Month: November 2001

  • To Tomioka lighthouse, Amakusa island

    The gent had some work to do on Amakusa island. I haven’t been here before, so it seemed like a good idea. However, there is no motorway to the island, only quite busy normal roads. We stopped by the five famous bridges of Amakusa, where I took some quick snaps, and at another tourist site…

  • Rainy day in Kyushu

    It wasn’t a very good place. First, the wind picked up considerably, and my bivvy bag flapped so furiously that I couldn’t sleep. I moved nearer to the buildings, out of the wind. This was fine until it began raining lightly. There were some covered seats nearby, so I lay between them, snatching a few…

  • Hagi samurai walls

    As always, my impressions of a place are highly dependant on the weather. I wandered around for a while, and the clouds gradually cleared, allowing me to take lots of photographs. Hagi is famous for its Edo period walls, samurai houses, natsumikan (bitter mandarins) and Hagiyaki pottery. I tried to make sure I found photos…

  • Yamaguchi temples and pagodas

    The view of St. Xavier’s church, with fog in the foreground, was, I’m told, very beautiful. Today, however, there was no fog. I climbed the small mountain instead. I was too late to catch the best of the sun. Sometimes I sleep in – pulling my hat over my eyes so that I can’t tell…

  • Kintaikyo bridge, Iwakuni, Yamaguchi-ken

    I awoke at about six, so connected onto the Internet to update my homepage. It took quite a long time, since I seem to select lots of my photos. I think I will need to weed out my photos, or perhaps have two versions of the program – one for the CD and the other…

  • Church and Kagura dancing, Hiroshima

    I took several CDs to church with me – just in case. It was a medium-sized church, by Japanese standards. The high school students sang one song partially in English. Many Japanese pop singers insert English lines into their songs, so I guess this was nothing unusual. I only understood a little of the sermon…

  • Mitakiji Temple and Mt. Hijiyama, Hiroshima

    We took the bus down to the station. The bus was at 8.45, I was told. This, of course, is the time to be ready by – about five minutes before the time the bus actually departed. Then there was a train journey to our destination – Mitaki Temple. Apparently, there are three waterfalls here.…

  • Sandankyo walk and waterfalls, Hiroshima-ken

    The Takeda family suggested I stay until Monday, since Mr. Takeda is going to work in Iwakuni, and could drive me all the way to the Kintaikyo bridge. It seemed like a good idea to me. Today is a public holiday, so they took me to Sandankyo. It was an hour’s drive from their home,…

  • Peace Park and A-bomb dome haiku, Hiroshima

    We arrived at Asa in the morning, and had a Japanese-style breakfast. The gentleman pointed to the hillside opposite, saying that there were probably wild boar living there. It wasn’t long before I was on my way into Hiroshima. By now I was quite tired, so I think I slept most of the way. It…

  • Tetsugaku path to Nanzen Temple, Kyoto

    Sleeping in a hostel usually means getting up late, and making the most of the available power. I thought it would only be seven when I arose. It was almost eight. I continued to work on the computer, and didn’t have any breakfast, just a glass or two of water. I’ll probably use this hostel…