Hello all. I apologize for how long it has taken me to get around to writing again. Golden Week ended a week and a half ago. After returning to school I found the first wave of large tests and papers due. I noticed quite a few people commenting on graduation on facebook, which seems odd to me as I'm talking my midterms. Regardless, I suppose I should share what I've been up to.
As I mentioned, about a week ago I returned to school from Golden week , a week-long holiday in Japan. I spent the first couple days in Tokyo with my friends and then went to Nagoya to see Amelia. The next day, we went to Kyoto and saw the sights that night and following day. We spent that night in Nagoya and then both came to Tokyo by the Shinkansen, the bullet train. As you can see in the first picture, it rained all day in honor of Amelia's visit. She had not been to Tokyo yet, so I showed her around for a couple of days and then she went back to Nagoya. Below and to the left is a picture of Kyoto from Kiyomizudera, a temple on the hillside east of Kyoto. To the right is Amelia striking a heroic pose in front of a building where we believe the Shinsengumi got their start. (The Shinsengumi were a police force in Kyoto during the 1860's that I wrote a paper on once).
Below those two pictures are two of Heian Jingu, a large shrine in Kyoto. (Another historical side note, Kyoto was originally called Heian). The one on the right is the entrance to the actual shrine. The one on the left is a gate about 100 meters from the entrance. For an idea of scale, the top of gray portion of the pillar was out of my reach. Below is Nijo-jo castle. After becoming Shogun, Tokugawa had this castle built as his Kyoto residence for whenever he wanted to visit the Emperor. One really neat feature was the "Nightingale Floor." They built the floor in this castle to squeak underfoot so it was impossible to have someone sneak up on you.
On the first day in Tokyo, I showed Amelia around my school and Makuhari, the city my school is in. The next day we went to Shinjuku, Harajuku, Yoyogi and Shibuya. That may sound like a lot, but they're all right next to one another, so there wasn't as much walking as you would think. Below, from left to right, are Meiji Jingu, the main street in Harajuku, and Shibuya crossing.
In Yoyogi we saw Meiji Jingu, the Shinto shrine dedicated to Emperor Meiji. The shrine pictured at the very top of the page is also Meiji Jingu. I have forgotten the name of this street in Harajuku. Shibuya crossing is the busiest intersection in the world. The picture was taken at a relatively slow time of day from the second floor of the Starbucks across from the station.
That is about all I have pictures of and time for. I still have some work for my Japanese class tomorrow. Until next time.
