Japan, Year 3 - part 1

Yugo and his folks are just back from Japan after two weeks of fun, food and temples! in the hot, hot late-July and early August weather. The hours are upside down and it may be noon Saturday, though it feels like midnight Sunday, and Yugo is fast asleep. Here is a first posting, with more to come.

First day, after arriving in Nishiwaki, an early morning walk along the river. It would seem that cement is popular in Japan as a way of channeling nature, or at least exercising a modicum of control. Whole mountainsides are covered with cement lattices to prevent landslides and the rivers often have cement channels and rapids built in. Just an observation.

The shrine on Doji mountain at the end of a quiet street where a kind gentleman (who never told us his name) took us after we met along the riverbank. There is a pilgrimage of 33 temples in the Kansai area, but conveniently, there are 33 statues behind this shrine, which avoids the hassles of a long trek. (we, however, avoided this convenience and went to all 33 temples. Ha, ha, I jest. But we saw many a temple, and beautiful ones at that. Just wait).

Also on Doji-yama is this cool pirate playground, which Yugo loved, and to which we returned the next morning. It seemed like a great place, and we wondered why it looked so neglected. As it turns out, it wasn't because of the deafening sounds of the nearby cage of turtledoves and ducks or the trees full of cicadas, but because it was the number one hobo hangout and suicide spot in town. A bummer, to say the least, but it did not daunt Yugo in his sacred quest to play with dirt and rocks in every city in Japan.
From the top of Doji-yama, a view of Nishiwaki. The Yamamoto household is down there somewhere, but this picture is most telling for the mountains, which were a constant presence throughout our travels and always a lush, dark green.
And, of course, as Yugo and his father soon learned, Nishiwaki has a deserved reputation as the best dressed city in Japan.