The “reason” i came to Japan this time was to finally see the three famous gardens of Japan. Today I saw the first one, here in okayama.

Tbh, I was kinda underwhelmed. It was big, and well maintained, and just kinda meh. I guess I expected fireworks and a marching band or something. It’s very pretty, just the same.

I love Okayama, though. It feels a lot like Portland. Lots of artsy fartsy stuff.

I was surprised to discover that I’d booked myself into a regular hotel. Past me must have known that I was ready for some privacy.

Also I can see the castle at night from my window.

I had a fantastic lunch at a ramen shop. The chef is in a band or something. The place was covered in concert posters.

The rest of the day was reading and laundry.

The sun was back yesterday, thank goodness. It was a great day for walking in circles, looking at stuff.

The holiday street fair consisted of lots of booths selling handmade ceramics and leather goods. Some of the pottery was beyond cute. One gal had made what I could only call goth ceramics. If I was the type to pack breakables…

Since Im looking for a replacement traveling companion, my eyes were peeled for a small critter. This one outfit from Gifu prefecture were geniuses. They put small stoneware animals in those capsule machines. One of the animals was a frog. Would I have spent 50 bucks on a stoneware frog, no. Did I want to spend all the money I had on the chance I MIGHT pull one, yes.

Luckily for me, im not a gambler. I stopped at 2. For 1000 yen, it was fun. All of a sudden, I can see why people here LOVE the gashapon machines.

Im not nuts for koalas,  so I’ll probably leave him behind.

The rest of the day, I found a shrine to visit and did some sightseeing.

After lunch, I saw the new godzilla movie. I find i can follow most movies just fine, even without understanding the language.

Because it was opening day, I got a prize.

Because im too cheap to buy movie popcorn. I went to Mister Donut for a snack. Looks good, right??????

Wrong! Shrimp. Who puts shrimp anywhere in a fucking donut shop!!!!

Anyhoo, now I have a hard choice to make

He who is soon to be named other than godzilla, or small clay daruma doll?

Had a nice little train ride to Himeji yesterday. There’s not a ton to do or see here, so im only here for two nights.

Turns out that one night would have been plenty.

Because im me, instead of going to the number one attraction in the area, I went on a bus ride to some out of the way mountaintop shrine. Totes worth it because I literally had the place to myself.

Mount Hiromineyama is a beautiful area with a straight-up jungle trying to take over.

After I got back to town, I went to this big garden. It’s not old at all, but still pretty. The local high school kids had an ikebana competition, and the arrangements made me think of my mom. She loved lilies.

Today its a holiday. That means a street fair on the castle grounds. There’s supposed to be lots of cool stuff going on.

I bought a ticket for the new godzilla movie. It opens today, and I’ve been dying to see it.

Froggy and I have parted ways.

He just loved Mt. Fuji so much he decided to stay permanently. I get it, I really do. It’s beautiful there, with the sacred mountain, and the lakes, and the thousand year old shrines and all.

I’ll miss him.