week 3

This week consisted of a tour of my local area with my little old man friend Nagata-san! He also took me for a gorgeous meal in Harue and then to Yokokan a beautiul Japanese house that sits by a lake with lovely gardens. This house was the home to a ruling family during the Edo period in Fukui. This was my first glimpse at the beauty of Japanese gardens with the zen combination of water, pebbles and green plants and trees that was very pretty and soothing to look at and be in.

John, Kim and I also went to Maruoka castle just down the road from where we live. It is Japan's oldest standing dungeon, sitting three stories high on the hill in our town. It had wonderful views of the local area, and was my first introduction to traditional japanese architecture.















Wednesday involved a trip down to Tsruga for the fireworks and for Richards's birthday at the beach. The best part of the evening was when people put lit lanterns on the sea as part of the Obon festival and rememberance of our ancestors. As the sun set these lanterns looked magical and the buddhist chanting over the sound system along the beach was very atmospheric and enchanting.