Lake Toya

Lake Toya is in Hokkaido and the snow is falling . Lake Toya is an old volcanic caldera and has on hotspring village on the shore. Sure enough they also have winter illuminations.

Sendai Illuminations

The daylight hours are short and it seems that every major city has some form of night time illuminations. This is Sendai's.

Ashikaga Flower Park

Ashikaga also has a Flower Park which looks like it may have some nice wisteria in spring. While nothing is flowering at the moment,  the park does have some amazing illuminations.

Ashikaga Gakko

Ashikaga Gakko is the oldest educational institution in Japan and was believed to be founded in the 8th century.  They have restored some of the old buildings .

Christmas in Yokohama

I'm in Yokohama for Christmas Eve and I have dinner booked at the hotel I'm staying at.

Apparently the was an Earthquake

Apparently there was a magnitude 6 in the ocean a couple of hundred km south of Tokyo. Didn't feel a thing...

The Emperor's Birthday

Today is a public holiday in Japan as it is the current Emperor's Birthday.  Lots of people in Tokyo, I'm staying in Kichijoji, which is a little bit out from the centre of Tokyo and while it is a popular area, it is very crowded today. This year the Emperor's Birthday is a big deal as it will be last time it will be celebrated on this date as he will abdicate next year. He does have one more public appearance scheduled,  which is on the second of January. Both today and on the second,  the Imperial Palace grounds are open to the general public and on both days the grounds will be packed (according to NHK news,there were over 82,000 people at the Imperial Palace today).

Flight back to Tokyo

The flight from Ishigaki to Tokyo is the longest domestic flight that JAL does. It takes about two and a half hours and is a bit over 1900 km from Ishigaki to Tokyo.

View From the boat

Quite a lot of fish amongst the coral along with a couple of large clams. Ishigaki seems to have a climate similar to Bundaberg. Lots of sugar cane is grown here.

Kabira Bay

Kabira Bay is a major landmark on Ishigaki. They run glass bottom boats out into the bay. It's quite a nice place and not to crowded.