There I am at the lake in front of the walls of Osaka Castle
There I am at the lake in front of the walls of Osaka Castle
This first group of photos are of general areas that I visited on a pretty daily basis.
This is the road I took to KSU everyday
Here are some photos of the Kyoto neighborhood around KSU and the I-House.
Road to KSU: Here's another shot of the way to KSU(you can see how narrow Japanese streets are.)
Rice Paddy: A beautiful rice paddy, also on the way to KSU.
Bus Pool front: Here's what you see when you stand at the bus stop at the KSU Bus Pool(you can see the escalator that leads up to the campus.) It was a weekend when I took this photo, but on the weekdays that parking lot is filled with students' motor bikes.
Bus Pool street: And here's a shot of the street in front of the bus pool. That building to the left is the KSU gym. And as you can also see, this neighborhood really is surrounded by mountain forests ^^
Vending machines: Some vending machines across the street from the bus pool. Vending machines are extremely common in Japan. You can find one at least every couple of blocks and they're all over at big public places like stations, schools, and parks. Not only are there drink vending machines, but also ones for snacks, sandwiches, beer, and even cigarettes!
Kamogawa River: And here's the Kamogawa River that flows throughout the area. This particular area of the river, about a couple hours walk from KSU, has many (expensive) river-side restaurants where you can eat and enjoy the river view.
Evening at Shijo street; front of Daimaru department store
Here are photos of some fun and entertaining restaurants and shopping areas I went to ^_^
Shijo: This is Shijo, a big street about a 10 minute bus ride from KSU. Despite being a bit noisy and crowded, there's lots to do here, such as shopping at the big outside shopping mall, Teramachi.
Manga store!: And here's a big manga store I found on Shijo ^_^ The second and third floors are filled with nothing but manga, art books, and mecha models. A must-visit for any otaku ^^
Mananeki Neko: There are literally hundreds of shops all over Japan that sell cute little trinckets, like these adorable "mananeki nekos"(beckoning cats) I found in a store at Teramachi =^.^=
Nishiki Market: Here's Nishiki Market, a large outside market place near Teramachi that sells all kinds of food.
Kaiten Sushi: Here's the inside of the all-you-can-eat Kaiten(rotating) Sushi restaurant at Teramachi. As you can see, the sushi is constantly rotated around on a conveyor belt and you can just take any one you want right from your table ^_^ It was really delicious too!
Okonomiyaki: Eating okonomiyaki, which is a Japanese pizza pancake type-food. As you can see, you cook it right there at your table. There's all kinds of okonomiyaki, and I think it's definitely one of my favorite Japanese foods ^^
9th Pokemon movie premiere!: The 9th and newest Pokemon movie premiered on July 15th in Japanese theaters...and I was lucky enough to go and see it with one of my conversation partners ^_^ There I am in front of the movie poster outside the theater.
9th movie gifts: They were selling a ton of 9th Pokemon movie stuff at the theater; toys, stickers, pencils, plushies, cards, stationary, you name it(I had to control myself and only buy a few things ^^,,,)
Japanese shopping area: And lastly, this photo should give you a pretty good idea of what a typical outside shopping area in Japan is like.
Outside Kyoto Station
Public transportation is a must-use is Japan. Due to the country's lack of space, parking lots are few, so using your own car is often a lot more inconvenient than taking the bus, train, or subway. Being from California, where 95% of people go everywhere by car, using public transportation was a brand new experience for me. Japan is known for its good transportation, and I couldn't agree more ^_^
Subway: Here's the inside of a typical Japanese subway. It's really not bad at all...it's clean(no graffiti!) and everybody just minds their own business.
Kyoto Subway: One of the prettiest subways I've ever seen ^^
Kyoto Station top: In addition to transportation, Kyoto station also has many restaurants, shops, and over ten flights of stairs/escalators leading up to an observation area.
Kyoto Station observation area: And here's the view at the top of the observation area...literally the whole city.
Train station: A JR train at Osaka Station.
And here are photos from the day trips we went on, either as part of the program or for our own pleasure when we had the time. These were definitely the highlights of my trip ^_^
Yasaka Shrine
The first weekend of the program we went on a tour of Kyoto. In addtion to getting our first look at Shijo and Teramachi, we also went to two of Kyoto's biggest tourist attractions, Yaska Shrine and Kiyomizu Temple. If you want to see the real beauty of Kyoto and its temples and nature, these are the places to go ^_^
Pure water: Before entering the shrine, it's a custom to wash your hands with the pure water first.
Shrine prayer: After you throw a coin into the shrine, you ring the bell and pray for your good fortune ^^
Kiyomizu Temple: The front of Kiyomizu Temple.
Kiyomizu scenery: The lush forests around Kiyomizu Temple just took my breath away 0_0 It's really one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.
Kiyomizu forests: The magnificent mountain forests just go on and on around the temple.
Cute shop: There were many little shops and restaurants around Kiyomizu. Here's one of the cutest shops, LOL.
Fan shop: And here's one of the many shops that sell fans in Japan. It's not just women in kimonos who have fans...everybody uses them to ward off Japan's harsh summer humidity.
Pure drink: Before leaving Kiyomizu, you could drink from the pure stream water coming down from the mountains for good luck.
Entrance of Nara Park
Nara is the oldest capital of Japan(even before Kyoto.) One Saturday we spent the day with a tour guide at Nara Park.
Nara deer: One of the biggest attractions in Nara is the over 100 tame deer roaming around. They're perfectly content to let you pet them and hang out with them. Of course, you can buy food and feed them too, as I'm doing here in this picture ^_^
Todaiji Temple: Another big attraction at Nara is Todaiji Temple, the largest wooden structure in the world.
Buddha: And here's the big Buddha statue inside Todaiji Temple.
Nara view: Here's a view of the area from the top of the temple.
Lunch: Here's the place where we had our lunch that day. It doesn't get any more Japanese than this ^_^
Unusual lunch: And here's a closeup of what we had for lunch. I couldn't figure out what half the stuff was, but I ate what wasn't too weird ^^
Shrines: Some more pretty shrines and lanturns.
Shopping deer: One of the deer actually started going inside one of the shops ^^ I couldn't resist taking a picture(I think he likes that Hello Kitty key chain, LOL.)
Shrine area on Kurama Mountain
The day after we went to Nara, my friend Douglas and I went off on our own to climb Kurama Mountain. Even though it was a little rainy that day, we managed to do it ^^ It was tiring, but the gorgeous scenery and tranquility made it worthwhile.
Forests: Here's the forests you see as you climb the mountain. Beautiful doesn't even begin to describe them...
Descent: There I am during our descent. I think the climb down the mountain was harder than going up. The steps provided were very steep and it just went on forever...but it was so pretty and peaceful, it didn't matter ^^
Road by the river: Once you finally get to the bottom of the mountain, you walk along this road for a while, past the river and more forests, back to the train station.
River flowing: And here's another shot of the river.
Kurama station: And here's the little train station leading out of Kurama. Geez, we don't have this kind of greenery in CA...I miss it so much XP
View of the rural area of Biwako
One weekend our group stayed overnight at KSU's lodge near Lake Biwa. The area was pretty, the accommodations were great, and there was a lot of fun things to do ^_^
KSU lodge: Here we are playing cards at at the KSU lodge. There was also a TV there and the kitchen area in the back is where they cooked all our meals.
Itadakimasu!: Lunch time! Don't forget to say "itadakimasu!" before you eat ^^
Cabins: Here are the cabins we stayed in for the night. There was one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for anyone over 30. They were so nice...I wish I had a summer cottage like that somewhere ^^
Inside cabin: And here's what the inside of the cabins looks like - all wood and totally spotless. I almost liked it better than my I-House room!
Lake Biwa!: The afternoon we arrived at Biwako, a lot of us went and swam in the lake, despite the weather being a little rainy. It was tons of fun ^^
Tennis: After a swim in the lake and a nice warm shower, time for some outdoor activities ^^ There I am playing tennis!
Barbeque: And to make the day complete, that evening we had a nice big barbeque ^^ Despite my fear of fire and hot grills, LOL, it was delicious!
Roasting marshmellows: After we were finished with the barbeque, we used the dying flames to roast marshmellows =P
Biwako scenery: And lastly, here's one last shot of the beautiful greenery of Biwako.
There we are with the kindergarteners
One morning we went for a special visit to Sumire Kindergarten to play American games with the kids.
Playground: Here's the school's playground. Is that nice or what? Schools here in CA aren't half as nice as that! XP
Classrooms: Here are some classrooms, and some kids in their cute little uniforms.
"Migi te o agete!": There we are playing Simon Says with the third group of kids(we played Hokey Pokey with the first two groups.)
High five: And after each group of kids left, they got to give us each a high five!
O-bento galore!: When we were done with our games, we were paired up and sent to different rooms to eat lunch with the kids. As you can see, they each have their own little o-bento(boxed) lunch.
Cutest toilet I've ever seen: Yes, this is their toilet, and yes those are separate slippers for the bathroom only!
Me in front of Osaka Castle
And my last big trip before I left Japan was to Osaka. A few hours wasn't nearly enough time to see everything this big city has to offer, but we did go to Osaka Castle and shop at Osaka Station. I definitely need to go back sometime ^_^
Osaka Castle walls and lake: Here's the pretty lake in front of the walls of the park area around Osaka Castle.
Kodack moment here ^^: LOL, I just couldn't resist!
Osaka Castle: And there's beautiful Osaka Castle. Inside there's a seven floor museum, gift shops, and an observatory on the top eighth floor.
Observatory view: Here's the incredible view from the top of the castle.
Lots of stairs: And here's the view going down the eight flights of stairs. It's a looong way down! 0_0
Hobby store: After we went to Osaka Castle, a couple of us went shopping at the stores in Osaka station. Here's a really cool hobby store I found. Not a ton of anime stuff, but enough to keep me interested(Tokyo is really the place for anime, though ^^,,,)
Naruto Puzzle: Here's a Naruto Puzzle I bought at the hobby store(this is it after I finished it.)
Ghibli store: And lastly, there was also an adorable Studio Ghibli store in Osaka Station. LOL, they love their Totoro ^^
