by Philbert Ono
When you visit Hakone, the famous hot spring resort near Mt. Fuji, part of the standard tour route is a lake cruise on a gimmicky pirate boat (upper right photo) on Lake Ashi (Ashinoko). As you approach Moto-Hakone Port, you will see this torii in the water at the foot of Mt. Komagatake (upper left photo). This is perhaps Japan’s
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Went to the Higashi Rinkan Awa Odori dance festival on Aug. 2, 2015 from 5:30 pm to 9 pm in Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan. The dance was held near Higashi Rinkan Station on the Odakyu Enoshima Line. It was excellent, but it was a hot/humid evening. Watched it at the Higashi Chuo Enbujo and Nishi Ekimae Embujo. Dance troupes appearing in
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Video link: https://youtu.be/RFGHs7gD3jM The 39th Yamato Awa Odori dance festival was held on July 25-26, 2015 from 5 pm to 8:30 pm in Yamato, Kanagawa, Japan. I went to see it on July 25, very hot, humid day. This video shows the following dance troupes: Ioto-shima-chidori-ren, Azuma-ren, Chidori-ren, Sonjo-ren, Ukiyo-ren, Yokohama Nishiya-ren, Kensetsu-ren, Medaka-ren, Fuzuki-ren, and Shinbashi-ren. Chidori-ren is based at the NAF Atsugi
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Revisited Odawara Castle’s cherry blossoms in April 2013. Unfortunately, no blue skies when I went, but the flowers were impressive. Click on image to see more photos.
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Went to see Mt. Fuji and early-blooming (hayasaki) cherry blossoms in Matsuda, Kanagawa Prefecture in March 2012. These cherry blossoms are the Kawazu sakura (河津桜) variety which bloom earlier and longer than the more common Somei Yoshino variety. They also have a darker pink color. The hillside had a sakura-covered trail going down the mountain. Near Odakyu Shin-Matsuda and JR Matsuda Stations. Photos: https://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=841
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