Spring Break

This is the most beautiful cherry tree I have ever seen. Gray bark, full bloom, Arashiyama, Kyoto.

Can you see my happy aunt, uncle, and cousin posing on the Arashiyama bridge?

Yohei looking concerned for a crane hunting in the pond at Nijo castle, Kyoto.

Yohei and my cousin Sarah.



Monkey Mountain, Arashiyama, Kyoto. Can you see the monkey?

Jizo sitting on some moss at Mt. Koya.

Walkway through the sacred forest at Mt. Koya.

Kannon giving the gift. Mt. Koya.

My family, Shin, and Simon at Mt. Koya.

Another great tree in Nara.


Osaka.
Osaka.

My old hat. Mt. Koya.

The Great Buddha, Dainichi Nyorai (Mahavirochana) in Nara. This is the Biggest Buddha in Japan. He is the "Kosmic Buddha" and his open-hand mudra means "Giving and receiving." I think it looks very erotic, don't you?

Todaiji, in Nara, is the largest wooden structure on Earth.


Todaiji.

Cherry blossoms at Todaiji. That gray pink/purple next to the blue is so groovy.

Tricia at our campsite on Zamami Island, Okinawa. It seamed we had the island to ourselves. But one day I was relaxing naked on the beach and suddenly a large army helicopter flew above me and landed in the mountains behind. Very dreamy.
People playing with incense at Kyomizu-dera, Kyoto.

$250 mango, Sogo department store, Osaka.

Stairway to the ceiling of Todaiji, Nara.

Ty with a new friend on the ferry to Zamami, Okinawa.

Steve in Zamami.


Ty kayaking by our campsite in Zamami.
Around the campfire at Zamami.

Stone totems in the forest on Yakushima. Yakushima is a small island off the southern coast of Kyushu. We went there to see the oldest tree in Japan.



Yakushima.

Yakushima.




This is the Jomon-sugi, a seven thousand-year-old cedar tree. This tree taught me many things, such as to be strong and never give up, slow down, and smile--there is beauty in this world.
Emilie sitting inside a hallow three thousand-year-old cedar tree.


Another three thousand-year-old tree.