A NEW LIFESTYLE BEGINS, AS SEEN THROUGH THE LENS

My life as it began in Japan was posted in my blog starting a few months ago in April, 2014.  I could not really make those posts complete without trying to give visual aids from my photos.  I am going to caption photos referring to those early posts and those first days of culture shock now that I have a scanner, and play a bit of catch up of the sights between end of July '94 through September '94.

Some of the people central to my new world and the sights around Kaseda will be the most featured, but also the awesome East China Sea and surrounding sights outside of town will give my readers the grand scheme of things.  I hope you enjoy these photos and don't mind that the writings will be brief.

The office members that were waiting for me with a sign with my name on it in the Kagoshima Airport, on a dark and lonely night.  I would find them caring, kind, hilariously funny, formal when required and only the office lady spoke English.  We were all very happy and thankful for that.

 

Tanaka san had a boyish smile that lit up the room, and played a mean game of volleyball.

  

 Ishizono San, my immediate supervisor, close to my age, yet father-like in caring, alternately stern, kind and not always sure what to do with me!   And beautiful, smart and English speaking Tomomi san, a life saver for all of us with her skills and poise in tough situations.

 
My best friend Tazuko san took us to the SandCraft Festival and was the first to show us how close we were to the ocean and large, beautiful Kai Hin Koen (seaside park), a place we would all visit over and over again .

The private former samurai residence I entered, mistaking it for Takeda Jinja (shrine.)   I left, embarrassed, as soon as I saw laundry hanging on a line to dry.

There was no mistaking the real Takeda Jinja.  There were at least a couple of acres of grounds and several buildings, and all were filled with the sense of hundreds of years of history and thousands of souls that had walked its paths before me.   

 The main shrine (Honden) for ceremonies and prayer in the middle with basins filled with water on either side to cleanse hands before prayers.

             An administration building for the shrine is above.

 The tombstone of the wife of the leader of the Shimadzu clan which ruled this area in the 1700's.  My research leads me to believe the shrine is about 500 years old, but the Shimadzu clan began to rule as early as the late 1100's.  Samurai rule with clans ruling various areas of the country ended in the mid 1800's.

    A field of soba (buckwheat) will be harvested to make noodles

 A power mower made to cut rice.  Fields were planted in mid-April and harvested in mid-August.  Some were small enough to be cut by hand or with shared harvesters like this one.

The cuttings of the rice plants are hung to dry and then the rice seeds are processed and bagged for a fee in self operated booths along the road that look like our old telephone booths. Of course, all the grocers sell all kinds of rice in bags in the store as well.

These photos are a few of so many that I took to keep my memories.  The next post will be filled with the ocean and the mountains that soothed and healed me when I was lonely, made me smile more when I was happy, and pulled me out to the fresh air every single moment, in rain or cold or heat to become strong and healthy, satisfied with myself, and happy with those around me.  I  just wish I had written this all sooner, could have made the profits they have made from "Eat, Pray, Love"!  And been portrayed by Julia Roberts to boot!