Greetings From Yokohama part two

Good morning to all y'all back in the United States. I thought you might like to see a few more pictures from Japan. I'm starting with the important things first. This just so happens to be the toilet in my hotel room. I happen to be staying in one of the nicer hotels here in town. The 70 foot tower is the tallest building in Japan. It also happens to have toilets in each room with a bun warming seat. A fan that turns on when you sit down. The capability to wash when you finish doing what you normally do when sitting on the toilet. Yes, I do enjoy having this feature. Diane and I should talk about having one of these babies installed in our bathroom at home. Those cold winter mornings would certainly be nice when you have to sit down for a short break.

In my last blog I mentioned i had the opportunity to observe a wedding taking place. This is the bride on the left and the groom on the right. This shrine type place is right out in the open where everyone can see. The other wedding party we saw had the bride dressed in white. As I mentioned earlier, I felt funny standing and watching the ceremony. Out of view of the camera is a group playing traditional Japanese music. Also there is a young girl doing a very somber ceremonial dance. Fun for us Gaijin to see, but maybe a little annoying for the girl knowing the world is watching her wedding.

This is a picture from the Shinto Shrine we visited on Saturday. These basket type devices were used for special ceremonies. Our Japanese tour guide didn't provide a lot of details for these units. To me they look like someone would sit inside and be carried by the big Sumo wrestler type Samurai.

This is me on Tuesday morning taking the train to our destination. This happened to be a little less crowded than we experienced some mornings. On occassion the trains were packed. When you get on and they keep coming, you inhale so you can reserve all the space possible.

This was a picture of a crowded train. An interesting note of train riding is the number of people sleeping either sitting down or standing up. I have no idea how they know when to wake up. One morning a young boy was out cold. I wondered if he even knew when his stop came up. I'm guessing they have kids come late to school due to sleeping on the train. As I have said on more than one occasion, you have approximately 1/2 the population of the United States living in the state of California. It's very crowded to say the least.

This picture was taken from my hotel window Sunday Morning. The only time I have ever seen Mount Fuji is early in the morning before any haze rolls in. It is a spectacular sight. The Japanese think it is a special occasion when they see Mount Fuji. Mount Fuji is to the west of Yokohama.

The trip is going well. I'm ready to come home and eat regular food that I know what it is. I've been a good boy and haven't eaten any sashimi or sushi. I like my food cooked a little more than this. The Japanese staff has been incredibly good to us. I tried to find a special gift for Nagahama-san at the department store near the Yokohama train station. No such luck. He went above and beyond the call of duty taking us sight seeing on Saturday.

Today I gave out a Japanese pass along card to Shibukawa-san. Yesterday I was able to teach about the Word of Wisdom at lunch time. This came about after I told the group I attended a LDS church on Sunday. They thought this interesting I would do this. Shibukawa-san told me he really likes the Bible (Book of Mormon) I gave to Ogawa-san last summer. I'll send him another copy when I get home.

I hope all of you are doing well. I miss you and can't wait to be in the same or similar time zones.

Have a great day.

Bob-san

Diane - ILYSM