I guess I have gotten off kind of lucky as far as weather. We have had some cold days, but not as cold as my friends in the States. Days mostly in the 40s and nights dipping into the 20s. This past weekend we got some snow here in Zama, ab
out 2” although it snowed heavily for about 12 straight hours. I went to Hakone, near Mt. Fuji and in the higher elevations like Gora and Owakudani there was 8” and it fell all day long. So much for the weather report. I feel like I am not taking as many pictures these days, but maybe I am starting to realize that a gigabyte of photos don’t really tell the story. Maybe if I was “press” or a professional photographer staging photo shoots, they would be more interesting. I enjoy looking back at pix but I know everybody else doesn’t enjoy looking at 700 pictures of a place they haven’t been. I went shopping last weekend at the 100 Yen store (Everything’s A Dollar) and that was fun. Then there are the Department Stores. Every department is a separate 
store, like a vertical mall. Restaurants are stacked on top of one another, several stories high, but I ended up eating at a Su
shi-Go-Round. The picture explains it all. What it doesn’t show is the baby octopus, the various roe and the stuff that is indiscernible and most unattractive to my Floridian eyes. I will leave it at that, but it was cold outside the tea was hot and the 
salmon, tuna and other odds and ends were delicious. This weekend I went to Hakone, famous for the volcanic hot springs. I rode the cable car to Gora Park and the ropeway to Owakudani (Hell Valley – a hot and steamy volcanic crater). I ate black eggs cooked in the thermal springs that are supposed to add 7 years to your life. I ate five. Then after taking the 
bus back to Hakone I went to my first onsen, a Japanese experience which I intend to repeat, and sat in the hot springs with occasional strolls in the cold night air in between soaks. Nice and minerally. I had to locate it using Kanji script (Japanese writing) and that was kind of fun too. Here are a some pics. I did take a fe
w at the onsen, but as you might guess the steam made the pictures very steamy. Interestingly a lot of people wear surgical masks here. I thought it was to keep from catching the flu, but learned that it’s also to keep from sprea
ding germs which would be rude behavior. I kind of enjoy the polite culture here, and will miss it when I go home.
out 2” although it snowed heavily for about 12 straight hours. I went to Hakone, near Mt. Fuji and in the higher elevations like Gora and Owakudani there was 8” and it fell all day long. So much for the weather report. I feel like I am not taking as many pictures these days, but maybe I am starting to realize that a gigabyte of photos don’t really tell the story. Maybe if I was “press” or a professional photographer staging photo shoots, they would be more interesting. I enjoy looking back at pix but I know everybody else doesn’t enjoy looking at 700 pictures of a place they haven’t been. I went shopping last weekend at the 100 Yen store (Everything’s A Dollar) and that was fun. Then there are the Department Stores. Every department is a separate 
store, like a vertical mall. Restaurants are stacked on top of one another, several stories high, but I ended up eating at a Su
shi-Go-Round. The picture explains it all. What it doesn’t show is the baby octopus, the various roe and the stuff that is indiscernible and most unattractive to my Floridian eyes. I will leave it at that, but it was cold outside the tea was hot and the 
salmon, tuna and other odds and ends were delicious. This weekend I went to Hakone, famous for the volcanic hot springs. I rode the cable car to Gora Park and the ropeway to Owakudani (Hell Valley – a hot and steamy volcanic crater). I ate black eggs cooked in the thermal springs that are supposed to add 7 years to your life. I ate five. Then after taking the 
bus back to Hakone I went to my first onsen, a Japanese experience which I intend to repeat, and sat in the hot springs with occasional strolls in the cold night air in between soaks. Nice and minerally. I had to locate it using Kanji script (Japanese writing) and that was kind of fun too. Here are a some pics. I did take a fe
w at the onsen, but as you might guess the steam made the pictures very steamy. Interestingly a lot of people wear surgical masks here. I thought it was to keep from catching the flu, but learned that it’s also to keep from sprea
ding germs which would be rude behavior. I kind of enjoy the polite culture here, and will miss it when I go home.
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