Time flies, but I'm having fun!

I can not believe that it's October already. And not just any October, but my last October in Japan. There's so much that I need to do. And even more that I want to do. The "I've got plenty of time" list has become the "exactly when am I going to do all these things?" list. And it seems that every week I discover new things that I add to the list. It's a good thing that I get home leave next summer, because I'm going to need it to rest up from the busy year I've got planned.

I know it's been a long time since I wrote anything, so I'm going to give a really fast update. I also have a goal of doing a post on my trip to Kyoto and Nara at some point - a post that has largely been delayed by forgetfulness, laziness, and the sheer number of pictures that I was trying to narrow down to a manageable few. Maybe I'll get it done in time for the one-year anniversary of that trip.

The one thing I don't think I've talked about from last spring was the flowers. So yes, there were a lot of beautiful flowers! I didn't do a serious hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in 2015, but I did get out to see some cherry trees. This was actually just a few blocks from the Embassy:

You may remember that in 2014 I went to the Kameido Tenjin Shrine, which is said to have the best wisteria in Tokyo, but sadly, I missed the wisteria by probably about a week. This year, I checked to see when they would be blooming, and I finely got to see it.

It was very pretty. But I will say that the Ashikaga Flower Park, an hour or so north of Tokyo, is still the most beautiful - and bountiful - wisteria I've ever seen.

In May, I went to Beijing, which everybody's already heard about. In June, I made a quick work trip to Hokkaido. We drove across the island, saw a lot of interesting and beautiful places - including lavender fields, although it was probably about two weeks before the flowers came out - and even got a glimpse of the Prime Minister's plane being escorted by fighter jets. I don't know if the Prime Minister was returning from a trip or it was just a drill, but it was still cool.

The view from one of my hotel rooms in Hokkaido

July began with the Embassy Independence Day reception, where I was once again in charge of photography. And then I went back to the U.S. for a quick family visit.  

August was spent running around getting things done before a dear friend came to visit me. We had a great time walking our feet off around Tokyo and eating tons of yummy food. We also did a day trip to Nikko and an overnight trip to Yamanashi to stay at a ryokan, eat washoku (traditional Japanese food) and use the onsen, with swings through the Five Lakes region going to and from. What needs to be said is that the day we headed out to Yamanashi, a typhoon was going by. So while I specifically took a detour by the Five Lakes region for the very specific purpose of enabling my friend to see Mt. Fuji (proof of its visibility seen in the blog post that I've linked to above), it was absolutely impossible to see Mt. Fuji, because the clouds were so low. The clouds were SO low, that you wouldn't even know a mountain was there. And we were right at the base of it! So that was frustrating. I spent a lot of time saying, "It's RIGHT. THERE." But we still had a great time!

At Chureito Pagoda

In front of Fujiyoshida Sengen Shrine

Our ryokan (with onsen) in Yamanashi

So then we come to September. I spent the first week running a series of three outreach seminars. The next week, I was supposed to visit Yabu, a small town in Hyogo prefecture, but that trip got canceled by another typhoon. But later in the week, we had our office workshop near Kobe. That was a very productive trip. I stayed over Friday night in Kobe, and then on Saturday, I went down to see Himeji Castle, which has been on my "must see before I leave Japan or I'll regret it" list.

Himeji Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of Japan's twelve original castles, and is considered to be the most beautiful feudal castle in Japan. And to add to the joy, they just completed a major renovation and re-opened the inside of the castle to tourists. As you may imagine, I took hundreds of pictures, but here are just a few that I managed to narrow it down to.

In the picture below (and some others further down), you can see the sachiboko - the fish that are supposed to protect the castle from fire and ward off disaster.

At the base of the castle, you can see the rocks surrounding Okiku's Well. There's a ghost story associated with it that has been turned into a famous kabuki play.

After visiting the castle and then getting a quick lunch, I went to Kokoen Garden, which is right next to the castle. It's a very nice Japanese garden, with nine different Edo-style walled gardens inside.

Later in September was Silver Week - September 21-23 were Japanese holidays, giving us a five-day weekend. I didn't go anywhere, but I did get a number of things done at home that had been hanging over my head for some time. Silver Week was followed by another seminar that we helped to put on, several lunches and dinners, and other work stuff. And now it's October!

I hope everybody has a wonderful fall!