I met these cats when I visited the bazaar, where my friend is now selling some imported goods.
In this bazaar, a painting exhibition is held. Although this painter is not famous, his painting is something. Most of his painting at the exhibition is cats' ones. And I love these cats!!!
How do you think?
This song has Japanese version and English version.
A long time ago
when men were all babes
There was a land of the free
Fantasy and dreams
Were its untouched wealth
And goodness and love were real
Each man desires to reach Gandhara
His very own utopia
In the striving, in the seeking soul
Man can see Gandhara
The place of light Gandhara
I think 'Gandhara' is what each man dreams in mind. And 'Gandhara' is also a place to keep looking for.
If you keep looking for it, you might see something in yourself. That's what we need for our life.
Of course, Tokyo has a lot of buildings. And many of them are skyscrapers.
However, Tokyo also has a lot of parks. If you go into parks, you can hear the song of birds and the sound of winds easily.
When you go to the Japanese parks, you'll find lots of carps in the ponds. If you'd like to feed carps, you can buy food in the park. If you don't want to do it, just look at them.
Needless to say, Tokyo, where I live, has a lot of place to see. Museums, theaters, baseball park, shopping mall etc. But actually, you don't have to go such places to enjoy Tokyo. Just walk aroud the town. You can see casual Tokyo. And I think that's the real Tokyo.
I took this photo when I walked about the river side. This area is called 'Water frontier'. It is basically an old part of Tokyo, but it is also a new town. Many new buildings have been built recently.
The man must say 'Today is more meaningful than any monument all over the world, because you're living today.' Then how will the woman answer? The line the man says is from famous Japanese song.
Whatever the answer is, I think most important thing is not the form or matter, but how I can spend the time or how I can feel through events.
Do you know 'mosquito coils'?
It was very common to use it in summer when I was a child. But I can hardly to see it, because we use liquid type these days.
Mosquito coils usually smells strongly, so some people hate it.
But mosquito coils fit the quiant hot spring completely. This is the smell of summer!!!
I visited Sanko onsen(Hot spring) near Lake Kussharo.
This hot spring was very quaint, and I found a wood-burning stove there. A wood-burning stove? It was the very first time to see a such an old wood-burning stove.
But this hot spring had not only an old equipment but also a great spa. You can feel relaxed when you bathe. Yet sad to say, running of this spa is not good condition, so the manager is eager to sell the place.
It was a long path through a forest around Lake Kussharo.
I saw some people enjoy fishing.
But it was so calm that I could think a lot of things as I was going throuth the path.
I heard of this path from the helper of the Youth hostel where I stayed.
Great information!!!
Hokkaido is famous for dairy.
So there are a lot of farms. When I took a ride on the bike, I sometime met
milk cows, who were eating grass.
And needless to say, I had excellent taste ice cream!!!
I traveled Eastern Hokkaido two weeks ago.
These are the photos of Lake Mashu.
The explanation of Lake Mashu is below.
This lake has the most transparent water in the world. There is no river flowing either into it or out of it, and yet the water level of the lake never changes. A small island, called Kamuisshu（little island）, set in the lake gives a symbolic impression, Lake Mashu is almost always fogbound, and it lies mysteriously among the legends which originated among the Ainu people.
It was the third time to visit Lake Mashu. It sure is mysterious every time.
I went there by bike. I went up a steep slope for about an hour!!!
It was really hard to climb, but it is worthwhile doing.
Though you can go there by bus or car, you feel more impressed if you climb by bike.
You see, you can spend the rest of your life feeling miserable, or
you can spend it laughing. Which do you like?
- Charo Episode 15
If I have two choice, it is definately I'll choose 'laughing'.
I think the answer is same for everybody.
But it is true that somebody apparently choose 'feeling miserable'.
Maybe it is not easy to keep laughing when you are in severe situation.
Still, I'll try to spend my life laughing.
There was a festival called 'Naha Matsuri' when we traveled Okinawa.
Naha is the capital of Okinawa Prefecture, and 'Matsuri' means festival in Japanese.
So many people took part in the festival, and so many people saw the festival.
It was such a big and livery festival that we really enjoyed ourselves.
To tell the truth, they were not a couple as far as I know.
They traveled Okinawa with me and other friends.
It was in October of 2005.
We traveled there to celebrate my birthday and my friend's birthday.
Maybe this was the second day, and I took this photo on the way to Ikeijima.
What are they talking?
Are they talking about their future?
I'd like to know their conversation.
But I think they don't have to say any word.
All they have to do is share the time.
If you stare at the beautiful sea with your lover, you can cultivate the relationship naturally.
Um...
The cute dog was playing with its owner.
The water there was really clear, and there were a lot of fish swimming
in the sea. I could see them well when I went into the water.
I also took this photo in Ikeijima island.
The owner and the dog of this photo is as same as the those of the photo in part 1.
We drove to the island called Ikeijima. Though Ikeijima is an island, you can go there by land because there is a bridge which connects that island to the main land.
The beach of the island was really beautiful, and there were a lot of people.
Some of them came there with their dogs.
Not only owners but also their dogs seemed free and relaxed.
I met this puppy on the street of Okinawa.
I met him at the guest house where we stayed in Okinawa.
He sometimes barked at my friend. But mostly he was just sitting on the ground.
I took this photo when he was sitting under the car.
I'm not sure what he was staring at. He might have mused over past memories.
Whar had happened in his past? I have no idea.
What do you imagine?
Dogs have pride, too.
You lose your pride, you lose everything.
When you want to succeed, you try hard.
If you're trying hard, you should be proud of yourself.
I had a burger at the restaurant on the Route 66.
The wind blew so strong that flags waved hard.
The burger I had was relly American, big and not sophisticated.
But I sat back and enjoyed the atomosphere of Route 66.
I don't remember who I was talking to when 'Route 66' came up.
I dropped by Route 66 on the way from Grand Circle to Las Vegas.
Times flied very slowly there. It was not as same as those of Grand Circle.
And the clouds in the sky was so impressive that they seemed to insist on something.
This is the picture of the hotel where I stayed in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. They spoke only Spanish, and I couldn't understand Spanish. So it was very hard to communicate at first. But both of us tried hard to understand each other.
This hotel was very stylish, and served very good coffee. I think the cofee of this hotel was best of all!
