yamagata city centre....

mt zao

shy mountains...

blue skies and white mountains...

that's all i wanted for christmas ...

cake for a merry..

merry christmas...

quiet heat..

love the way you can heat a room and boil ya kettle at the same time ; )

winter solstice

with yoga nidra and temple food, very peaceful evening ☆

good morning!!!

blue skies and icicles ; )

mini man..

winter persimmon tree..

big dump of snow...

ahh finally i am happy, something wonderful about cold white fluff falling from the sky..

an old well.....

you can see where the chinese character for well came from...

it snowed!!!

first day boarding...

waiting for snow...

doing a lot of yoga....and other stuff....things you do while waiting...

if only...

my mind were as clear and calm as this lake..

talk about colour..!

and 3d effect, these leaves were springing off the wall, parts looking like very bushy brows..

last day...

for this year at the beach...nice fun waves to finish with...was a little chilly though..

kind of mushroom...

it puffed when i squeezed it..

looking at mt. zao..

from the top of dragon mountain.... ; ) the mountain that presides over yamagata city...

first snow!!!!!!!!!!!

sweets in hot water..

a kind of sugar cracker filled with bean powder which disolves into the hot water making it like a sweet soup....anyways it was very good!

purple daikon....

that turns pink when you put vinegar on it!!!! talk about colourful food!!

halloween night hike...

up the mini mountain..

giangantic chrysanthemum

in city hall, they are all over the place right now, huge!!

kindergarten halloween....

they were trying their hardest to make scarey faces...

more scariness...

some dead and dried, mumified, creature on the altar in the temple...what and why? anyone know??? oh and lots of swords were on the walls....again, anyone know why?

mountain round the back....

of the temple...past the scarey looking stone man with sword...

and his companion frog.....

fudoson.....looking down at me..

not the most friendly looking chap...

temple tucked away...

2hours walk from the road up up and up where the bears live, i got my first smell of bear! i've never smelt one before but you sure know it when you do!!

zao damn..

through the forest..

lama in town...

it's not everyday one meets a lama from nepal in yamagata....

chinese priests...

at the world buddhist sangha youth conference in yamagata....

old woman on the mountain...

just love the names..

this is the mountain spirit shrine on dragon mountain..!

driving through trees..

up a mountain to relax....

and you can just see the tiny dark square in the middle, that's the highest building in yamagata city, 24 stories...

how i felt..

for some reason this seemed to sum up exactly how i felt today... burning the rice fields...actually smelt pretty good!

temple of the sun and moon...

a direct decendent from india the home of hatha (sun and moon) yoga.... look another elephant!!

elephants on shrines...

and very happy looking elephants at that...anyone know why a small number of japanese shrines and temples feature elephants, remanents of the culture that buddhism entered this country from...or did ganesh come too?

calm before the storm...

which, actually, thankfully, never came......

calorific....

plum tart, it's the most fattening things i have, perhaps, ever made.....also absolutely delicious ; )

made bread..

ooh did it take a long time, but it was worth it...yum!!!

special full moon day ...

not only is it a rest day from yoga practice today....but you can see the full moon in the east....
and the sun in the west...at the same time...awe inspiringly beautiful...

moon viewing day..

it's official on the japanese calender....view the moon and eat sticky rice cake balls, did that and tried to grab the moon too ; )

can't get enough..

of the mountains...

beautiful yamagata...

japanese sweets..

never tire of the variety of shapes and sizes of sweets here ; )