Samantha and the Clouds

This was done with pencil and watercolor and then scanned and colored in Photoshop.

Shogun Ball

Nara and Himeji

This is my last set of pictures from my winter trip. After this set I'll be putting up some art that I've been working on. This is Becky feeding the deer in Nara. They're pretty sweet though they do try to eat your jeans or shirt once in a while.

Becky's mom, Martha, feeding the deer. This was New Years day so there were a ton of people visiting the temples here. The deer, too, were out in large numbers.

An Okonomiyaki food stand. You can see what they put in them and how they assemble them. It's mainly a kind of cabbage pankake with different veggies and pork thrown in. We didn't eat Okonomiyaki this day but instead opted for Tako (Octopus) Balls, which aren't disimilar in taste.

A monk taking donations for the temple. Martha was kind enough to donate.

The most well preseved and arguably most beautiful castle in Japan, Himeji-jyo. We walked the grounds for a few hours and even went up to the top of the main tower. Every aspect of this castle complex was built with high security in mind.

Another shot of Himeji-jyo. There are at least four rings of walls such as this that need to be scaled, that is, once you get over the moat.

Back in the station. I took the Bullet train back to Kagoshima and then a ferry to Yakushima. It was a great trip and I think we all burnt outselves out sufficiently enough to be glad to be home.

Kyoto

Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion. Becky and I are gonna build one of these but with lots of windows, a first floor full of couches (like the Hilton) and instead of ducks we'll have duckbill platypuses.

FushimiInari Shrine. This is a famous shrine with over 40,000 of these torii (gates). If you walk through all of them your wish will come true. Three hours is a long time when its close to 0 degrees C. We didn't make it.

Tofukuji. A famous temple complex in Kyoto.

Rock Garden within the Tofukuji temple complex.

The Kyoto skyline. The city is in a valley with mountains on all sides which gives it extremely hot, and cold, temperatures depending on the season.


My friend Rebecca and me.
One more of FushimiInari shrine. Next time I go I'd like to make a point of walking through all 40,000.

Miyajima and Hiroshima

From Shimane I traveled back to Hiroshima where I met my dear friend Rebecca and her mom Martha. We took a day trip to Miyajima, a small island famous for its large shrine compound, a large torii that was built in the water and friendly deer.


A small back street on Miyajima, just off the main route.


The famous Miyajima water torii. It's not as big as I thought it would be but I like to imagine the monks out there trying to figure out how to build it.


The main temple complex, just behind the statues, trees and branches. Ok, so its not a great shot of the temple complex but if you use your imagination you can see that its amazing.

Walking up the mountain to a gondola Becky spotted a sign that read,
"10 minutes to ropeway, 7 if run a little."


A Miyajima local. There were bunches of deer but this was the cutest one. For some reason they were all hungry for paper.


Hiroshima's Peace Dome. One of the few buildings that was left standing in the city after the atomic bomb was dropped. One of the reasons this building didn't get blasted away is that the bomb detonated almost directly above it, blasting downward. The initial heat wave melted the copper dome immediately and was followed by a blast that traveled straight through the top of the building, blowing out the windows, some walls and everyone that was inside. The building was originally an industrial promotion hall.


A graveyard in the city. The stones in the lower picture appear to have been collected from an earlier site.

Shimane

I had a great trip around Japan. I visited several cites and towns over the last few weeks and saw tons of temples and shrines. I've got a bunch of pictures so I'll put them up over the next couple weeks. I started in Hiroshima and then went with my friend to her house in Shimane.

In Japan, making a Christmas cake on Christmas eve is a tradition, though I'm willing to bet its not a very old one. My friend Miho, her sister and her sister's kids made this one and it was delicious. Don't miss the Koala cookies lining the second tier.

My friend works and lives in Shimane, a cold mountainous area known for farming. I think they're mascot is a giant salamander. The tiered mountain farming is reminded me of China though I didn't take any good pictures to show it.

Miho in front of a shrine in northern Shimane.

The older sections are closed off but I got my camera through the bars.

The grounds around the main shrine are for the many gods who come here each year for a kind of summit. One area has a kind of god apartment complex but the more powerful ones get their own seperate buildings.

I believe this is for a god as well but I don't know which one. Perhaps one that likes water.


we threw coins up into the ends of this giant rope. If you can get it to stick you can make a wish. It was kind of tough to stick one plus it was already jammed with coins.

Happy Merry Christmas (Jap)

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for Hiroshima and then I'll be on to Kyoto and Osaka. I'm planning on taking a bunch of pictures so I should have plenty to post when I come back a couple weeks from now. Have a Merry Christmas and check out Cake Wrecks if you have a few free minutes. http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/

Cat check

It's been pretty cloudy these last few days so I haven't gotten any decent shots of anything. I went to Jessica's adult English class today to help out and as a bonus I got to see how the cats are doing. Both Nemo and Misa seem happy and healthy. The pic is for Brittany more than anyone, look how big he is!

As an aside I wanted to tell anyone interested about some strange English-Japanese I learned recently. When a boat or ship goes in for repairs they refer to it as boat dock but in Japanese you can use it with people as well. They say "ningen dokku" meaning human dock to refer to a check up at the doctors. Strange and simple.

Pooh San, as he's called in Japan, and his buddy Piglet. I did this for a student who gave me a nice Christmas gift.

Morning Orange

I took the morning yesterday between classes and got some shots around school while the light was still nice. These are all from around Nagata. It's been a long week, I'm so glad the weekend is finally here so I can take some time to clean up and relax. I took a lot of time this week talking to friends and teachers, trying to get good advice as to whether or not I should stay in Japan. It's gonna be a touch decision, I wish I didn't have to make it so soon (February).

Winter is ... coming

but its not here yet. Strangely it was pretty warm this week.

Today I taught at Nagata Junior High. I got lucky and it happened that my friend Hiromi was at the same school. Hiromi is the island school librarian and she travels around to different schools like I do except that she has the whole island which means she has twice as many schools as I do. I'm rarely at the same school as her but its always fun to hang out in the library with her when shes around.


The Cosmos. I took this while my mom and I were driving in the southern part of the island with a few friends. I few weeks later I passed this field again and there were even more.
My mom spotted this on my screen a few days before she left. It was the biggest one I've ever seen, probably because it was about to lay eggs. We have tons of mantis' on the island, I see them all the time. The cats catch them and eat them.

I took this today from the school in Nagata. Its Nagata peak, one of the tallest peaks on the island and the only one you can see without hiking for hours and hours. I've got Nagata Junior High school again tomorrow. Next week is my last week of work before my trip. I was given a special assignment from one of the history teachers, "take lots of pictures in Kyoto and Osaka so I can use them in class." I'm sure this blog will benefit from that request.

Orange in Apple Orbit

I booked 4 hotels this week for my Xmas holiday trip to Kyoto. I'm meeting my friend Becky and her mom in Hiroshima and from there we're going to Kyoto and then to Osaka. I'm also staying an extra night at the Kitagishi's house. This is the first family I stayed with back when I came to Japan on Semester at Sea. Here is an apple with a small mikan securely locked in its orbit.

Student Art

This piece is appropriately titled "Battle of the Cats"

I'm thinking (hoping) this is an illustration from a story that the 6th graders are reading and not a plea for help.  Either way I thought it  had a strong message.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm not sure why her eyes are two completely different sizes. This was just for fun, its no one I know.

Fashion girls

I had a great time with my mom while she was here. She's home safe and sound and I'm getting on with my regular schedule.


Some fashion sketches from JJ, Japan fashion magazine. These were fun to do. I just wanted to get the major colors and shapes in, nothing fancy.

Annabelles Days

My mom Annabelle is here visiting and she's got a little blog going of her time here. I thought it would be fun for people to see different pictures and a different perspective.

http://annabellesdays.blogspot.com/

School lunch

I had to laugh when I read the description of the school lunch on Friday.
"Colorful bean stew in ketchup sauce, roll of bread, chewy chewy salad, mayonnaise and whole milk." What? Despite the strangeness of description it tasted really good.

Isso Sports Festival

This weekend I went to the Isso Junior High annual sports festival. Unfortunately it was pouring rain almost the whole time and it ended early. It was fun to watch the little kids slip in the mud though.

The front of the main building with a few spectators watching the race.