Nakagawa Takahama-cho

... of the world) for the fall night light up. Rarely can a person enter temple grounds legally after hours, but this temple has a special event every fall where they shine lights through the hills and allow people to come through, walk around, and view the beautiful fall leaves. As I stated earlier, the leaves weren't so beautiful just yet- but the temple lit up at night was still gorgeous.

Day 2 - Tokyo to Kyoto via the Shinkansen Early morning, well not that early, but it was bullet train time - we took the bullet train from Shinagawa station all the way to Kyoto station, long long trip but the bullet train is well worth the experience :)

I was a Rotary Exchange Student for a year in 1985 and during that time attended Hokuriku Senior High School in Fukui, Japan. Visiting this time with the boys I found that there were still a number of teachers who were there in 1985 and who remembered me! I also met up with Aoki Ryota, a student in my class at that time who is now an English teacher in the Hokuriku Junior High School.

Shoryo ha terminado, la gente ahora tiene que ir a los clubs y la mayoria tambien tiene que ir a clase, porque tienen que estudiar (clases de apoyo) asi que no se porque llaman a esto "vacaciones de verano" porque en realidad no lo son... quieren hacer creer a los alumnos que son vacaciones... Ja! a mi no me enga;an.. yo se como son las vacaciones ...

... the huge shoes and the white face paint. If only we could have spoken to her and found out what really goes on and asked her how she really feels being this doll like person. Later on that night we saw the same geisha going into this very grand looking restaurant. We hung around outside for a while and later saw more immaculate geisha entering and then business men immerging from chauffeur driven cars. This is Japan. What an intriguing culture. In Kyoto ...

... tiempo que estare aca, estoy viviendo aca, asi que tengo que actuar consecuentemente. A parte cuando uno estudia ya trabaja, ya empieza a ser parte de la sociedad activa de un lugar ( que es lo que estoy haciando yo ),,,y aunque solo respire y camine tambien existe y vive, no? No es que este trabajando mucho, pero algunos yenes tienen que entrar para sobrevivir al primer mundo! Por otro lado el verano, como en cualquier lugar del mundo, ofrece muchas y variadas ...

... and quiet. We walked around here for 2 days, following a couple of trails past the major sites. You need this as there are just too many tempels, so it's good to get some advise on where and where not to go. Sakura (Cherry Blossom) is nearly out, and it's really full of Japanese tourists waiting for the ...

... There is also a scene in the movie of young Sayuri running up the hill through a series of red torii (gates). This scene was taken from the Fushimi Torii Shrine just outside Kyoto. Thousands of Toriis line the winding paths up the hill, each donated by businesses or individuals for blessings and good luck. I highly recommend a visit here to have a relaxing afternoon stroll through the Torris. In Kyoto, we stumbled upon a restaurant that ...

... appear in train station adds sponsoring clothing lines and cosmetics never seen in the US. This is by design, since contractually these images are not to be disseminated to the US. Very reminiscent of Bill Murray as the Suntory Whiskey spokesman in "Lost in Translation." And now the rest: Under the influence of mefloquine (an anti-malaria drug we're taking for SE Asia), which as Cheryl confirms, causes such side effects as nausea and wildly vivid ...

... of the castle was a totally remodeled modern multi media museum instead of what we expected Many additional photos can be viewed at http://home.gci.net/~larry-and-jackie/i ndex7.htm The final nights Public Display was by far the most impressive fireworks show sporting 2 - 24 ...