During Golden Week this year I went to Wakayama prefecture for three days. It was my second time going there, but I spent the first two days going to places I had never been before. I planned to go last summer but cancelled due to a big earthquake which disrupted a lot of my trip plans. I originally planned to try and go again this summer, however due to recent news I decided to go as soon as possible, and I had a good chance to go during golden week.

The first day we trained all the way from Okayama to Nachi. It took about five hours. Our main destination was the famous Nachi waterfall. We had to take a bus to get there from the train station. However, we got off at the bottom of the mountain and did a short hike from a spot called ‘Daimonzaka’. It was a beautiful hike, and when we got to the top of the hillside there was a shrine and a temple. Shortly after, we started to descend the mountain in a different direction, towards the famous waterfall. On the way there is a pagoda called ‘Seiganto-Ji’. The pagoda with the waterfall in the background is a famous photo spot, and you can see it in many tourism promotions. After that, we went down to the base of the waterfall. It is quite amazing to see it in person.  The waterfall has a drop of 133 meters and is the longest uninterrupted drop in Japan. It is regarded as a very sacred place. You can pay a few hundred yen to go to a viewing platform slightly closer to the waterfall. You can even pay to drink some of the pure water from it.

The next day we went to Shirahama. Our destination for the day was Adventure World. Adventure World is famous for its four pandas. Recently there was the sad news that all four are going to be sent to China in late June. This was a big inspiration for us to suddenly go to Wakayama and see them before they go. Even though it was a weekday, it was no surprise that the pandas were super popular. They were surrounded by people taking their pictures non-stop all day. Even when they were sleeping. A lot of the park guests were dressed from head to toe in all panda merchandise too. Adventure World does not only have pandas, however. There was an aquarium area with hundreds of penguins. They even had dolphin show and other animal shows throughout the day. One part is also a safari park which you can either walk around or ride a train to see the more dangerous animals up close. There is a large variety of different types of animals and things to do throughout the day. They even have some amusement park attractions.

We stayed at a nice hotel near the beach in Shirahama and spent our last day around the area. Unfortunately, in the morning it rained quite a lot. Around midday it suddenly went from windy and rainy to a gorgeous sunny day over our heads. We went to several different places throughout the day. The first we went to is called ‘Sandanbeki’. The area has many high cliffs next to the ocean, and there is a famous cave. You can take an elevator down and explore it. The cave was used by the Kumano Naval Force a long time ago to hide their ships. After that we went to a place called ‘Senjojiki’ nearby. It has a large rock plateau which you can freely walk and climb around. It is a great photo spot and popular with tourists. On the way back to the town center we enjoyed a foot hot spring. But we were getting a little tight on time and went to our last destination before our trip home, the Tora Tora Fish Market. The market is very famous in Wakayama and has many different shops inside and outside. There is also a large food court there with a huge variety of rice bowls. You can buy all kinds of food, as well as souvenirs and gifts there, so it is a great place to stop by if you are in Shirahama.

Wakayama takes some time to get to, but it is a really nice place to visit. There is great seafood, beautiful scenery, and various activities to do. While I did not have a chance to visit this time, there are also amazing places like Mt. Koya. and the Kumanokodo. It is worth a visit if you have the chance.

Photos by Byron Smith

An old acquaintance of mine named Byron Smith released a photo book last year. I wanted to share it with you here because I think it’s something very special.

The book, titled Testament ‘22, is a collection of images from the first year of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. You can read more about the book here:

www.smittysbooks.com

I met Byron in my journalism classes at Boston University back in 2007-08. We weren’t close friends, but we knew each other from multiple classes, so I often had the opportunity to see his work. He was hard-working and humble, and even back then, it was clear he had real talent as a photojournalist.

Byron has had a truly awe-inspiring career since then. He’s documented major conflicts around the world, spent time in war-torn areas of Iraq, Sudan, and Ukraine, and reported extensively on the refugee crisis in Greece. He’s also won numerous accolades for his work. His photos are haunting beautiful, often presented in stark black and white.

If you’d like to know more about Byron and his work, you can read about him in Japanese here…

www.newsweekjapan.jp

…or check out his website!

www.byronsmithphoto.com

ゴールデンウィークがもう終わります。皆さんいかがお過ごしだったでしょうか？我が家は毎年例にもれず、2泊3日でキャンプに行ってきました。今回も香川の国立まんのう公園です。花が咲き誇っていてそれは美しかったです。そしてきっちり雨女の威力も発揮して、初日の夜に雨も降らしてきました。

腕と肩を痛めていたので予定していたテニスの試合は2つもキャンセルし、代わりに家族孝行をした連休になりました。こどもの日には柏餅を食べたのですが、こどもの日にちまきって食べます？私が子供の頃は柏餅一辺倒でした。

痛めている腕と肩は3月の後半からずっとで、キーボードとマウスを使うのが特に肩に悪い。そこで教えてもらったのが、キーボード入力ではなく音声入力です。スマホのマイク機能をオンにして吹き込むと文字化してくれます。これがなかなか便利で、1日に何回もメールを打つ私にとっては救世主です。でかしたNick 、よく教えてくれた。ちなみに、音声入力だと名前等の固有名詞はちゃんと対応できていないので、個別に手で入力が必要です。うっかり吹き込むと笑える結果となります。ちなみに、何度吹き込んでも「炒めた腕」と表示されます。いためる、が違うじゃろ。

A few weeks ago I went to a large dog café not far from NEO. While it is called a ‘café, it does not serve any food or drinks. It is a place where you can spend an hour with some friendly large-sized dogs. It is called ‘Mofuchiru’ (or in its full Japanese name 大型犬ふれあいカフェもふちる). Japan is a country of mostly small sized dogs, but I have always preferred bigger dogs. I grew up with golden retrievers and think they are much cuter than most smaller dogs. So, I was curious what the dogs at this café would be like. I had a bad experience with a cat café many years ago. All the cats were unfriendly and slept in high spots the entire time. It was a waste of money. Luckily this dog café had many friendly dogs, and it was fun to spend time with them.

We arrived late on a Monday afternoon. I think the dogs were a little tired and hungry at the time. When we arrived, we were hit by an immediate strong dog smell. We were worried about how friendly the dogs would be but one patiently came over to us straight away. Throughout the next hour we got to spend time with many different breeds of large dogs with varying personalities. Some had a lot of energy while some were more relaxed and patient. Every once and awhile one of them would think dinner time was coming and would get everyone a bit too excited. It was funny to see their reactions, but also their reactions when they got told off for being too noisy.

They had many different breeds there. Most of them were very young. It is surprising how big some of them get at such a young age. The St. Bernard they had was only a one-year-old and yet was already very large. They had various mixed breeds too, including mixed retrievers. I talked with one of the staff members about a border collie they had. I was confused because my mother has two border collies, but their one had very different ears and body shape. The staff did agree that it is probably mixed with something and that the store they picked it up from was incorrect about its breed.

It was cute to see many kinds of dogs play with each other. By the end, most were sleeping. I think they had a long day. If you are interested, it is a fun way to spend an hour. I have heard they plan to open a dog salon upstairs in the building too. But if you are keen, maybe go in the early afternoon when the dogs are still full of energy.

Two weeks ago, K-san visited Guam with his family during his spring break from school.

He had a lot of fun. Of course, he enjoyed the beautiful beach and the pleasant weather.

K-san also went to a shooting range and tried shooting a few different kinds of firearms.

He went four-wheeling and enjoyed spending time outdoors.

Since nobody else in his family can speak English, K-san was also the interpretor for his family, so he had a lot of chances to use real English while they were traveling.

Have you ever been to Guam? How was it? What did you do there?