Japan and Australia have not traditionally shared the same sporting preferences, with Australia choosing Aussie Rules and cricket while Japan preferred baseball and sumo. But the great friends are increasingly becoming sporting rivals, too, in soccer and rugby as sporting fields have broadened in recent decades. Learn more here.
Boomerang Shrine And Shooting The Rapids
Mrs. Kangaeroo and I got another wonderful experience shooting down the rapids in the delightful Saitama Prefecture town of Nagatoro, which is also home to a shrine hoping to draw people back with something of an Aussie touch. Boomerang Kaeru Shrine, just outside Nagatoro Station, is dedicated to the worship of frogs, but is actually a play on words. The Japanese for frog is kaeru (蛙), but also a homonym for returning home (帰る), hence the boomerang, which (allegedly) returns to the thrower upon being hurled. (This is a story for another day). Also got to find some Engrish that appealed to my eternal schoolboy side.
