Monthly Archives: September 2011

No rain on this parade

At least, no rain this day.  Northern Japan, so close to the ocean, gets a considerable amount of precipitation, though, and it is overcast most of the time, with the clouds often hanging very low.  Kinda sorta like the Seattle … Continue reading

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Go west, young man

Obviously, the title doesn’t refer to me, since even more than a half dozen years ago, at the time of this trip, I was no spring chicken.  Nor does it reflect the direction we were headed, since we were spanning … Continue reading

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Here come the floats

At the conclusion of the mikoshi part of the parade, I was free to roam and take photographs.  Here are some of the larger floats. Misawa City Festival wheeled float Note that none of these floats are powered by internal … Continue reading

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The Rise and Fall of the Mikoshi

 This very, very nice lady was my housekeeper in Japan.  She also kept house for some of my coworkers, and for only about $30, she scrubbed everything, shined shoes, stacked papers, vacuumed, and sometimes even cooked up a little miso … Continue reading

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One Mikoshi, Two Mikoshi, Three Mikoshi, Four …

Check out the top of this float.  After examining it, you might believe it to be too heavy to be carried on shoulders, right? Mikoshi, or unfinished residence? Making the mikoshi as heavy as possible seemed to be part of … Continue reading

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You Say Mikoshi, I Say Musashi …

… Let’s call the whole thing off … or not.  Here are a few examples of the mikoshi, or portable shrines, that appeared in the 1988 Misawa City Festival Parade (Misawa-shi Matsuri). Lots more parade photos to come — we’re … Continue reading

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1988 Misawa City Festival

The morning of the city festival, I took several photos from the top of the Park Hotel.  This one is looking almost due north. The food booths went on forever.  The one on the right was selling fried potatoes, but … Continue reading

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Misawa shi kara Towadako made

One of my first road trips from Misawa City was to see the scenic Oirase River and Lake Towada.  Lake Towada is the largest volcanic crater lake on the main Japanese island of Honshu.  The Oirase River is the only … Continue reading

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Home Sweet Home Away from Home

I don’t remember what model year this car was, but it had a manual shift and a powered sunroof.  Now, if you think driving on the left side of the road would be a challenge, you should try shifting with … Continue reading

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Welcome to Japan

And welcome to Misawa train station.   But a lot of water flowed under the bridge before I could arrive at this destination.  First, when your plane lands at Narita International Airport in Tokyo (and go business class, if at all … Continue reading

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