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Shiroumarenpo (白馬連峰) in the distance with the Matsu River to the right of the bike path
If you are in Japan in October or early November you may want to consider heading to Hakuba for a canoe/biking tour. The place is empty this time of year as nearly all of the summer hikers are gone and the winter skiers have yet to arrive. However, the colors are fantastic and not to be missed.
Amsterdam 2011
Today’s photo was taken in basically the same spot as this prior pic. The main difference is I was looking in a different direction. That’s a lot of action for 11 p.m.
If you like today’s photo then you should also check out Copenhagen Cycle Chic, a blog with thousands of similar images of people riding bikes through the streets of Copenhagen.
In the background of today’s photo you can see the buses lined up next to Tivoli. This street is called Hans Christian Andersen Boulevard.
If you can read Japanese, you already know what this photo is about. If you can’t, try and guess. A funeral? A wedding? But why all the kids? I’ll give you a hint, I took this photo in April. Still not getting it?
April is when school starts in Japan. This is the first day of school at a Japanese kindergarten. And the first day of school for these four- and five-year olds is a huge deal. Just getting accepted to some Japanese kindergartens is a big deal. One of my Japanese friends paid tens of thousands of yen for a kindergarten prep-school for her three-year old daughter so that she could get into a good kindergarten. Crazy right? This is not a rare occurrence. If you see a Japanese mom with a three- or four-year old, both dressed to the T, in a train station in Japan the odds are very good that they are on their way to, or from, one of these kindergarten prep schools.
幼稚園入園式 = yochiennyuenshiki = Kindergarten Entrance Ceremony
