Leaves Turn Red in Nikko Mountains

My wife and I went to Oku-Nikko moor one week ago.
It took us two hours driving from home to the mountain side area.

Nikko is famous for magnificent shrines and temples, and beautiful lakes and waterfalls.
The area was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1999.

Becoming cooler day by day, leaves in the mountains wear colorful makeup without forgetting every year.

Mt. Fuji and Wild Birds

a wild pheasant in the garden of the facility

We were able to see Mt. Fuji in short clear-up moments from my company's recreation facility we stayed.

There were wild birds at the facility's garden.




I could have taken a picture of the top of Mt. Fuji in a fraction of a second then it disappeared in the wink of an eye.

Flowers in Hakone Wetland

 It was slightly raining when my wife and I visited Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands in August.

Lotus flowers and other pond-side flowers were beautifully blooming.

It took us almost half a day to walk around every part of  the botanical garden.

Since very few people were visiting there, I felt as if I were the owner of the garden.

Wild Insects in Hakone Wetland

A mantis on a lily is looking at me.

A gold beetle is on a flower.

I went to Hakone Botanical Garden of Wetlands to see its native plants and species with my wife.

Hakone town is located near Mt. Fuji. It took us half a day to get there by car.

There are various kinds of plants and insects in the area.

A pellucid hawk moth is having flower honey.

Burger Shop in Fussa City

DEMODE DINER is the name of a burger shop in Fussa city of Tokyo.
I went to the shop with my wife on our way back from my company's recreation facility in Hakone.

McDonald's, Burger King and Wendy's are ubiquitous franchise burger shops in many counties, I guess.
That's also true in Japan.
So, it's sometimes very hard to find a ma-and-pa burger shop in Japan too.

The shop offered good taste dishes and comfortable atmosphere on a rainy day afternoon in western Tokyo area.

Cactus Flowers Bloom

The cactus at home had two buds a couple weeks ago for the first time since I bought it several years ago.

The buds became bigger and bigger everyday.

A few days before blooming, the color of the buds slightly turned pink.

Finally, it bloomed last week.

The flowers were unbelievably beautiful; the flowers kept their shape only two days, after that they withered.

Top Season of Hibiscus Is Going by

It's cooler in the morning and at night these days in my town.

I feel that the top Season of hibiscus is gradually going by.

Even cooler temperature, a gum tree at home has had new two leaves for the first time in one year.

Taking care of plants at home is really fun and joy to me.

Swimming Pool on the Top of a Building

Sweltering summer weather continues for recent days in my city.

Despite the hot humid weather, citizens enjoy current summer days by their own way.
There is a swimming pool on the top of a building. That can be seen from my home living room.
Boys and girls definitely seem to be enjoying their moment of the summer.

In my case, I play tennis as usual even in the glare of the sun .

Modern Art Exhibition

My wife and I went to Tochigi Prefectural Museum of Fine Arts to see a modern art exhibition by Tamura Satoru.

All exhibits were moving. Some were going forward and backward, some were rotating and the others were moving up and down.

The exhibits were quite strange for all generations; many kids were visiting there.

The Exhibit Represents Chinese Character 'LOVE.' 

Miya-Matsuri Summer Festival Has Come

The biggest summer festival in my town is Miya-Matsuri that was held on the first weekend in August.

All traffic was shut out from the main street of  the downtown and hundreds of people were dancing, singing, carrying portable shrines and playing festive music.

There is a jinx that they would have evening thunder storm during the two-day festival.

But this year, the jinx was broken and all participants seemed to be enjoying every moment of the festival.

It Has Been Very Hot These Days

It's been very hot these days in Japan.

The best dessert on the day like today can be anything very cold.

My wife and I had a bowl of shaved ice with sweet bean paste, rice cakes and sweetened green tea syrup at a Japanese-style confection store called Okano.

First Summer Festival in My Town is Held

The first summer festival in my town is called miyaichi-sai.
The festival was held in the time between rainy season and hot summer season expressing people's joy of coming summer.

I happened to take some pictures of the very final scene of the festival.
They thanked the success of the festival and prayed their future happiness by clapping hands together.　
This 'clapping hands' is a common way of closing a festival in Japan.

Cafe Visconti

My wife and I went to a Italian cafe on our way back from Utsunomiya Museum of Art.

We had a pasta lunch and a sweets combo.

Espresso coffee was perfectly matched with their Italian dishes.

I drunk three cups of espresso at the cafe.

Green Tea and Japanese Sweets

Right :rice cake covered with bean paste and toasted soybean flour

Right :rice cake covered with bean paste and ground black sesame

Ichijyu-Issai is the name of a cafe, to which we went the other day.

They served delicious Japanese sweets and green tea.

Not only were the taste good, but the contrast of the color and  pattern of cups, dishes and covers of forks between the two plates were beautiful.

It's sometimes hard to find this type of top-notch Japanese cafe in my town.

Canadian Friend, Michel Comes Home

Michel once lived in Utsunomiya for about two years as an English teacher in 2006.

We used to drink beer with other friends at a nearby Irish Pub.

He and his Japanese wife have gone back to Canada, but visit Japan every two years since then.

It was the year 2012 when he and his family visited my home last time.

I remembered many fun moments at that time and the year 2006 to 2007 we spent.

I want to go to Canada someday and visit his home town.