary Press Printing
J81 D3 | 2c dull carmine
J83 D3 | 5c dull carmine
J84 D3 | 10c dull carmine
[Sources: Wikibooks.org, 2003 Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue]

Taking a closer look at the engraving detail. The design of the stamp and the fonts resemble the design of a banknote.
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Sunday/ a little architecture tour 🏢

I braved the cold wind outside to do a little self-directed architecture tour on First Hill today.
I wanted to take a look at the The Graystone Seattle on Columbia Avenue and the Museum House complex with its twin towers.

The Graystone at 800 Columbia St was actually built in 2021 (how time flies). It has 31 stories and 271 units. This is the view from the parking lot on 8th Avenue, looking northeast. (On the right, just a block or so away, is the Museum House complex with its twin towers).
Now I am on Columbia Street, walking up hill. I should have taken a picture without the tree! but there is a waterfall feature on the right that obscures the street view into the condo’s gym somewhat. There are several other amenities of course, such as a rooftop deck and meeting rooms and all that.
Here’s the view of the downtown skyline, looking towards the west. Interstate 5 is close by, but at a much lower level which dampens any traffic noise one might hear.
Now walking to the Museum House complex on Terry Avenue.
This apartment building opened in March, and features a north tower and a south tower, each with 32 stories. It offers 506 rental units.
Looking up at the main facade of the building. The skybridge is all the way up on Floor 31.
First Hill has several hospitals and buildings with clinics and doctors’ offices inside. This is Cabrini Center on Boren Avenue, completed in 1973 with 18 towers.
St. James Cathedral is a Catholic cathedral located at 804 Ninth Avenue. It was dedicated in 1907.
All right. The sun is going to set soon and I am heading to the waterfront.
Here’s a look at the traffic on I-5 (looking south).
Beautiful colors reflected by the windows of the Crowne Plaza hotel in downtown. The hotel was completed in 1980 and has 18 floors.
Seattle’s weird library with its faceted frames of glass and steel has 11 floors. It opened in May 2004 to the public.
Further south along 4th Avenue is the Columbia Tower, at 76 stories still the tallest structure in the state of Washington. (Getting squeezed out of view from here a little bit by the F5 Tower in front of it that opened in 2017).
Heading down to the waterfront now. It’s good that I snapped this picture of the sun behind the clouds, because it was gone for the day just a few minutes later.
Seattle has 33 fire stations and the one on the waterfront is No 5. The original Fire Station No. 5 building opened here at this location in 1902.
Here are the first cars rolling onto the Walla Walla ferry at Colman Dock (Seattle Ferry Terminal), for its departure to Bremerton.
Look at the windsock and choppy water: there is a strong breeze.
On my way back to the G-line bus stop. Here is “What Goes Up Must Come Down” — the giant paddle-ball sculpture by Catherine Mayer at 2nd Avenue and Spring St. It is about 42 feet tall and made of fiberglass and steel.
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Friday/ AI embellishments 🦍

Happy Friday.
I embellished some of my pictures from last Sunday with Google’s new Gemini 3 (“Nano Banana Pro”) image editor.

It is as easy as saying “Add Bigfoot (Sasquatch) crossing the street into this picture”.
(The Cybertruck in the last picture was real, and not added).

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Wednesday/ leaving the California sun ☀

It was time to go home today, and I took a flight on Alaska Airlines from Palm Springs airport to Seattle.

Pictures:
The (somewhat unusual) courtyard inside the secure area at Palm Springs airport;
Allegiant Air getting ready to fly out to Bellingham airport in Washington State;
Stepping on board my own flight— a Boeing 737-900 (twin-jet) from Alaska Airlines;
The Flighty app replaced the airplane with a flying turkey— a nod to Thanksgiving, of course;
Arrived at Seattle, got my checked bag, walked the half-mile to the light rail station, and here comes the train (look for the Mountain that is out, through one of the glass panes);
Utility poles and power cables on the way;
Views of the stations called SODO, Pioneer Square, Symphony and Westlake.

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Friday/ at the car show 🚘

Happy Friday.
I checked in at the Seattle International Auto Show today.
Here is a sample of the dream machines that were on display.

The all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning, MSRP $72,905. There was a salesperson nearby with a mike, promoting it, but these EV trucks are not selling well at all. Ford has stopped production of these for now, with rumors that its production might be canceled altogether.
The 2026 Jeep Wrangler 4-door (there is a 2-door as well), outfitted with the Willys package (MSRP $45,305).
Another look at the 2026 Jeep Wrangler 4-door.
The largest of Volkswagen’s SUV offerings, the Atlas Cross Sport (MSRP starting at $38,300).
The Toyota LandCruiser’s storied history began in 1951 with the “Toyota BJ,” a military-style vehicle developed for the Korean War and the Japan’s National Police Reserve.
It was officially renamed the LandCruiser in 1954, inspired by the “Land Rover”.
[Source: Google AI Overview]
2026 Toyota Land Cruiser has an MSRP of $57,200 for the entry-level 1958 trim, and the premium trim starts at $63,275.
The 2026 Ford Bronco Raptor is a high-performance off-road SUV with an MSRP of around $80,000.
The 2026 Chevy Silverado EV truck in the new Trail Boss trim, with the Extended Range starting at $72,095 and the Max Range at $88,695 MSRP.
The 2026 Hyundai Palisade Hybrid is a new option from the Hyundai lineup, featuring a 2.5L turbocharged 4-cylinder engine, two electric motors, and a 1.7 kWh battery to produce a combined 329 horsepower.
[Source: Google AI Overview]
The 2025 Mercedes-AMG GLS 63 is a luxury performance SUV that will blow a $150,000 hole in your bank account. It has a hybrid-assisted* 4.0L twin-turbo V8 engine producing 603 horsepower and 627 lb-ft of torque.
*With a small electric motor and a low-voltage battery to improve fuel efficiency and performance.
A close-up of the badge on the hood of the Mercedes-AMG GLS 63.
The 2026 Volkswagen ID. Buzz is an electric vehicle with a combination of retro style and modern technology, featuring an updated interior with enhanced materials and larger digital displays. MSRP around $60,000. 
[Source: Google AI Overview].
The 2026 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Convertible (MSRP for this car and its trim about $91k).
And the grandest of all the vintage cars on display: a 1939 Lincoln Zephyr. The Lincoln-Zephyr is a line of luxury cars that was produced by the Lincoln division of Ford from 1936 until 1942.
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Wednesday/ NVDA crosses 5️⃣ trillion

“It’s incredible. Did you ever think in our lifetime we’d see a $5 trillion company?”
– David Faber, a host on the CNBC show “Squawk on the Street”, this morning

Artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia (ticker symbol: NVDA) is now worth 5 trillion US dollars.
The company’s latest AI superchip (the Blackwell Ultra) carry 200 billion transistors. Nine out of ten AI chips that are sold in the world, are made by Nvidia.

Tripp Mickle, writing for the New York Times:
Nvidia’s milestone, making it the first publicly traded company to top $5 trillion in market value, is indicative not only of the astonishing levels of wealth consolidating among a handful of Silicon Valley companies but also the strategic importance of this company, which added $1 trillion in market value in just the past four months.

Meanwhile, President Trump indicated that he would discuss the sale of Nvidia’s Blackwell chips with China in the summit on Thursday. Some US officials say that would be “massive” national security mistake.

Nvidia now makes up more than 8% of the S&P 500. Apple and Microsoft themselves sit at $4 trillion. Combined with Meta, Amazon, Alphabet and Tesla (these are called the ‘Magnificent Seven’) they make up ONE THIRD of the S&P 500’s market valuation.
So there is the answer to the question as to why the stock market indexes keep going up while the economy is barely growing. It’s the tech companies that are pulling them up.
Jason Furman, a professor of economic policy at Harvard, calculates that spending on data center construction accounted for 92% of the GDP growth in the US in the first half of the year. Take all of that out, and the US economy would have grown at a measly 0.1%.
[Graphic and headlines from the New York Times]
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Saturday/ the cost for 100 miles ⚡🔌⛽

Here is a very interesting analysis that appeared in the New York Times recently.
(Whoah! Electricity is very expensive in the Golden State.)

How Much It Costs to Drive an E.V. and a Gas Car in Every State
Charging an electric car battery is usually cheaper than going to the gas pump. But it depends on where you live.

– Report by Francesca Paris in the New York Times of Oct. 8

The federal subsidy for electric cars has ended, which means E.V. sales will probably fall because of simple math: Electric cars are generally more expensive than comparable gas cars. (Some automakers are offering discounts to get around that.)

But there’s one place where E.V.s are usually cheaper: the cost of filling up.

Driving 100 miles in a typical gas car that gets 25 miles per gallon costs about $13 on average.

In an E.V. you’d pay just $5, if you recharged at the average home electricity rate. (Stopping at a fast-charging station — if you couldn’t charge at home, or had to travel far — would cost quite a bit more.)

There’s also a big difference between a standard gas car and a hybrid. A typical hybrid (not the plug-in kind) is essentially a highly efficient gas car — a Toyota Prius can get more than 50 miles per gallon — and so its fill-up costs can be roughly on par with an E.V. charged at home.

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Sunday/ at the Ballard locks ⛵

Three of us ran out to the Ballard locks* this morning.
Even though the salmon runs for the season are over (there were none to be seen in the windows by the fish ladder), there was still a lot of activity to look at.

*The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, or Ballard Locks, is a complex of locks at the west end of Salmon Bay in Seattle, Washington’s Lake Washington Ship Canal, between the neighborhoods of Ballard to the north and Magnolia to the south.
[Source: Wikipedia]

Here’s looking towards the waters of Puget Sound.
It looks like the Salmon Bay bridge (drawbridge) had to be opened just for the little sailboat with its tall mast! (in the middle of the picture). There are seagulls in the sky above the sailboat, and a speck that is a seaplane, as well.
This is the smaller of the two side-by-side locks.
The gates are just closing behind the two vessels. We chatted briefly with the owners (an elderly couple) of the larger vessel at the back that goes by De Anza III.
She was built in 1958, and this was the first summer they owned her.
A closet look at the woodwork on De Anza III, as she is lifted up by the water being pumped into the lock. The new owners have done some work this summer to sand the woodwork and give it a new coat of varnish, but they still have a lot to do.
This is the larger of the two locks, with two commercial vessels about to leave the lock and go on to Lake Union.
Hey! There’s a harbor seal that had just caught a salmon.
So even though the salmon runs for the season are over and done with, there are still a few of them in the water. I wonder if the fish are fatigued (from their swim upstream), and easy to catch.
A great blue heron (Ardea herodias) on the edge of the canal’s water is patiently waiting its turn for an opportunity to pounce.
The O-fish-al count (get it? official count) for 2025.
So there are distinct times for the peaks of the runs of the different species of salmon.
Q. And how do they count the fish?
A. Fish are counted at the Ballard Locks through daily visual counts by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe staff using the fish ladder itself. Fish are observed passing through the ladder during specific periods, and these visual counts are converted into daily and weekly totals to estimate the overall fish run for the year.
[Google AI Overview]
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Thursday/ at the Japan Open 🇯🇵🎾

I should have stayed on in Tokyo for another week so that I could catch some of the action at the Japan Open ATP 500 men’s tennis tournament there.

World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz (🇪🇸, 22) made his debut in Japan there, today.
He scared everybody with an ankle injury in the first set of his match, but recovered to beat Argentinian Sebastian Baez (🇦🇷, 24) by 6-4, 6-2 in the second round.

Here is my picture from last Friday on the elevated Yurikamome Line.
The structures on the left of the track are in Ariake Tennis no Mori Park with its center court Ariake Coliseum.

The tennis park opened in 1983 with 32 hard courts. It was extensively renovated to serve as the tennis venue for the 2020 Summer Olympics and today houses a total of 49 tennis courts (33 hard courts and 16 artificial grass courts with sand infill).
Look for the elevated Yurikamome Line on the left of the picture. The Ariake Tennis no Mori Park train station is towards the top right of the picture. 
[Graphic from Olympic and Paralympic Games TOKYO2020 website]
Here’s Carlos at the start of his match against Sebastian Baez— his buzz cut from the US Open now grown out a little (and bleached silver, not blond, he says).
Carlos is doing a Japanese bow as he greets the representative from Kinoshita Group (I couldn’t get his name). The man in the middle is the umpire of the match, Fergus Murphy from Dublin, Ireland.
[Still from TennisTV coverage of the match]

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Tuesday/ autumn card 🍂

I deployed my 2 ½ -dimensional card that I had bought at a Japan Post Office in Tokyo, on my dining room table.

The cut-outs on the card was done with a laser.
Here is an explainer from Google AI Overview:
Lasers are very effective for cutting paper, offering high precision for intricate designs on various paper types, including cardstock and corrugated board. The laser beam vaporizes the paper along the path of the design, resulting in a clean, distortion-free edge without mechanical contact. While the laser’s heat can cause slight browning or charring on the edges, this can be minimized by using appropriate power and speed settings for the specific paper.
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Friday/ the Yurikamome Line 🚆

It’s Friday night in Tokyo and I am at the airport.
I had time today to squeeze in one more train ride, on the Yurikamome Line.
The train on this line runs on an elevated, fully automated track (so no driver) that connects Shimbashi Station to Toyosu Station via the popular Odaiba area.

Here’s the Yurikamome route. The loop in the line is a ramp to get the train onto the Rainbow Bridge.
This is towards the end of the line on the way out, at Odaiba Marine Park, with a nice view of the Rainbow Bridge. In the distance is the top of Tokyo Tower and look what’s near the right frame of the picture: a mini Statue of Liberty.
One station on the line is named Tokyo International Cruise Terminal. I did not spot any cruise ships, but the building on the left is the cruise ship terminal building.
Here’s the Tokyo Big Sight International Exhibition Center. The red handle in the foreground is part of a giant wood saw stuck into the ground by the entrance.
On the Rainbow Bridge. The train cars actually use rubber tires on the concrete guideway, providing an excellent grip for navigating the sharp curves and steep slopes on the track.
Another view of the Rainbow Bridge.
Here is what the train looks like. It has five cars.
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Wednesday/ Ginza district 🪭

On Wednesday night I did my mandatory (mandatory for me) walk-about along the main street in Ginza, Tokyo’s luxury shopping district. The street is named Chuo-dori, which translates to ‘Central Street’.
The sign in the first picture says ‘Ginza Block 6’.

Stores on Chuo-dori close at 7 or at 8. The Onitsuka Tiger store (Japanese footwear maker) was filled with sneaker aficionados right until closing time. Look for the storefront with the cool tiger neon sign in the pictures below.

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Monday/ back to Tokyo 🗼

I was out of the bed in my hotel in Seoul shortly after 4 am this morning.
I had to take the first train of the day (5.28 am) on Line 1, from City Hall Station to Seoul Station.

At Seoul Station, I took the 6 am Airport Express train into Incheon International Airport.
(Cost: US$9, with a free bottle of mineral water from Jeju Island thrown in. For me, it’s not really about the cost, though. I just think taking the train is a lot more interesting than taking a taxi.)

The flight out to Tokyo’s far-away Narita Airport was slightly delayed, but went without incident.

At Incheon International Airport’s Terminal 1.
On the large screen there was an animation of “The Sleeping Gypsy” (1897) painting by the French Naïve artist Henri Rousseau. (The lion sniffs at the sleeping woman in the painting).
A welcome bit of color added to the beiges at the gates at Incheon International Airport.
We flew east for 2 hours across the East Sea to get to Tokyo.
The flight route makes it seem as if the pilot was asleep and said Oops! I better turn south to get to Tokyo.
Here’s the Asiana Airlines Airbus A380-800 (quad-jet, A388) at the gate at Narita Airport. I had a seat on the aisle at the back and on the upper deck.
On the Narita Express train, and on our way to Shinagawa Station where my hotel is.
I bought my ticket (13.14 pm departure) for the Narita Express at the ticket counter with only 8 minutes to go until departure time. I know the way to the platform, so I could do that. The next train is 30 minutes later, and I did not want to wait.
A nice scene from the countryside.
I had just stepped off the Narita Express train at Shinagawa station, this is a quick picture as it departed. Looks like the driver has a nice view of the track from the top of the train. The E259 series (E259系) is a DC electric multiple unit (EMU) train type operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) in Japan since October 2009.
This train has the new livery which was introduced in 2023.
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Sunday/ Lotte World Tower 🌐

I could not very well go up Seoul Tower, and leave Lotto World Tower out, right?

So off I went today to Lotto World Tower, even though it was a 40 minute train ride out there.

There is an express double-car elevator that whisks the humans inside up to the 117th floor* in one minute flat. I felt a little vertigo, and my ears popped on the way up. There no view to the outside, just display screens on the sides and ceiling of the car.

*The Seoul Sky observation deck in the Lotte World Tower spans seven floors, from floors 117 to 123.

Here is the scene that greets you as you emerge from the exit at Jamsil station on Line 2 of the Seoul metro.
I can only get the top of the Tower in when I stand close to it, of course. That little platform in the middle at the top is a sky deck.
There is a luxury shopping mall at the base of the Tower, with the tower visible through the skylight. That’s the elevator shaft of the shopping mall on the right.
All right! Now we can look out at the world from 120 floors up. Here is the Han River, and Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain in the distance.
Looking southwest here. The skyline in the distance is 40 km away (24 miles), and it is of the city of Ansan, South Korea.
A great view of the bridges that span the Han River.
This green space is Olympic Park.
It opened on May 28, 1986. Built at a cost of US$200 million, it was built to host the 1986 Asian Games and the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Down below is the theme park and recreation complex called Lotte World, sometimes called the ‘Korean Disneyland’.
Phalanxes of apartment buildings. Yes— no way to house almost 10 million residents in your city by building single family homes on plots of land.
Looking down from the 123rd floor into one of the atriums with a photo spot and a scenic view of the Han River.
There is a little skybridge at the top of the Tower. I did not sign up for it!
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Thursday/ from Osaka to Seoul 🚆 ✈️

As it happens, both the departure and arrival airports for my flight today are located on man-made islands.

It took two train rides to get me to Osaka’s Kansai International airport (KIX), and after I had arrived at Seoul’s Incheon airport (ICN), two more trains to get me to my hotel in the city.

Early morning on the platform at Tengachaya Station, Osaka.
This is the train operated by Nankai Electric Railway (Nankai Den-tetsu), that ran us out on the Nankai Line to Kansai International airport.
Kansai International Airport sits out in Osaka Bay, and is connected to Osaka by a causeway that carries road and rail traffic.
The view out the window at Kansai International Airport (KIX).
The airport is famous (infamous?) for sinking into the sea because its foundation was built on the soft, compressible clay in Osaka Bay, which could not fully support the immense weight of the artificial island.
Engineers have implemented ground improvement techniques like vertical sand drains to speed up the drainage of water from the clay and stabilize the ground, which reduced the sinking rate from over 19 inches per year to about 2.3 inches annually by 2023.
[Source: Google AI Overview]
Here’s our flight path to Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, about 2 hours in duration.
The Asiana Airlines Airbus A350-900 (twin-jet) that took us to Incheon International Airport, at the gate at Terminal 1.
Inside Incheon International Airport’s lower level, with the ceiling that makes me think of a Star Trek spaceship. I’m making my way to the Airport Express train platform.
An art installation of stylized traditional Korean houses— known as “hanok” (한옥)—in the airport’s ceiling.
Here is the platform for the Airport Express train that runs from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station in the city, with no stops. There are ‘milk trains’ (All Stations trains) that depart from this platform as well.
TV screen on the Airport Express train.
The debacle with the 300-some South Koreans detained in the immigration raid at Hyundai’s facility in Georgia is front page news here.
The route from Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station.
Here’s Banghwa Bridge (방화대교), seen from the Airport Express train.
It is a distinctive orange-colored arch bridge over the Han River.
I had made it into Seoul Station, and took the local line just one stop to City Hall station. That’s City Hall, with a futuristic new (2012) extension behind it. I will take a few more pictures tomorrow.
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Wednesday/ Abeno Harukas views 🏙️

I set out this morning to take a ride on the streetcar that starts at Tennojiekimae Station. Just with dumb luck, I discovered upon arriving there that Osaka’s tallest building is right there, as well.
So I first went up to the observation deck on the 60th story of Abeno Harukas, and then took a short ride on the street car.

Today was my last full day in Osaka.
I am flying out to Seoul, Korea (two hours on Asiana Airlines), in the morning.

Here’s the Abeno Harukas complex, constructed in 1992. (“Harukas” is an old Japanese expression meaning “to brighten, to clear up.”). It was the tallest skyscraper in Japan from the completion of its observation deck in 2014, until 2023. (The Azabudai Hills Mori JP Tower in Tokyo has 5 more floors and is now Japans’s tallest building.)
Abeno Harukas is an amazing building complex that boasts: the 58th-60th floor observatory; from the 38th-55th floors and 57th floor, the Osaka Marriott Miyako Hotel with restaurants; 17th and 18th floor offices; the 16th floor Abeno Harukas Museum and rooftop garden; 2nd basement to 14th floor, the Kintetsu Department Store; 1st basement and 1st floor: Osaka Abenobashi Train Station, and 4th and 3rd basements: parking lot. Wow!
I made it to the the 60th floor observatory, and this is an open air atrium consisting of the 58th to 60th floors.
There are taller towers than Abeno Harukas in Japan: Tokyo Tower and Skytree.
Here’s the view looking more or less north over the city of Osaka. The view was not too hazy, and the air quality index today was 44. Osaka castle lies out north as well, in a large green space, but was too far too see with the naked eye. 
Looking at the ‘model trains’ that run on the tracks below. The track that runs out to the top left corner is the Osaka Loop Line. The one with the white train on it is the Yamatoji Line (大和路線, Yamatoji-sen), the common name of the western portion of the Kansai Main Line in Japan.
Here’s a bird’s eyeview of beautiful Keitakuen Garden. I would have loved to spend a little time there.
This commemorative coin from a vending machine in the observation deck was all of ¥600 (US$ 4.00). And you get a little show while the punching machine adds your free engraving on the edge of the coin. Nicely done!
All right, now I’m heading to Tennojiekimae Station for my short little street car ride.
The street car is full, but I don’t mind standing up front. I have a great view of the track, and the street car that passes us by. The Hankai tram line itself began service in 1900, making it approximately 125 years old. 

 

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Tuesday/ more Expo 2025 Osaka 🏯

I walked over to the West Gate today (both days I had entered at the East Gate), where I found Astro Boy.

I also tracked down the Japan Pavilion with its beautiful ‘golden hat’ design. The Golden Surface of the Japan Pavilion was created by the designers Nikken Sekkei. They used an iridescent color shining technology— a technique that involves engraving microgrooves onto the surface, which interact with light to produce a dynamic, multi-colored sheen that changes with the viewing angle.

As the sun was setting, everyone went up to the Grand Ring, to watch the daylight end.

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Monday/ at Expo 2025 Osaka 🤗

I made it to Expo 2025 Osaka!
It’s hot and it’s crowded with very, very long lines at most pavilions— the ones that allow you in without a reservation, that is.
Entrance to the top-rated pavilions are pre-allocated by a lottery system. I struck out despite diligently applying, as far out as three months before my visit today.

No matter, once you have made it into the entrance gate (with 180,000 others), you are in a world onto its own, inside the Grand Ring. The Ring is the world’s largest wooden structure, constructed on Yumeshima (夢洲), the artificial island located in Osaka Bay.

The USA pavilion is a structure designed by Trahan Architects with two triangular wings and a raised translucent cube flanking a central plaza. It features video imagery that features the Plains, the mountains and the cities in the US— and hey! Seattle’s Pike Place market made an appearance as well. 

I was mesmerized by the installation of shiny cubes called null². The sun bounced off the surfaces, and a low sound was emitted from the structure.
Developed by Yoichi Ochiai, the pavilion’s structure is based on a cubic grid of voxels measuring 2 to 8 m (6 ft to 26 ft) wide. The facade is covered with a membrane that resembles a mirror.  [Source: Wikipedia]

Look for a few images (towards the end) beamed out from the enormous high-resolution screen outside the Korea pavilion. The three-story pavilion has a high-resolution screen on its facade that is 27 m (89 ft) wide. The screen displays on a spectacular series of animated images and videos.

South Africa withdrew from Expo 2025 Osaka in late 2024 despite repeated invitations from the Japanese government, citing the country’s ‘financial constraints’. 

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Sunday/ shinkansen to Osaka 🚅

All went well with my train ride to Osaka.
It is an amazing experience to travel at 175 mph (280 km/h) on the tracks, with the landscape flying by the window.

A handy map from the free wifi on the shinkansen. Those lines are just names for the shinkansen* between different cities. Nozomi shinkansen (the express train with the fewest stops) on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen line from Shinagawa to Osaka stop at Shin-Yokohama (where I was yesterday), Nagoya, and Kyoto before arriving at Shin-Osaka.
It was 2 hrs 20 mins from Shinagawa station to Shin-Osaka.
*Shinkansen (新幹線) in Japanese means ‘new trunk line’ or ‘new main line’, but this word is used to describe both the railway lines the trains run on and the trains themselves. In English, the trains are also known as the bullet train.
Taxis, six abreast, at the taxi stand at the Nagoya station. Uber is not big in Japan, but you do see Uber branded taxis. Go Taxi is the app of choice for ordering a ride share taxi in Japan.
This is the 五重塔 (Gojū-no-tō) or Five-storied Pagoda at Tō-ji Temple in Koyoto.
It is known as the tallest wooden tower in Japan and I had a nice view of it from my train seat as we left the Kyoto station.
I have arrived at Shin-Osaka station. I’m just catching my breath and looking for the way to the taxi stand. There is a local train line to the hotel from here, but it’s way too warm outside to walk even four or five blocks with all my luggage in tow. I’m heading to the taxi stand.
Looking towards the sunset at Dotonbori Bridge.
Earlier, I had checked into my hotel by the Chuo line (that runs to the 2025 Osaka Expo, where I will go to on Monday and Tuesday). The metro stations were swamped with people, and one can see that the metro had added all kinds of signage and directions for the train riders to the Expo to the stations, to try to better manage the congestion.
There is a nice old-fashioned neon sign at Dotonbori Bridge.
It doesn’t show too much in these pictures, but there were throngs of tourists in Dotonbori Street, the vibrant and busy thoroughfare in the heart of Osaka known for its neon signs, entertainment, and wide variety of eateries.
I love the dragon.
Off to the side, and just a block or two away, are quiet alleys that also have restaurants and izakayas (a type of informal Japanese pub that serves alcoholic drinks like sake and beer along with a variety of small snacks).
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Saturday/ shinkansen to Yokohama 🚅

Yokohama is south of Tokyo, and one of the first Japanese ports that opened to foreign trade, in 1859.
I made a run there on Saturday morning on the Nozomi shinkansen out of Shinagawa station— a trial run of sorts, for my trip to Osaka on Sunday.
It’s 19 km (12 miles) and only 18 minutes from station to station. A trip by car would take about 40 minutes.

I bought my tickets at Shinagawa at the machine. (The online website does not accept my US credit card.) This is the return ticket portion, and it was very complicated to use. An attendant helped me buy a return ticket for a specific date, time and train, and then I had to put it on top of this one, and both into the slot at the ticket gate to make the gate open up for me. Yikes! Too complicated. 
I have an electronic ticket for Sunday’s run to Osaka (with a QR code), and that should work much better.
Incoming! Pay attention people, here comes the train.
The train has 16 cars. I have a reserved seat* ticket, and I am at the gate for Car No 6. There’s the seat map as well, like the ones for an airplane when you pick your seat online. *The tickets for unreserved seats are cheaper, but you might get booted from your seat by a reserved seat ticket holder and then have to stand all the way.
Built for speed. The N700 series is a Japanese Shinkansen high-speed train with tilting capability developed jointly by Japan Rail Central and JR West, for use on the Tōkaidō and San’yō Shinkansen lines. It has been in operation since 2007.
Inside it looks like an airplane. This car has ‘Ordinary’ seats. The ‘First Class’ seats are a little bigger.
All right, we’re skipping ahead all the way to the Yokohama Air Cabin cableway. A lot has happened since I stepped out of the shinkansen at Shin-Yokohama station. I boarded the local Blue Line and went seven stops to Sakuragicho station, and then walked 5 minutes to where I could board the Air Cabin cableway.
This is the view from the end of the Air Cabin cableway, where there is a 6-story shopping mall complex called Yokohama World Porters. The tall square building is Yokohama Landmark Tower, which stands at 296 meters (971 feet) high. It was Japan’s tallest building from its completion in 1993 until 2014.
A look outside the shinkansen window, on my way back to Shinagawa. The rooftops and steel trusses and pylons flash by at high speed.