Yuri tried the traditional-style stilts. Emily tried them too but too briefly to get a picture.
Relaxing in the country.
Japan has praying mantids! It is in the very center of this photo, though a leaf is covering its head. The insect was a lot smaller than the mantids back home, which seemed odd to me since so many other kinds of insects are larger in Japan.
Trying to feed a calf. The calf wasn't interested.
These spiders are pretty common. Their size is intimidating though, with a leg span of 8-10 cm.
The farm had a small building set up for classes and events. It had a quaint little wood stove for heat in the winter.
How now brown cow.
We made an appointment for Yuri to milk a cow. She had to put on a rain coat.
The cow that Yuri milked.
Yuri with the milk she got. We couldn't drink it though because it wasn't pasteurized. If we'd been in the United States i probably would have drank a bit anyway just to try it (my immune system is healthy, after all), but in Japan i try to behave myself a bit better.
Headed home. Here's the name of the farm.
Bye, bye cows!
There's no escaping it. McDonald's is everywhere. The Japanese text says "drive through".
Emily's first haircut!
Morning snacks. I really missed cheese. Good cheese is a rare and expensive thing that can really only be found in specialty import shops.
My favorite type of matcha latte, and only about ¥90 in Japan. I would be willing to pay an obscene amount if i could get this back home.
Went for another walk today, probably 15 km. Stopped at "Makudonarudo" for lunch, mostly because i wanted to try the new anko (red bean paste) pie. I must say, that pie was one of the better ¥100 purchases i've made. The rest of the food was a standard "firei o fisshu setto".
No unsightly fire hydrants in the way of cars and pedestrians in Japan. Instead they have these decorated access covers.
Starbucks is also unescapable. They aren't *quite* as common as in the US, but still pretty easy to find. Like the fast food chains, Starbucks products in Japan are better than in the US.
7-11 is a huge company. They own this mall.
Most Japanese streets have no name. (It makes giving directions about as fun as one would expect.) But, major streets like highways do have names. Well, route numbers anyway. The words are the cities those roads head towards.
This was my destination for the walk. Edion is a ubiquitous electronics store, usually there's a small one every few kilometers. This is the big one in town though.
Here's an example of a pretty normal supper for me while in Japan.