SUMO!
On Sunday we went to the 91st Annual National High School Sumo Championship, held every year in Kanazawa by Blair's school. We were quite excited, because we had never actually seen sumo before! It was insane to see how huge some of these guys are!! Especially considering that they are only sixteen years old!!! However, what was more depressing is that some of the sumo were not that big. They were pretty small. It is sad when you are fatter than a sumo wrestler. Very sad. But, in other news, as what always happens when a group of foreigners are together when they are not expected we cause quite a stir, and we were in the newspaper! Unfortunately, thanks to a smart-ass comment by our friend, the headline read "Sumo is Sexy!"
Fushimi Inari
Dan and I purifying ourselves before entering the shrine.
We first came to Fushimi Inari for New Years last year, and haven't been back until this past weekend with Dan and Sarah. It was really great to see it in the daylight, and it almost feels as though the trip has come first circle- our first and last trip to Kyoto began and ended here. Fushimi Inari is a shrine famous for its red torii that line several kilometres of hiking trails up the mountain. This is the shrine that is shown in Memoirs of a Geisha. It was absolutely beautiful!
Monkeying Around!
We took Dan and Sarah to the monkey park in Arashiyama last weekend as well. The monkeys were ridiculously cute as always!!
Arashiyama
In our old Japan guidebook there was a picture of these bamboo forests in Arashiyama, just outside of Kyoto. I fell in love with the picture, and even before we arrived in Japan I knew that I had to come here! So, with Dan and Sarah we finally made the trek last weekend. I must say that in all honesty, it was probably built up a little bit in my head, but I would have always regretted it had we not gone. It was also still very beautiful!!!
Cruisin' Nanao
Today Dan, Sarah, Zach and I left Kanazawa and headed up North to the Noto and Nanao for a boat cruise through Nanao harbour, and around Notojima. We were the only ones on the boat, so we had a great time! It was lots of fun feeding the seagulls, and trying to stand in the rocky water!
Beach Party
Friday afternoon we headed up to Takamatsu beach for a BBQ/bonfire with our friends. The weather was absolutely beautiful and we had a great time playing cricket, sitting around the bonfire and eating!
Waiting at the train station
Miya Arrives!
Building the fire.
Yummy!
Roasting hot dogs!
Zach's first swim of the year!
The Boys
The Girls
Golden Week- The First Half
This week is "Golden Week," named so because there are three national holidays in one week, and for Japanese people a rare event where they do not have to work, and can travel. As a result, the entire country goes on holiday, so we stay home, avoid the crowds, and enjoy the sunshine! Unfortunately, there are two days of work dividing Golden Week, so we were back at work today, but these pictures are from yesterday. Zach and I went swimming in the morning, and then walked downtown for a dance festival. Unfortunately, there was no dancing, only really bad bands and a University trampline team, but we had a great time anyway. Then, Chris joined us for more bad bands, and some even worse street dancing, plus some catch with the football! Then we walked to Chris' house, and on the way found some really neat backstreets we hadn't been down before. All in all it was a great summer day, and I even have the nasty sunburn to prove it!
Zach learns to trampoline!
Enjoying the sunshine!!
Zach and Chris play catch in the park.
The Street Dancers
An alleyway
