THE BEST SEASON FOR BBQ!

Monday, April thirtieth, two thousand and seven

In Japan, if a national holiday falls on Sunday, the next day(Monday) becomes an extra holiday. That's why today is a day off even though it's Monday.
The recent good weather makes me want to have a BBQ, therefore I couldn't help but hold a BBQ party with my friends and family today. We had it at the beach where Kansai international airport is close. I wanted to post some pictures of the event but I forgot to take them there. (ToT)
Anyway, we are going to have a BBQ several times before this year's rainy season comes.


fall on: （日付がある時に）～に当たる
forget to do something: ～するのを忘れる
(forget doing something: ～したのを忘れる)

Work and Preparation

Sunday, April twenty nineth, two thousand and seven

Although it's Sunday today, I had to work in my factory for a couple of hours, in order to make more space for putting lots of material to be recycled. Since we aren't so busy nowadays, we have to stock as much stuff as possible during this low season. Actually some trucks of a material supplier came to my factory yesterday, therefore my factory was in a mess(materials were lying about in my factory).
After that, I went to a home improvement center to buy a new big BBQ grill for the tomorrow's BBQ party that I'm going to have with my family and friends - including an Australian friend. And also I got a lot of charcoal and some items for BBQ there.
Besides, my wife and I visited the supermarket we often pick up foods and domestic articles so that we can make ready for all the BBQ stuff. We bought some meat, shellfishes and king crabs there. I asked my Australian friend to prepare some beer and other kinds of drinks with a cold box. He sent me an email to let me know that he got some fish as well. Let me have tons of food and a huge amount of beer to make myself energetic tomorrow.


low season: 暇な時期(閑散期)
home improvement center: ホームセンター
cold box: クーラーボックス

Kinda Busy Day - Checkup, School, Lessons, Bar

Saturday, April twenty eighth, two thousand and seven

I took a complete medical checkup this morning. My brother and I take it at this time every year because we usually have busy seasons in winters. Each of us has three children, so we have to take care of our health conditions. I don't have any serious problems as far as the doctor said, but my heart still has "right bundle branch block(a medical term, 右脚ブロック)". It's sort of a disability of hearts and I need to watch the condition, but it's not so serious one. And also we have to wait for the result of blood tests.

After the checkup, I went to my eldest son's junior high school to see his classes. It was an "Open Day" of the school today. As far as I saw, he did well with his teachers and classmates. I was relieved to see the scene.

As soon as his classes ended, I went to NOVA to take some free conversation lessons. There were the same members as usual in the lesson room. We had a good time talking a lot about interesting topics - such as Golden Week and our funny friends. Whenever I join the class with good study buddies and teachers, the atmosphere makes me feel comfortable. Thanks! I'm lucky to have had nice mates!

After the lessons, I got get a drink to "BAR60" after a long absence. The master held an event this night, which is called "Tequila Night". Sounds dangerous! During the night, the customers can drink as much as they want for only one thousand and five hundred yen. Some of them will get drunk heavily after I left there. Actually, I have to work in my factory for a few hours, so I got back home much earlier than usual.

Ah... I was kind of busy today. Let me sleep like a log.


complete medical checkup: 人間ドック

Attend Wake

Friday, April twenty seventh, two thousand and seven

Tonight I attended a wake held for my friend's father, who was ninety years old. Actually the friend was born long after his parents got married. To tell the truth, they had left no stone unturned to have a baby but couldn't for years. Since they thought they wouldn't be able to have their own children in their entire lives, they adopted a girl as their eldest daughter. However, they got a boy baby years later, needless to say, he is my friend. That's why his father was sort of older as a father of those who are the same age as me.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
wake [countable]: the time before or after a funeral when friends and relatives meet to remember the dead person 「通夜」
leave no stone unturned: to do everything you can in order to find something or to solve a problem: 「あらゆる手段を尽くす」

Help Out

Thursday, April twenty sixth, two thousand and seven

I saw an accident on my way home after work.

There were some junior high school students on a narrow road close to my house and they seemed to be at a loss. When I turned my attention to them, I saw an old man stuck in a ditch.
Apparently, he fell off his bike and fell into the ditch headfirst. I got off my car as soon as I found the accident and asked him if he was OK. He was like, "I can't get out by myself..." The ditch is really narrow and his body was stuck in the ditch with no space between them, that's why the students couldn't help him out.
I tried to help him out, but it was really tough for me, even though I'm a factory worker. As a matter of fact, he was bigger than me. I tried to lift him from the ditch again and again... At long last I managed to help him out. As far as I checked his body, luckily he had only some scratches. But a neighbor called an ambulance just in case. After a while an ambulance came to the accident site, it took him to a hospital.

After I got home, I realized that I got some scratches while I was helping him out and that his blood stained my jacket. Since I did a good job, the beer after my bath tasted extremely great!

Home Visitation

Wednesday, April twenty fifth, two thousand and seven

Today my eldest son's homeroom teacher came to my place for "home visit". It's very common in Japan that elementary school teachers and junior high school teachers call on their students' houses in this season, actually. Since it's the opening season of a new school year now, the teachers need to know their students' parents, the life styles and backbones in order to help themselves teach their students.
Because my eldest son has ADHD, which stands for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, it's sort of difficult to take care of him. Luckily, his new homeroom teacher used to be a teacher of a school for disabled children, so my wife and I expect the teacher to lead him well. We think we are very lucky to have such a nice teacher this school year.


school for disabled children: 養護学校

Golden Week Holidays

Tuesday, April twenty fourth, two thousand and seven

Golden Week Holidays, the holiday-studded week, is coming soon, so I have some plans to spend my free time. My family, friends and me going to have a BBQ party somewhere on the thirtieth of April and I have to take my children to Wakayama prefecture on the third or fourth of May for fishing. Of course I'm going have some English lessons as well during the week.

Speaking of Golden Week, two national holidays' names have changed, actually. April twenty nineth used to be "Greenery Day(緑の日 midori no hi)" but now the day has renamed "Day of Showa(昭和の日 showa no hi)". In Showa Era, the day used to be the national holiday, "The Birthday of the Emperor." After the Emperor - Hirohito(Showa) passed away, the Japanese government had decided to rename the holiday and keep the day as a national holiday, which was called "Greenery Day". The reason they had decided to name the day "Greenery Day" was that Hirohito was known for his interest in plants. I would say they changed the day's name again to let people understand the day's meaning easily.

May fourth used to be called just "National Holiday(国民の休日 kokumin no kyuujitsu)". The government of Japan enacted the law that the day between 2 national holidays is also a national holiday, in order to make holidays in a row. May fouthth is between "Constitution Memorial Day(憲法記念日 kenpou kinenbi)" and "Children's Day(子供の日 kodomo no hi)". That's the reason May fourth is a national holiday. However, I guess that the day is called "Greenery Day" now for giving the day a specific name.

Last Person

Monday, April twenty third, two thousand and seven

To be honest, I prefer learning interesting English phrases to learning difficult new words. it's rather boring for me to study new words that are hard to remember and that don't have any relationship with my real life. I could be the last person to memorize new words at NOVA. haha. Since I have some foreign friends, some people recommend me to take advantage of every opportunity that I talk with them, in order to learn new words. To tell the truth, I just want to have a lot of good times with them, I didn't make friends with them to take free English lessons. Of course, I ask them once in a while about what they said in English, but it's not for my study, for going on the conversation. As for them, they sometimes ask me about Japanese culture and custom instead. Once I start having a drink, a BBQ, or something like that, I often forget that I'm an English learner and get drunk heavily. I would be also the last person to be good at taking advantage of good chance.

I just wanted to write down this article with the two phrases below. :)


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
the last person/thing: used to make a strong negative statement about someone or something
take advantage of something (to do something): to use a particular situation to do or get what you want

Daughter's Piano Recital

Sunday, April twenty second, two thousand and seven

Today a piano concert was held at the piano school my daughter often take music lessons. Most of my family members went see her playing the piano. Let me post a picture and a video of hers below. I suppose she is as great a pianist as ever lived. :) So she will make a name for herself someday. What do you make of it?


as ～ as ever lived: 古来まれに見る～
make a name for oneself: become famous for something
make of something = think of something

Lots of Meeting

Saturday, April twenty first, two thousand and seven

Since my factory belongs to recycling industry of chemical fiber, I often ask the transport companies, which we order to convey our products and materials to be recycled, to bring a lot more stuff to be recycled. Actually, the president, who manages one of the shipping agencies I often order, has just entered a hospital actually. This morning I went see him to ask him how he is now. He seemed to be fine and he's going to leave the hospital soon. I was relieved to heat that, of course. Because he owns an excellent transfer company, I would be at a loss if he couldn't get better soon.

After the visit, I had early lunch at a cheap Japanese restaurant near the hospital, where one of my study buddies at NOVA works. The buddy is a female high school student, whose name is Misaki. She works there as her part time job. I said to her, "Hello!" when I found her in the restaurant, but she didn't seem to find out who I am at that time. After a few interval, she realized who I am. :)

After lunch, I took a train to go to the English I belong to, in order to take a couple of regular English lessons. But I overslept and realized I was at the next major stop station. Of course, I quickly moved to the opposite platform to get back to the station close to the school. I saw a Canadian guy, who I sometime have a drink together and whose name is Mike, by accident. We were so surprised! :)

After I took today's English lessons, I had to attend a meeting held for the leaders of neighborhood community associations in my district. The conference totally bored me, so I couldn't help but have some beer at home after that. :)

Today I had tons of meeting!

Go Get DRINK!

Friday, April twentieth, tow thousand and seven

I was supposed to go for a drink last Saturday, but my injured left little finger didn't allow me to do that. Today I'm going to take some English classes after work and visit the nice bar that a nice lady manages. She's a young Japanese woman but can speak English fluently. So there tend to be some foreigners in the bar. I expect the machinery in my factory does work so well today. If it doesn't operate well as usual, I will be late for the lessons. Even if I'm not able to take them, I intend to go to the bar though. :) However, I'll go easy on the beer tonight to make ready for having a nice weekend.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
go easy on something: to not use too much of something(～を控えめにする)

Sleeplessness

Thursday, April nineteenth, two thousand and seven

These days it's kind of difficult for me to have a long sleep, actually. I might have insomnia...

I don't have any serious mental problems now, and my physical condition is good. I can't figure out the reason I'm not able to sleep tight nowadays. I guess some more nice girlfriends will put my mind at ease, and then I might be able to sleep like a log. Or, if the number of my wife's wrinkles were much smaller, I would often have a good time with her. :) Whenever I say such kind of joke to my wife, she replies, "You are going bald! Mind your own business! Leave me alone!" Apparently, she's been worried about increase of the number of her wrinkles as well as I've been anxious about decreasing of the amount of my hair. Anyway, we don't want to be at odds about such small things, we usually laugh off after talking about those hot potatoes. I mean, it's sort of waste of time for me to quarrel with my wife. Plus, if I didn't stop saying to her that kind of things, I would be in the doghouse. I'd like to hit the ground running on my hobby, job and English study, anyway.

Let me pull myself together and do things I can do now.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
insomnia [uncountable noun]: if you suffer from insomnia, you are not able to sleep
be at odds: to disagree
laugh off: to pretend that something is less serious than it really is by laughing or joking about it
hot potato: a subject or problem that no one wants to deal with, because it is difficult and any decision might make people angry
be in the doghouse: to be in a situation in which someone is annoyed with you because of something you have done
hit the ground running: to start doing something successfully without any delay

Unexpected Emails ? from TAGGED

Wednesday, April eighteenth, two thousand and seven

I find out how the invitation systems of TAGGED are, which is one of social networking sites. If you registered your web email address - such as Gmail, Hotmail or Yahoo - with the password on the site, the system will send invitation emails to your friends automatically in your email address list on the web email service in complete disregard of your wishes, I guess. Come to think of it, I signed up for the SNS with my Gmail account and the password. I think it couldn't be good for my friends who don't have accounts of TAGGED to receive the emails sent by TAGGED, I mean, they are kind of spam emails. Therefore, I've just changed the password for my Gmail account. Now that the TAGGED system wouldn't be able to access my Gmail account, I expect the system won't deliver that kind of unexpected emails to my mates from now on.


in complete disregard of one's wishes: ～の意思に関係なく
Come to think of it: そういえば・・・、考えてみると・・・

Beer and Skittles

Tuesday, April seventeenth, two thousand and seven

I saw an interesting English idiom on a email newsletter that I often read on my cell phone. The sample sentence says, "Married life isn't all beer and skittles." Must be true! I absolutely agree with it without doubt! :) I don't know why the idiom means "not all fun", though. According to my English-Japanese dictionary, it's one of famous British idioms. I guess it derives from a kind of games, "skittle". Anyway, it could be impossible for us to be a well-rounded couple. (^^; Whenever I make a scene after drinking too much, my wife forces me to sign a divorce paper. actually... haha. Just pulling your leg. (^_-)-☆


not all beer and skittles: 楽しいことばかりではない
derive from something: ～に由来する
well-rounded couple: 円満なカップル(夫婦円満)
make a scene: 醜態をさらす、大騒ぎする

Every Other Week Lessons

Monday, April sixteenth, two thousand and seven

I decided to take some more free conversation classes in the English school I usually go to Saturday. But it might be a good idea to take my regular lessons, which are done with textbooks, every other week, because I haven't gone through the review of all the lessons I've taken before. In addition, it's a good season for outdoor leisure now, so I'd like to spend my spare time for such kind of pleasure with my family and friends, I mean, I can't afford to spend the time for English study only. As a matter of fact, an American friend of mine is going to leave Japan next month. It's kind of my duty to organize his farewell party with other friends at my relative's Japanese style bar or somewhere. Let me paint the town red with the crazy and fantastic guys! :)


every other one: 一つおきに
every other week: 隔週に
every other day: 隔日に
go through: この日記の場合は、『完了する』の意味。

Local Community's Meeting

Sunday, April fifteenth, two thousand and seven

Since I'm the leader(組長 kumicyo) of the neighborhood community(隣組 tonarigumi) I belong to, I have to organize a social gathering today. Most of my neighbors are much elder than me, the meeting will bore me.
The term of the leader is one year, so I have to serve something sometimes for them, such as holding a small party and presiding over a funeral service of families who have had a death in the family. I hope no one who belongs to our association pass away this year... It must be extremely tough for me to be in charge of such an important role.


social gathering: 懇親会

"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
preside [intransitive]: to be in charge of a formal event, organization, ceremony etc. (phrasal verb: preside over something)

Need Another Painkiller

Saturday, April fourteenth, two thousand and seven

I had some painkillers the doctor gave me yesterday, but I couldn't sleep so well last night actually. I think I should have had another kind of painkillers, I mean, I should have drunk much more alcohol last night. :) My dictionary says that the word "painkiller" also means "alcohol" as a slang word. As a matter of fact, I wanted to go get a drink somewhere tonight, but I've just decided not to do that because I'm suffering from lack of sleep. Let me have lots of painkillers at home and go to bed straight. :)

See Doctor & Pierce

Friday, April thirteenth, two thousand and seven

I wasn't able to fall asleep last night due to the terrible pain of my injured left little finger. So I was absent from work in order to go see a doctor today. First of all, I took an X-ray and the doctor said to me, "The finger isn't broken." Yeah! I thought I was so lucky although I had trouble with the finger. But he continuously told me that it's necessary to put out the blood pooled inside. I had an unpleasant premonition as soon as I hear his word... He made a hole in(drilled a hole in? pierced?) the nail of my left little finger in order to give the blood off without anesthetic. Jesus Christ!
It was the only good thing there that a young beautiful female nurse held my left arm during the treatment and encouraged me to be patient. hehe. :)
Anyway, the doctor prescribed me some painkillers, so I'll be able to sleep like a log tonight.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
premonition [countable noun]: a strange feeling that something, especially something bad, is going to happen
anesthetic [uncountable and countable noun]: a drug that stops you feeling pain

Jammed Finger into door

Thursday, April twelfth, two thousand and seven

Ouch! I caught my left little finger in the door of the pressing machine in my factory today! The finger is bleeding internally now... I won't be able to fall asleep easily due to the pain... But I think I'm so lucky to study some new English words thanks to the wound. :)

To tell the truth, I can't type sentences smoothly because it's totally tough for me to do that without using my left little finger, I mean, I'm not able to type "shift", "q". "a", "z" on the keyboard as usual. Let me relax for now...


jam(catch) one's finger in something: ～に、指をはさむ。
bleed internally: 内出血する

Stupid Japanese Business

Wednesday, April eleventh, two thousand and seven

Now that China has become a big economic nation, many enterprises of other countries have built up their branches or factories in the country recently. In my opinion, it's a silly idea to establish them there, especially for Japanese corporations. I bet the strategy that they invade the economy is so ridiculous, if Japanese companies do that without taking the long view of their benefits. According to some news web site, too much pollution has been caused in the big country due to the rapid development of the economy. In the near future, China will have a huge military power and great skills for space development, sending their pollution to the neighborhoods - including Japan - with yellow dust. I can't help but be worried about Japan's future.

More Free-Conversation Classes

Tuesday, April tenth, two thousand and seven

Because I'm not so busy at work nowadays, I've just decided to take some more VOICE lessons, which are free-conversation classes at NOVA - a famous private English school in Japan. As a matter of fact, I'd rather take such unlimited than take serious regular classes. I'd like to have a chat in English a lot in my spare time so that I could make tons of mistakes in my English. Basically, making plenty of mistakes is a good way for learning something, I think. Especially, I feel comfortable and energetic whenever I talk in English with the people who speak the same language in not only the school but also bars. Let me go get a drink with my foreign friends a lot more! Of course, with some young ladies if possible. :)


speak the same language: 考え方［趣味］が同じである、うまが合う

My Mom's Birthday

Monday, April ninth, two thousand and seven

It's my mother's sixty ninth birthday today, so my wife bought some cakes back to home. All of my family members had dinner together today and celebrated her birthday, of course. Although she is much older than me, she can drink quite a lot if she feels like it. To tell the truth, she is stronger than me! Amazing! Anyway, congratulations on your birthday, I hope she will live a long life, mom!

And now, I ran out of steam at work actually, let me go to sleep earlier than usual.


if someone feel(s) like it: その気になれば
run out of steam: get tired, run out of energy

Cherry Blossoms in Izumisano City

Sunday, April eighth, two thousand and seven

Since today was the last chance for me to go see cherry blossoms this spring, I went out with my family, friends and their families to Eiraku dam in Kumatori town of Osaka prefecture, bringing our lunch boxes and a few cans of beer. Because I had a huge amount of alcohol last night, my wife who is what is called my master didn't allow me to go out with lots of juice today. :(
Anyhow, I caught up with the fellow after a long time who I used to work with for the same computer system company. We talked a lot about our recent events and job status under the cherry tree. Thank you for all of the guys! Let me upload some pictures I took there on the following, including the picture of lunch boxes prepared by my wife. Does it look delicious? I had 5 cans of beer, the capacity of a can is 350cc, with the lunch. :)

Having Lots Of Drive

Saturday, April seventh, two thousand and seven

Since my job doesn't kill me, it's OK for me to often go out for having a drink these days. So my friends and I went for a drink two weekends in a row, actually. Because I slept like a log last night, I was so fine before drinking, I mean, I had a lot of drive to get a drink! I had at least 8 mugs of beer at a Japanese style bar(居酒屋 izakaya) and a shot bar. When my Australian friend came to the meeting place and I was waiting for him with one of my Japanese young female friends, he asked me where my friends are. I replied that she is a friend of mine. He was shocked to hear that. I told him the day before yesterday only that I was going to wait for him with my friends, actually. Apparently, he guessed my friends were guys(males). Is it strange that I have young female friends? :) To be honest, I can go get a drink with only young girls! (^^) Anyway a Canadian friend and a Japanese male friend joined us later. We really had a good time. Later on, the young girl asked me if it's OK with me to have some alcohol and 串カツ(kushi katsu), which are pieces of pork, fish or vegetables that fried on a skewer, at the nice Japanese 串カツ restaurant in Kishiwada city she went with her friends last week. Of course, I'd love to! I'm sooooo lucky to have nice young friends that I would be able to be young at heart!


have a lot of drive: やる気まんまんである。
"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
skewer [countable]: a long metal or wooden stick that is put through pieces of meat to hold them together while they are cooked

My Daughter Enters School

Friday, April sixth, two thousand and seven

Today my cute daughter has just entered the elementary school I used to go to when I was a kid! My wife took her to the entrance ceremony, and so many cherry blossoms congratulated not only her but also her friends on the entrance! She couldn't be happier! I wish I were there... Actually, I haven't attended my children's ceremonies held at their schools before. Let me post some pictures here. She couldn't be cuter, right? :)

Lost 12,000 yen

Thursday, April fifth, two thousand and seven

I lost 12,000 yen(about 100 US dollars) today, actually. A customer made a phone call to me and complained about the amount of the products I send him two days ago. I sent him 3.9 tons of our products, recycled chemical fiber, but he told me over the phone that the amount was 3.7 tons as far as he counted. Our products are packed into a pressing bag after being measured in the 100 kilograms, so I definitely think I sent 39 packs to him. Where did the 2 packs of 200 kilograms fiber go to? I don't figure out why, of course. The price of our product is 60 yen per kilogram, I mean, I've lost 12,000 yen. (ToT) I wanted to ask him to reconfirm the number of the packs, but I didn't do that. Because a big fire occurred in his factory the other day, so I didn't want to go through all the hassle for only 12,000 yen.


"quoted from LONGMAN Dictionary of Contemporary English"
hassle [uncountable and countable]: something that is annoying, because it causes problems or is difficult to do: 面倒な事
(I've studied this word in ZONE E-33 lessons at NOVA)

Sleep Like A Dog? or Log?

Wednesday, April fourth, two thousand and seven

I've just seen an English idiom, which is "sleep like a dog" that means "sleep tight". But I can't find it out in all of my dictionary. I found out a similar idiom, which is "sleep like a log". I'm really confused now... I didn't sleep like a top last night, actually. So let me sleep like a log tonight. (-_-)zzzz
Umm... Whenever I'm sleepy, my diary tend to be too short. Anyway, the name of the game for me is writing some English sentences everyday. I'm not sure it's an effective way of learning English though. :)


sleep like a (top/log/dog?): sleep tight
the name of the game: the most important thing in a particular activity or situation(肝心なこと)

New Fiscal Year, Apple of My Eye

Tuesday, April third, two thousand and seven

Since my factory is very small, there are no changes even though the new accounting year has just started. No new faces... But my brother and I have a plan to hire some employees next month, so we are going to advertise a job opening this month.
If we can have some excellent workers, I want to veg out at a hot spring place or somewhere for a while. To be honest, we have been eager(keen) to have time on our hands. In my case, I'd like to spend much more spare time with my daughter, who is the apple of my eye. :) The idiom "apple of my eye" sounds very similar to the Japanese idiom, "目に入れても痛くない(me ni iretemo itakunai)". If I translate literally it, it means "Someone or something doesn't hurt you even if it comes into your eye." When you say "Someone or something is 目に入れても痛くない", it means that someone or something is very important and cute for you. My explanation is probably correct. Sorry to make some mistakes in the above interpretation, if any. m(_ _)m


fiscal year(accounting year): 会計年度, 事業年度
advertise a job opening: 求人広告を出す
veg out: 仕事をせずにのんびり過ごす
have time on one's hands: 自由な時間がある、時間を持て余す
apple of one's eye: 非常に大切にしているもの(目に入れても痛くないもの)

Unlucky Omikuji, But How Lucky!

Monday, April second, two thousand and seven

As I posted an article that I went see cherry blossoms, I visited a famous temple yesterday. At that time I bought a おみくじ(omikuji - fortune slip) there, in order to consult an oracle. :) Unfortunately, the one told me that I have a bad fortune as the following picture. 凶(kyou) means the worst fortune in Japanese, actually. However, I bet I'm sooooo lucky! How come? Let me tell you the reason I think so. Basically, there tend to be very few bad-fortune slips in omikuji-boxes at almost all temples or shrines all over Japan. It means a very rare case to get the worst one. In fact, it was the first time for me to be given it. Yeah! I've just had a unique experience for the first time! How lucky I am! I'm thinking too positively???? :) Anyway, it's a good way for having a good life to think you are lucky in spite of being in trouble.

Let me introduce a Japanese custom to you. If you get a bad-fortune omikuji, you had better tie the one around a branch of a tree in the temple or shrine. Some of temples and shrines have a special space that you can tie the one as the following picture. People pray in order not to bring bad fortunes to them by leaving the unlucky slips there.

Cherry Blossoms in Wakayama

Sunday, April first, two thousand and seven

You can see lots of beautiful cherry blossoms almost all over Japan this week. I personally think this season is the best one to visit Japan. Basically, most cherry trees in Japan blossom out at the beginning of April, however, this cherry blossom season has started kind of earlier than usual, because the last winter was the warmest one in history as far as Japan Meteorological Agency has recorded. Anyway my family wanted to go somewhere to see cherry blossoms, I couldn't help but drive them to a famous spot today even though I'm a little tired. We decided to go to 紀三井寺(Kimii Dera) in Wakayama prefecture, which is a famous temple as having a lot of cherry trees. We could see a large number of marvelous cherry blossoms. They aren't full bloom though... I suppose they are 80% or so... Let me post some pictures I took there on this blog space. Don't you think they are wonderful? (^_^)v


Japan Meteorological Agency: (日本の)気象庁