Stone Cold

"Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it."

- Michelangelo, the orange Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle

Mystery Machine of Stone Spotting

While driving along the coast, my beloved compadres from Hirosaki; Wyomia, Lindsay, Mike D, and I spotted an odd community of statues. Mike D, being the illest of drivers, kindly decided to `back that ass up` and reversed us closer towards the stone haven.

This place was unreal. It was like the woodstock of statue gatherings. There was a two-story house/office in the back and the front yard facing the expressway was littered with a variety of stone carvings. While we saw no signs of life, we were pretty sure the owners were hiding in fright at the sight of the rude and scary gaijin (foreigners).

Everything imaginable had been somehow manifested into an epic stone form. Of course being located in Japan, there were the perennial Shinto Gods, the mystical kintama (large testicles) sportin' Tanuki, and hell even Nintendo`s Kirby made an appearance.

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GODZILLA!

Japan`s coveted monster attempts to take a bite out of Crave. Oddly, he is a rare find, and receives more attention in the US then in his birthplace of Japan.

But in addition to the staple acts, there was quite an omoro (strange) bundle of characters. Overall, it was worth the 15-minute look around. If I only had a handful of benjamins, a garden, and the muscles to pick it up, one of these babies would be mine. Verdict: Scultpures in Japan are stone-cold cool!

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Minnie Clubbin` It

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`Let's do it like they do on the discovery channel!`