In hindsight, it wasn’t a good idea to use the computer last night. I had the opportunity to get a good night’s sleep, but instead achieved very little and stayed up late. I got up at four a.m. after only four hours asleep. By 4.20 I was on the road with not a soul in…

I did some more computing when I arose, after a cold night. It came to an end when I heard someone unlocking a door and sounding official – perhaps a cleaner come to wash the place out. As this was a holiday, I walked to the city library. The librarian I asked said that there…

It was slightly cloudy when I got up – after a van had almost driven over me to get into the castle. Photographing flowers is very difficult. I felt that there was beauty, beauty everywhere, but not a drop for me (apologies to purist for whom this may be a misquote.) Thinking there may be…

I rather goofed my estimation of East. The sun rose behind a mountain. Next time I’ll use my compass rather than guessing from a public map. So I walked quickly to another temple the other side of town (Komeiin, I think), expecting it to be quite large and impressive. It wasn’t. I returned to Tenmongu,…

During breakfast, Aki asked if I could give an English lesson to the children – they are all beginners. I had just 30 minutes to pack all my bags and think up a lesson plan. I decided to give them parts of the body, because they probably hadn’t done it yet, some of the words…

Some gents came in at about 5.30 a.m. to put the lights on, so I was glad I hadn’t stayed in the main hall. I was up a little later, and since no one was around, started up the computer again. There is a lot to catch up on, especially the diary. It takes a…

Two cups of hot coffee are an excellent way to start the day. One of the homeless guys walked in, while I was brewing up, so I offered him a cup. When he discovered that I was on a budget of only 1000 yen per day, he began looking through his bag, pulling out several…

I missed the free ride with the newspaper boat, and with another one that suddenly took off. It didn’t matter, since sunrise was slightly cloudy and the shrine points west, not east. I was over on the first boat. The tide was out, but it meant I was able to walk up to the shrine…

I was up at 5.30 to watch the sunrise. It got up in quite the wrong direction. However, I was able to find a few pleasant angles and ran round taking photos, leaving all my stuff in the rest area hut. It’s fairly safe to do so in Japan, especially when there’s no one around.…

Someone, I assume a police officer, disturbed me at half past four, opening the door, then setting the lock so that it stayed locked. I didn’t go back to sleep, so got up and started using the computer. Just before 6 another gentleman came and mumbled something. I figured it was time to pack up…