After only 12 days in Japan, L had to return to the US for a meeting in
Atlanta. The score was 30 hours in the plane / 60 hours on the ground.
His report: "Airplane seats are not getting any more comfortable."
Is there anything more Japanese than sumo wrestling? OK, maybe sushi, but sumo has to be a close second.
There are many elaborate traditions to watch like tossing salt and synchronized breathing, but the goal is simple --
first guy down or out of the ring loses. There are no extra points for flattening a judge with your opponent.
Makiko Ogawa was our host and sumo expert!
September is a time for neighborhood festivals (matsuri).
Portable temple shrines (mikoshi) are paraded around the neighborhood
by teams of young people. It's hard work, but there are refreshing sake breaks. Food stalls and trinkets, games of
chance and special musical performances add to the festivities.
Makiko and Akio Ogawa inviited us to their town's matsuri
We were hit last week by both a typhoon and an earthquake. The typhoon
came Friday night, but we were exhausted and slept through it. We were
definitely awake, standing on the balcony, when the 4.8 earthquake hit
Sunday. We shot off that balcony and into a doorway so fast we must
have been a blur. Later L pointed out that even if the balcony concrete
had cracked, there was still plenty of rebar. This didn't make J feel
any better, as she pictured herself dangling from rebar 11 stories up!
Caution! For Computer Weenies Only:
L's host Kenichi Miura set up a visit to the Earth Simulator, a
Japanese supercomputer developed by NEC for weather, climate, ocean and
seismic modeling. In 2002 it was the worlds fastest, checking in at 40+
TF, but that's slow today. We saw it on its last day of operation
before being replaced by ES 2.0. It was an awesome machine!
We
spent a great weekend in Nara with the Kamimuras and Imuras. Nearby is
an area where the traditional methods of terracing rice paddies are
still maintained. The rice grains have turned a lovely golden color,
but the stalks remain brilliant green. Add the wild spider lilies and
six happy tourists, and you have one great photo op.
Photo: Shinya Kamimura
Shinya, Wataru, Kazuyo, J, L and Junko
What do you do on a dark, rainy day in Tokyo? With Mizuho and Naoto Ozaki, we headed to the kite museum. Here Mizuho is looking
at walking kites. They are kites so small and light you can fly them as you walk. But maybe not in the rain.
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