Hotel Ashizurien Tosashimizu

So back in Hojo for only a few days and our dear friend Yoko stops by for tea. Turns out she needs help on her farm, putting socks on the oranges so that the birds don't eat them. So we thought, "sounds like fun!"

The next morning we headed out and met up with Yoko at her farm. It turned out to be a wonderful day. The weather was perfec...

I had to head into Matsuyama one day to try meet with a volunteer translator from MIC ( Matsuyama International Centre ) and work out my visa extension. So I thought I would take the opportunity to get some pictures of Matsuyama, since I haven't put any up yet. It ended up being sort of a little tour of from our house to Matsuyama.

The ...

As I headed to Kochi I felt on my way back to India.

What I found instead was a French Connection.

There is a replica of Monet`s Garden an hour from town and a nearby museum claims to have the largest collection of Chagalls anywhere. And at the TI (Tourist Info), I was handed a brochure in French - which admittedly was a l...

From Yufuin I took a bus over the mountains to Beppu and a new hostel there. An advantage of hostels is that there is usually someone who speaks English well enough to answer some questions, give info, etc. An exceptionally chatty Norwegian suggested we get some ramen, and we walked into a place straight out of Tampopo (a classic film).
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An incredible day trip from Oita City to Usuki City took me back in time. Usuki swells with the ancient essence of Japan, reminding me of the reasons why I fell in love with Japan so many years ago.

This trip is definately recommended for anyone visiting Beppu or Oita, as it can be done easily from either city, and is affordable!
Usuki, Kyushu-Okinawa, Japan madamebutterfly

Luckily for us we were invited by Vicky, one of the head JETs in Matsuyama, to an event that would turn out to be one of the best experiences of my life: hiking to the top of Mount Ishizuchi. Ishizuchi is the highest mountain on Shikoku as well as in all of western Japan. It is an impressively jagged horn shapped mountain surrounded by beautiful...

This weekend saw quite an impressive ( though sometimes annoying ) Autumn Festival here in Hojo.

The festival basically consists of many many Hojo residence, getting together and building these strange portable shrines and carrying them around town banging on bells and drums as loud as they can all day and all night, dressed in traditio...

So many things to tell, and so little time!

My first week of teaching in Hojo has been very very busy, and very interesting. I have come home everyday too tired to even check email (so sorry for lack of communication, guys!). That being said, I am hoping to become used to the teaching routine and get my energy back, so that I can regula...

At some point through the flight, the entire in-flight entertainment system rebooted. Turns out its running on Linux. Pretty neat - yes I'm a geek - to see every screen on the plane with the little Linux penguin in the top left corner and the kernal boot messages scrolling up the screen.

After Uwajima we headed south towards one of the two great capes of Shikoku that jut out into the pacific, Ashizuri cape. The ride there was much smoother as we were able to stick to the coastal roads and stay out of the mountains. And the ocean was beautiful. The coastal area we were in was characterized by the huge rock formations that rose ev...