Street art

It is not often you see wall pintings in Tokyo. The other day we happend to walk through an area in Shibuya where there is a design school located and around there we could spot a few. Most of them are quite manga inspired.

And some of them more classic style.

Peace boat

Today I've taken the day off from work so we went down to Yokohama harbour to say hi to the boat that Maki was cruising around the world with. After 17 journeys around the globe the old steam boat will be replaced by a more environment friendly one so many people came to say good bye.

Tokyo original

We met up Nils and Tahmine who's stopping by Japan on their around the world trip in Yoyogi park to relax for a while. Few things are so amusing as to see Tokyo rockabilly club perform in yoyogi on sundays, a must if you're in Tokyo for a weekend.

Training day

Today we got a short lesson in a fisherman's life. First the ride with the village professional fishermen at a time when people should really still be a sleep. Then out with Maki's uncle's boat to pick his net. And now the lazy days were over, I was told how to drive the boat and how to pull the net out of the water. Maybe not the best fisherman there has been in Wakabe but it was fun for sure.

Fisherman's friend

It's just after five o'clock in the morning and about to leave with the fishing boat.

A day by the sea

Today has truly been a day by the sea. As soon as we arrived this morning we had some breakfast and then we went out with the boat to pick up the fishing nets. Makis uncle is a professional fisher who gets up four o'clock every morning to go out with the village fishing boats. And then he does his own net fishing to provide the fish for their japanese guesthouse that they run. Besides fishing and catching octopuss we have enjoyed the nature and eaten a fantastic dinner with crab and sashimi made from today's catch. Now it's almost midnight and less than five ours until we are going to follow the fishing boat out in the early morning. unfortenately my mobile phone camera did not respond too well to the amount of water it had to face today so right now it's not working at all. Hopefully it will get better till tomorrow so that I can post some more photos.

On the bus

This will be my view for the next 7 hours. After more than 12 hours in the office and just a quick stop at home to eat we are now on the highway bus that will take us to Makis relatives on the west coast. It's now midnight and we will arrive 7am, I have two beers and a book for killing time. Envious? I'm not. But once we get there it will be great. Looking forward to seeing the country side at the coast and to get on one of those fishing boats that Maki has told me about.

Happy birthday farmor!

Grattis på födelsedagen farmor! Vi hade gärna velat fira med dig i Bygdsiljum men detta året blir det såklart svårt. Vi tänker på dig och firar dig nu ikväll tillsammans med kompisar från Sverige. Många grattiskramar från oss båda, hoppas du får en härlig dag!

Balcony

Yesterday we finally got time to build the floor to the balcony. Even if it's small it now looks more like a "real" balcony and it's possible to walk out there without shoes which is nice. I had planned for an opening morning coffee in the sun this morning but of course woke up to see a cloudy sky.

Also on Saturday we had the last hanami picnic for this year, this time in a small park in our neighborhood. With temperature going up toward twenty degrees it was surely a nice way to spend a day. It has been a great cherry blossom season and a little bit sad it is already over.