Archives

Show All

  • 2009
  • 2008
    • December
    • November
    • October
    • September
    • August
    • July
    • June
    • May
      • Drivin'
        05/30/08
        Hachimantai is a mountain and national park that straddles the border between Iwate and Akita. It's also the scene of the "Aspite Line", a very scenic drive that crosses the mountain near its summit. Even in May, there was plenty of snow near the top.



        On the I

      • God of the Sea
        05/29/08
        This carved figure of the God of the Sea is perched in the rafters of a small pavilion over a picnic table at the Goishi Coast. I'm not sure I could eat my lunch with him lookin' at me.


      • Itsy Bitsy Spider
        05/28/08
        I found this tiny little spider hiding in a downspout at Chusonji


      • Fukusenji Lions
        05/28/08
        Buddhist temples are usually guarded by lions. This one, at the bottom of the hill, guards the main gate to Fukusenji.



        This one a female, I think stands guard near the top of the hill, outside the main temple hall.


      • Firefighters' Parade
        05/27/08
        At Jinku Matsuri, the traditional festival dances shared time with a procession of a different sort.



        According to our local friends, this part of the festival was a callback to the firefighters of old. The men are carrying standards of the sort fire companies use to identify

      • Dancing the Bad Luck Away
        05/26/08
        Earlier this month, we attended Jinku Matsuri in Esashi, a small town south of Kitakami. Jinku Matsuri is a festival featuring dances performed by people from Esashi who are celebrating their 25th or 42nd birthdays. 25 and 42 are traditionally yakudoshi years for men, but both men and women perfor

      • Chicks at the Beach
        05/23/08


        What, you were expecting a cheesecake shot?

        My new pal is the mascot for Kamome no Tamago,a treat from the Iwate coast town of Ofunato. Kamome no tamago literally means "seagull egg." The treats are little egg-shaped cakes filled with yellow bean jam and coated wit

      • Suwa-jinja
        05/21/08
        We've blogged about the numerous small shrines scattered throughout Kitakami City, but we haven't talked about the big one. Suwa-jinja, located in the heart of Kitakami, is approximately 1200 years old according to some sources. It was undergoing major renovation throughout much of 2007,

      • The Guardian
        05/20/08
        Stone lion standing guard outside a hilltop shrine in Rikuzentakata, a town on the Iwate coast.

      • On the Rocks
        05/18/08
        Having visitors is the perfect prod to do all the things you've wanted to do, but haven't. Like going to the Iwate coast it's so close, and yet we'd never been. So on a beautiful Tuesday morning, we prepared for a day trip to the coast, stopping at Hige-oyaji's place for

      • O-hanami
        05/17/08
        One of the main reasons our houseguests chose to visit us in the spring was the sakura o-hanami, or flower-viewing, is a big deal in Japan. The Japan Meteorological Association publishes "sakura forecasts" throughout the spring so that people can plan their o-hanami trips accordingly. A

      • The Great Butter Shortage of '08
        05/16/08
        Rice shortages have been in the news over the last month or so as rice-exporting countries have begun withholding supplies to feed their own people. The shortages don't appear to be affecting Japan, but the country is running low on something important: butter. For the last three weeks or so

      • Let's Vacation!
        05/06/08
        Sorry for the lack of new postings over the past week; we've been busy with houseguests. We're going on a road trip tomorrow, so we'll be offline for about a week. See you when we get back!

    • April
    • March
    • February
    • January
  • 2007