New Tamagawa Onsen Semboku

... the gold statue of Tatsuko Hime that is in the lake.  The legend is that Princess Tatsuko drank from the crystal waters of the lake  thinking it would give her eternal beauty and that this was the source of her beauty but the Goddess Kannon cursed her for drinking too much of the water and she was turned into a water dragon.  There was a wooden carving of her as a dragon in the back of the gift shop ...

We were up early (not that it matters much, I usually seem to wake around 6 when I'm here!) and on our way to the Shinkasen (bullet train) station to start our tour of the Northern part of Honshu- the main island of Japan. Kaoru and her mom had chosen this tour, as it was her birthday, and they wanted to do something special... when they offered to have us join them, I was very curious and excited. We would get to see cherry blossoms after all (the blossoms ...

... yards... Like other cities, Kakunodate have a preservation distriction of these nice samurai houses--manors essentially with sculpted gardens, etc. Unlike say Tsumago, these houses are still in use by the family in a way that doesn't scream tourism for most of the year. It's nice to see a rubber garden hose in front of an old house for once. But don't get me wrong; this place is defnitely built for tourism. As the samurai lost their status during the Meiji restoration, they ...

... boire beaucoup d'eau apres avoir mangé un poisson tres salé. Il subit le meme sort que Takko Himme, et de nouveau il y eut une grosse tempete ; ainsi naquit le lac Towada, a quelques centaines de km de Tazawa-Ko. Bien entendu les 2 dragons tomberent amoureux et Hachirotaro rend encore souvent visite a Takko Himme. On dit que c'est grace a la chaleur de leurs ebats amoureux, au fond ...

apres 4 heures de train, je suis arriver vers 14:00 a hakunodate, un village entoure de montagne qui contient un quartier de samourai. Dans ce quartier, il y a des anciennes maisons de samourais, ce sont plus des anciens domaines que des maisons. sur chaque site, il y a plusieur batiment, le tout derriere une palissade de bois. c`etait ben beau, mais comme la ...

... was not a weekday. And so, we used our feet to ascend the hill and, after a series of switchbacks, found the castle closed. I did take a good picture from the summit that shows the nature of the Akita countryside: vast expanses of flat, slightly terraced farmland that ends at the base of impossibly steep, pyramidal and conical hills or mountains that seem to sprout out of the ground with no warning. I will share this photo with no one.

Japan was incredible. Fantastic, amazing....a thousand times better than I had ever thought possible. The country, the people, the friends I made while I was here. There arent many people who get to have such experiences as I have had over the last year. I feel lucky, blessed, and my throat feels kind of constricted at the thought of everything being over. What? Reality? In some strange way my life has become this place. I ...

... half hte stuff he was saying, seriously, my dictionary is my favourite thing. How would I survive without the whole look-up-a-word-and-realise-you-cant-rea d-the-kanji-so-point- and-smile-and-say-`kore desu` scenario? Muri. Anyway since m fine now theres no need to go into the whole thing, just try to stay out of the dentist in any country. Brush your teeth properly, kids!!! Snow is here but theres not so much. Its been snowing a couple of days but it melts everytime ...

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you are all eating traditional Christmas food and decorating trees and kissing under the mistletoe. I, sadly, would not be kissing under mistletoe even if Japan suddenly sprung a bushel out of the kitchen table. If we had one. ITS CHRISTMAS!!! I have to keep telling myself and getting excited because frankly, not alot is going on here. Japan not being much of a Christian nation and all. Commercially, you can see wreaths, strange Japanesey Santas ...

... back. He couldnt walk all week. Then yesterday while he was on the loo he haemorrhaged and his brain....well it exploded. Bill: (Pale and staring off screen) Right, well, Judith...good for you... *Phone cuts off* Bill: (clears his throat) Well next we have a letter from....oh...Barney Schnackerhousen, I'll just put that...here...(chucks under the desk) Erm, Fred Gray, director of the Society for the Deaf, blind, mute and generally unable to ...