been busy....

so having to resort to food photos again.. this is ... yes more soba (buckwheat noodles) with herring ; )

gave a talk..

and got well fed after ... which was nice

kaiten sushi

had a delicious california roll, funny thing is the longer i stay in japan the less and less i like raw fish...meat.... seems to be so much raw flesh eating!

house front...

bit of a wacky house front, they seem to have added a clear plastic display 'case' to their house for all their stuffed toys and plastic models..nice and colourful..also the 110 sign (to remind children of the emergency services number) is kind of cute...

rice fields..

at dusk looking towards yamagata city from the west....ok so i particularly like these fields when they are full with water...you also get the pleasure of a frog croaking symphony!

sunset..

over the rice fields....

natto....

finally i can eat this dish of stinky fermented soy beans, and actually enjoy it..it's taken me years to build up the courage to eat it.....smells terrible, think of blue cheese, but is very cheap, healthy, and tastey!

early morning sky....

exactly a year ago.....

they cut down the tree behind my house....i was so upset it was such a big old beautiful tree...it gave a lovely green light to the whole back of the house....open the windows to leaves, now i see gravel and other houses : (

break in the park..

ok, so it's the view from the edge of the park...was a lovely hot afternoon.. : )

yesterday....

was so much fun...here is another picture...a fun wave!

first trip to the sea....

this year...big blue pacific ocean....and what a wonderful day it was..

stepping out in sari style....

one night two restaurants...indian of course....lots of laughs!

mountain vegetables...

there is always plenty of choice of what to buy in the super market! most of these come from the mountains in this area...lots of interesting flavours....you certainly don't get bored with food.....

morning at work......

with kids trying their hardest to look angry! oh incase you're wondering the japanese angry look is two horns..

small trees....

big flowers and all in a neat little colourful row..

gray day, grey mood....

just right for this rock arrangement i see everyday.....i wonder what the inspiration for it was...

oldest tori gate...

in Japan.... tori gates are gates to shrines, this stone one was built sometime between 794 - 1192 (Heian Era) making it pretty old in a land of earthquakes....it's evidence of the 'safeness' of yamagata! its 3.5m's high.....you can see the small shinto shrine and modern red painted metal tori gates too..

lots of purple...

flowers.....what a wonderful colour on such a grey day!

my bonsai..

made a flower!!! it was quite a surprise to find....someone gave this to me last summer, have no idea what kind of tree it is...does anyone know?

yaki tori....

means...grilled chicken, but this guy was doing pork and beef too, yet they still call it yaki tori, always confuses me....but it is very good!

street stalls.....

hand made brooms, baskets...one of the stalls at the ueki ichi market/ festival..... which means something like plant market.... not entirely sure of the roots of this event, if anyone knows, please do enlighten...!

tough decisions....

this is taken from one of my favourite street festivals, forgot the name...shall supply tomorrow, it's apparently to celebrate the birth of buddha, later up here than in other areas because of the cold~!

graffiti...?

there are some pretty funky looking buses around, but this one...... hmmm..... i wonder if they really did let a bunch of toddlers paint all over this..

tree from roof!!

had to take a second look, very beautiful, i wonder if someone acutally lives there.....how lovely to have a tree in your house!

onsen..

one of the best things about yamagata is all the onsens (natural hot springs!!) this one is my favourite...

zooming home...

through one of many tunnels cutting through the mountains....

pretty in a not so pretty way..

god in the tree...

as far as shintoism goes, god is present in everything... especially old beautiful things it seems..

full moon..

sunny day...

and distant snowy mountains...can you see them?