Summitting Akadake in Yatsugatake Nagano Japan
October 16, 2008
I have a new favorite prefecture in Japan. It’s Nagano. My favorite prefecture used to be Yamanashi, but the nature in Nagano feels deeper. The forests feel older in Nagano, the air seems clearer, and the peace is more established. The mountains are larger, and the sky spans wide over all—deep blue during the day, pink tinged at dusk, and deep black spotted with stars at night. This is the setting in which Aya and I undertook a 9-hour hike up to the 2899m summit of Akadake.
Genny’s Post-Wedding Party for JB and Anna
October 5, 2008
First, congratulations to JB and Anna who got married on September 06, 2008 in Cape Cod, Massachusetts (one of my favorite places in the world). Second, thanks to Genny and the rest of the Foote Family for once again opening their home to us. Eleven of us plus the Foote Family got together on a beautiful October Saturday afternoon at the Zama Housing Complex in Kanagawa, Japan to have a post-wedding-reception (I believe that was the moniker?) party for JB and Anna. Things kicked off with a little baseball playoffs watching, then some backyard sports, and then the big surprise of a “make-your-own-pizza” lunch.
Shizen Kyoikuen Park in Meguro, Japan
September 29, 2008
Though it took two trips to finally make it to Shizen Kyoikuen Park actual, in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan, it was well worth the effort as it is a unique Tokyo park/garden experience. The full name of the park translated into English is the mouthful, “The Institute for Nature Study National Science Museum Tokyo” as it says on the English brochure handed to me at the entrance. Ever since I was a little boy, I have been totally into getting up close and intimate with forests, so I was stoked to soon discover upon entering the park, that this wasn’t the usual pond and pagoda setup of traditional Japanese gardens, but rather a 100-year old forest with long paths—a forest too large to seemingly still exist in Tokyo.
Skimboarding 2008 Session #07 – Hiratsuka
September 11, 2008
It had been quite some time since Aya and I went to a Shonan beach for a proper skimboarding session, and I can’t really that this session at Hiratsuka was that proper. It barely ranked enough to get session #07 designation. There were absolutely no waves at first, and virtually no skimmable surface at all. Still, a group of 5 young j-skimmers were grinding it out the whole time, but it mostly looked like they just enjoyed falling. Things got a bit better at the last minute.
Shimoda Izu Birthday Trip 2008 with Aya
September 8, 2008
Largely by accident, going to Shimoda, Izu in Shizouka Prefecture, Japan has become an annual summer ritual. It started two summers ago with the Can, which was the best road trip I’ve ever taken in Japan. The tradition continued this summer, and it was my third birthday in a row spent on Tatadohama Beach, but my first ever with Aya. We drove her dad’s car down my favorite strip of road in Japan, Rd. 135 along the coast all the way down to the very tip of the Izu Peninsula where Shimoda dwells, seemingly forgotten by Japan at large, but gladly adopted by me as my summer getaway from the madness of Tokyo.
Teien Art Museum Garden in Meguro
August 31, 2008
It’s been raining all week in Japan, but very luckily there was a 90-minute random sunshine break Saturday afternoon, and that just happened to be the time Aya and I arrived at the small, but cozy and densely forested traditional Japanese garden surrounding the Teien Art Museum in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan. The park contains the usual ponds and pogodas that all traditional Japanese gardens have, but is also dotted with several large pieces or artwork and sculptures. Pictured above is the most impressive, a huge, smooth marble square with a hole and seemingly a giant’s nose impression. It was very smooth the the touch. I enjoy running my finger tips over smooth, cool marble, and don’t often have the chance, so this was a nice, unexpected find.
Light Painting: I heart AYA
August 30, 2008
First off, I can’t take credit for coming up with the awesome concept of LIGHT PAINTING on my own. Thanks to this great post on the digital Photography School site, I was immediately inspired to try it. It is a very cool photography technique that basically does what the names says–let you paint with light. It’s also rather simple to do. Here’s how . . .
Skimboarding 2008 – Session #06 – Chigasaki
August 13, 2008
I wanted to return to skimboarding at Chigasaki beach this past Saturday for various reasons. It is the beach I have skimboarded on the most in Japan, by far, and is actually the 3rd most skimmed beach of any in my 21 years of skimboarding. The other reason was Aya. I wanted to propose to her, and I wanted to do it at the most familiar, most special place to me in the Tokyo area. Even though Chigasaki beach is little more than an ash tray next to the ocean, it is still special to me and it is still capable of producing some magic, and it did not fail me this Saturday evening.
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