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

東京都新宿区にある新宿御苑内で撮影したものです。
茶屋の横にあった八重桜が浮き立って奇麗でした。

Found a nice izakaya in Kanda today.
The name is Kakuuchi Inagaki 角打 いながき. I think that's the reading for the kanji at least...
The place had a really nice atmosphere and some really good food at very reasonable prices.
I ordered the Saba no Shioyaki さばの塩焼き, salt grilled mackerel and it was really tasty and only cost 750 yen as well.
Definitely a nice place to drop by for some after work drinks with a friend or coworker or just for lunch like I did.

It seems like they serve nikomi and oden later at night as well, so if you like that I definitely recommend it.

[Englsh／日本語]
Hachioji City, where our school is located, is a city with a rich history. Here you can experience various traditional cultures. 2 students are holding "Kuruma Dolls". School events also offer experiences that expose students to the culture of Hachioji as well as Japan.
本校がある八王子市は歴史のある街です。ここではいろいろな伝統文化を体験することができます。2人の学生が持っているのは「車人形」です。学校行事では日本だけではなく八王子の文化に触れる体験も行っています。

Was nice weather over the weekend so I did a little exploring.

Found this nice little temple near the Sumida River called Hozoin Temple 寳蔵院 in Arakawa.
I wasn't sure where exactly I was allowed to go inside the temple, and I didn't have much time anyways, so I just took a peak through the gates and snapped a photo.
It was a really quaint place and apparently it has some landscape paintings and itabi tablets.
From what I saw, it looked like there was a garden across the ground.
Maybe a rock garden or something of the sort, I wasn't able to get a good look at it though.
The area around the temple was the hunting grounds of the Tokugawa Shogunate as well it seems.
Pretty amazing to imagine there was enough greenery in the area to hunt in the past.

Also managed to stop by a nice udon/soba restaurant for lunch.
It was called Sunaba 砂場 I believe.
I ordered the kamo duck nanban udon and it tasted great.
Haven't had duck in a while, but it's always a treat.
The lady taking orders was really nice as well.
Overall a great place!

【English／日本語】
These are cherry blossoms at Shinshoin, a temple in Nishi-Hachioji. This temple was opened by the daughter of the famous warlord "Shingen Takeda". Unlike ordinary temples, it is very gorgeous with feminine decorations. Our school goes to visit it once a year. Before the visit, students learn in class about the tragic love story for which this temple was built. There are many historical buildings near the school. It can be said that Nishi-Hachioji is a very good environment for studying Japanese language.

西八王子にあるお寺「信松院」の桜です。このお寺は有名な武将である『武田信玄の娘』が開きました。普通のお寺とは違い、女性らしさを感じる装飾があり、とても華やかです。本校では1年に1回見学に行きます。見学の前に学生たちは授業でこの寺が建てられた悲恋の物語を学びます。学校の近くには歴史的な建物がたくさんあります。西八王子は日本語を学ぶ環境としてとても優れていると言えます。

目白庭園での一枚
夕暮れの水面にリフレクション

桜のフレームからスカイツリーをのぞく
隅田川に停車していた水上バスも桜色でした
場所:隅田公園

It's finally starting to feel like spring.
Loving the cherry blossoms around Tokyo already, it just needs to get a bit warmer.
Temperature feels a lot more up and down this year, but maybe it's just my imagination.

Hoping I can get out this weekend and enjoy some more views outside of Tokyo.
I'm not sure how much the cherry blossoms have bloomed in Saitama, but I enjoyed seeing all the photos and videos of the Kawazu Cherry Blossom Festival.

It's a bit too far/expensive for a day trip 6 hours on a train doesn't sound fun, but it'd be nice to see them one day.
From my knowledge, the cherry blossoms tend to stay in bloom longer there so it'd be nice to see them eventually.
Either way, I'm just happy spring is finally here!

川苔山/東京

真夏の小笠原諸島、南島にて。鮮やかな緑と青のコントラストはまさに楽園そのもの。地球の果てに来たような気分。

焼肉
Yakiniku

焼肉 牛宮城＠東京都渋谷区宇田川町
YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU＠Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

焼肉 牛宮城
東京都渋谷区宇田川町12-9 ジュール渋谷 5F
YAKINIKU GYUGUJOU
Joule Shibuya 5F, 12-9 Udagawacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

奥多摩でたまたま見かけた、
寝そべった女性のような氷柱です。

Beautifully decorated Yokohama China town during chinese new year using red lantern, chinese hoardings and lantern dragons.

東京都立川グリーンスプリングスで撮影しました。時期が、クリスマスだったので、サンタさんのコスチュームをしているぬいぐるみを手に持って撮影しました。