Well this weekend I spent saturday and sunday in Kyoto, it was really beautiful this time of year. The Koyou has begun which is the change in color of the leaves. Saturday night i went to Kiomizudera which i have already posted pics of from a day time trip there some time ago but right now it is lit up at night so I went with my friends to check it out. I will appologize in advance for the blurriness of the photos, i have a shaky hand.... the next day I went to Kinkakuji and Ryoanji in Kyoto both for [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to Fushimi Inari near Kyoto, it was only about 30 minutes from Hirakata and was really beautiful. Fushimi is famous for the thousands of Orange Torii or gates that line its paths leading up the mountain. The amount of torii is unimaginable, I walked for nearly 2 and a half hours and didnt find the end of the paths or the torii, Also along the trail there are a few areas to stop and take in the view of Kyoto which is prectacular as you eventually climb pretty high on the trail as it winds up the mountain, [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to USJ (Universal Studios Japan ) in Osaka with some friends from Kansai Gaidai and my host brother Tomoki. Now I have been to the Universal in Florida probably nearing 30 times now but the one in Japan was still a blast! The park is great, it is really similar to the US with rides like Spiderman, Jurassic Park, Back to the future and Jaws but it also has a Backdraft ride which was pretty awesome and a Waterworld show, now I know some of you are saying the movie was horrible, and it was but the show [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to the ancient capital of Japan, Nara. Nara served as Japan’s capital around the 8th century. Nara does not have the number of shrines and temples of Kyoto and is not a large city but has its own charm all the same and was one of my favorite places I have visited yet. Nara is filled with parks, and these parks and the surrounding city are filled and I mean filled with deer. I went to Nara with my friend Lisa who attended USF last year as an exchange student and is great. Nara has some of [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to Kaiyukan, which is the Osaka Aquarium, it was really great about 8 floors of fish tanks which begin on the top floor and you walk down a slowly decending spiral which leads through many different enviroments such as the Artic, The Great Barrier reef, the Japan forest and many other aquatic enviroments, It all finally leads to an exhibt simply called the Pacific Ocean which is about a 2 and a half story tank with many types of fish, many types of sharks some giant rays and the main attraction at Kaiyukan a Whale Shark that on [View Full Entry]

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Today I went to the Eisa festival in the Taisho district of Osaka. It was a really great festival. It was a field trip of sorts, but once we arrived we were free to roam and leave on our own. I only stayed maybe 3 hours but during the time I saw a lot of really great dancing and a lot of great music. There were a few different group of sanshin players which is a native instrument to Okinawa and really nice to listen to and there were even more large groups of drummers who played their drums and danced, [View Full Entry]

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After all the excitement of yesterday getting the energy together for a tour of a new district of Kyoto wasn’t easy but it is a beautiful city and shortly after arriving I was good to go. This trip I was guided by my home stay brother Tomoki who is the nicest guy you could ever meet. We went to the Gion district in Kyoto which is a very old and famous area where maiko or geisha in training or so I think can still be seen, first stop for us was the Yasaka Shrine. The Yasaka shrine is located on Shijodori [View Full Entry]

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Today with a group of guys I met from Union college which may be in New York I toured Himejijo or for the laymen Himeji Castle. Ok Ill stop being a prick but It was a beautiful castle. Originally A fort was built in its present location in 1333 but the castle in its current form was completed in 1609. It has been lived in by many famous Japanese such as Tokugawa Ieyasu. The castle was amazing, from the architecture to its, sheer overpowering size. But the real highlight of the day was the party we ran across before we went [View Full Entry]

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Ok So I havnt exactly been as up to date on posting to this site as I promised but this one should be good. Japan has been awesome to say the least. The first week I spent in the seminar houses on campus which are basically like apartments and I lucky and had some really good roommates and have hung out with the guys I met there a few times since and also have made other friends a long the way. The Japanese students at the school have been really nice and I have made a good number of Japanese friends [View Full Entry]

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Well its a few days late but last weekend my brother, Keith and I made a short trip to Fort Desoto, down in south St. Pete. It was a good trip, hot and humid but good other than sleeping in the heat. The park is really cool, campsites right on the water and the beach is less than a mile down the road. Lots of trails for running, biking and skating etc.... but overall my favorite park is the lack of development in the park lots of nature areas and wildlife around I recomemned anyone to visit, Ill post a few [View Full Entry]

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