The association of businesses in the Nishiwaseda area put on a festival of sorts back in early July. As we were walking down Waseda Street on a weekday we were invited to join them under a tent for some crackers and tea. We heard some interesting stories from some of the locals and were invited back for the weekend festivities. They gave us some vouchers for lottery chances. On the following weekend we went back and the kids tried their luck with the spinning, bingo-like lottery wheel. The result? A box of tissues, a can of CC Lemon, 1,000 yen in Nishi-Waseda bucks good at many of the stores and ramen shops in the area, and three jizo candies (one pictured above).

Posted on August 27th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: jizo, nishi-waseda. Comments Off on Jizo candy

Sarubobos are not supposed to have a face, but this one did. What is a sarubobo you ask? I had to ask our waitress in Takayama the same question as we saw them all over the place. Her answer was pretty similar to what you will find on wiki.

Posted on August 26th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: ellie, ryan, takayama. Comments Off on Sarubobo (さるぼぼ)

As the day (to be capped by fireworks in the evening) wore on in the Kamakura area, more people could be seen wearing traditional summer yukata, just like the people in the ad poster. This scene took place on the Enoshima Electric Railway Line (Enoden or 江ノ島電鉄). I really like this line as you spend part of it going right down the middle of the street in a cute neighborhood and another part going along the beach (with a great view of the Pacific Ocean and Enoshima).

Posted on August 25th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: enoshima, people, trains. Comments: 1

On our walk up to the viewpoint in Shirakawago we encountered this giant, caterpillar/slug/? creature. It was about six inches (15 cm) in length. The fur on the top was soft but the quills on the side were very hard and sharp.

Posted on August 24th, 2010 under Japan. Tags: shirakawago. Comments: 2

Our trip to Shirakawago included a night in Takayama (高山市) on the way there and two nights in Kanazawa after visiting Shirakawago. Today’s pic is from Takayama (Hida-Takayama in Gifu Ken).

There are some really old buildings in Takayama. We had a fabulous lunch in the restaurant to the far right of this picture, Kibun (紀文).

And, as you can tell, it rained about half the time we were in Takayama. Traveling during rainy season on a weekday does have its advantages though. We saw very few Japanese tourists. I’m guessing the place is crowded with Japanese tourists on a weekend outside of rainy season or on Japanese holidays.

Takayama is a five and a half hour bus ride from Shinjuku and costs 6,500 yen each way.

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 under Japan. Tags: buildings, rain, takayama. Comments: 3