Silver Week Part 1 - シルバーウィーク １パート

シルバーウィーク - (Silver Week) is a three day holiday at the beginning of the second to last week of September. Because the separate holidays of Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day are only one day apart (Monday and Wednesday respectively), that Tuesday is then deemed a citizens holiday, and thus Silver Week is formed. It is a popular time for both travel and recreation. As well as being a popular holiday it is also a somewhat rare holiday. It so happens that Respect for the Aged Day and Autumnal Equinox Day are only so near to each other once every 5 or so years, meaning that the next Silver Week won't be until 2020. 

On Monday, I traveled with  my host mother and two friends by train to the town of  津和野 - つわの - ツワノ - (Tsuwano). 

This is the station in 山口市の湯田温泉 - (Yuda Onsen, Yamaguchi). The train ride was about an hour and twenty minutes. 

 This is the Parking in 津和野. 

 津和野 is somewhat famous for the local Sagi-lore as I like to call it. The brickwork here shows a Sagi, which is like a crane. On special occasions people dress as the Sagi's and dance around on the streets ceremoniously.

Trees.

 Fuji Curry. It's awfuji delicious. (I didn't actually eat there.)

 Serious respect for the trees in Japan. This tree is hundreds of years old.

 In 津和野 there is a famous shrine overlooking the town - 太皷谷稲成神社 - （たいこだにいなりじんじゃ）-  (Taikodani Inari Jinja) - the kanji translate more literally to something like - The Shrine of The Fox God Overlooking the Taiko Valley. There are over 1040 （鳥居）Toriis and over 260 flights of stairs on the way to the Shrine.

 Less stairs.

There are over 300 Koi fish in 津和野. And the numerous gardens and small streams are full of them. 

After exploring the Shrine and places on the way to and from the Shrine we proceeded to venture more within the town.

The Left Side

In Japan everything near the road or on the road is opposite of what it is in America. That's what I thought, but one interesting thing I've observed is that that thought's wrong. This is largely due to the fact that roads in the more developed or population dense areas like Yamaguchi tend to be incredibly narrow by American standards, therefor there is only room for one vehicle of any type traveling in one direction at any given time. 

As I ride my bike to school and from school I've also observed the lack of any sort of lines painted in the roads. This is again due to the the aforementioned characteristic, which also means that if two cars meet on one such road going opposite directions, then that encounter often results in some very skillful car maneuver-ship (a lot of backing up and the like). I have not once seen a one way road, though I have not seen any road as wide as most highways in Vermont. It's very intriguing. I will continue to observe the true Japanese style of on-road travel for as long as I am here. 

My Japanese skill is constantly improving, and my English is likewise becoming cruder. I apologize for my future deficiencies.

Please enjoy these mostly unrelated pictures.

At Tokyo's Olympic Youth Center Day 2 - "Don't smoke kids." - Einstein.

In Asakusa Day 3. It's a Mangi. 

Bird.

Tourists and Japanese bonding under the giant paper balls in Asakusa.

Still in Asakusa.

The ghetto of Asakusa. (Cars go here)

My house in Kurokawa, Hirakawa, Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi, Japan.

Birds.

Day 10? Sun.

It's bā-chan and the palm tree.

The front yard.

Again the sunset.