Day 361- Not good

 
11 March 2011- What seemed like a pleasant Friday took a very nasty turn. Given that I used to live in the area affected by the earthquake and the tsunami (Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture) and know people who live in the area this was not good. Glued to the tv and computer

Day 232 - Ramen Remains

 
2 November 2010 - Greg really enjoyed the ramen in Japan, so much that he tried to recreate it at home. The empty bowl after the first attempt.

Day 230 -En garde

 
31 October 2010 - We bought these in Japan- they are dolls in Kendo poses - we got 3 in different poses, and these are the two we kept. And if you know the Japanese expression for en garde, let me know

Day 227 - Rain in Asakusa

 
28 October 2010- A visit to Asakasa early on our last day, which is the only day during the trip where it rained seriously.

Day 226 - Standing Guard

 
27 October 2010- This robot stands on the roof of the Ghibli musuem, in a tiny wilderness.

Day 225 - A disney Halloween

 
26 October 2010- Happy Halloween from Disney!. This was actually a really cool work, several different standing pieces that only coalesced into this shape when viewed from a particular angle.

Day 224 - food

 
25 October 2010 - The only photo I took this day - of a croque Monsieur. It was pretty good.

Day 223 - Vending Machine

 
24 October 2010- A vending machine that sells hair products! Right outside the relevant salon, but still pretty handy.

Day 222 - Fuji-san

 
23 October 2010- A beautiful clear day, and Mount Fuji. Can I just say how unfair this is. I lived in Japan for three years and the best snap I ever got was on a cell phone camera from a speeding train, because Mt Fuji was never visible. I have stood in that exact spot where I took this picture and strained to see it- but now realise that I didn't. It's huge!

Day 221 - End caps

 
22 October 2010- I got a little bit obsessed with snapping the various end caps on roof tiles at different temples and buildings, but at Himeji I hit the jackpot. Usually a building would have almost ntirely the same endcap- a family crest for the original builder. At Himeji there were many caps, representing the different lords who had built and repaired this castle, so I took a lot of pictures. And look, only inflicting one on the wider world!

Day 220

 
21 October 2010- At the temple markets we spotted these Buddhist monks

Day 219 - Hello Kitty

 
20 October 2010 - This cat (and it's friends) was quite the poser. No running away and hiding for this kitty, although it has adopted a rather aloof pose

Day 218 - Matcha

 
19 October 2010 - A bowl of matcha (Japanese tea ceremony tea) and a traditional sweet. A lot of temples and gardens have spaces offering matcha and a sweet, usually for a round 500-600 yen. It is a nice way to experience it, and a good spot for a rest.

Day 217 - The Zen Garden

 
18 October 2010- The original gravel and rocks zen garden, cleverly photographed in only sepia. What you don't see here are the 20 or 30 people trying to look meditative. I am sure some really are meditating and musing on the garden, but I always harbour a suspicion that most are not.

Day 216 - into danger

 
17 October 2010- This was somewhat hard to capture, but these are two boys, aged somewhere between about 11 and 15, sitting on the wrong side of the railings about 2 stories (20 feet) above the water, fishing. No restraints or safety measures, and that green thing in the foreground- that's the second fence to ensure that people really don't climb over the railing. Not sure whether to be releived that kids still get to do stupid things and enjoy such old fashioned pastimes as fishing, or freaked out that they are doing such a stupid thing.

Day 215 - Rooftops

 
16 October 2010- We visited a house preservation museum (they have old style houses from the region in one small area.) Somehow I managed this shot of the rooftop and the various grasses- pretty good considering these are three story houses!

Day 214 - On the train

15 October 2010 - The perils of taking photos from the train. We went past some amazing scenery and I wasted a lot of time trying to take photos of it- not easy from a speeding train.

Day 213- Mining

14 October 2010 - This photo was taken by Greg (for some reason I decided not to take any decent photos, and this one is a good representation of the day). This is one of the models of mining at the Iwaki coal mining and fossil museum (which has recently undergone renovations, but kept these fantastic life size scenes.) This is "raccoon dog mining" at some point in the Edo period. These scenes actually make it one of the more interesting mining museums I have been to (and I have been to a few).

Day 212 - memories

13 October 2010- First day in Japan and a photo of Mr Donut stuff. This is one of the few things that seems to be the same in the town where I once lived. Not great coffe and the donut type thing pictured was apparently not good