Japan
October & November, 1984
Starting in the North
Because it was mid-Fall, we first travelled north to Morioka, Hakodate, & Sapporo. Then we used our 3-week Shinkansen pass to travel to the southern island of Kyushu and back up to Kyoto. We were entranced by Kyoto with its calm parks and gardens, and were fascinated with Tokyo with its mini-cities within the city.
The shots above were taken in Hakodate, where we met a wonderful minshuku (hotel) owner who drove us around the town at night and who took us to an evening with some very classy geishas.
Hmmmm, what do we have here?
The weather was a bit grim much of the time, but it was our first stop in Asia and we loved everything!
When in Japan, make sure to meditate calmly, like the Buddha. And then stare dementedly at the photographer!
The minshuku owner in Hakodate wanted to get a picture of Ruby in the hot tub he made, which perhaps explains the look on her face…
We had a great time in Himeji, west of Kyoto. I was almost literally blown away when a Shinkansen train hurled through the station at what seemed like 200 miles an hour! We also explored Himeji castle and ended up in a ‘love hotel,’ where the ceilings had mirrors and the rooms had video-recorders… There were some disturbing sounds from the other rooms — just movies I assumed! It was sort of like “Hotel California,” with “mirrors on the ceiling and pink champagne on ice,” except you were allowed to leave the next morning.
What are you supposed to do with these things?
The next day we climbed up to Himeji castle and spent a relaxing afternoon on the wide park below. The orange temple is in Kyoto.
Kyushu
Near Sakurajima volcano, in the bay across from Kagoshima.
Getting a hot sand bath in Beppu. R.I.P.!
