Osaka Shibu

Coming very soon. . .

Snow monkeys!

Osaka Castle

Beautiful Day in Osaka

The fall leaves and the cool clear weather made for a beautiful day in Osaka. Fede posed for the local artists and for me without fail. We went to Osaka Castle.

Osaka

You might consider it a warning sign if you answer "yes".

Nagasaki Dive

On our last night in Nagasaki we stopped into this little dive bar for a snack and a glass of sake. This picture captures the entire place; there was only room for 7 people. Notice the unusual ashtrays and the generous over-the-rim pour in my glass without a drop spilled. We had pickles, cold fishcake, and some delicious little fatty pork pastries that another patron brought in to share. The music was old New Orleans jazz. A very memorable and convivial place.

Nagasaki - Glover Garden

There was a beautiful park with some interesting period Western architecture from the the 1860's. The park overlooks Nagasaki Harbor, and like every other culturally significant place we've visited in Japan, it was over-run with students on fieldtrips.
The garden is home to the Ringer House (built 1865 for Frederick Ringer) and Alt House (built for William Alt). The Glover House, Ringer House and Alt House played host to Pierre Loti who made Nagasaki his base for a novel which inspired Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly.
Fede is standing next to a statue of her fellow Italian in the second to last picture.

Nagasaki Temple Row

Nagasaki Temple Row

Nagasaki sashimi

When you are eating raw fish, either as sushi or sashimi, can it ever be too fresh? I would have answered "no" to that question until we ate here. When they brought the sashimi to the table, there was a fish on ice in the center of the serving bowl, with his flesh carved artfully into little slices which were carefully arranged along his skeleton. I noticed he was still moving a little. Then he started to twitch and struggle, staring at us all the while. If there is an opposite to an appetizer, this was it.
We gave him his last rites and covered him with a napkin until his struggle ended.

Nagasaki pizza

It was late at night, and we'd already eaten, but we were both missing pizza and Italian pasta. So after asking a few locals we ended up at this stylish place and the kitchen was still open. We shared a strange little pizza and a glass of wine. Good times.

Nagasaki

A young pup, some very well organized schoolkids, and I think this might be Atomic Boy.

Enjoy your socks!

English language advertising is more or less ubiquitous in Japan. The meaning, however, is often lost in translation.

Hiroshima bakery

We found a beautiful bakery along the main shopping arcade and have been going there for breakfast and coffee every morning in Hiroshima. The bread and pastries are as nice as anything we've seen in Italy or France. Only on the last day here did we discover that the building housing the bakery was one of the few to survive the atomic blast of 1945.
The bottom picture shows what it looked like soon after the blast.

Hiroshima food

Okonomiyaki, Hiroshima style.

Yakitori

Hiroshima

This domed building was near ground zero, and was one of the few buildings within the blast radius to remain standing. It has been left as it was as a memorial to what this city has endured.