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⇐ The
Rising Sun, Sat Nov 6. About
11 hours from Paris CDG, 1 hour to
Narita, zero hours sleep. (Photo by Gunnar,
who had the window.)
⇒ Chiba
City
blues. Too
tired at the time to remember where this was, somewhere in the Tokyo
Bay sprawl. |
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⇐ NEC building, Tokyo.
Helicopter pads top and center, presumably for the high- and
middle-ranking executives, respectively.
⇒ Mt Fuji. The ticket
collector on the Nozomi
bullet train said we'd get the best view at 14:21. Right to the minute.
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⇐ Dawn on Sun Nov 7, Hiroshima port. Thanks
for sleep and the green tea
dispenser across the corridor.
⇒ Georgia
coffee-in-a-can. "European blend", apparently. Delicious cold or
microwaved. |
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⇐ Ferry to Miyajima
island. Our excellent guide teaches English weekdays, and does tours
weekends. Pays the ¥30M mortgage.
⇒ The
"floating" torii, gate to Itsukushima-jinja shrine. One of the
top-three
most-photographed sights in Japan, though usually at high tide.
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⇐ Sika deer, stalking
the tourists on Miyajima. They love to eat paper. My ISWC proceedings
stays in the bag anyway.
⇒ Good advice, but what is
the cartoon girl doing to that deer? |
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⇐ They
should make this into an anime movie.
⇒ Our guide said the
cats' raised paws signify demands for money. The rice spatula are an
ancient Miyajima shrine income-generation scheme. |
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⇐ Main street,
Miyajima. One of the most Japanese scenes I've seen so far.
⇒ Oyster chef. |
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⇐ One of 108 stone
lanterns on the Miyajima shoreline. A lucky number.
⇒ The
Shinto purification pool, at the entrance
to Itsukushima-jinja shrine. |
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⇐ The
torii again, bigger than it looks on all the postcards and calendars.
⇒ Well worth a little
run! |
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⇐ The onset of autumn,
at the carp pool in the Miyajima hills.
⇒ White horse,
providing a channel to the Shinto deities. |
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