Hotel Takasago Kochi

... concert at the castle, which I dragged myself out to see. Thankfully the rain had ceased and the castle was really lit up with lights and decorations. Caught some traditional kata music and there was a Shinto play at the top of the castle. It looked like an entire family participated, banging drums, dancing and bowing. There was a teenager who was spinning like a dervish with a tray of rice, which surprisingly he kept from flying off ...

... mentre fuori diluviava. E prima di arrivare li sono stata in un onsen con vasca all'aperto vista fiume, e pioggia. Un tantino stile decadente e malinconico come panorama, ma bellissimo. Ora sono diretta a Muroto misaki, il capo a sud di Shikoku. volo a prendere il treno. Baci a tutti!

Primo traghetto che personalmente a me da una particolare libidine caricarci la moto e navigare per mare ogni tanto. Fiondo nell' isola di Shikoku , l' isola di un pellegrinaggio Zen da 1500 km attraverso 88 templi . Io la taglio a meta' naturalmente per montagne e dormo a Kochi altra citta' di mare e naruralmente si cena a base di sushi freschissimo . Sto viaggiando un po in fretta un mio amico a Shizuoka mi ha invitato ad andare ad Iwata a visitare la fabbrica della Yamaha .Potevo dire di no?

... in her car and road trip our way to shikoku and around tokushima-ken. we had a blast of a weekend in her tinsy tiny japanese size car (think geo metro) listening to great music and snacking on amazingly delicious homemade trail mix as we snaked our way ...

In Hiroshima I visited the famous or infamous Atomic Dome(ground zero August 1945)and learned a lot of interesting details. The first atomic bomb was detonated at 600 meters above the city to maximize its lethal potential. It resulted in over 140,000 deaths including 14,000 Koreans who were forced in to ...

... after folding only 644 cranes and to this day, children around the country fold cranes and send them to the children's memorial in her honour. As I walked around the town later, it hit me that I had never been to a place where actual acts of war had taken place, and that 60 years ago, the very ground that I was walking on had been covered in nothing by hate inspired rubble and dust. And so my maiden solo voyage came to an end. Good times and pleasant and poignant memories...

... and drinking. Well, the drinking part I guess is similar to Thanksgiving.. maybe. Whatever, Brian, Glen, Ashleigh and I decided to make a trip out to Saijo to watch the Danjiri (portable shrines) be dragged thru the city. Now I'm sure you're thinking: "Wait, I thought that 'Omikoshi' meant 'portable shrine'" Well, my dear friend, you'd be correct! Danjiri and Omikoshi both mean 'portable shrine'. The only difference is ...

... stunning scenery my skills improved. We saw some gorgeous terrain, walked across local vine bridges, & folded in mirrors many times for crawling past oncoming cars. Upon returning the car and being politely informed that there was no insurance, 7000Yen please ($65) for damaged hubcap, the otherwise great day ended. I told Masaki, (this is how I speak every day), "You know sometimes fisherman go to sea and there is typhoon?" "When they come ...

... Kyoto has geisha, Matsuyama has the haiku, and Tokyo has nightlife and captive Russian prostitutes. Kochi's claim to fame is their famous seared bonito, the silent sumo-style fighting dogs, and slightly scientific whale meat. We'd tried the bonito the day before, and since I was curious, I wanted to go see the "amazing" dogs. I'd researched on the web before we left and had seen numerous sites purporting that there is a breed of mastiff that has been popular in the Tosa region for a ...

Ashleigh and I finally got some time off together and made a trip out to the city of Kochi, in the Kochi prefecture. This area is known for surfing, bonito (the fish), and dog fighting/wrestling. We took the bus 2.5 hours to the south side of Shikoku (the island we're living on) and found our small, inexpensive hotel room that was super close to the train station - which was nice since it was so hot with our backpacks. The hotel was called "the ...