Monday 31 December 2007

gassan - moon mountain - 月山

love the way this mountain peeks out in the distance, bright white, it's one of three holy mountains in this area.

Friday 28 December 2007

looking down...

from mt zao, how little snow there is for this time of year...

Thursday 27 December 2007

man makes mountains....

42 story apartment block in a valley of low mountains, the sales point is the great views....

Wednesday 26 December 2007

mt gando

just love this white peak poking out on the horizon..the highest mountain in the area..

Tuesday 25 December 2007

Merry Christmas!

Japanese style...with strawberry cream cake and fried chicken...although this year, i did a full english dinner...phew...

Monday 24 December 2007

Wednesday 19 December 2007

only in japan....

import the guiness flat and then make the bubbles with ultrasonic waves....really!!!

Sunday 16 December 2007

Saturday 15 December 2007

weekend in tokyo..

so many huge name brand flagshops in tokyo....really love their luxury brands in this country!

Wednesday 12 December 2007

Tuesday 27 November 2007

what a colour!


continue on the food thing.....beetroot soup...yumm

Monday 26 November 2007

strange collection for dinner...

it was a dinner of slimey mushroom soup, steamed bok choy, vegetable curry, brown rice with black rice, veg pickles, blowfish rice topping, roast lamb and mustard sandwich, and a cuppa tea!

Saturday 24 November 2007

kahoku town..

these shiney...copper/bronze? roofs on mini shrines caught my eye..

Thursday 22 November 2007

bamboo...

bending under the weight of the snow..first big dump of the year...earlier than usual..

Monday 19 November 2007

mt chitose

the city mountain 'chitose' dusted with a little snow..

Saturday 17 November 2007

Thursday 15 November 2007

Monday 12 November 2007

Sunday 11 November 2007

a lot of these...

swooping around these last few days, not sure what kind of bird, a kite or hawk perhaps...anyone know?

Thursday 1 November 2007

visit to a temple...

on my way home from work, a beautiful wooded area in town..

Monday 29 October 2007

a feast...

for the butterflies....found them all munching on this rotten persimmon...

Sunday 28 October 2007

jinmachi soba...

buckwheat noodles, this was absolutely delicious, and pretty cheap too, about 3 quid ; )

Sunday 21 October 2007

drove up this time...


i decided to take another trip up to okama, by car this time to take photos, again foggy and freezing, this was about all you could see.....now the road is closed for winter..

Friday 19 October 2007

finally..

after 8 years, I plucked up the courage and cycled the 36k, most of it up hill, to the crater lake....although when I eventually got to the top, after 5 and a half hours, this was the view! it was soooo cold, and foggy and rainy, my hands were frozen...but at last i did it!

Thursday 18 October 2007

tomorrow...

when I first came to Yamagata, and drove to Zao Okama, a crater lake in a dormant volcano, I thought how nice it would be to cycle there....

Saturday 13 October 2007

fancy dinner...

this was the first course, and perhaps the best, especially the seasame tofu....

Friday 5 October 2007

wine tasting....

well this was the party after the tasting, we got this years fresh pressed grape .... not quite juice, not quite wine....

Thursday 4 October 2007

local vinyard...


the grapes seemed too sweet to be made into wine tho....absolutely delicous, although not sure we were allowed to be eating them...

Wednesday 3 October 2007

big drum..

one of my kindergarten students....came and placed himself, very proud of his drum, infront of my camera..

Tuesday 2 October 2007

Monday 1 October 2007

they finished...

their test and promptly fell asleep on the desk!

Sunday 30 September 2007

autumn taste of..

chrysanthemum, soy beans and some kind of green leafy vegetable, with vinegar and soy sauce, absolutely delicisous!!

Sunday 23 September 2007

harajuku style 1..

harajuku is where the 'young and fashionable' especially around high school age hang out at the weekends, said to some to be the origin of many a new fashion..