I had the privilege of visiting Nagano recently. It was fantastic. Nagano’s a gorgeous city, surrounded on all sides by majestic mountains. It’s also not super big, so you can walk pretty much the whole city, given a day set aside to that end. The walk from Nagano Station to Zenko-ji was only about an hour, and it was a nice walk along snowy but well-maintained streets lined with cute small businesses and interesting architecture. The temple complex itself was massive. We didn’t have time to see the whole place, as it was getting dark and the shops and such were closing, but even from the outside in it was a real treat to look at all the old temple buildings.

I’d love another chance to visit Zenko-ji in the future. There was so much more to see. I’d especially like to go inside the temple buildings and say a prayer for world peace or something. I’ve just got to make a point to go earlier in the day next time, so I can properly appreciate the sheer number of outbuildings. If you ever get a chance to go to Nagano, make sure your itinerary includes a visit to Zenko-ji. It’s huge, it’s beautiful, and it’s surrounded by shops and restaurants. It’s worth many visits.

Pictured below is a pagoda retrofitted to act as a museum for the temple. It was closed by the time we discovered it nestled in the trees behind the main temple, but it sure looks like it hosts a lot of interesting tidbits about the place and its history!

日本に住んでいるとイベントが忙し～いと思います。

つい先日節分で恵方巻を食べ、豆まきをしたと思ったら、今度は

今年のバレンタインはチョコレートは何にしようか、そろそろ

お雛様も出そうかと雛あられに手が伸びる。

今年の節分に鬼について知ったのは・・・

鬼にはいろんな色の鬼があり、それぞれに意味のある事

たとえば赤鬼　　金棒

悪意、怒りの象徴

豆をぶつけることで自らの悪心が取り除かれる。

黄鬼　　両党ののこぎり

心が昂ぶり頭に血が上がった状態。

豆をぶつけることで甘えを取り除き公平な判断ができるようになる。

他にも青鬼、緑鬼があります。

豆の代わりにチョコレートにすれば一日で済みそうですが

そうもいかないですね。

２月の日差しには春を感じるものがあり少しうれしくなりました。

寒さの峠は越しそうです。

Hey y’all!

So over break I had the opportunity to eat the famous Ise shrimp. Fun fact though, it’s not a shrimp! It’s actually considered to be a lobster. Anyways, they said they could cook it in two ways. Number one, they could grill it up, and number two, they could serve it raw. I went with the later. 

BIG MISTAKE. When they said they were going to serve it raw, they weren’t kidding. It’s head was still moving when it was served! It scared the life out of me, BUT for 6,000 Yen, I had to eat it.

I then paid a little extra for them to turn the head into a miso soup. It was incredible, but I don’t think it was worth 6,000 Yen. Moral of the story is- DON’T GET ISE SHRIMP RAW. 

See y’all in class!