Chuo ward — On the southern tip of Japan, there is a land centered around a castle and a bear. The people are kind and directionally challenged (The tourist information woman told me to make a left, while tracing a right turn on the map. The train station employee inside of the ticket booth, guided me to the wrong train and I ended up going the opposite direction!) The young men shave their eyebrows like th...
Chuo ward — My travel exploration technique is to walk, walk, walk, and then walk some more. Occasionally with a destination in mind, but usually not. This walk took me to the rather stunning Osaka JR station. L...
Chuo ward — What is it with the south and women? In the US, there are Southern Belles and in Japan, Hakata Bijin (博多美人). Hakata is a southern region of Japan. Bijin means beauty. This region is known for the beau...
Chuo ward — My last night in Osaka. Exhausted, hungry, poor Japanese at best. With no English menu in sight, I impressed the waitress by ordering my meal using this photo from the storefront food display (taken m...
Hello castle
Odori Park (大通公園 Ōdōri Kōen), from Sapporo TV Tower (さっぽろテレビ塔 Sapporo Terebi-tō)
Southern women and ramen.
Once upon a time...
Kumamoto, nice to meet you. And yes. That is my handwriting. I can indeed write Japanese characters.
Working at Sapporo, Hokkaido
My mind could have kept me walking for hours, but my feet had something else in mind.
3:08am. Is my normal insomnia OK when it can be called jetlag?
Somehow Friday afternoons look different.
Bicycle abandonment prohibition area.
Children are viruses.
A late lunch.
Final moving day. Last scene.
Osaka Bay is a parkour hop, skip, and jump away.
In my backyard finches dig themselves into holes. It's hot here.
Rough around the edges but ready to go.
The wordless traveller