One of my favorite spots in Nara

 Near Daibutsu-den great Buddha statue hall

I go there on duty so do not expect to have great opportunities to take super photos. Always some or more humans are in my photo, either strangers or my guests! We are completely overwhelmed by the gift from the tree, a spread of natural yellow carpet and deer playing on it.

Circle of life naturally felt in Japan

 Ginkgo tree burning yellow at Nishi-honganji temple, Kyoto 

There's another one, nicknamed Sakasa Icho or Upside-down ginkgo tree. Below is the one.

Four seasons go around in eternity or nothing does not stay. Both is true.

Lunch at Tsujihana

 Just arrived and admired the table setting!

Come and dine at Tshjihana near the east area of Horyou-ji temple, Ikaruga, Nara. Slow down and spend two days in Nara. Todai-ji, of course, but Horyu-ji and its vicinities. Pastoral Nara has more to offer but first get away from the notion that Nara would be done in a day trip from Kyoto. 

Drip sake available at Fukubijin Brewry

 Sake tasting counter of Fukubijin

The bottle in the front collected drips of sake from sake sacks. No machinery is used to press sake but only natural dripping. The drip sake tastes subtly different and interesting but the the bottles are limited in number and only available at the brewery. 3500 JPY a bottle, expensive but of high value. You can also taste a small cup of this sake at 200 JPY at the counter. You shouldn't miss this!

Autumn foliage just awesome!

  

Glad to be in Japan. These are the autumn pics of Miyajima. Quite a crowd at this time of the year. The ferries connecting MIYAJIMAGUCHI and MIYAJIMA leave every ten minutes, more frequent than usual. Very crowded but there are clever ways to navigate the move and be away from the noise. 

 Colorful leaves and caps!

 Looks like a sculpture.

 Maple leaving burning red.

 And yellow.

 Excellent Miyajima carving.

But the store is going to be closed soon and they are giving you 30% discount on most of their merchandize now. So sad this store, HIROKAWA, will be gone. This fall must be the last to see the store open and the master craftsman carving wood at a small workshop in the store. 

Saijo sake town with brick chimneys

 

Chimneys and the roof of SAIJO TSURU's unique three-storied wooden building

These pictures were taken from the veranda on the third floor of the SAIJO TSURU Brewery factory. It is off limits but I had this privilege of going up there with TV crew preparing for filming the sake district. I had had a bird's eye view of the Saijo chimneys at several locations before but this is the best. The sake factories are closed up and I feel like I am seeing their real operation. More people are coming to Saijo including travelers from abroad. I wish i could be of help to make their time in Saijo memorable. 

 

Factories of SAIJO TSURU on the right and KAMOTSURU on the left

John Mung's story translated into English

 Ashizuri Misaki, which Manjiro saw.

In the normal course of life, Manjiro would have lived and died a fisherman in Tosa, present day Kochi Pref. His fortunes changed when he, aged 14, was marooned along with his four shipmates, later saved by an American whaling boat, taken to Hawaii and eventually to Bedford, Massachusetts, the ship's mother port. Captain Whitfield took a shine to this young boy and gave him an opportunity for education at American school. Captain renamed him John Mung. He sailed for several years on a whaling ship. In total, he lived overseas for about ten years, during which his horizon was expanded. The life was not always easy and there was discrimination and misunderstanding, but John Mung absorbed and learned through his experiences and after returning to Japan, he became a valuable source for the country to know about overseas when foreign countries demanded Japan to open up. He was allowed to carry a family name and picked up Nakahama. Now that his story is available in English, he will be better known from now on. The Nakahama family and Whitfield family have kept in contact over generations. Their tie is solid.

Fall at Nukui Dam in the north of Hiroshima Prefecture

 The red sign shows the highest possible of water.

One-hour drive from downtown Hiroshima will take you to Nukui Dam and its surrounding gorges. Autumnal colors and crisp air can be enjoyed there in October to November. A visit to the dam is an interesting experience for you to witness modern engineering in the fresh natural settings. Try an elevator downward followed by a corridor inside the dam which leads to a little square right next to the bottom of the dam. The dam is a great place to take pictures at some interesting angles. Let me post some of the photos taken in October, 2013.

 

A 190-cm tall whitish mannequin standing at the deck looks so small.

 

The passageway you walk through after descending by an elevator from the ground level of the dam.

 Autumn foliage seen at the bottom the dam.

 The stairs off-limits on the dam.

Gardens at ADACHI Museum of fine arts

The leaves are beginning to change colors. Soon more red leaves will be seen and the garden will look different accordingly. Without the presence of water, water can be expressed. Somewhere remote in the mountains, there will be falls and the water will flow into a stream, the stream will become a river, and eventually the river will meet the sea. Sea the landscape and see how you feel.

 Dry landscape garden

 White gravel and pine tree garden