Konichiwa! Hello From Japan!

Huge ginko tree




The hundreds of little statues are for comforting the souls of unborn children.

Seaweed drying

Sake

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. We've been really busy lately....and now I'm in Japan!

My mom and I got off to a rough start because our shuttle never showed up to take us to the airport. Luckily with a few adjustments, Chris was able to drop us off in San Diego. We then flew to San Francisco and boarded our nine hour flight to Narita (Tokyo). We then hopped on a bus and drove for three hours to Yakota Air Base where Diane picked us up.

After a good nights sleep we awoke before 5am and headed out for a bus tour where we visited Kamakura and Enoshima. The weather was perfect. Although it had been chilly before we arrived, we had nothing but sunshine today. Along the way up the coast we saw farmers harvesting and drying seaweed, large birds of prey, the sumo champion's house, and Mt Fuji in the distance. We arrived at the island of Enoshima and enjoyed viewing the shrine (with the Amida Buddha), gardens, and sights from the lighthouse. We then headed down to Kamakura where we saw the Daibutsu- A 38 ft. bronze Buddha figure (a Japanese national treasure) and temple. We also witnessed a traditional Shinto wedding and sampled some of the local fare. We arrived back at the base around 7pm and will be going on another adventure tomorrow to Mt. Takao. Oyasuminasai! (Good night)