Dan Japan

NY

I am in New York.
This is the bank apartment where I am staying...

This is the office where I work:

Some sightseeing on top of the Rockefeller Center...

...or on campus of Columbia University.

Gallery opening with artists!

And a trip to Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts for Thanksgiving (lots of turkey).

Meeting friends from High School: Emily in New York

Sathya on campus of Harvard University

Chiaki for Japanese food in Porter Exchange, Cambridge, Mass

Amanda at Starbucks!

Last days in Japan

It is end of March, and I am already back in Germany. These are my last days in Japan:
The night before my last day for the internship at the UNCRD, we went to eat duck ramen (very tasty).

Then, I did my farewell party in Kyoto with lots of friends, first at the beerhall "Muenchen",

and later until 7.30 in the morning in my place, where we drank all the Shochu and Sake that was left.

Finally, my cousin Arisa and Mami took me to the airport where we met Nakaya-San, a friend from university. It was very windy.

Thank you everyone, it was a wonderful year in Japan and I hope to come back very soon to see you again! 大変お世話になりました。Sayonara-----

Plum trees at Kitano Tenmangu

Today was a nice spring day, so I went with my friends Sho and Sakura to Kitano Tenmangu to see some plum trees.

They also served plum tee and plum crackers.

Mie prefectural office

I went on a field visit to Mie prefecture.
They let us visit the assembly hall. I was chairman for a minute.

In the Japanese administration, people do not have much room. There are about 100 people in each room and one table is shared by 10 people.

But they are really conscious about trash separation.

Ohara

Some weeks ago, I went to Ohara, a beautiful rural village only 30 minutes by bus from my home away.

Some nice Jizo-Buddhas relaxing in the famous Sanzen-In temple.

Kobe/Osaka

A few weeks ago, I went to Kobe and Osaka with In-Sook.
This is the harbour area in Kobe:

After the earthquake in 1995, Kobe looked like this:

Birds in Kobe seem to be very disciplined:

The, we went for Osaka`s nightlife. The Dotonbori area is very crowded:

We found a nice Izakaya.

They have all kinds of raw seafood. Very tasty.

Getting around...

Since In-Sook came, we have been to various places.
First, my cousin Arisa and my cousin`s cousin Mami came to Kyoto. We went to Arashiyama...

...and Gion.

Then, another day we walked through Higashi-yama:

And on another one we hiked up Daimonji-yama.

Guess who came?

After New year`s, my father and Ken came to Kyoto. The picture is at Ryaon-Ji (really).

And then... In-Sook came!

We were invited to Nagoya for the 30th wedding anniversary of my parents.

Some young people showing the fun-sign...

My winter break

It is already late January, so I decided to update this blog.
First, for Chrismas my brother came...

And we had a nice dinner with the Japanese family.

Then my father came...

And he, Ken and I went to Shikoku for a sacred pilgrimage to visit some of the 88 temples there.

The Coca-cola bear was there, too.

Then, for New years Eve, we got together at my grandma`s house again.

Shinji in Kyoto

Shinji, a Japanese friend from Munich came to visit me. We went to the night light-up at Kiyomizu-Dera.

We also met my friend Shizuka, a half-Japanese half-German girl from Berlin who is spending a year at Kyoto University.

Momiji- Japanese maple

Now is the best time to enjoy the Momiji (japanese maple) and its nice colors. I went out with Kenji to get some nice pictures. First we went to a night light-up at Jisso-In 実相院, a Zen temple.