Blogs from Tottori, Japan, Asia

Kyoto Sakaïminato Haïku du jour : Dans le prunier blanc La nuit désormais Se change en aube ( Buson) Départ de l'hôtel à 8h après avoir expédié nos bagages à Matsuyama que nous rejoindrons dans cinq jours. D'ici là nous voyagerons sac à dos et tout d'abord direction Okayama en Shinkansen. Puis correspondance pour Yonago où nous enchaînons avec un tchou-tchou qui ramène les enfants de l'école et nous dépose 15 arrêts plus tard à Sakaïminato. Nous voici dans la ville natale du célèbre dessinateur de mangas Shigeru Misuki dont les nombreux personnages de Iokaïs qu'il a créés dans les années 70 peuplent littéralement la ville.... read more

The other day I was lucky enough to get to enjoy a meal prepared by the famous 知久馬先生 at the Ohashi Ryokan (大橋旅館)。（Chikuma). There were a ton of dishes served, and each one was better than the last. Mr. Chikuma himself is a cool dude. I had met him at a conference a few months earlier, and he certainly did not fail his reputation. Tottori is known for its famous seafood, and when I go home I am going to miss it a lot. Any time I go out for sushi I can rest assured that it was caught that morning, and you can REALLY taste the difference. Misasa, the town where Ohashi Ryokan is located, is a hot spring town that attracts a good deal of domestic tourists from the Kansai area. It's spring waters ... read more

I've realized that I only have a little over a month until my time in Japan is over...so I've been keeping insanely busy with extra-curriculars and not enough time packing. Don't worry, Mom, I'll make it work! What have I been doing?? Here's the rundown: I performed and competed in our local "talent"/karaoke contest that's held every year called Tottori Idol (a take off on the original Pop Idol show). A couple friends and I performed the song called "Shuchishin", it was popular here in Japan last year? We memorized the lyrics in Japanese and the dance too! We even got custom shirts made. We won 2nd place which was a ticket to the annual San-In Beach Party. We're splitting it so it comes down to 2000 yen off per person per ticket we buy! Not ... read more

Idag har vi varit i Kyoto med Tommie och Chika. Vi blev trötta av det. Fast kul var det i alla fall. Vi åkte till ett ställe som heter Sanjusangendo där det finns 1000 buddhor i normaljapanstorlek och en bamsebuddha. 1001 buddhor blir det alltså totalt om jag inte räknar fel. De stod uppställda i långa rader inne i en stor byggnad. Ganska häftigt faktiskt. Tyvärr fick man inte ta några bilder därinne så om man vill se hur det såg ut på insidan får man klicka url=http://images.google.co.jp/images?sourceid=navclient&hl=ja&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4GGLR_jaSE239SE240&q=sanjusangendo&um=1&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=4&ct=titlehär. Efter det promenerade vi genom Kyoto i solskenet och allt var bra. Huvudgrejen med det här inlägget är dock något annat. I helgen tog nämligen jag och Mami bussen till Kurayoshi, Tottori, för att hälsa på hennes familj. Det vart någon olycka på vägen dit så r... read more

A darkening sky and regular rain showers was not the start to the long weekend that I was hoping for. Never mind, hopefully it will keep a few people at home I thought. The plan was to meet my friend in Matsue and head up the coast to check out beaches and the Tottori Sand Dunes. When pouring rain began to give way to small patches of pale blue we knew we'd made the right decision by pushing on. After stopping to watch the sunset from a rocky bay, which I'm sure does have an actual name, we headed further up to find a place to stop for the night. We'd both packed sleeping bags and figured we'd just crash on a beach somewhere. No set time schedule, very much a play-it-by-ear getaway - the kind ... read more