Here are some more manhole covers from Iwate.

First up, Rikuzentakata, a small city on the Pacific coast. I'm not sure what all the designs represent, but the lumpy things around the outside might be sea pineapples (a delicacy of Iwate that most people in Japan wouldn't consider food).



Next up, Esashi. Esashi has a famous district of old warehouses.



Finally, Ezuriko, a village that became part of Kitakami City in 1991.

Beautiful wildflowers and pink azaleas alongside the Hitokabe River in Oshu City.

Or, "Where It All Began."



This is shouga-yaki, or ginger-glazed pan-fried pork. It was the first dish Matthew made out of his brand-new Japanese cookbook, and later, the first dish he made for me when I arrived in Kitakami. It's probably our favorite dinner, very quick, easy, and delicious — perfect on a night when we both had to work and still have some bedtime aftershocks to look forward to.

In Japan, the sakura are not just spectacular to look at — they also herald the coming spring. While the cherry blossoms distract everyone, the rest of the plant kingdom quietly push out their buds and flowers.

These photos are from the end of April.

The sun setting over the Sea of Japan, as seen from Tsubakiyama, Aomori.

A kame no ki (turtle tree) flowering in early May.

I remember crepuscular rays — light and dark bands radiating from the sun — as a common feature of sunsets in my childhood. Here, they can be seen very frequently, at any time of day.

This photo was taken in Tono, in mid-afternoon.

At a famous senbei (cracker/cookie) shop in Esashi, crackers are made by hand — one at a time. You need a reservation a week in advance to buy the popular varieties from this shop.

A poet grinds ink in preparation for writing his verse at Gokusui no En.

Last weekend, we attended Gokusui no En at Motsuji, a temple in Hiraizumi. Gokusui no En is a festival reenacting a popular entertainment among nobles during the Heian Period. To begin the event, a Buddhist priest places a theme on a small raft that then floats down a stream, followed by cups of sake.



Each member of a group of poets seated along the stream composes a short poem about the prescribed theme.



We've read that the poets who fail to complete their verses before the sake cup reaches them must drink, but it seemed like all of them ended up drinking sake at some point.