Visited Shibamata for the first time over the weekend.

I'd been meaning to go for a while because it seemed like an interesting place to visit in Tokyo, but I just hadn't had the chance until now.

It was a really nice place and I was surprised at how few people were there.
There was a ton of shops lined up along the main street and the wooden buildings gave it a really nice atmosphere.

I haven't seen Otoko wa Tsurai yo, but there were statues and posters of Tora-san everywhere, even inside shops and stuff. I guess I'll have to watch it some time when I have the chance.

We ended up eating lunch at one of the restaurants along the main road and they had some Tora Miso Ramen so we decided to try it. It was pretty good and had a decent amount of vegetables in it as well, so moderately healthy for ramen I suppose. We also got some dessert at a cafe afterwards and she got some dango while I ordered an ice cream float.

We also went to the nearby temple Shibamata Taishakuten (柴又帝釈天), or Daikyoji Temple and walked around the main temple grounds and also bought tickets to see the garden and the architecture inside the temple. The garden was really pretty and the walkway around it was quite nice to walk on.

I really enjoyed viewing the inside of the temple as there was a ton of hand-carved panels depicting different scenes. There were descriptions below each of the panels that described them as well, and they were interesting to read.

It seemed like they were all carved by different people but they were all highly skilled.

When we were leaving we found a nice little shows style candy shop and we bought some snacks and played a round of pinball on one of the pinball machines inside the shop. Haven’t played pinball since I was a kid, was pretty nostalgic.

If you're in Tokyo I definitely recommend giving this place a visit on the weekend.

[English／日本語]
Hachioji City has many interesting vending machines. The photo shows a ramen noodle and a pork cutlet sandwich. There are also chiffon cakes and seasonings vending machines. Please look for them. We once had a foreign student from a country that only drinks warm tea. The first time he came to Japan, he drank cold tea from a vending machine and was surprised at how cold it was.
八王子市には面白い自動販売機が多くあります。写真はラーメンとカツサンドです。その他にもシフォンケーキや調味料の自動販売機もあります。ぜひ、探してみてください。以前、本校の留学生であたたかいお茶しか飲まない国の学生がいました。日本に来て初めて自動販売機で冷たいお茶を飲んだ学生はその冷たさに驚いたと話していました。

立川市 昭和記念公園で撮影。日差しが強い日でしたが、その分木漏れ日が綺麗でした。

暑さが無限に広がるような風景。どこを目指して歩いても永遠に夏らしい暑さが追ってくる。

浅草のカフェのおにぎりランチ
安心するお味で美味しかったです(๑´ڡ`๑)

Visited Machiya again. I'm not sure why but I seem to really like the atmosphere there. I think the streetcar passing through gives it a different feel than other places.

Anyways, I decided to grab some lunch and found this nice restaurant called Tokyo Local Base. I got this omurice and wow, it was probably the best omurice I've ever had. The sauce tasted really good and the egg was perfectly cooked.

I wish I would have taken a photo of the inside of the restaurant because it was quite relaxing and, just like Machiya, had a really nice atmosphere. It was a bit crowded when I came, but I managed to enter the restaurant right when the lunch rush was starting to die down and so there wasn't many people by the time I got my meal. Definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking to grab a bite in the area.

7月下旬の野球野帰り道、最寄り駅から家に帰る途中の道端でたまたま見つけた成虫になりかけてる蝉。自分自身この状態の蝉を見るのは初めてだったのでつい写真を撮ってしまいました。
とても白くて綺麗でしたが、翌日またそこを見てみるとお馴染みの茶色い羽を持つアブラゼミになっていました。

I stopped by the Jujo Ginza Shopping Arcade over the obon weekend and managed to take these two photos.

The first one was taken at Nanushi no Taki Park (名主の滝公園).
It was kind of an interesting place to find in Tokyo. It felt really removed from the rest of the city and its surroundings and had a completely different atmosphere from even just a block away. Once you got inside the park itself it seemed a lot quieter and it was quite cool as well. It's completely surrounded by greenery and the water must help keep the area cool. There's a walking course around the inside of the park but I opted against walking it as there were a fair number of mosquitoes biting at me. The waterfall itself was quite nice though.

The next spot was just before the shopping arcade near a railroad crossing. Thought it was interesting so I took a quick photo of it.

I believe the first one is GeGeGe no Kitaro, a famous anime, and everyone knows Doraemon

お盆休みは密を避けて近場の高尾山を散歩

ここ高尾山は2007年にミシュランガイドで、最高ランクの三つ星の選出された東京の観光地で年間の登山者数は約260万人で、世界一の登山者数を誇ります。
東京都内からも約1時間で訪れる事が出来るため、外国人観光客にも人気です。
この日も多くの外国人の方とすれ違いました。

[English／日本語]
A temple called "Shinshoin" in Nishi-Hachioji has a café attached to it. Visitors can spend tea time in a quiet atmosphere. The school introduces students who are interested in matcha to places in Hachioji where they can drink it.
西八王子にある「信松院」というお寺にはカフェが併設されています。静かな雰囲気の中でティータイムを過ごすことができます。学校では抹茶に興味を持った学生に八王子市内で抹茶が飲める場所を紹介しています。

Was back in Kanda today for the first time in a while, but I decided to go back to the same izakaya I visited a few months ago. The food is really great and again it wasn't very crowded since I went a bit early. If you're in the Kanda area I recommend checking it out. Kakuuchi Inagaki (角打 いながき). They offer extra helpings of rice for free and also free refills of miso soup!

クリームソーダで有名な旅する喫茶のクリームソーダ?
お店の雰囲気もレトロで良かったです?

夏休み。神津島へ親子旅行！
天上山へ一合目から登山。
絶景の景色で風と夏を感じて。

夏休み。神津島へ親子旅行！

Had some tasty cheesecake at a small cafe near Machiya

[English／日本]
The other day, we had a summer festival as a school event. At that time, we went to Hiyoshi Hachioji Shrine, a 5-minute walk from the school. Girls wore yukata and boys wore happi of Okunitama Shrine. It was a very hot day, but the breeze through the shrine grounds was very pleasant.
先日、学校のイベントで夏祭りをしました。そのときに、学校から徒歩5分の「日吉八王子神社」へ行きました。女子は浴衣、男子は大國魂神社のはっぴを着ています。とても暑い日でしたが、境内を抜ける風がとても気持ちよかったです。

海の灯まつりinお台場
毎年7月の海の日にに海の安全を祈願して、七色の紙袋にろうそくの火を灯し、お台場ビーチに光のページェントを織りなすイベント。

富岡八幡宮の例祭は8月15日を中心に行われます。俗に「深川八幡祭り」とも呼ばれ、赤坂の日枝神社の山王祭、神田明神の神田祭とともに「江戸三大祭」の一つに数えられています。3年に1度、八幡宮の御鳳輦が渡御を行う年は本祭りと呼ばれ、53基の町神輿が勢揃いして連合渡御する様は「深川八幡祭り」ならではのものです。深川のお祭りは「ワッショイ、ワッシヨイ」の伝統的な掛け声と「水掛け祭」の別名通り、沿道の観衆から担ぎ手に清めの水が浴びせられ、担ぎ手と観衆が一体となって盛り上がるのが特徴で、江戸の粋を今に伝えるお祭りとして、多くの人々によって大切に受け継がれています。

[Englsih／日本語]
We recently went on an excursion to the Takao Komagino Garden. It was a 15-minute walk from Takao Station. It was a very hot day, but there was a stream running along the way, which was very cool. It was very cool inside the Japanese house, and the students looked in wonder at the bonsai trees that were displayed in various places. I was amazed at the beauty of the dry landscape in the garden, and was fascinated by the beauty of Nishikigoi carp. The lotus flowers were in full bloom.

先日、遠足で高尾駒木野庭園に行きました。高尾駅から徒歩15分。とても暑い日でしたが、道の途中で小川が流れていて、とても涼しげでした。日本家屋の中はとても涼しくて、ところどころに飾ってある盆栽を学生たちは不思議そうに眺めていました。学生たちは庭の枯山水のすばらしさにおどろき、錦鯉の美しさにうっとりしてました。ちょうど蓮が見ごろでした。

[English／日本語]
Continuing from last week, I will talk about a crepe shop in Nish- Hachioji. There is a crepe shop called "Twin's Crepe" just a minute walk from the school.The crepes here are so popular that they have been introduced on TV many times. The crepes are beautifully rolled in thin crepe dough and are a work of art. The taste is of course very good. You can eat them as a reward for studying hard?✨
先週に引き続き、西八王子のクレープ屋さんについてお話をします。学校から徒歩1分のところに「ツインズクレープ」というクレープ屋さんがあります。ここのクレープはテレビに何度も紹介されるほどの人気店。薄いクレープ生地で美しく巻かれたクレープは芸術品と言っていいくらいです。味はもちろんとてもおいしいです。勉強をがんばったご褒美に食べてもいいですね?✨

[Englsh／日本語]Continuing from last week, here are some photos from Komagino Garden. The garden was magnificent. There was also a suikinkutsu (a device in which water droplets fall into a hollow created in the ground and reverberate the sound they make), which made a very cool sound.
先週に引き続き、駒木野庭園の写真です。庭園も見事でした。また、水琴窟（地中に作りだした空洞の中に水滴を落下させ、その際に発せられる音を反響させる仕掛け）もあり、とても涼しげな音を奏でていました。

[English／日本語]
Tanabata decorations appeared in front of Hachioji station. The strips of paper fluttering in the wind are very cool. We are also holding a Tanabata event at our school. Students write their wishes on tanzaku strips and do origami, and it is a popular event.
八王子の駅前に七夕の飾りが登場。風になびく短冊がとても涼しげです。本校でも七夕イベントを行っています。生徒たちは短冊に願い事を書いたり、折り紙をしたりと人気のあるイベントです。

Wanted to post this earlier this week, but better late than never I suppose.

Was walking around Arakawa and they were having a rose festival sort of event it seemed like. Over by Arakawa Amusement Park there was a little area set up with some stalls. I didn't get to check it out but it seemed like there were a lot of people there.

The amusement park was also open. I don't think I've seen it open for a while so it was nice to see people are able to visit it again. When I was passing the Arakawa tram I noticed there were tons of roses along the sides of the track that I'd never noticed before so I decided to snap this photo of the pink tram passing by with them.

Great way to enjoy the sakura season. I saw many people spent their day off on pleasure boats and enjoy the view of beautiful parks and garden near the river. At the same time few love to feed birds and fishes.
This picture was taken exactly that moment when a pleasure boat was floating near skytree and one family was feeding those seabirds and you can see the blooming sakura in the background too.

Japan has a deep rooted cultural heritage and the ethnicities of this country is versatile and beautiful. When my foreigner friends wore those vibrant and gorgeous kimonos they got so much appreciation from the people around them that was overwhelming. And yes it was also my first hand experience as a photographer too.. On that day we enjoyed a lot.

Had a nice relaxing golden week and to finish it off I saw some carp streamers billowing in the wind at some park along the river near Kita-senju. Had some really nice weather the past couple days too, which was great. Hope everyone had a nice holiday/vacation!

東京都あきる野市にある広徳寺の樹齢300年の大銀杏

都立小金井公園のオオタカ。JR中央線の最寄り駅から新宿まで20分足らずの所にあり沢山の利用者もいる場所ながら、しっかり豊かな自然が存在しています。

Went to Rikugien Gardens over the weekend!

The weather was really nice and the flowers were beautiful.
I was hoping to see the yukitsuri, but unfortunately they'd already been taken down.
We bought some bikes recently so we decided to ride them to the park.
It's been really nice to get a bit of a leg workout in instead of riding trains all the time.
It was only about 25-30 minutes too and we were able to avoid all of the packed trains and get some fresh air.

I was pretty happy that we got to see the popular view from the top of the hill (3rd photo).
I've seen many photos of it before and finally was able to see it for myself.

I never knew that the park had turtles in the pond either, so that was pretty cool to see.
There were a bunch swimming all over the pond, sitting on rocks, etc.

We managed to spot a crane as well, but it was in a spot were we couldn't really take a good photo of it so I decided to pass and just admire it without a photo.

We stopped for a short break at one of the small cafes inside the park and got a quick snack.
I'm not a fan of manju, but my girlfriend likes them so she got a coffee and one sakura manju.
She seemed to like it, but decided to take off the flower from the top as she didn't want to eat the petals.
The melon soda float was nice too.
Definitely a nice place to visit and hoping to visit again in the fall to see the leaves after they've changed color.

日本の象徴とも言える、東京の春
思わずシャッターを切ってしまった、春色の渋谷の街
ピンク色に染まる都会が奏でた自然は、今も見ていて美しい

撮影場所: 東京都 渋谷区 渋谷 桜坂