Autumn 2014: Himeji Castle and Nagoyama (again and again!)

I like making friends with the cats at Nagoyama. Seriously, they're the friendliest bunch of cats I've found in Himeji so far. The castle cats are cute, but most of them aren't too friendly unless you're one of their regular feeders. But the Nagoyama cats, now those are some affectionate kitties! Not all of them, but many are quite starved for attention even if you don't come bearing food offerings.

I took a lot of photos of this very photogenic kitty. He liked to talk while I photographed, and filled me in on what was probably a lifetime of cat gossip. Then he followed my bike around everywhere I went, which made for some tricky maneuvering. The company was nice, though!

The sun was starting to set, so I didn't have good light for very long. But the statues in the Nagoyama garden were looking great!

I first spotted the cat hiding in the tall grass. He didn't come out at first.

I think he enjoyed being photographed, because he liked striking poses like this long enough for me to get a good shot.

The sun was shining down on this statue at just the right angle!

The maple trees are at their peak right now, and I'm enjoying it immensely.

Another cat, but he was rather photo shy. He looked great sitting among the gravestones, though.

Himeji Castle

I briefly took some photographs of Himeji Castle while I was riding my bike to the train station (heading to Kyoto, see next blog post!). I admired a lovely crow perching in a maple tree, but he wasn't keen on having his photo taken. The castle it looking great, though! It's down to a single crane at ground level, and most of the scaffolding is gone now.

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Shinzaike Honcho Festival, Friendship Festival, and the Countryside!

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Scarecrows and Swordsmen Make for an Exciting Weekend!

This weekend I had two consecutive day trips! On Saturday, November 9th, I went to Aioi to watch a swordsmith make a katana and viewed the Scarecrow Festival; I also went on a bit of a hike, and visited an art museum! Aioi was about an hour away from Shirasagi by car. It was at a higher altitude, so it was a bit chilly in the morning. Once the sun came out, though, it got much more comfortable! The autumn leaves were absolutely stunning; there's nothing quite like seeing mountainsides dotted with colorful trees! The entrance to a main area of Aioi. The view from the window of the smithy. The swordsmith at work! He was a junior apprentice, which meant he had to do all the work himself, using this machine to pound the steel. Apparently the grand masters are allowed to have apprentices pound the steel manually for them. A pond outside the smithy! A watermill fed into it. An ivy-covered house! Starting a hike to view a shrine in ...

Autumn 2014: Kyoto

I spent all day on the 22nd in Kyoto. I went to so many places that I cannot honestly remember the names of them all. I will try my best to be accurate, but it was pretty overwhelming. I also was able to en joy a performance by a Maiko , or apprentice Geisha. She was very beautiful! The weather was great, in fact is got pretty toasty in the afternoon. The crowds, though, were a bit obnoxious. I've come to expect big crowds in Kyoto, but it still comes as an unpleasant surprise every time I visit. Be warned, I took a lot of photographs! Fushimi Inari Shrine Our first stop was the Fushimi Inari Shrine . This was actually many shrines, all along a gorgeous mountain trail that I did not have the time to enjoy fully (perhaps again, during a non-peak tourist season). Inari is the Shinto god of rice, and the messenger for this spirit is the fox. Thus, there were foxes everywhere, as well as the red coloring that goes with this god. You will see many Inari shrines throughout Japa...

Daley-sensei's Adventures in Himeji, Japan.

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