Places I've visited

Oh, where do I go and what do I do? Well, it would be plain foolish of me to sit on my butt in Atsumi all day and not see other parts of Japan now would it? I go anywhere I have a chance to go!

Copyrights of all pictures belong to me.

Yokohama

Here is me with some of my co-workers at the Board of Education posing in the giant, people riddled city of Yokohama. Yokohama is a nice place to visit, but like every other big city in the world in that it is unfit for human habitation, which, for reasons unknown to me, doesn't stop people from living there. Perhaps most people LIKE smoke, pollution, concrete, and noise. I'll stick to small town life, thank you very much. This picture was actually taken on one of the ferries across the bay. That's why you don't see any buildings in this picture. That's water. It's Yokohama Bay. That is where the Yokohama BayStars baseball team gets its name.

Chinatown, Yokohama

The next picture is of me pointing to some roasted ducks. This picture turned out rather good, considering it's humble origins. I didn't want the picture to be taken in the first place. I merely made a glance at those ducks in the restaurant window. Immediately, EVERYONE assumed that I wanted my picture taken in front of them! I didn't protest, I just kept going "Huh?" and "What?" Finally, the whole situation struck me as so absurd that I started laughing. "Imagine," I thought, "that myth about those wacky Japanese and their cameras is true after all!" Well, they have their cameras, and I have a picture of dead ducks. Nice, eh?

Toba

Ah, now this is more like it. This is the Heaven's Cave. According to legend, the Sun Goddess, Amateratsu, got very upset when her brother, the Moon God, Susanowo, began making lots of trouble in Heaven. In her rage, she hid in the Heaven's Cave, thereby depriving the world of sunlight. The rest of the Gods, seeing how much of a problem it was on Earth without sunlight, threw a giant party in front of the cave in hopes of luring Amateratsu out. The party went on for many days, during which a great deal of sake, Japanese rice wine, was consumed. One goddess, Uzume, got up on top of an empty sake barrel and began to dance and strip. Hearing the shouts of "Yeah, Uzume!" and "Take it off, Uzume!" Amateratsu couldn't resist peeking out. The gods, seeing Amateratsu peek out, dragged her out of the cave, thus ending the period of darkness. This shrine was built in front of that cave.

Osaka

This picture was taken in Osaka. The big "Glico" sign is apparently somewhat famous. God knows why. It is pretty though. Glico is a snack company in Japan. It's the Nabisco of Japan, if you will. This was one of the Atsumi Board of Education's group trips like Yokohama. From the left is Mr. Yamaguchi, Mr. Kawaguchi, my supervisor, myself, and Mr. Kato.

Osaka is a surprisingly nice city. Of course, it has the usual dirt, smoke, concrete, congestion, and all other things that make all cities unfit for normal human habitation. Osaka, on the other hand, was more pedestrian friendly, particularly downtown, and traffic actually moved with a reasonable degree of haste. That is something that simply never happens in Tokyo or Kyoto, or even Toyohashi for that matter!

On the night this picture was taken in Osaka, I had something called "shabu shabu" for the first time. This is a wonderful meal wherein you boil beef and vegetables yourself at your own table, dip them in one of two different kinds of sauce and eat them. It was great. I ate so much that I felt big enough to compete in the top division of sumo. I hope to have it again. Yummy Yummy!

Nagoya

Okay, Nagoya really isn't a city worth visiting. It just happens to be the closest one to me. This is the Nagoya castle. It's a fairly new structure. The old one burned down and this one is less than 100 years old. It's a pity too, because this is disappointing. It's a nice to look at on the outside, but inside is a rather poor excuse for a museum. I went hoping to find a traditional castle, but there was no such luck. The grounds around the castle are very nice and worth seeing though. And, as you can see, the outside of the castle is quite pretty too. I also got to go to Nagoya's Sakae area for some nice shopping.

Kakegawa

This is Brad and I standing in front of Kakegawa Castle. Kakegawa Castle is definitely one worth visiting. It is a traditional castle with no museum and the surrounding buildings are still intact too! Not only can you see the castle but you can see where the lord and his servants lived as well. It was a much better cultural experience for me than Nagoya. Also, since Kakegawa is a fairly small town, it was simply a much more pleasant place to be. I hope I can go back to Kakegawa again someday. What a nice little city.

Trips 2

Trips 3

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