Getsu no hamabe de nemuru

Today we slept in, went to lunch (tasty buffet), then hit the beach. The water was not what one would call warm, but much better than Reveeah Beach (and crystal clear). We managed to find some sunscreen, so we didn't get too fried. It's a very small bottle, though; this is either because most Japanese have little surface area, or they don't actually take off their clothes at the beach. (Or maybe they don't use it.) Anyway, we had to buy a couple more.

I've posted some photos of the beach and hotel for your viewing enjoyment.

After the beach, we hit the pool, which was nicely heated and somehow nearly deserted. I think we've arrived just at the start of the season, so maybe no one will be here this week and we'll have the place to ourselves. Probably everyone is off in Kyoto looking at cherry blossoms, but at least we're warm.

For dinner we did some more exploring, and found a wacky touristy restaurant called Jam. It was sort of a Hawaiian- or island- (or maybe Okinawan-)themed Japanese steakhouse, where you select a course including a steak or seafood and the food is prepared at a grill in front of you. It's like Benihana, but without the goofy theatrics. The ambience was nice, and the food was very good. Michelle liked the aquarium in the coolest bathroom ever. The men's room didn't have any aquarium, but the sinks were giant sea clam shells.

We're stuffed and sleepy. Tomorrow more of the same.

Okinawa ho!

Today we somehow managed to pack up, check out of the hotel, and make the long bus ride from Kyoto to Osaka Kansai airport in time for our flight to Okinawa. After the sake fest of the previous night, I'm still very impressed that we made it.

The JAL flight to Naha, Okinawa was pleasant. Michelle was amazed by the efficient yet very pleasant and polite security. It was almost like they were in customer service rather than security. Eric enjoyed watching the 700 people get off the plane before we boarded. (It was a very large plane for a two-hour trip, but then again they use 747s for the 45 minute flight between Osaka and Tokyo.) At the Okinawa airport, Michelle was impressed by the large, multi-chromatic array of real orchids. Her mom wouldn't have made it out of the airport. Alas, we didn't take photos, but hopefully on the way back.

Okinawa seems like an interesting place. The bus ride to the hotel showed some interesting scenery, but many of the buildings seem a bit run-down. It is, I believe, the poorest Japanese prefecture, relying on certain agricultural products for commerce. Tourism is now an important industry, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

We arrived at Moonbeach Hotel around 5:30 pm, about an hour before sunset. The hotel is probably typical of the resorts that sprang up post-war, but the beach is great and the water is a beautiful aqua-marine (imagine that). The western exposure promises some nice sunsets (and we have an ocean-view room). We took some photos, but we'll post them tomorrow.

For dinner, we gave the hotel restaurants a pass and wandered off-campus to look for one of the fabled Okinawa A&W's. We didn't find one, but we found an Italian place with a very enthusiastic hostess. She taught us the Japanese for "walnut" (kurumi; we taught her the English), which we enjoyed with gorgonzola cheese on a pizza. We also discovered the Okinawa sweet potato, imo, which seems very popular as an ice cream (it's purple, too). After dinner we had largely forgotten our unpleasant morning-after-sake (sake no ato no asa, aka bleah).

Onsen to sake

Today was our last full day in Kyoto, and probably our last chance to visit a natural hot spring (onsen) before leaving for Okinawa. Before leaving the hotel, we noticed a hawk circling in the strong breeze over the river right outside our room. I tried to take some photos but don't think they came out very well. Take a look at those and the other photos from the day.

We took a two-car train north out of Kyoto, to the small town of Kurama in the mountains. The hour-long ride was a lot of fun, with some very nice scenery and occasional snow showers. (The weather had changed overnight, and a strong northwesterly breeze was causing some "ocean effect" snow squalls in the mountains.) After arriving at the end of the line with a handful of other tourists (mostly Japanese), we walked a little bit up the main road of the sleepy village, which looked not unlike a Pennsylvania town. The town policeman was sitting by the side of the road and greeted us as we passed. We found the hot spring spa, which comprises an inn with indoor and outdoor baths and various other relaxation amenities.

The outdoor hot spring bath was what we came for, and the weather turned out to be excellent for it. The men's and women's baths were separate, which is typical in Japan since WWII, so we went our separate ways. After showering thoroughly at a sit-down washing station we were each sufficiently cleansed and mentally prepared to soak. The water was nice and warm, and soon after Eric got in, there was a brief snow squall. (Michelle was still discovering the ropes and showering, apparently.) The cool snow and breeze mixed with the hot water and steam was something to experience. Michelle got a snow squall a bit later, and liked the idea that she could sit starkers outside in the snow and not be cold. She also thought the white snow against the green mountains was beautiful.

After a couple hours of soaking, showering, sitting, and soaking, we recovened and returned through town to the station. The policeman was still there, but had switched to the other side of the road, maybe in preparation for rush hour. The train ride back was nice after the relaxing soak, and we spent a little while shopping and wandering in Kyoto. We also went to a tea shop and sampled some of the offerings.

For dinner we met a former colleague of Michelle's "cousin" Jerry. He's from Alabama, is working in Osaka, and speaks fluent Japanese. He and his girlfriend took us to a restaurant on an old Kyoto street, where we had some great shabu-shabu. After that we went to a nearby sake bar, and had some delicious (and not-so-delicious) sake, and probably too much. The evening was a lot of fun, and we hope to meet up with them again sometime. (These things have a strange way of happening, in any event.)

Kaiyoubi Kyoto ni

The forecast was for rain today, but there was some sun when we awoke. We decided to visit an internet cafe (our hotel lacks internet access for some reason) and do some shopping in Kyoto. We have photos. On the way to the cafe, we stopped in a wood-block print shop, where an old Japanese man showed us a number of prints he had collected and restored. It was interesting, and we ended up buying a landscape print made in 1862 by Higashime II (son-in-law of Higashime the elder, another wood-block artist). We chatted (sort of) a bit about how he repaired the prints, patching wormholes and cleaning stains.

A walk away from the shopping arcade brought us to a quiet street, where we found Lulu ("ruru"?), a funky studenty internet cafe on the second floor of a house. The house special was Loco Moco (aka "roko-moko"), a rice dish with a fried egg, hamburger patty, and gravy of our choice. We got one chilli ("takosu") and one beef stew, and they were tasty. Then we spent a couple rainy hours checking our email and updating our blog and photos. For much of the time we were the only ones in the place, and the Hawaiian radio station kept us entertained. ("Vote NO on the private property referrendum!")

In the midst of a torrential downpour, we decided to try some more shopping. Our "Old Kyoto" book demanded that we look for a fan (sensu) shop nearby, and when we couldn't find the one in the book, we wandered into another one. It was obviously a family business, with an old man constructing the fans in the shop, hammering away to attach the wooden sticks to the paper (maybe). A young woman (either his daughter or wife, we didn't ask) showed us a number of beautiful fans. He told us he was busy making fans for cherry blossom season, and many of the fans we saw (per our request) had sakura or ume (plum blossom) themes. There was also a young kid there getting into mischief. The store was a lot of fun, and it was interesting to talk to them about fans, as far as we could.

After that we wandered around the shopping arcade, buying some cinnamon sweets (a Kyoto special, nikki), looking at $2000 knives, and trying to find some good Engrish T-shirts. One of the teenage sales clerks tried out his English on me in an attempt to get me to buy ("T-shirt good, yes? Today cold, yes? Rain too.") and I answered him in Japanese. ("Hai, ii desu yo. Hai, samui desu neh. Demo kino wa ataka...ataka...atataka? Hmm.") It was a bit odd. The $2000 knife shop was interesting, in that a lot of the merchandise was hand-made, with the craftsman hammering away at things in the back. We managed to escape without purchasing an illegal carry-on. At a sweet shop, we bought some local favorites, tsukimochi or moon cakes. We just ate them, and they were tasty.

For dinner we went to a place serving Kyoto home-style cooking (obanzai-ryouri or possibly kyo-ryouri). We sat at the counter, much like the kushikatsu place of the night before, although this place was much more crowded with locals. (Lots of salarimen, lots of drinking, especially for a Tuesday, so it's clear we found a good local place.) The menu was completely unintelligible, probably even for the Japanese customers, but the counter was lined with large bowls containing the possible choices. So we pointed and asked questions and ordered things like fish, dumplings, and matzoh balls (that's what they looked like, anyway). It was sort of like Spanish tapas, with little dishes of lots of different stuff. We had some little grilled fish, head, skin and all; some kinki, which looked like red snapper, but smaller; dumplings; a tasty, fat-covered, cured pork in broth; and various vegetable and tofu dishes. Some beer and sake, and we entertained the locals for a little while.

Otera to tabemono

Today we spent touring the temple area of eastern Kyoto. You can follow along with our photos. First we walked along the Kamogawa river, then eastward to the Gion district, where (apparently) all the geisha hang out. It was morning, though, so I guess they were all sleeping. The first site we saw was the Yasaka pagoda at Hokanji temple. This tower is 150 feet tall and was originally built in 589 AD, apparently the oldest temple in Kyoto. It has burned down and been rebuilt several times since, most recently in 1440. We were able to enter the pagoda and see a buddha and bodhisattva statues, as well as some decaying but intricate wall paintings. We could also go up to the second floor and look at the structure of the pagoda, which was even more interesting.

From there, we wandered up through narrow, tourist-choked streets to Kiyomizu temple, one of the most popular in Kyoto. It was pretty crowded, which makes me wonder just how unpleasant it is when cherry blossoms are actually out. (They're just starting to bud now, we're hopeful we'll see some before we leave.) First we payed 100 yen to go down into a pitch black hallway and feel our way to a wishing stone, where we wished for enlightenment. In the temple itself there were some interesting paintings, and lots of sake offerings to some god or other. The rest of the temple was mainly an overlook to the valley below, and it was very crowded, so we didn't spend too long.

We once again wandered down with the rest of the tourist, past the souvenirs shops (but pausing briefly at the donut robot stand). We saw several geisha types, although it was hard to tell which were authentic and which were pretend. Michelle detected some falsities with the hair; at one point, however, a group of geisha passed in hand-drawn carts, and they seemed to be the real article. Everyone took pictures, Japanese and foreigner alike, so we didn't feel too dumb.

It was lunch time at this point, and Michelle looked in our "Old Kyoto" book and discovered an interesting restaurant nearby, but off the beaten path. It's called "Ikkyu-an", a restaurant serving Chinese-style Zen cuisine (fucha ryori). The "menu" (there's only one choice) consists of an eight-course vegetarian meal, including black sesame tofu, vegetables in a sweet sauce, tempura, grilled eggplant with miso (even Eric liked it), rice, miso soup, and a few other things. The meal was served in a traditional tatami-mat room with a view of the garden and mountains. We felt very peaceful afterwards, and were ready for a nice siesta in the sun.

Nevertheless, we set off in search of more temples. We were off our planned route at this point, so we weren't entirely sure where we went, but we found a nice (uncrowded) temple on a hill, possibly Choraku-ji temple. After that we wandered through Maruyama Park, which was quite pleasant, and we saw the big unblossoming weeping cherry tree. At the far end of the park were some more (touristy) temples, but they were closing for the day, so we were unable to enter.

We continued our trek north along the mountains' edge to the museum area, where we went into the Heian shrine. There were some nice gardens here, but it was near closing so we didn't go in. The shrine itself was very expansive, and I found a cool print of the Suzaku deity, the namesake of the X-ray satellite. I'm taking it back to MIT to hang in the hallway. We walked back to the hotel along the canal, passing an early 20th century hydroelectric dam capable of 300 kW output. Get those hair dryers ready!

For dinner, the "Old Kyoto" book suggested a kushikatsu restaurant across the street from the hotel. This is a form of kushiage cuisine, where kushi = skewered and katsu = fried stuff. We sat at the counter and ordered a set course of 20 skewers (and the necessary beer and chuuhai). Behind the counter, two chefs prepared the food, one breading various items while the other worked the fryer. The latter would then bring us the skewers, each containing a breaded and fried meat or vegetable which we could dip in sauce or salt. We ate things like chicken, shrimp (head and all, yum!), fish, scallop, pork with asparagus, pork with butter (mmm), pork with pork, lotus root, you get the idea. Some fruit and green tea rounded out the meal.

In all, it was a day filled with delicious and interesting food and sites.

Noh Theater Today

Today we left Norbert and Hitomi's place for Kyoto. It took one hour by train. We sent our luggage ahead, which made the trip much easier. Our hotel is on the Kamogawa (a river running through central Kyoto). The room is very nice, with a river view with the mountains in the distance. We can hear the rushing water.

As soon as we got checked into the hotel, we left for the Kongo Nohgakudo theater to see some Noh. There were several Noh plays in the program, which lasted most of the afternoon. The two main plays included one named "Arashi-yama", which celebrates the cherry blossoms on Mount Arashi-yama (aka Storm Mountain, west of Kyoto), and the protection of the gods that the blossoms symbolize. The other play called "Koya Monogurui" is the story of a retainer who has to care for his late master's young son. The boy runs away to join the Buddhist monks. When the boy runs away, the retainer searches everywhere for him and goes nigh crazy. In the end, they are reunited and go off together to continue their new spiritual life. There was also a comedy (a kyogen play) called "Tsukuzukushi" about two poets who ridicule each other's attempts at poetry. Their verbal sparring eventually degenerates into a sumo match.

It was an interesting experience. The theater was very nice, with a beautiful, but simple, set. There were no props, except for what the actor could carry, such as a fan or a sword. It felt much like a Greek play, with the chorus on stage. The "orchestra" was two (or three) men drumming and a flutist. At the beginning of the play, the musicians and chorus came on stage with their instruments, and they remained for the duration of the play. Any costume or prop adjustment was made on-stage by costumed men. Unlike western plays, there was no emotion shown. The actors (no girls allowed!) chanted the whole play, and the blocking was all dancing, which basically was precise motion with stomping and some arm movement. The music was difficult for us - the musicians were (loudly) chanting non-word sounds in addition to the drums and flute, the chorus was singing, and the actors were chanting, sometimes all at once, in pentatonic scales. Noh masks were used when portraying a non-human (any god) or a woman, or special characters. Sometimes a man or three would come out on stage, sit for a few minutes and leave. We don't know why. Google-san might have an answer, but he's not available at the moment.

Because there was no scenery, or curtain, scenes could change without the actors leaving the stage. As a result, there were often times when characters not involved in the action (and not even present in the scene location) were still on stage. This could have made it confusing, but fortunately the story was simple and the progression slow enough that we could follow from our English crib sheet.

After the show, we walked back to the hotel through the (former) Imperial palace grounds. The peach and apricot groves were blooming, and the dogs were frolicking, but Noh cherry blossoms yet. We have a few more days before leaving Kansai, so hopefully they'll at least make an appearance before then.

For dinner we found an Indian place nearby and got butter chicken and saag mutton (which was probably lamb). The saag was very green, and very tasty. So was the green banana lassi Michelle got, although it was a bit more neon. The second drink was also bright, but peachy colored. Dessert was a mango bavarois, aka "mango babarowa", a soft mango custard thing in milk with cardamom. We also got some black sesame ice cream, which seems to have an addictive ingredient.

Ninjutsu to shuriken

Today Norbert drove us in his Mini east to the village of Ueno in Iga, one of the centers of ninja training in feudal Japan. There was a ninja house, with hidden doors, hiding places, escape routes, traps, and all sorts of cool ninja tricks. There was also a museum of artifacts, including weaponry like the dagger disguised as a flute (Michelle's favorite). But the main draw was a short ninja demonstration of martial arts techniques. We even got to throw shuriken (throwing stars) for prizes. I have some photos.

As an added benefit, Eric learned how to navigate Japanese roads with the Japanese version of StreetAtlas ("Super Mapple", no that's not a typo, nor a tasty syrup).

For dinner we went to Dotombori, the entertainment hub of Osaka and home to the giant moving crab, among other things. It felt like Times Square, complete with crazy people with hair-do's from the 80's. The restaurant was Bikkuri Donkii, or the Startled Donkey, a hambahgu resutoran with a wide variety of Japanese-style hamburgers (basically salisbury steaks) in a gold-mine themed setting. For dessert we had "princess of strawberry castle" sundaes. Well, Michelle did, Eric won't admit it. He'll just say he had coffee.

Kabuki ja nai ga, Osaka-jo wa kirei desu

Today we didn't do a whole lot. We had planned to go to kabuki and possibly an onsen, but it turned out kabuki doesn't start in Osaka until April (much like bunraku, and despite much information to the contrary). The onsen also turned out to be problematic to get to. So instead Eric and Norbert returned to Den-Den town to get a new digital camera, which so far seems really good (it's a Fuji FinePix F460, with a nice big, bright LCD screen). Michelle helped Hitomi do some grocery shopping, and we had a tasty home-cooked lunch (yakisoba or fried noodles) and dinner (sukiyaki). Oishikatta desu yo! In the afternoon we walked the short distance to Osaka-jo koen, the park surrounding Osaka castle. I got to try out my new camera by taking some photos. Let me know what you think.

Shika wa fuku o tabemasu

Today we went with Norbert up into the mountains east of Osaka to Nara. This is a former capital of Japan, and contains some very old structures, along with a number of friendly, freely roaming deer, and a giant Buddha. We have a bunch of photos. The Buddha was very large, over 50 feet high. The whole thing was awe-inspiring. Another highlight was a nearby temple up in the hills, from which the view was quite amazing. Alas, my camera stopped working just before we got up there, so I was unable to photograph it. But the deer and Buddha are there.

For dinner we returned to Osaka and went to a favorite yaki-niku place with Norbert, Hitomi, and Erika-chan. Cooking our own food wasn't too much work, and was well worth the effort. Mmmm.

Den-den Town

Today we checked out of the hotel and headed off to Norbert and Hitomi's place in Tsuruhashi (near Namba in dowtown Osaka) to spend a few days. We managed to wrangle all of our luggage onto and off of the subway without major incident. It was raining and cold, so we didn't do much the rest of the day, except check out Den-Den Town (denki and denkaseihin, or electrics and electronics). This is a street (and sidestreets) lined with innumerable electronics stores, which is quite fun, if you're male.

For dinner we went to a big conveyor-belt sushi restaurant, Kura Sushi, where every dish was 100 yen. Here is a photos showing some random person eating there to give you the idea (I just found this on the web, didn't take any pictures). It was a family-oriented place, with lots of kids having fun grabbing plates and returning them down the magic chute, with every five plates getting you a chance to win a wacky prize featuring the restaurant's sushi characters. It was tasty and fun too!

Ozumo ya okonomiyaki ya tanjoobi

Today was Michelle's birthday, and since nothing says "Happy Birthday" like large, sweaty men hitting each other, I took her to watch sumo. We met a friend from Osaka U., Norbert-san, and went to the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium to watch day ten of the March Grand Sumo Tournament (I took some pictures). It was a lot of fun; we got there while the lower ranks were still battling, so the seats were only about 20% full. These bouts went pretty fast, as there was little time allowed for stomping and posturing (and no salt throwing), but the fighting was pretty spirited. The fighting got even better through juryo division, and by the time makuuchi started, the crowd was bigger and really getting into the action. In the notable bouts, Hakuho downed his opponent to remain unbeaten and tied for the lead, helping his chances for promotion to ozeki; Kotooshu, fighting a knee injury, beat fellow ozeki and native son Kaio to improve to 7-2; Tochiazuma won to improve his chances at making yokozuna; and yokozuna Asashoryu handily dispatched his opponent to remain unbeaten. Our seats were pretty good, not within spitting distance (which is good), but not in the nosebleed section. It was a lot of fun to see all of the rituals and crowd reactions in person.

After sumo we went out for okonomiyaki with Norbert, his wife Hitomi and their 9-month-old daughter Erika. This was apparently the best okonomiyaki ("grilled stuff the way you like it") place in Osaka, and for Michelle's first experience, it was a success. It was also much better than any okonomiyaki Eric's had before as well.

Himeji-jo wa kirei yo

Today we headed out for Himeji Castle in Kobe prefecture. It was Michelle's first trip in the shinkansen. We don't know how fast we were going, but it was a great way to travel. We both enjoyed the trip.

A 15 minute walk from the train station puts you at the front gate of the castle. It was a beautiful day, and we hope the pictures do some justice, but probably not. The sheer scale was incredible. Parts of the castle have been destroyed, but it has been continuously built/expanded from about 750 AD through 1900, when they switched to restoring it. We spent about 4 hours exploring. We discovered the Hara-kiri court, which still has an (creepy) aura in it. We stopped off for lunch (Eric had anago-don- marinated sea eel over rice, and Michelle had katsu-kuri, curried pork) and soft-serve. Michelle had black sesame, which was strong, but quite addicting. Then we headed off for the gardens. The gardens were quite nice, although none of the cherry blossoms were in bloom yet. There were some plum trees blossoming, some nice waterfalls, some monstrous carp, and some peaceful settings.

After a quick return trip on the shinkansen, we arrived in Osaka, tuckered out from all the stair-climbing. For dinner we went to the basement of a nearby department store, where one can typically find all manner of restaurants spanning a wide range of cuisine. (That's where we also had sushi the first night.) We found a good yakitori place, apparently owned by a former sumo rikishi, judging by the décor. Yakitori consists of things grilled on skewers, mostly different parts of the chicken (tori = chicken, yaki = burn or grill). We had chicken meatballs, chicken with leeks, Japanese peppers, chicken hearts, chicken livers (and more chicken livers, mmm). A tasty bowl of chazuke finished off the meal.

Ume matsuri wa omoshirokatta desu

The chisai josei arrived Saturday evening safe and sound and none the worse for wear. We took the bus back to Toyonaka, checked into the hotel, and then went out in search of dinner, which we found at a sushi shop at the train station. I successfully ordered sashimi and sushi, although there was some confusion regarding the number and contents of a miso soup order. Michelle had a plum chuu-hai, a flavored drink with shouchuu (Japanese vodka) and bubbly stuff.

On Sunday we visited my old digs, and I managed to show Michelle my apartment even though I've moved out of it. We visited Family Mart, my office, the coffee machine, all the important sites of Osaka University. A quick trip up the monorail line took us to the World Expo Park (banpaku kinen koen), where the plum blossom festival was underway. The plum blossoms were incredibly beautiful and fragrant, and we got some good photos. We also visited the Japanese garden there, and freezed our buns off in the chilly wind.

For dinner we met some of my cohorts for sushi at one of those conveyor belt restaurants. Varieties of sushi come around on color-coded plates, and you grab what you want and eat it. When you're done, the waiter counts the plates to tally your bill. This particular establishment used an electronic device (similar to a pricing gun) that detected the color of each plate, so tallying was nigh instantaneous. The bill was recorded on some sort of chip (NVRAM?) which we then took to the front counter to pay. Even my Japanese friends had never seen this before. In any event, nobody had any idea if it was actually accurate. But it was tasty nonetheless.

Michelle and I both had o-toro, the top cut of the fatty tuna, which was like buttah. Also good was the mackerel (saba) and eel (mmm, unagi). Two nights, two sushi dinners.

Tomorrow we're planning to go to Himeji Castle, a bit of a schlep from Osaka, but one of the must-see destinations in Japan.

Asakura mo ichido

Greetings from the shinkansen. I am cruising back to Osaka as I write this, with the Kanto night streaming by at 180 mph. A one-day meeting once again brought me to Tokyo, and upon leaving I discovered that Friday night is a popular time for the bullet train heading west. Alas my train will probably arrive after the Osaka subway has stopped, but shelling out for cab fare beats standing in an earlier, unreserved train car for 2 1/2 hours. I mean, where would I put my beer? On someone's head?

During my dalliance at Shin-Yokohama Station, I perused the snack items at one of the various platform kiosks. (Yes, I was bored. They were out of English-language newspapers, and I didn't look for a book of sudoku puzzles because for some reason I thought I wouldn't be able to understand it. It's been a long day.) Besides the ubiquitous dried fish snacks (which my four-legged sister Peanut really enjoys), I discovered "Roasted Macadamia Nuts and Crunchy Cheese" from Australia, home of many crunchy things. It was a difficult choice between that and oishi mono, or "delicious stuff", an interesting battered and baked nut mixture which offers "best-selected materials for best taste." I'm very impressed by the proper use of hyphenage, but the wordage seems more appropriate for an interior decorating project. Nevertheless, apropos the snacks, "whenever you eat them, you will be impressed by their dear old taste you once had." In conclusion, the manufacturers invite you to enjoy their sweets "at your tea time, or happy chating time with your family." This is better than what you'd find at engrish.com. And clearly better than my Japanese version, which would amount to, "You humbly eat please! Yum!"

After the meeting, on my way to the station, the ko-bossu Mark-san and I dropped in on Asakura, sans Steve. He had written a "letter of introduction" for us explaining why we were there, but of course they know us well, and I think we explained what the meeting was about ourselves. I have gained a good familiarity with the Japanese terms for "contamination", "absorption", "malfunction", "disaster", and "environmental hormone", although this last one I had to google in English as well, and I'm still not really sure why it came up. In any event, we had some excellent sushi, and I showed them this movie, which they found totemo omoshiroi and sugoi. I hope you enjoy it as well, or at least I hope you're able to view it. (Tabemasu. Tabemasu. Tabemasu.)

In one week I am done with my nippon no touban ("raishuu kinyoobi shigoto ga ijoo desu"). The chiisai josei is flying out next Saturday, and we begin twenty days of adventures. On the docket are Himeji castle (an ancient structure somehow spared bombing in WWII), sakura blossoms in Kyoto, ozumo Osaka-style (itte Kotooshu), fun and sun on Okinawa, kabuki in Tokyo, a possible trip to Asakura, the ninja museum, and of course ozushi, okonomiyaki, yakitori, yakiniku, takoyaki, ramen, zakaya no tabemono, unagiyaki (unadon ya unajuu)...so many foods, so little time. (Tabemasu. Tabemasu. Tabemasu.)