Church in Japan

After asking my host family about Japanese churches, the Furusawas brought me to this church in Higashiyama.

It was the William A. Eckel Memorial Church built in 1979. I heard that a missionary from South Dakota usually comes on Fridays to discuss Christianity.


Here is a shot of the inside.


I soon found out that the Church is Protestant, and I had to break the news to them that I am Catholic. They were very nice about it.

Here are the only statues (figurines) that I could find. Their faces were Western. I asked about other Christian statues in Japan, and they said that they too have Western faces.

Here is their Christmas tree.

Making Mochi

Around new years, the Japanese will eat mochi for good luck. This past weekend, the Furusawas took me to a Mochi-Making at a local elementary school. Here is my host mother with the rice that will become the mochi.

Here is the propane-powered oven that cooks the rice until it is ready to be pounded.

Here is me and some of the Mochi-Makers waiting for the rice to cook. Extremely comfortable.

Here is the one of the hammers they use to pound the mochi into a soft and sticky pulp.

Usually two people pound the mochi simultaneously in rhythm, but here is just one man. The woman would occasionally add water during the up-swing. In this picture, it looks like he is about to hit her.

Here is a video of some dual-mochi-pounding.



Here is the Mochi after pounding. It is still very hot.

Here is a video of the Mochi removal.

I think this is brown sugar or some other kind of spice that they put on the mochi.

Here is my host mother and I testing some of the finished product, still warm.

Afterward, I played around with the kids. Someone got kicked in the head shortly after this photo was taken.

What a Wakayama Weekend with the Wakitas!

I spent this past weekend with Saori and the Wakitas at their home in Wakayama.

Mr. Wakita is a self-employed architect who designed his own house. I was very impressed with it. The house was very interesting, comfortable and spacious. There seemed to be more floors than there actually were. Almost all the lights (and even the toilet seat) were automatic. And, there were some interesting windows inside that let light spill over from other rooms.

The room I stayed in was Saori's old bedroom. The bookshelf doubled as a staircase that led to a small lounge.

Here is a shot of the lounge. Connected to the lounge is a balcony (on the left).

There house is in the country, it was pretty quiet compared to Hirakata and Higashiyama. Sorry, that this shot is from inside the house, it was raining at the time. Also, allow to apologize for the neighbors who are farmers and who let their little creek get dirty.

On Saturday, we went to see Wakayama-jou, Wakayama Castle. Leading to it were many small bamboo candles which are called touroumatsuri.

Here is a close-up with the flash.

Here is a close-up in the dark.

I like how the building looks in this shot. The shape of the candles to the right is a heart.

Here is a better shot of the heart.

I took maybe 15 shots of Wakayama Castle and because of a long exposure time, all but two came out blurry. Here is the better of the two.

This picture is from the area surrounding the castle.

After visiting the castle, we met Egawa Sensei who is an acupuncturist. He is a very friendly man who gave me some free acupuncture. At the time, my hips were a little sore from too much biking after not having biked. I am happy to report that I have no pain in my hips.

Here is Egawa Sensei working on my other hip.

Here is me and a skeleton who coincidentally is also named Tom.

After helping me out, a real patient came by and Egawa Sensei helped her out.

She had rolled her ankle pretty badly playing volleyball.

After inserting a needle, Egawa Sensei allowed me to flick it.

We then all shared some snacks and Egawa Sensei let me administer some acupuncture on myself. I did alright.

Having briefly learned about acupuncture in a Chinese Civilization course, I asked if he ever uses fire when doing acupuncture. He did after all, and then the put some of the burning material on my hand. The sensation was a little warm but it never burns he told me. Apparently it relaxes the area.

Here is picture of Egawa Sensei administering his fire acupuncture.

Everyone helped. It was unnecessary but fun.

On Sunday, we met Mr. Kimura and his family at there orange farm. I believe they also grow persimmons. They gave me two bags of free oranges to take back to my host family. It wasn't the easiest thing to take back by bike, but I am grateful nonetheless.

Here is a shot of me, the Wakitas, and the Kimuras at their farm. The picture might not show it, but they liked me, and did not resent me for taking their oranges.

Osaka Castle

In Japan, they have a holiday that coincides with Thanksgiving, although the spirit of the holiday is like labor day. Anyway, on that day, I went to Osaka Castle, "Osaka-jou."

Here is me next to an Osaka manhole which sounds like a really bad nickname.According to the sign, at one time, this cannon was used as a "noon marker." I used it for a pose.

There was a puppeteer outside the castle with a tiny Ray Charles puppet. May he rest in peace.

Around the castle, there were many pigeons and people willing to feed them.

I think somebody was drooling.

Here is Saori and I posing in some traditional Japanese tourist picture boards. With her face in there I think it looks pretty realistic.

Here is Mt. Fuji (the flower version).

Here is a tree with red leaves. I like the how building is in the background.

Here is Saori overlooking part of the moat. Yes, there was a moat.

Here is a closer shot of the castle.

From the castle, here is the flower Mt. Fuji.

Here is what I suppose is a fish gargoyle made of gold.

Here is a shot of the view.

Here is a very reflective building.

Here is a wider shot of the view from the castle. On the right, is the NHK building (like Japan's PBS.) You can also see a little bit of a golden fish.

Here is a shot of the moat. I think it is pretty amazing where the algae stops. I definitely would not want to swim in that moat past that one point.