Ogawa Machi

Here is the fourth set of pictures from my Japan trip last month.

Ogawa-machi in Saitama Prefecture is famous for "washi" (Japanese paper). We visited a center for arts and crafts where the "washi" making and other things produced in Saitama Pref., such as "hina ningyo" (dolls), "kawara" (roofing tiles), and "Oshima Tsumugi" (silk textile) are displayed.

Beautiful roof.

Visitors can observe "kami suki" (the process of making "washi").

The craft person is peeling and stacking a piece of "washi" onto many others.

Repeating the process.

How cold it must be to do this in the winter.

The bamboo screen itself was an amazingly precise and beautiful piece of craftwork.

There were several sets of "hina ningyo" being displayed because the prefecture is also famous for the production of these Japanese dolls.

Outside the craft center was a garden accented with "kawara" (ceramic roofing tiles).

Tsurumaki Onsen (Hot Springs)

Here is the third set of images from my Japan travel last month. After visiting Tochigi and Yamanashi Prefectures, I was in Kanagawa Prefecture with my sister.

We arrived at the entrance to the ryokan in the hot spring town.


The pasania tree has been there for a long, long time.

It's three hundred years old.

How beautiful this place must be in the autumn.




A Japanese sun room.

Views out of the window.


We were informed that about a dozen fireflies had been spotted by a stream within the inn's property, so we ventured out.

Around 8:30 p.m., in a very dark place, we spotted them illuminating on branches. "Here's one!" "Here's another!" Pretty soon a couple of them started flying from one branch to another. My sister and I followed their lights, being fascinated like children. The yellow light appearing in the center must be the lighting bug.

Koi feeding time in the morning.

Lake Yamanaka and "Woof"

Here is the second set of images from my Japan travel last month.

My childhood friend, her 14-year-old dog Pepper, and I went to Lake Yamanaka and the dog resort "Woof."

Lake Yamanaka.

Here we are in the resort.


Big dog runs








... and a dog swimming pool.

A view of Mt. Fuji at dusk from our room.

A clear view of Mt. Fuji in the morning.

Nikko National Park

Here is the first set of images from my Japan trip last month.

After two hours of driving on a winding mountain path, my sister and I arrived in Oku-Nikko (deeper into the wilderness of Nikko). About 1200 m above sea level, the area was cold, foggy, and smelled of sulfur. We first saw Lake Chuuzenji. Then just several steps away from the bridge, I had to hold on to the railing. We abruptly saw water gushing down a great distance at Yudaki Falls.




We drove further up to 1470 m above sea level. At Lake Yunoko, the fog was denser. Things looked surreal and a little spooky.



Mountain azalea.


Very nice inn, walking distance from the lake.

The initial serving of the "kaiseki" dinner.


It cleared up the next morning.




Breakfast after our morning walk.



On the way to the shrines, we went to the Nikko Fish Farm, which started in 1906. It's the home for trout in Japan.

Trout in a huge aquarium.

The sign says, "Go this way."

Several ponds like this holding trout.


A sign for albino trout.

The two golden fish are not koi carp.


Gift shop by Kegon falls.

Kegon Falls, which I had seen once as a teenager.





People drawn to Toshogu and Futaba, Japan's most ornate shrines.

"Torii" gate.

Five-roof pagoda of Toshogu.


Three monkeys--hear no evil, speak no evil, ...



The arrow pointing at the famous sleeping cat. Such a small cat!



Kanaya Hotel.