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Stan Oshima

@stan.oshima

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🇺🇦🇨🇦 Vancouver - Utsunomiya 🇯🇵
• Draw cartoons at @studioskyhigh
• 𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 ⤵

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Silence kills #nowar #standwithukraine #supportukraine taken in Vancouver, British Columbia by @stan.oshima

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5 years ago

It’s been a month.
24 February at around 5 am people in #Ukraine woke up from sirens and explosions. The sounds were heard in all parts of the country.

Last month changed people’s lives upside down. Some of them faced the horror of war for the first time. Others were forced to flee again.

More than 10 million migrants are in other regions or countries now. People who had a home, a job and plans yesterday lost everything at the same time.

Explosions can still be heard outside the windows. But soon they will become a victorious salute.

Don’t be silent. Spread the truth to the world.

Meanwhile, I’m reading 1984 by George Orwell where “war is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.”

#standwithukraine
Video: @kapralov.stas taken in Vancouver, British Columbia by @stan.oshima

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5 years ago

Imagine Peace. An iconic building in Downtown #Vancouver is showing solidarity with #Ukraine by lighting up in the colours of the country’s flag 🇺🇦

#standwithukraine
Video: @bondar_aleksey taken in Vancouver Art Gallery by @stan.oshima

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5 years ago

Utsunomiya Cultural Hall

#Utsunomiya #Tochigi #Japan taken in Utsunomiya, Tochigi by @stan.oshima

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7 days ago

We had a little photoshoot with @sota1045 Thank you for the wonderful photos and video!

It was a short trip to celebrate our third anniversary and both of our birthdays. I'm happy we had a chance to explore a new continent together, discover new places, and make more memories along the way. taken in Brisbane, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

We started at Burleigh Head National Park, a small protected headland where rainforest and eucalyptus forest grow right beside the ocean. That’s where I finally heard a laughing kookaburra in the wild. The sound is so ridiculous and recognizable that I knew immediately what it was.

Afterwards, we took off our shoes and walked along the beach for a couple of hours. It had been a while since either of us had touched the ocean, and somehow it felt special to do it together in Australia. It was winter and the water was chilly, but there were still plenty of surfers. In the distance we could see the Gold Coast skyline, although, as usual, I was much more interested in the residential streets and gardens. Some of the seaside buildings even reminded me of Malta, just much greener and fancier.

We walked for hours until it started getting dark. Our bus was late, we missed our train, and by the time we finally got back to Brisbane, the prepacked curry rice waiting in our hotel room tasted amazing.

And suddenly, our three days were over. Three days is obviously not enough to discover Australia 🇦🇺, but three days is still better than zero. Yu’s favourite memory was the koalas; mine was probably unexpectedly coming across wildlife - kookaburras, pelicans, and all those strange animals I had only ever seen in books.

The whole trip made me think about when we were younger and travelling somewhere new somehow felt easier, when there was always another country waiting to be discovered. We can’t go back to that time, but we can still keep discovering new places together and creating memories that one day we’ll probably look back on with the same nostalgia.

#GoldCoast #Queensland #Australia taken in Gold Coast, Queensland by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

Later, we discovered one of my favourite things about Queensland 🇦🇺: regular public transport on the Translink network costs only 50 cents per journey. We took the CityCats along the Brisbane River and saw wild pelicans fighting over food on the riverbank. Honestly, unexpectedly seeing wild animals like that, or hearing a kookaburra laughing somewhere in the forest, probably made me happier than seeing them in captivity.

We finished the day at a spa with hot tubs. It was too fancy for us and definitely overpriced, but sitting in hot water on a winter evening brought back memories of Vancouver and our old community centre, where I used to go several times a week. Somehow, even on the other side of the world, I kept finding little pieces of my old life.

For our last day, we decided to go to the Gold Coast, but first I really wanted to visit Queensland Museum. After two days in Australia, I felt like I had seen a lot but hadn’t actually learned much about the country. The museum has an enormous natural-history collection, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural objects, and it gave me at least a small glimpse into how incredibly different this part of the world is.

Then we took the train south. The Gold Coast somehow felt more like the Australia I had imagined - residential neighbourhoods, subtropical gardens, huge beaches and surfers gliding across bright blue water.

#Brisbane #Queensland #Australia taken in Queensland, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

For our second day, I had booked tickets to Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. I generally have mixed feelings about zoos, animal cafés and places that keep animals for human entertainment, so despite the name, I wasn’t completely comfortable with the idea. But Lone Pine really does have a conservation history: it opened in 1927 as a refuge for koalas at a time when they were still being killed for the fur trade, and today it also runs a wildlife hospital and contributes to koala research.

Of course, we were beyond excited to see Australian animals. There were koalas with babies, kangaroos and wallabies, wombats, echidnas, dingoes, fruit bats, a Tasmanian devil, cockatoos, budgies and a platypus, which was much smaller than I had imagined. I was also glad to learn that they stopped offering koala-holding experiences in 2024.

Some of these animals looked so unreal that they could have been Pokémon or characters from Fantastic Beasts, although obviously it was the other way around. Even the Australian brush-turkeys chasing each other around were entertaining. The two dingoes immediately noticed Yu and kept following her along the enclosure like pet dogs.

We ordered fish and chips and ate lunch while watching koalas slowly eating eucalyptus leaves. Before leaving, we went back to say goodbye to the kangaroos and koalas one more time.
@lonepinekoala

#Brisbane #Queensland #Australia taken in Brisbane, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

After a short rest and our prepacked cup noodles, we went outside again. Brisbane 🇦🇺 looked even better at twilight. Yu said she could imagine living there one day: people running along the river, lots of places to walk dogs, and just a pleasant atmosphere overall. I still prefer Vancouver, though.

I also wanted to ride the Wheel of Brisbane. The last time I went on a Ferris wheel was on my final day in China 🇨🇳, so for some reason I wanted to do it again here. It cost about $25 and went around several times, which was funny because we had no idea when it was going to stop.

Afterwards, we crossed the new pedestrian Neville Bonner Bridge and found another beautiful view of the night skyline for free. Maybe the Ferris wheel was a waste of money after all.

Back at the hotel, we had one more little celebration. The trip fell right between our birthdays, so we bought a small cake, put two candles on it, and made wishes together.

#Brisbane #Queensland #Australia taken in Brisbane, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

Tall towers have never impressed me much, but Brisbane 🇦🇺 surprised me in other ways. I noticed art installations everywhere, with lots of metal, vibrant colours and irregular shapes, while some of the older buildings - City Hall, Parliament House, old university buildings and churches - took me back to Europe.

We crossed the river and discovered the huge cultural precinct at South Bank, where GOMA, Queensland Art Gallery, Queensland Museum, the State Library and QPAC are all close together. We were genuinely surprised that general admission to the major galleries and museum was free. Coming from Vancouver, where a museum visit can easily cost $35, it felt almost unreal.

We started with GOMA, where we saw contemporary Australian and international art, including works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Huge paintings, photography, installations, unusual materials and patterns - there was so much to look at that eventually it became a little overwhelming. We briefly explored the State Library and Queensland Art Gallery too, but honestly, by that point my brain was full. I wish we’d had enough time to visit each place separately.

#Brisbane #Queensland #Australia taken in Brisbane, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

Our fourth continent, and a completely new place for both of us.

I managed to catch relatively cheap tickets to Brisbane 🇦🇺, and even though the trip was short, it was still fantastic to fly across the equator to the other side of the world, with opposite seasons, completely different nature and wildlife, and at least get a small glimpse of another culture.

We had a long red-eye flight, which normally isn’t a problem for me, although this one was rather shaky. Luckily, the middle seat was empty, so we could stretch out and sleep a little. And it was my first time flying over the Mariana Trench!

We arrived early in the morning, and our first Australian wildlife encounter happened immediately - a detector dog at the airport sniffed out the sandwiches in our bags. Thankfully, we had declared them on our arrival cards. The next challenge was the internet. I thought the prepaid SIM card I had bought on Amazon didn’t work, went to a counter to buy another one, and was told that my phone might simply be too old. Eventually, I figured it out and discovered that the original card worked perfectly fine.

We took the train to Central Station. It was a gloomy morning with a little drizzle, and looking through the window, my first thought was how much it reminded me of Vancouver. That nostalgic feeling didn’t last very long, though. Once we started walking around Brisbane, it felt much more modern, colourful, busy and active.

Our first plan was to meet a friend who recently moved to the Gold Coast. We walked around downtown, had pizza, took some photos and caught up on everything that had happened. It was a simple beginning to the trip, but after flying all night to the other side of the world, it felt pretty special just to finally be there.

#Brisbane #Queensland #Australia taken in Brisbane, Australia by @stan.oshima

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a month ago

I did this hike last year, and I think I want to make it a yearly tradition for as long as I’m living in Japan. Once again, I walked around Lake Chuzenji in Nikko, Tochigi, although for some reason it felt much harder this time.

Before starting, I stopped at Chuzenji Temple to get a new goshuin. An elderly lady there became interested in my stamp book, so I happily showed her all the pages I’d collected. I visited a nearby shop selling local crafts, where there was a globe covered in stickers left by visitors showing where they came from.

Then I finally started the hike. Even though it was a public holiday, I met only about five people during the entire eight hours. There was almost no reception, so I had downloaded music and podcasts in advance, and the weather couldn’t have been better for me – dark, gloomy, and much cooler than last year. I remembered some places from my previous hike, like a small beach with a huge boulder and a statue of a god standing on a cliff, although I‘d somehow forgotten just how rocky and steep parts of the trail were.

Last year I saw some wild monkeys from a distance, so I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t seen any this time. Then, near a grassy area by the lake, I suddenly came across a whole group – at least twenty of them. They were nervous at first, so I stayed quiet and kept my distance, watching them for about half an hour. There were babies and younger monkeys playing together, while the adults ate leaves and occasionally looked cautiously in my direction. Seeing them simply living in their natural habitat felt incredibly special!

At the end of the hike, I stopped at a local shop and ordered the same caramel soft-serve ice cream I had last year, plus a cheese stick that tasted divine after eight hours of hiking.

I usually prefer discovering somewhere new, but there are a few places that become special enough to return to. Maybe part of it is nostalgia – coming back to the same trail, remembering who I was the last time I walked it, and creating another layer of memories in the same place.

#Chuzenji #Nikko #Japan taken in Chuzenji Lake, Nikko, Japan by @stan.oshima

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2 months ago