She's just lazy!

After a not so subtle hint from my father, I figured I better update something here.  So, you've been wondering how I've been right?  You have been checking every few days to see if I have updated and been turned away disappointed, yes?  But after 3 weeks, the checking has probably dwindled and I may have lost you forever.  What reason can I offer such tardiness?  What could have possibly kept me away from updating you on how things are, especially with everyone's concerns about what is happening in Japan.  The answer is a resounding , nothing!  I'm just a lazy "little girl."  I guess not such a little girl, but I liked the alliteration of it.

I guess it is not entirely true that I've been doing nothing.  I was in Hiroshima, and then I went to Kyoto.  I am going to Kyoto again this weekend.  And work got quite busy and seems to be staying that way.  Oh, and I started reading a new manga online and drawing and things.  So, I haven't been completely lazy, just mostly lazy. 

I guess though, I should go all the way back to Hiroshima.  Which was a month ago now!  I'm going to break this trip down into days because we did a lot.  First off, how did I get there?  I was going to take the Shinkansen, the bullet train, but it is quite expensive.  After talking to a fellow teacher and mentioning my concerns about the price of a Shink ticket, he mentions that I should look into taking a highway bus.  I went home and did some searching and found only one website with any English and saw that a round trip bus ticket was cheaper than a one-way Shink ticket.  By quite a bit, so booked my ticket.  Japan is wonderful for online shoppers because for many of the sites you don't need a credit card to buy online.  How do they do this you ask?  Well, Japan still has COD's!  Can you believe it?   But even better than that, you can pay for things at the combini!  They have these machines at which you can purchase tickets for events, or pay for online purchases from Amazon, or plane tickets or bus tickets!  They are great, but are only in Japanese.  It took two trips for me because it turns out I copied the wrong info from my conformation letter.  Plus, the first time I thought that I could remember the steps, but you need to copy down the kanji because not every machine is exactly the same.

Anyhoo, I get my ticket and have to catch the bus at 8AM on Friday morning.  I leave at 7am because even though it ususally takes only 25 mins to get to Osaka, that is not during morning rush hour.  You may have to wait a couple of trains before you can get on one, even if you don't mind being packed in like sardines.  To my surprise I get on the first train with no problem and it's not even that crowded.  At least not at Kawanishi, the same cannot be said by the time we reach Ishibashi.  I grab some snacks because I am not sure how often the bus will stop and where and food is essential for my survival.  The website said the bus will be at the Umeda Sky building, which is this cool looking building.  It gave directions on where to meet the representative, which I thought meant a ticket counter as in a shop or at least a hole in the wall with a register and some sort of signage of the bus company.  But after wandering around and ending up in the basement of the building, I gave up and went up to the first employee that I could find and asked for help.  I am still really shy about using my horribly broken, badly mispronounced Japanese.  But I arrived half an hour early and now only had 8 mins to find this stupid ticket counter.  The janitor had no idea what I was asking so took me to security, which was conveniently also located in the basement.  After much miss-communication and frantic gesturing, the lovely security guards finally understood what I was asking and one of them lead me to my destination.  As it turns out the ticket counter/representative was a lady standing outside in a red apron (which still didn't have the name of the bus company on it) and a clipboard.  I guess that's how they save money, and can offer such cheap tickets.  So, if you book with a discount bus company it may be good to arrive at your pickup area really early and look for a random person with a clipboard because they may be your ticket to getting on the right bus!

I do get on the right bus and notice that it is small and importantly, there is no toilet.  This is going to be a 5 1/2 hour bus ride and there is no toilet!  I sure hope we have some stops planned along the way.  I settle into my seat and prepare for a bit of a sleep as I was up late online and up early to get here on time.  The bus pulls away at exactly 8:30 and I curl up for a rest.  Everything is okay, until we get to Kobe.  At this point the woman in front of me turns to ask?/inform me that she is going to put her chair back so she can sleep (all in Japanese, but I catch her drift).  Now, it is just my luck to have come across the  single MOST inconsiderate Japanese person, likely ever.  I don't know how many of you are frequent bus riders, but being a somewhat seasoned Greyhound rider I am quite familiar with bus etiquette.  However, this woman clearly isn't.  She doesn't lean her chair back a bit, so as to be at a more comfortable angle yet not intrude too greatly on my personal space.  No, she leans it back ALL THE WAY!  Which in this small bus, where even my knees are already brushing the seat in front of me, is a surprisingly far.  I can almost see her face in my lap!  I sort of shake it off, because I plan on sleeping anyway and  it's not as if I'm getting up to go anywhere.  However, once we reach the rest stop area, she just gets up and leaves!  She doesn't move her chair back up to it's upright position.  I even call out to her, but she ignores me and gets off the bus.  To give you an idea of how small and cramped this bus is, I literally could not get out of my seat until the woman next to me gets up and I can slide over to her seat and stand up.  I am irritated, but think maybe she was so preoccupied with going to the loo, that she momentarily lost her senses.

I disembark and take advantage of the western washrooms and grab more food.  I am back on the bus before said lady and contemplate rising her seat for her, but being the polite Canadian that I am, I do not want to offend the lady and still assume the best.  However, this faith is dashed to pieces when she returns and does not adjust her seat.  In fact, she keeps it lying back even when she sits up and looks out the window or checks her phone.  She's clearly not sleeping anymore, and often not even leaning back anymore so I don't understand the need to keep her chair so far back!  This horrible passive-aggressive streak takes over me and I try to make it very uncomfortable for her.  I cross my legs, which results in my knee pushing into the back of her chair and I lean forward an open my curtain as far as possible and stay leaning forward so that my head is above hers.  But she is oblivious or really doesn't care.  Personal space is a relative thing in Japan, and often they don't care about you getting in their bubble.  Side effect of overcrowded public transportation I guess.  I am getting quite irritated at this point, and a quick survey of the bus reveals that this woman is the only one who is this inconsiderate.  Very few seats are leaning back, and those that are are the acceptable fraction back and contain actual sleeping people.

In combination with my growing ire, my growing hunger threatens to escalate into a tantrum of epic proportions.  The thing is, I can't reach my food.  So, I politely tap the shoulder of the offending woman and ask to move her seat forward, gesturing to my bag under the seat and gesturing for her to move forward.  I even apologize in Japanese for interrupting her texting or what ever she was doing on the phone.  And what her response?  She glares at my and audibly sighs before lifting herself up to adjust her seat.  Which she seems to have a bit of trouble with, so I kindly help her by pushing it forward.  I take a deep breath because even though I am not a violent person, I don't mind yelling a people when they are being idiots.  However, I know that will solve nothing in this situation so I just grab my food and concentrate really hard on how it tastes, and the texture, and the scenery out my window, basically anything but the woman in front of me.  Thankfully, I make it to Hiroshima a half an hour early and I can walk away from the whole situation.

So, that's the beginning of my trip to Hiroshima.  I want to thank you for letting me rant. Also, I want to let you know that event did not set the mood for my whole weekend.  It just really annoyed the hell out of me and I needed to get it out of my system.  The next post will be mostly pictures as it will be of Miyajima.  And just so we don't leave on a sour note.  Here is a pretty picture of some plum blossoms in Kyoto.

I'm still okay

I promised an update, and it was going to be a photo post of my time in Hiroshima.  However, I felt that I should reassure everyone as to my well being.

Life has gone back to it's regular routine for me, now that I am back in Osaka.  I have to work, I come home and the weather has even taken a change for the worse and gone back to cold.  I don't watch Japanese TV so I am not aware of everything that is happening.  However, amidst some hints and requests that I should be making my way back to Canada, I decided to check out some Canadian news programs to see what information you all are receiving.  I can now understand the concern.

The situation in the North is very serious and quite frankly, pretty frightening.  But I am quite a bit further South.  In fact, people who are leaving the Tokyo area seem to be heading to Osaka.  I heard that most of the foreign journalists are here now and the Austrian Embassy has moved as well.  I am even a little further South than Osaka, and unlike Osaka I am inland. 

I appreciate all the warm wishes and concerns for my well being, but I believe that I will be safe and thus intend to continue my time here in Japan.  I know some of my friends are leaving, but mostly these plans were made well in advance of the current situation and it may have only prompted a slightly earlier departure for some. 

Should events change and I become concerned for my well being, I will be sure to let you know when my flight leaves.  But, keep in mind that I am pretty stubborn and I am not prone to panicking about things. :)  Just to show you how okay I am, here's a pic of me eating some strange food.  Unfortunately, I am very tired in this pic, but I am enjoying the night out!

I'm enjoying pickled wasabi octopus!

Okay

I`m okay. No time on internet. Update later.

Potty Humour

I promised a post on Japanese toilets, so...

I guess I should warn readers that this is going to be graphic and there will be photos of toilets (clean, not with anything in them) so if you are not interested in that sort of thing stop here.

"toire wa doko desu ka?"

Hmm...I'm not entirely sure how to begin this one.  Well, let's start with the Simpson's.  Many of you may remember the episode when the Simpson's go to Japan.  They have a little bit about the toilet. I've included a clip to refresh your memory but, youtube only had it in German:




It is actually a little crazy how accurate the Simpson's portrayal of Japan is; it's exaggerated of course, but still.


So, now that you have that in mind let me talk a little about the real thing.  These uber-fancy western toilets do exist, in varying degrees. 

Most are like this one.  It has: a heated seat with variable temperature control, a bidet button, a front bidet button (both of which have pressure control), flushing sound (misnomer as it usually sounds more like running water than flushing), and a "powerful deodorizer."  All of these are meant to make your stay more comfortable.  Flushing occurs either with a handle attached to the toilet (not common) or there is a panel in the wall that you wave your hand in front of, and the toilet flushes.  You will often find these toilets in airports, restaurants (depends on the type of restaurant) and in some shopping malls.  They do not spout coloured water, nor have I seen one yet that talks to you.  Although, most bathroom stalls that sport said toilets do have an "emergency" button; which looks like an intercom that you can press if you need assistance.  I am not sure what kind of assistance you would be requiring, or who would come to help, but it is nice to know the option is out there. 

Now, there are some uber-fancy western toilets which are more complicated than this, and I have run across one.  I didn't take any pictures.  It was at the fancy restaurant I went to in Kyoto that I mentioned before, and the toilet "door" was pretty visible.  I didn't want walk out, grab a camera, and walk back in; wrong impressions would doubtlessly abound!  The control panel for the toilet was mounted on the wall, and had no English translations.  Unlike with the toilet above, this toilet itself had no flushing mechanism, nor was there a panel in the wall.  I was unsure of what to do, so I did what comes naturally and began pressing buttons at random.  All sorts of things started happening, the toilet seat raised and lowered, as did the lid.  A humming noise began at one point, toilet massage???  I assume I changed the temperature of the seat and likely the water pressure, woe betide the next customer, but no flushing.  I was beginning to get a little worried now, I didn't want to have to ask the nice lady how to flush the toilet, as that would do nothing to help out our Western reputation in Japan.  So I calmed down and looked at the confounding panel.  There were two kanji on it that I recognized, one was for river (川 ), the other for water (水).  Ha, one of these is bound to give me results!  Logic dictates that I try river first, as it is moving water.  But river, just adds more water to the bowl.  So, with bated breath,I press water, and lo the water flushes!!  There are some things you just need to learn before you come to Japan.  And essential kanji is one of them, trust me I've learned this the hard way.

Here is a good time to mention that the Japanese do not use the bathroom wearing only socks.  In restaurants and bars where you have to take off your shoes (mostly fancy places) you will be given slippers to wear, or the slippers will be in the bathroom already.  USE THE SLIPPERS.  If you are in a public place like a mall, train station, or club anywhere you don't take off your shoes then you are fine.

That's it for our section on Western toilets.  Save one last comment, there are times where you will get just a plain old regular Western toilet, with no gadgets or complicated computer panels.  But these are self-explanatory and I've already posted a picture of mine in my first post.

Now we get to the nitty-gritty.  The traditional Japanese toilet, often called "the Squatter."

As you can see, and as the name implies, the correct way to use such facilities is to squat above the bowl.  Now, some of you may have been to other Asian countries where squatters are more common, and thus believe you know how to use such toilets.  You may be right, or like me, you may be gravely mistaken.  You see, I've been to Southeast Asia and have used "squatters" before, but Japanese toilets are different.  In Southeast Asia most squatters are little more than a hole in the ground, maybe with some tiling around it.  So you can squat and go, no toilet paper, just a hose or bucket for rinsing.  And family I know you are used to "roughing it" in the woods when there is no outhouse, or you don't want to use it if it is there, so you think you can handle a squatter.  Again, maybe yes, maybe not so much.  You see, those of us who are born and raised in the West, don't really understand squatting.  Sure, you work out at the gym and do them.  Sure, you Canadians aren't afraid to pull off to the side of the road when nature calls and the next gas station is 600 km away.  And maybe, just maybe, you watched too many kung-fu movies and decided you are going to learn the horse stance even if it kills you.

But, what you don't realize is none of this is squatting, not really.  Okay, in the woods pulling your pants down just pass your butt, sticking said butt out, and keeping your spread legs at a 90' angle will serve you just fine.  That technique will also work in some Asian squatters.  You know where you hold the toilet paper in one hand and your underwear/pants in the other, to keep it out of harms way, and stick your bum out as far as you can manage.  Well friends, that doesn't cut it in Japan.  You see, the fundamental difference one faces in Japan is...PORCELAIN!  Yes, it is amazing the absorptive power of twigs, leaves, and even dirt.  The backlash is often minute, unless you have been holding it for a while.  However, your worst held in, empending release will still not have the backlash of even a minor release in a porcelain bowl when delievered from the same height.

And here we come to the crux, the height of delivery.  The only way to properly use a traditional Japanese toilet is as follows:
a) stand facing the piping, or the little raised part of the bowl with your legs on either side of the bowl, but not actually touching it.
b) pull your pants down to either just above or just below your knees, too far or too close and it gets in your way.
c) squat down, and I mean down.  We are talking bum between feet here people.  If you try anything less you will face the repercussions, which usually involve wet shoes, if your wearing them or wet slippers/feet. I cannot stress this enough!  Bum just above the bowl, right down low.  In Japan, you have to get up close and personal with your waste, which is very uncomfortable and uncommon for us in the West.  If you need help balancing, and if you aren't used to this type of squatting you will need help, I suggest holding onto the piping in front of you.  You may be tempted to hold on to the toilet paper holder, but those aren't very strong and you don't want to suddenly lose your balance.

If you follow these instructions, you will be okay.  For the most part.  Because, one of the things with squatters is that not everyone can use them, but they are sometimes the only option.  Train stations are notorious for having only Japanese toilets.  And some people, for various reasons cannot get into the proper position.  Therefore, you will often walk into a stall and find that the area surrounding the toilet is very wet, and late at night there will sometimes be more than just wetness.  Oh, and the smell...very reminiscent of the outhouse, even indoors, with plumbing and flushing capabilities.  I think women's toilets smell worse than men's toilets here. 

Some of the Japanese toilets have these weird attachments on them, to make them more like Western toilets.   They are plastic and the whole thing can be lifted off to reveal the Japanese toilet underneath.  These attachments only work if there is a step, which sometimes there isn't.  Usually the step is there only if it is a small bathroom, no stalls.  I've only seen this once, and it was in a classroom I was covering at in Wakayama.  It was strange because the step isn't very high, so it is like sitting on a very low toilet that is sort of on the ground.  Very disconcerting.


Here's an interesting little fact for you.  It appears that "shared" bathrooms are common.  You will find them in smaller train stations and office buildings; there will be both a urinal and a squatter stall in the small bathroom.  But here is the weird thing; the door, if indeed there is one, won't have a lock.  You can go into the stall and lock that, but a man can walk in a use the urinal while you are in the stall.  I don't understand, nor do I like this situation and avoid them at all costs.

One last thing before I go, very few of the public bathrooms have soap, and even less have a means to dry your hands.  Furthermore, the water to wash your hands will be cold.  So you need to carry with you: a little face towel to dry your hands, and hand sanitizer.  I've heard that some washrooms will not have toilet paper, but thankfully haven't actually encountered that yet.

Coldest Canadian

My Dad told me about this contest Air New Zealand is putting on, the coldest Canadian.  You send in a video of why you are the coldest Canadian and if you get the most votes, you win a trip to New Zealand (25 'C in Auckland this morning).  I watched his video, which was pretty funny.  You can see it here: http://coldestcanadian.ca/coldest-canadian-0

Anyway, I watched a few others as well.  Some were pretty good, some were not so good.  It got me thinking, I wonder if the coldest Canadian has to be in Canada?  I think I may give some of them a run for their money.  Here's what I mean.  This was what I woke up to this morning:

I know you Canadians back home are thinking, snow?  Bah, hardly.  But what is important to remember is that my apartment, like most Japanese apartments, has no heating.  What's more, I also have little to no insulation.  I guess it is inaccurate to say I have no heating.  I do have a small space heater and a air conditioner/heater on the wall above the french doors.  But no central heating.  Therefore, if I want heat I have to get up and turn it on.  Now, 8C may not seem that cold, throw on a jacket and some mittens and your good to go.  But this is INSIDE my place.  I sleep in a toque and socks, and last night a hoodie as well.  I also have two blankets.  As I am wrtiting this, I've added a scarf (dangerous to sleep with a scarf on) another sweater, and have wrapped myself and my space heater in my blanket creating a tent of warmth.  But, winter should be over soon.  Then I will have to deal with the heat in Japan.  I prefer the cold.  Plus, with heat comes BUGS!!!

Of Kick-ass Boots and Great Hair

Another weekend is swiftly approaching, and another adventure awaits.  I thought that before I head out to new drinking fiasco's, I should update you on the last one.

Two weekends ago, or so, it was Ches' 30th birthday.  He is the PS for Himeji, and a bunch of us headed there to celebrate with him.  Merran (lovely girlie from OZ) was gracious enough to put us up for the night (5 of us, equals 6 sleeping in her small apartment).  I arrived early, so as to have some prep time.  How unlike me you say to: a) be early and b) get prepped!  How right you are!  Normally.  However, Merran and I had, on a previous night out, seen this cool Japanese chick with a faux-hawk.  It was sort of unofficially decided that we were going to pull of said look on our next big night out.  Well Merran was thinking that it would look silly for both of us to do it, and I was super keen, so did it I did.  Hence the prep time.  I youtubed a video on how to do such things, as I don't often take time to get ready to go out, and set about fixing myself up.  It took about an hour and a half, but it was so worth the effort.  There are pictures below, if you doubt my assertions. 

But before we get to all that...
Here are the killer boots I mentioned earlier.  They are reminiscent of a pair that I own and left in Canada.  However, unlike those other boots, which have a 4 inch heal, these I can walk in.  Not only that, they are actually really comfortable!  They look super rocking desu ne?   I like the military-ish look about them.  They are just punk rock enough to compliment my punk rock hair.   I threw them on with a pair of dark blue jeans, and this cool button up shirt I got from Danielle.  Throw on a multi-coloured scarf and your good to go!  The only problem was, with my hair up I couldn't wear my toque.  And it was cold that night in Himeji.  But, that is the price we pay for excellence.

Made a "fringe" from the tips.

Looks Rockabilly from the top.

So here is the do, from various angles.  These two photos I took with my phone.  The one below, I knicked from Merran's blog.  Which, by the way if you want to see how real blogging is done, you should check it out: http://kawaiihunter.blogspot.com/
Hmmm... I'm not sure how I feel about posting so many pictures of myself?  I'm not narcissistic, I'm a little uncomfortable.  But, it is all about the hair!

As Merran put it, "Bad Ass".

The night wasn't all about me, it was Ches's birthday after all.  So what kind of trouble did we get into?  Well, food was a good start.  Sadly no pictures of that (must of been too hungry).  Karaoke soon followed, which was great.  Ches did an fantastic rendition of Rapper's Delight, by the Sugar Hill Gang.  I know some of you think you don't know this song, trust me you do.  You just don't realize you know it.  I do have video documentation, but I've heard it may not be appreciated it if said video was posted.  I sang my go-to song, Take on Me, which is strange seeing as I cannot sing worth a marshmallow.  Thankfully, there is no video documentation of that.  The night was filled with the Beatles, Johnny Cash, Gwen Stefani, and Journey, to name but a few.  Merran and Ches, with the help of Jorell belted out an awesome version of Baby got Back.  Again, documented, but left off for the sake of friendship.  There is one video I am willing to share.  It was of our (their) Japanese friend singing a Japanese song.  His name is Takeshi, the song, not a clue.  But here you go.

Oh, before we joined the karaoke, we ran into some Japanese boys outside, Merran and Danielle had to finish their combini beer.  Japanese convenience stores (combini), truly are convenient!  They were six shades of Sunday, or whatever, but very friendly.  They mostly stood around and stared at us, and we at them.  Danielle conversed a little with them in Japanese (she is taking lessons and learning the language, unlike yours truly).  But they soon grew bored and staggered off.  However, I do think the one it the green jacket is super cute, and all of 21.  Ahhh, trials and tribulations of aging...

After the Karaoke bar we headed to a Latin Dance bar.  I had the opportunity to get my dance on, and had a great time for the short time we were there.  It wasn't so much a club as it was someone's basement rec room.  At least that is what it felt like.  It was quite dead and was pretty small.  But, if there is music, I care little for my surroundings.  However, others were not so dance inclined and we made out way out.  Just a little side note, this Latin club was own and staffed with Latinos, who spoke perfect Japanese and Spanish, but no English.  Sigh, they hailed from Peru originally.  I've been thinking about going to Peru.  Teaching there, learning some Spanish...maybe.

Well, after the club we made our way to this little bar.  Lots of people speaking Japanese, and drinking.  But also a fair amount of Gaijin.  It was fun, in a strange way; Japanese people practicing their English, English people practicing their Japanese.  Me watching it all unfold.  I did meet a nice Japanese guy, who spoke decent English and tolerated my lame attempts to say a few things in Japanese to him.  But I didn't get a picture.  Instead, I got a picture of me with the cute Japanese tattoo artist!  I loved him!  I was fascinated, and he spoke no English.  After the crazy hippie magician (don't ask) tried  to get him to take off his shirt to show me a tattoo, the cute Japanese tattoo artist high-tailed it to the far end of the bar.  However, on my way out, I stopped to stare and I admit to touch him.  I did it with the pretense of looking at the tattoos on his hands.  I didn't even attempt to speak, but all his mates around him were telling me that he was a tattoo artist.  Something the hippie magician already mentioned, but I listened intently anyways and nodded knowingly.  Now, if you know anything about the Japanese, they are not big on physical contact; no hand shaking, no kissing in public, nothing like that.  But this lovely man not only allowed me to grab both of his hands and turn them over to look at the ink, but to stroke the tattoos that covered the backs of his hands.  A moment I think I enjoyed more than he did.  But he was good-willed enough to indulge me in a picture before I tramped off into the snow.

The night was drawing to an end.  After an eventful walk home involving some ranting and chaos, which unfortunately is going to stay between the people involved, we bedded down for the night.  Or more accurately day, as I believe it was 7:30am by that time.  Can't wait for the weekend, this time we will be in Osaka.  Oh, the trouble we could get into here...

Kawai, not Kawaii

Kawai (ka-why) means scary.

Kawaii (ka-whyyy) means cute.

Just hold the E sound a bit longer and you go from scary to cute!

But you want to know what is kawai and not kawaii?  Earthquakes.  Holy hotdogs, do I really not like them!  I haven't even had one yet, not really.  What I've experiences are likely tremors, and not even big ones at that.  My Japanese neighbours probably don't even notice them, but they have me rooted in place, trembling (I kid you not, actually trembling) in fear!  It is a fear that is rooted deep in the bowls of my body, and holds me there, on the verge of screaming.  I am okay, don't worry about me, these tremors last all of 3 seconds or so and if there was an earthquake, I'm sure my fight or flight instinct would kick in after about 5 seconds and I would make my way to the nearest doorway.  I just wanted to share that little slice of my life with you.  But wasn't really supposed to be what this post was about.

You see, I've decided to do some posts as picture blogs, of a sort.  I've taken a few pictures and don't share many.  I thought if I have enough pictures on a theme, then I could do a picture based post, with only small captions about location, some tidbit of info, or the like.  That way you can see a bit more of what I get to see.

Don't worry, for all of you who pretend to like what I write, and for those of you that actually do, I will still do posts with me blathering on about things.  Just to keep things interesting, and to give you some visuals, picture posts might be fun.  This also may encourage you to ask questions, and thus I get more emails/comments.  Speaking of which, I'd like to thank Janice for her email promoting my blog to family.  I will respond to said email soon. :P

So with out further ado, PICTURES!  Today's Theme:  Buildings, Structures, and general decorative streets.

NAGOYA

Waiting for the Shinkansen, looking out at Nagoya.

Grounds at Nagoya Castle, part of the moat.

Nagoya Castle.

 AROUND KAWANISHI, OSAKA, AND SOME OF MY SCHOOLS

My building, with a little snowfall!

 

Woo, woo, woo looking out my backdoor (front door really).

Crazy narrow building on the corner.

Little shrine.  You see these everywhere.

Walking across the river, to Ikeda (near one of my schools).

Mosaic on the sidewalk in Sanada (near one of my schools).

Covered shopping street, Shinsaibashi-Osaka.

VARIOUS OTHER AREAS

Nikon shop in Kumatori ( near a school I cover at).

Crazy building, I think it is a church?? Tondobayashi (not so near a school I cover at).

Outside Tenri Station at night.

Castle grounds at Fukuchiyama.

Kawaii monkey barrier holders in Kobe.

Another look at the Golden Temple (from behind).  Kyoto

Noh Theatre in Kyoto.

 That's it for now, there are some other buildings I've left out.  May post at a later date, if I get enough for a picture post.  What do you think?  Do you like the picture post idea?  Just so you can see some of Japan, rather than hear tidbits about it.  I like it, so I hope you do to, plus this may inspire me to take more pictures!  Next theme?  Maybe food?  Ideas?  Drop me a line, ask me a question, tell me to update more often...