【遠目に見る紅葉】
近くで見ると
少し色褪せていた紅葉も
遠目に見れば
とっても綺麗でした。

最近モノクロ写真たち

This beautiful christmas tree is situated inside the "Mark IS" shopping Mall in Minatomirai area of Kanagawa prefecture.

『圧倒される戸隠の雪景色』

長野県にある戸隠神社奥社の巨大な杉並木はいつ来ても圧倒されます。
早朝に来た時には−8°と寒いですが、この杉並木を見た瞬間に寒さを忘れ思わず立ち止まって見てしまいます。

【清水寺】
ライトアップ。

A very beautiful christmas tree in the minato mirai area of Kanagawa Prefecture.

Went to Ootoya for lunch today and got a nice Alaska pollack set meal with vegetables pickled in black vinegar (すけそう鱈と野菜の黒酢あん定食).

Cost 920 yen and it tasted great. I really like Ootoya because it's a nice place if you're looking to eat some traditional Japanese food and I'm surprised it's actually not more popular.

The food is always great and you even get to choose the types of rice you want and how much. It's pretty reasonable cost-wise considering what you get as well.

The ordering system is really convenient as well. With the electronic ordering tablets it's easy to add something to your order and they have English as well so if you're not confident with your Japanese you don't need to worry about it

【嵐山 祐斎亭】
そうだ‼️京都行こう〜≡┏( ^o^)┛

The very beautiful christmas market in Yokohama. So many people gathered here to enjoy the christmas lights in the sea side area and also to enjoy different kind of food. The photo was taken from Yokohama red brick warehouse christmas market.

大分県くじゅう連山の天狗ヶ城から中岳を撮影しました。山頂からの景色は一期一会で、太陽光や雲などによって様々な表情を見せてくれます。

This ropeway leads to the top of mount Zao. A beautiful destination for winter lover.

Magestic view of mount Fuji. The snow caped mount fuji with early blooming pink cherry blossom. It also tells you the end of winter and the beginning of Spring. The photo was taken in month of February in Matsudayama herb garden in Kanagawa prefecture

A nice Christmas tree I found near Akabane Station. I'm pretty excited for the holidays. I like the romantic format of Christmas in Japan much more than I do the spending time with family version in America. There's something about the cold weather that makes it feel romantic spending time together with the person special to you.

Another great thing about this time of year is all of the buffets!
I love going to the buffets and trying all the different food. It's a much different style than the U.S. too which is fun.

I can't say I don't miss eating a nice Christmas ham or turkey with some stuffing (basically the same as thanksgiving lol), but what's awesome about the buffets is they always have some sort of prime rib or king crab, one really special item that everyone lines up for lol.

One thing I miss is the holiday portion of Christmas back in America, but the New Years holiday in Japan more than makes up for it.
Also the illuminations in Japan are always awesome.
Places like Ginza, Tokyo Station, etc. always have incredibly beautiful showings.
Didn't get to go to any last year, but this year I'm hoping to be able to visit at least one!

[English／日本語]
Can we see Japan from the contents of Japanese people's bags? The contents of Japanese people's bags.
Continuing on from the previous article, I would like to introduce some of the things you can see in Japanese people's bags, such as their lifestyle and culture.

1) Cosmetics and hair elastics
Compared to other countries, Japanese women are said to reapply their makeup more often. Have you ever felt that many women fix their makeup when they go to the bathroom? Also, women with long hair may have hair elastics in their bags. This is because when eating noodles such as ramen, it is against etiquette not to tie your hair up. Let's all be careful when eating noodles.

2) Sweets
Many people carry snacks in their bags for when they get hungry. I think this is common in many countries. However, in Osaka and other parts of Kansai, there is a unique culture regarding sweets (especially candies). According to a TV program, 10% of people in Tokyo have candies in their bags, while more than 80% of people in Osaka have candies in their bags. There are many episodes of strangers from Osaka (especially older women) talking to you and giving you candies. There are many reasons for this, but Osaka is a city of commerce and communication is very important. For this reason, handing out candies is said to be one of the ways of communication.

3) Fans（sensu）
Fans are a popular souvenir. Many people carry them in their bags during the summer. In the past few years, handy fans have become popular, and I have seen many people wearing them around their necks. However, handy fans are large in size and require batteries. In comparison, fans（sensu） are very compact and easy to store in a bag, so they are still very popular. Fans come in a variety of patterns and can be purchased at 100 yen stores. Please try using them not only as souvenirs, but also in your daily life.

Extra: Stuffed animals
Japanese people are said to be overworked. The daily commute is packed with trains, and the stress is just too much. I've heard that more and more people are putting cute stuffed animals in their bags to relax for a while. It is said that if you gently touch the stuffed animal in your bag when you are sitting on the train, you will feel less stressed. In Japan, a lot of stuffed animals with characters such as Kitty and Pokemon are sold. You should definitely try to find your favorite stuffed animal.

Have you had a chance to learn about the life of Japanese people? By the way, our school has a dormitory on the floor above the school, so you don't have to stress about commuting in the morning and can concentrate on your studies. We also offer online school explanations, so please feel free to contact us.

日本人のカバンの中身から日本が見えてくる？②
前回に引き続き、日本人のカバンの中身から見えてくる日本での生活や文化などを紹介したいと思います。

①化粧品やヘアゴム
他の国と比べて日本人女性は化粧直しの回数が多いと言われています。女性のみなさんはトイレに行ったときに化粧を直している女性が多いと感じたことはありませんか？また、髪の長い女性はヘアゴムがカバンに入っていることがあります。それは、ラーメンなどの麺を食べるときに、髪を結んでいないとマナー違反になってしまうからです。みなさんも麺を食べるときは気を付けましょうね。

②お菓子
小腹が減ったときのためにカバンにお菓子を入れている人は少なくないです。これは各国共通かと思います。しかし、大阪など関西ではこのお菓子（特にキャンディ）に関して、独特な文化があります。あるテレビ番組によると東京でカバンの中にキャンディを持っている人が10％に対し、大阪の人は80％以上という結果が出ています。知らない大阪の人（特に年配の女性）が話しかけてきてキャンディをもらったというエピソードはよくあることです。理由としては色々ありますが、大阪は商売の街であり、コミュニケーションを大切にしています。そのため、キャンディを配ることはコミュニケーションの方法の一つだと言われています。

③扇子
お土産でも人気のある扇子。夏場はカバンの中に入れている人も多くいます。ここ数年はハンディファンが流行していて、首から下げている人をたくさん見ることがありました。しかし、ハンディファンの場合はサイズも大きく、電池を必要とします。それに比べて扇子はとてもコンパクトでカバンにもしまいやすいので、今でも根強い人気があります。扇子は色々な柄があり、100円ショップでも購入することができます。お土産だけでなく、ぜひ普段も使ってみてくださいね。

番外編 ぬいぐるみ
働きすぎだと言われている日本人。毎日の通勤は満員電車でストレスはたまるばかりです。そんな日々の中で少しの時間も癒されたいとカバンの中にかわいいぬいぐるみを入れている人が最近増えてきたという話を聞いたことがあります。電車で座れたときなどにそっとそのぬいぐるみをカバンの中で触るとストレスがなくなるそうです。日本はキティちゃんやポケモンなどキャラクターのものが多く売られています。ぜひ、あなたもお気に入りのぬいぐるみを見つけてみてください。

日本人の生活を知ることはできましたか？ちなみに、本校は学校の上の階に寮があるため、朝の通学でストレスがたまることがなく、勉強に集中することができます。オンラインでの学校説明も行っているので、お気軽にお問合せください。

山中湖からの富士
2/11にこの場所で日没を待てばダイヤモンド富士に出会える

山中湖からの富士
高速バスを降りればこの景色

I found a Saitama fair in Ueno station and they were selling my favorite sweets 十万石まんじゅう!! I highly recommend this to anyone going to Saitama ?

The beautiful cityscape along with the great view of Mount Fuji from the cruise in Yokohama (red brick cafe cruise)

Enjoying the blue hours and christmas market in Yokohama red brick warehouse. The photo was taken from Osanbashi International Cruise Terminal.

【東寺ライトアップ】
とっても綺麗なライトアップでした。
時間がなく
ゆっくり撮れなかったのが
残念です〜。

Enjoying the blue hours and christmas market in Yokohama red brick warehouse. The photo was taken from Osanbashi International Cruise Terminal. During day time I also see the famous mount Fuji from the Cruise.

Beautiful Yamagata station. The train is ready to go to sendai.

葉っぱの隙間からの月

Went to a restaurant in Shinagawa called Ogasawara Shoten. They had some really tasty yakiniku and the drinks were really cheap as well. I ended up getting some sort of kalbi set, I don't remember the name but you can see what it came with in the picture lol.

The yakiniku tasted great but the grill was a little too hot at first so I had to turn the heat down. I had to flip my meat over really fast to make sure it didn't burn at first ?. It was a fun experience though. After I got it turned down though I had a nice relaxing meal. The miso soup was nice as well (it all tasted great to be honest) and afterwards they had a free coffee service which was a nice way to end lunch.

They had a pay pay campaign going on as well, so I got a nice discount for using it. Really handy app

初めての京都
定番の清水寺です
紅葉がめっちゃ赤かった

青と白、ただそれが美しい北アルプス。

I am enjoying the charm of winter at zao mountain in Yamagata prefecture.

Went to Shinjuku Station the other day and took of photo of the giant metal sculpture while I was there. I've only passed it a few times since it was erected during the pandemic, but my curiosity finally got the best of me, and I had some extra time anyways so I snapped a quick shot of it.

I did a little research on it and it was apparently made by the famous arist Tomokazu Matsuyama and the theme of theme for lack of a better word is to greet visitors with surprise and bewilderment.

It's pretty interesting and looks different from every angle as well. If you look at the right side of the photo (it's kind of cut off) you can see it holding a flower with its arm outstretched.

The name of it is Hanao-san, and while I'm not sure of the origin behind the name it has certainly piqued my interest...