Glad midsommar!.

Trevlig midsommar! Hoppas alla har en rolig midsommarafton. Vi lyckades bli bjudna till en surströmmingsskiva i Tokyo med riktigt tunnbröd. Sjukt gott!

Driving Ms Daisy

Today I became a happy owner of a japanese driving license. I had been expecting the worst and was both relieved and surprised when I after only 3h of bouncing between different stations in the office building could exchange a receipt for my license. Now I just look forward to renting a car when we go to Okinawa on vacation next weekend :-)

Car free

In Ginza they block the main roads from car traffic on sundays to let pedestrians and temporary tables and chairs occupy all the space. This makes it a lot more peaceful to walk around the area. A really nice idea that Stockholm should try (e.g. Hamngatan, Götgatan).

Fuzzball

The crowded bar where we watched the game last nigt. All the swedish fans made it feel just like if we were in a bar in Stockholm. Good party atmosphere - up until the last minute of the game.

Miyama onsen

Entrance to what could be one of Japan's best hot springs, miyama onsen. Nice wood building surrounded by trees and clear view of the river in the bottom of the valley to the left of the photo. The entrance fee of 300 yen (18 skr) doesn't make you want to turn back either.

Gone fishing

Finally I got to try my new (but already two years old) fly fishing rod for the first time. I've been with Moritoshi-san to a river close to Nikko for one day fishing. It's been a fantastic day despite the fishes lack of interest in my flies (Mori-san got one though). And the rod worked like a charm. Anyway, the sun is shining, we are gonna pass by my favourite onsen on the way home and tonight we're gonna watch the fotball with a crowd of swedish people in a bar in ebisu.

Shaky

TV picture from the broadcasting after the earthquake that woke us up half an hour ago. Magnitude 6.7 with epicentra outside of Japan just north of Tokyo. We live somewhere between the 3s and 4s in the middle-low part of the image.

Sand hot spring

Today, on the last day of our mini vacation, we left Yakushima and went back to Kyushu. We took the train from Kagoshima to Ibusuki, as far down south as you can go on Kyushu. Here we spent another half day by the sea but instead of going swimming in the ocean we tried the local speciality sunaburo, sand hot spring. They basically bury you in sand that is heated by the underground hot springs. After thirty minutes I promise you are all done. Because of the weight from the sand you can feel the blood pumping through your warm body. Maybe something like getting a light beating in a sauna. Very relaxing indeed!

No hike

This morning the sun was shining and our backs were aching. After a not very long discussion we decided to skip the third day of hiking and just relax. We've been stralling around Anbo (a small place by the sea on Yakushima), sleeping on the cliffs in the sun and even taken the first swim for the year. Tonight we're having a BBQ dinner on the porch of our hotel. The owner of the hotel was by the way sure she had seen me on TV, but the only TV I've been on is SkellefteTV watching a baseball game in Skelleftea I think she was mistaken me for someone else. Tom Cruise?

Big trees

This is what's left of one really big tree and it's called wilson's stump. We have been hiking for two days, yesterday in perfect weather and this morning in pouring rain, and all the time in wonderful nature with some huge trees. We are now on the way from the mountains to the youth hostel where we will stay tonight. We will try to find an onsen by the sea and then we will eat a steady dinner!

Arrived Yakushima

After a flight to Kagoshima, down south on Kyushu, and a 2h jet ferry trip we have now arrived Yakushima, an Island famous for beautiful nature with a few thousand year old trees. We will stay here for 3 days and mostly do hiking in the mountains. Tonight the plan is to stay over in a cabin in the mountain and we are now waiting for the bus that will take us to the starting point for the hiking. It feels nice to have left the big city for the nature. The only thing that makes me nervous is that my backpack is so much more heavy than Maki's!

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.