Higashiyama Park Hotel Shinfugetsu Aizuwakamatsu

... What's that line about suicide being a permanent solution to a temporary problem--in this case it was a permanent solution to an imaginary problem... But the tour guide at the top gives a spirited dance-like performance of the suicide, set to a Japanese narrative. Either way, it was rather strange because I don't quite get the significance or context. Even going to the site of the kari kiri (you gotta hand it to the Japanese to signpost every single thing), I tried to find ...

... Before we knew it dusk was approaching so we caught the train and bus back to Paul's, folded away the washing and wandered down to his local Yakitori place for a beer and light meal before catching the bus and train back to Kyoto. We managed to finally get the (very sleepy) kids in bed at 10.15 which was pretty good considering... Mike: The next day was fabulous too. Ever the gracious host, Paul did not complain once about the ...

... are beautiful mountains, rivers, lakes, and ski areas. We hiked along a popular nature trail, through an area with 11 marshes, lakes, and ponds, called the "Five Colors Lakes" because of the fantastic colors rendered by minerals in the water ... which change dependent on weather conditions. We had a grand time ... happy to have the opportunity to get out and explore the country a bit.

Now we decided to head 3 hours east to visit the apline snow monkies of the japanaese alps. Probably not the most constructive use of our time but when I heard that the young monkies dive bomb their parents in a natural hot spring I was sold. We got there and it was so true, the monkies are helarious and complete unafraid of humans, they don't really care that you are there. You should ...

... center near the train station and had coffee/tea in an adorable shop with a nice view of the town. We walked back, stopping in some shops, and then changed for dinner. We decided to eat in the highly recommended dining room of the Kanaya hotel. The room was beautiful, Victorian style with large wood pillars and ornate mantles. It was very well lit. The food was French but their famous dish is the rainbow trout caught in the nearby river ...

... believe I wore it with pride the whole afternoon... Including Sound check! Just some goofy, fun back stage stories for y'all. After the show, people were pretty tired from the week before, but I was able to get a Jason, Amy, Tatsuya, and Ken out to the bowling alley. Thank GOD Tatsuya and Ken were there... because we would have NEVER figured out the Japanese and the way to get registered on the First floor. But with their help, we figured out easily ...

... got her another yet!)so we wanted to get one, the owner offered to drive us to get a new one which was really nice after we got the bag he then took us out for ramen his treat. the food at the hotel was great but even tho they had an english menu the waiter made a mistake on the second night and we had curry and rice two days in a row. we basically spent two days relaxing, we had a walk and saw a shrine, i got to know a japanese dentist in the outside bath (and no there was no gay love).

... shiho hai? - my memory of that night is somewhat vague). For your info you drink from the TSUMI (corner). We were half expecting to be drinking from the bottle of sake we bought for Mitsuo-san, when he substituted it for one twice as big. HANASAKIGANI was its name. Dave mentioned that he didn't like drinking beer, to which Mitsuo-san jumped up and grabbed beers for Mike, himself and I. He said he liked it ON ZA ROKUSU (with ice). He joked that in Aizu culture, Dave would be seen as half ...

... s city centre as well). Mike went for a walk around the area while Dave and I went in search (and didn't find) of an onsen we were told about. He walked through the local school, and managed to disrupt a whole class when he walked past the window. At that time of year, Mike would most likely have been the only white guy in the whole prefecture, so it was probably a rare sight for the juniors. For dinner we had okonomiyaki at the YH. CURRY OKONOMIYAKI (so good we ordered it ...

... 13. That train arrived at Tokyo at 13:13. We left Tokyo at 13:36, once again in carriage 13 and row 13. Luckily 13 isn't a superstitious number in Japan, otherwise I might have thought someone trying to jinx our trip. When we got to Shiokawa station, a stop just out from Aizu Wakamatsu and near the YH, it was pitch black. Bloody cold too. The school kids there were a bit try-hard with their caps on sideways, 80s-esque hairdos and checkered grandpa pants (haha). The hostel ...