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Monthly Archives: April 2004

Hitchhiking Kyushu

Jamie and I will be starting out on a 6 day hitchhiking trip from today, planning to reach all of the prefectures in Kyushu. Supposedly this is a friendly competition with several teams from all over Kyushu doing the same thing in order to raise money for charity, but I’m doing it because it sounds … Continue reading »

Categories: Around Kyushu | 2 Comments

The Oita Coastline

Despite for all of the problems with this composite photo, I decided to post it. I know that the shot on the right was overexposed, and that all three of the pictures do not match up nicely (argueably I only need to use two of the photos, but what the heck), but I am learning … Continue reading »

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A Few Diving Pics

These were taken at Zamami (jima, I think) at Dragon Lady point. Have you ever seen a sea cuke eviscerate? Not pretty… These pictures were taken by our guide, a cute 24 year old Okinawan. This one is of some kind of grouper. I want a pet grouper one day that will live under my … Continue reading »

Categories: Travel | 2 Comments

Saga In Bloom

If you have read The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown, then you will immediately notice that this picture is bursting with multilayered feminine symbolism. On a side note, I enjoyed reading The Da Vinci Code, but I didn’t think it was as good as everyone said it was. For some reason I was expecting … Continue reading »

Categories: Around Kyushu | 2 Comments

Nanohana

This post is for Uncle Rocky, who requested me to put up some pictures of nanohana. Merin sent me this first picture, which I think was taken somewhere in Kansai. The fields of nanohana evoke memories of mustard back home. However, the best views of nanohana I have encountered have been down in Kagoshima, during … Continue reading »

Categories: Around Kyushu | 2 Comments

Late Snow Hike

As you can probably tell, I have a lot of stuff that I want to post, and not much time to do it. That’s why I’m finally getting around to this hike, which I did on Sunday, April 4th- two days after my birthday and one after our fire drills. I woke up at 6:00 … Continue reading »

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Kannon no Taki

Located North of Saga-shi and Yamato-shi in Saga Prefecture is the picturesque village of Nanayama. This place is almost as country as Ubuyama, but more beautiful. The local river cascades down seven waterfalls, and was believed to have healing powers. From what I gathered, a woman who was favored by Hideyoshi was stricken with blindness. … Continue reading »

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Snake Season

In the past four days, I have already seen 3 snakes. One I spotted on the road, smashed (most likely when it was sunning itself) and attracting flies. I saw two yesterday in Saga-ken. The first one I saw when I was visiting Kannon no taki (Kannon waterfall) in Nanayama-mura (Seven mountain village). I jumped … Continue reading »

Categories: Creatures | 1 Comment

My Dog, Shisar

These dogs are Shisar, the guardians of the Ryukyu (Okinawan) Islands. You see them all over the place in Okinawa, on keychains, t-shirts, and anything else that is sold on the Kokusai-dori (the main tourist street in Naha). Of all of the Shisar statues that I encountered, I especially like these. They remind me of … Continue reading »

Categories: Travel | 4 Comments

Okinawan Sign Language

I usually find signs that I like when I travel to foreign places, especially if the populace has a less than perfect command of English. I’m sure that the locals were wondering why I was taking picures of the mundane icons that are filtered out of their focus. My choice of subjects to photograph most … Continue reading »

Categories: Strange Words | 2 Comments