Monday, October 29, 2007

Tojimbo

Last weekend, I went to a ryokan, a traditional Japanese inn to have a meal. We drove about an hour and a bit into the next prefecture. Fukui, is a relatively rural prefecture on the Sea of Japan, known for delicious crab and their funny accent.

The Ryokan was right on the sea, perched like an Eagle's nest on top of these cliffs. The food was incredible and YES! I managed to take a photo of it before eating this time!

The food was absolutely incredible! It was served with hand-made clay glasses of beer or sake. Along with the sounds of the waves breaking below on the rocks. We could actually see the ocean through the windows in all directions. I took some pictures but it's pointless to show because it couldn't possibly convey the feeling of it.

The ryokan also had a hotspring! There was no one else in the mens' onsen, so I thought I would sneak in a camera to FINALLY take an onsen picture for my blog.

The onsen was also right next to the sea. I could actually hear the women in the bath next to me, but we were unable to have a conversation because the waves were to loud.

After the delicious meal and a soak, we drove to Tojimbo, the main tourist attraction in Fukui. It's basically these enormous cliffs that reach like grasping hands into the ocean.

Here's my hyper-UNrealistic picture of one side of the rocks. On the background there's a long red bridge leading out to an island.

When we got there the sun had just started to set. And there was a massive hawk floating around the sky, looking for fish.

My own version of Hokusai's The Wave.

Erin taking a picture of the ever-present hawk.

5 comments:

Benjamin Tiesma said...

Ahhhhh yes the Onsen experience is an interesting one. The washing stations, the relief, the natural heat, the shock of seeing real live Yakuza defined by their aggressive tattooing...

still kind of a lonely experience... that you share with alot of people.

anyways,

Erin Chapman? Is that the ever-present eagle photographer?

sQ*eeky said...

Yeah, Benj, you put it so eloquently. Actually, aside from when Gavin was here, there's never anyone to go with. Lonely is definitely the way to describe it. Lonely with a lot of naked people.

Benj, what are you up to? Where in this silly little world are you?

sQ*eeky said...

oh! That photographer is Erin Hayashi, my co-worker.

Benjamin Tiesma said...

moving to london england in about a week. wanna come to a going away party?

Captain Gavman said...

That's so cool man. Reading your blog brings back a flood of amazing memories.