佐伯市

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Saiki City, Oita Prefecture (佐伯市, 大分県)

April 19, 2010 (平成22年 4月 19日)

A few weeks ago I went on a school trip and was given the opportunity to wander around a picturesque neighborhood in Saiki after a "tea ceremony." (I would have liked to participate in the real thing, but there were far too many people there to facilitate that.) Down the road there was this man's little shop where he was carving Kagura masks.

If you are ever in Saiki, you should stop by. He looks suspicious (you would too if 50 people came storming through your quite little shop) but he was actually very nice.

神楽面(Kagurmen)

〒876-0848大分県佐伯市城下東町9-34

And of course, he has a website.

(P.S. Clearly having formatting issues. I have no idea how to fix this so please bear with me.)

さくらさくら

Funai Castle, Oita City (府内城, 大分市)

April 4, 2010 (平成 22 4月 4日）

I arrived in Kyushu in time to catch the tail end of the cherry blossom season. On the bus ride through the country side from the airport, the hills were spotted with pink as far as the eye could see. I was disappointed that I wasn't able to see them in their full splendor but they were beautiful nonetheless.

I've been here for over a month now and I don't know where the time has gone.

In Transit

View of the Alaskan Peninsula and Aleutian Arc from bird's eye view camera on my flight from San Francisco to Tokyo.

It feels like a hundred years since I first got on that plane.