Shizuoka and Atami

Ok, so let's talk about our first trips away from the apartment. Two days after I arrived in Japan, Lisa had to go to the capital of our prefecture, Shizuoka City, to meet with some of the other JETs who are similarly assigned to boards of education. We took the local JR (Japan Rail) to Atami, and then boarded the Tokaido line train to Shizuoka. It took about an hour and a half. Shizuoka is a lot bigger than Ito, so there was a lot more to see. Shizuoka is also much closer to Mt. Fuji, which is climb-able in the summer in case you're planning a trip to visit us. So, anyway, Shizuoka has a fantastic view of the mountain which we can only see on really clear days in Ito.

This is a picture of the capital building in Shizuoka where Lisa had her meetings. There is an a amazing observation deck on the 21st floor. I took the picture with Sumpu Castle in the foreground so that I could highlight the juxtaposition of the ancient with the new that is common all over Japan. While Lisa was in her meetings, I walked around the corner and found Sumpu Castle, a replica of the 15th century castle that was burned down in 1635. Here are a few pictures of the interior:



Here we have the main gate entering into the gardens and the view of a different gate from inside the structure.

Here are a few images of things inside the castle. First is a likeness of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who ordered Sumpu castle built. Also included are the armor and weapons of a samurai warrior.
The streets of Shizuoka are lined with shops, most of which sell food, but there are a few good toy stores there as well. I took a few pictures for you action figure fans:


These are a few of the toys I saw in a shop in Shizuoka. There are Gundams and Transformers everywhere. The Holy Grail of Transformers right now is something called "Binal Tech" which is an original line of Transformers redone in metal instead of plastic. If you see anything in these pics you'd like me to nab for you, send money and postage, and I'll do my best.

The next thing we did was the weekend after Shizuoka. We took a trip on the JR to Atami to take in a festival celebrating the end of summer. Japanese people take their fireworks VERY seriously. While we in the States have a nice 30 minute show on Independence Day, the Japanese tend to have fireworks at every major festival and the show can last up to 2.5 hours. Here is a pic of Atami beach, where we watched fireworks. Unfortunately, none of my pics of the fireworks themselves came out.



The water in Atami was a bit chilly, but once you got used to it, it was quite nice. We were the whitest people for miles around. Fortunately, about 30 JETs showed up to this festival to represent the pale set, so we didn't feel so completely out of place.

I will leave you with an image from inside a famous 100 Yen store (it's like our dollar store) where they have all kinds of things for dirt cheap. Sayonara for now!