Japanese Swedish Halloween

Halloween does not seem to be as big here as in the US, but some people do dress up and there are some parties around town. I went out with the Swedes tonight. At the language school I attend, I think Swedes are the second most numerous after the Chinese. So far I only know one other American attending the school. In my class, there are 9 Chinese, 2 Swedes, 1 Spanish, 1 Russian, and myself. A few other nationalities I have run across are Dutch, Danish, Finnish, Venezuelan, and Korean.

Here are Anders in his Panda suit and Erik in red tights and mask.
And the girls all dressed up as well.

Escape to Shiga

For my first weekend here, Ryoka-san came down from Tokyo for a visit. We went by train to his parents' house in Hyogo, and then from there by car to their country house in Yogo-cho, Shiga Prefecture. Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake, is located at the center of this prefecture. It occupies one-sixth the total area of Shiga.

Their home overlooks the small but scenic lake Lake Yogo. Thanks to Ryoka-san and his parents' generous hospitality, I had a wonderful time.


We did a short hike up one of the hills surrounding the lake. Watch out for the spiders!

Here is a view looking down the other side of the hill.
Here is the view looking back on Lake Yogo. Lake Yogo is also the site of Japan's oldest Swan Maiden (Hagoromo Densetsu 羽衣伝説) folktale. A white swan lands on the lake and transforms into a beautiful heavenly maiden. A man sees her and falls in love. He hides her clothes, preventing her from returning to heaven. She ends up marrying the man with whom she has children. But she later finds her clothes and returns to heaven. There are various versions of this tale for Lake Yogo (and all over Japan).


We had really nice weather, but this area is known for getting heavy snowfall during the winter due to the geography of the area.

Kyoto Arrival

Well, I left Destin, FL early on the morning of the 7th and via Atlanta and Detroit find myself here in Japan on the evening of the 8th. A 1 hour ride on the Haruka express train brought me from Kansai International Airport (KIX) to Kyoto Station (京都駅). And a short taxi ride later landed me at the tiny studio apartment which will be my home for the next so many months in Kyoto (population around 1.5 million). I'll have to take some pictures of just how small the apartment is; but for now, here is a night time view from it. In the distance is the lit-up Kyoto Tower (京都タワー), which sits just in front of Kyoto Station.


Kyoto Tower is an observation tower located in Kyoto, Japan. The steel tower is the tallest structure in Kyoto with its observation deck at 100 meters (328 ft) and its spire at 131 meters (430 ft). The 800-ton tower stands atop a 9-story building, which houses a 3-star hotel and several stores.

Kyoto Tower was proposed in the early 1960's, and it was planned to be constructed and completed in time to correspond with the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Construction began in 1963 on the former site of Kyoto's central post office and was completed near the end of 1964. Unlike many other towers, such as Tokyo Tower that are constructed using metal lattice frames, Kyoto Tower's interior structure consists of many steel rings stacked on top of each other. The structure was then covered with lightweight steel sheets with a thickness between 12–22 mm (0.47–0.87 in). The sheets were then welded together and painted white. The intended overall effect was for the tower to resemble a Japanese candle.

Designed by Makoto Tanahashi, a doctor of engineering at Kyoto University, Kyoto Tower was built to withstand the forces of both earthquakes and typhoons. The head of the tower's business division, Tsuyoshi Tamura, claims it can withstand winds of up to 201 mph (90 m/s) and survive an earthquake of far greater magnitude than that of the Kobe or Tokyo earthquakes.