Sumo Sights Near Ryogoku, Tokyo

Ryogoku, the Sumo Town, is a district of Tokyo where there is the sumo stadium, as well as chanko restaurants. Chanko nabe is a dish eaten by sumo wrestlers.

Kobe City Hall

On the way to the City Hall at night, and the view from the upper floor, information about the special sign that appears sometimes on the outer wall, and a Rodin sculpture by its entrance:

In Japan it is possible to collect stamps everywhere you travel. In Hokkaido, I met a Japanese who would carry his stamp notebook on his travels - he had collected more than 2,000 stamps. I was so envious, with only a few hundreds of stamps in my collection. :-p I have a soft spot for it, too. 

I knew from a distance it is one sculpture by Rodin, unmistakably his from any angle. He is of course much appreciated even in Japan, same as elsewhere. The Shizuoka Prefectural Museum of Art exhibits 32 of the artist's bronzes. 

Biwa Sofuto - Loquat Ice Cream On Awaji Island

Japanese ice cream is particularly tasty. And it comes in so many flavours. An interesting one was the lavender ice cream in Hokkaido. The Furano lavender field may explain that. (^_^)

This is a shop near the Hanshin Earthquake Museum on Awaji Island. Biwa or loquat is sometimes called the Japanese medlar or the Japanese plum. The fruit is small, 3-5 cm long. The leaves are dried to make biwa cha, recommended for a beautiful skin.

Biwa is commonly used to make syrup, jelly, jam. 

いちじく ichijiku = fig. They have even fig ice cream here.

Shinkansen Photos

Hyogo Daibutsu, Nofukuji Temple, Kobe

Strangely enough, an aura appeared in the photo.