Life in Japan 2003/2004

Our First Visitor

Back in August, Terri, my mom, came to visit us in Japan. She was our first visitor, and so far our only visitor! She was here August 5-21. Brian got to be the tour guide at first because I had to work. But we did manage to spend a great week traveling during Obon (Japan Summer Holiday/Festival Honoring Dead Ancestors). We traveled to Kansai (Kyoto, Himeji, and Osaka) and Chugoku (Hiroshima and Miyajima Island).
The highlight of the trip was catching the Daimonji-yaki in Kyoto, on our way back to Tokyo. It is one of the most famous Obon festivals in Japan. Five enormous fires are lit on the mountains surrounding Kyoto to bid farewell to the souls of ancestors that visited during Obon. It's so famous that Kyoto was booked solid and we had to get a hotel in Osaka for the night! It is a difficult to spectacle to capture, but we tried our best to take a few pictures.

The pictures have been up for awhile, if you haven't seen them yet, please check them out!

First Day
Kyoto
Himeji
Hiroshima
Miyajima Island
Daimonji-yaki
Last Day

Thanks for coming Mom. We miss you!!!!!
-Deanne

Posted by deanne at November 23, 2003 03:02 PM