Blogs from Iwate, Japan, Asia - page 2

I was up early this morning (Monday Japan-time, still Sunday I believe old time) and wrote the longest entry about my arrival and the first morning I stayed here only to accidentally bump my laptop and closed the browser window. This laptop is extremely sensitive to small movements. I thought I might have saved a draft of the entry, but I hadn't. I was a bit encouraged when I found three comments on my blog, as the site never notified me anyone attempted to comment so that I could moderate them. Although I'm not doing an adequate job, at least some people might be enjoying the updates and photos. There is so much to share that I feel I'm not doing an adequate job, but instead I'll include a few more photographs of the time I ... read more

Today I headed off to Iwate prefecture's capital, Morioka. This city is much bigger than Mizusawa or Hiraizumi and more used to foreigners, which meant that much more was written in Romaji (Japanese written phonetically in Roman letters) or in English. The journey itself was very picturesque, taking us through paddy fields and villages, with a stunning mountaineous backdrop. Morioka itself was... cold and grey (although not actually raining). Having walked around Chuson-ji the day before, I decided to give Morioka's temple district a miss and headed instead for the park with the ruins of the old castle and the Sakura (cherry blossom) shrine. Some cherry blossom - the weeping cherry trees - was still out and made for a stunning backdrop. The castle and grounds are now the city park, and give commanding views over ... read more

Having waved goodbye to LA (but not without sampling the famous cupcakes at Sprinkles, Rodeo Drive, being caught on camera and going to my first Bollywood party); endured the flight to Tokyo, and the train journey to Mizusawa-Esashi station in the middle of nowhere (or so it seemed to me), I made it through my first day in Japan. I'm in Mizusawa, a town so small it doesn't even register on the blog map (although that's hopefully being remedied as I write). Quaint, pretty and extremely friendly. I set out mid-morning, on foot, to explore; managed to find the high street, with various fascinatingly unfamiliar shops and restaurants and the train statiion. One highly confused conversation with a long-suffering train master later, and I am armed with a train timetable and the knowledge that I can ... read more

Let's begin "get out of Sendai" weekend with the 1st first visit yesterday. I headed out to big and wide Tono Valley yesterday. Tono is famous for folklore and having a very easily accessible rural scene. There are wide ride fields here and many different places to ride a rented bike or car. When I left Sendai yesterday morning it didn't look cloudy at all. By the time I got into Shin-Hanamaki station it was pouring a cold and bitter rain. I asked the lady at the information desk if she thought I should even try to go into Tono today and she told me that I should be ok if I stick to the museums. I got into Tono after about 2 hours and found myself in Kappa land. Kappa are a piece of japanese ... read more

I'm writing this from about 100m below the bottom of the sea separating Hokkaido and Honshu. Today's just a pure travel day, my next real destination is Matsumoto, near Nagano. Yesterday was a nothing day, didn't sleep well the night before, the pictures below were taken the previous nights. Last night was stuck in the same dorm room as a snorer so again not much rest... stopping tonight in Morioka going to try checking in to a real hotel just so I can have a good nights rest, but failing that there's a rather nice capsule inn right by the station... somewhere I think. Morioka's a pretty cool little city stayed here a few nights my last trip. Didn't book my tickets for this ahead of time so stuck in the non reserved area of the ... read more