Shizuoka and Ise

Earlier this month I bought a last-minute plane ticket to Shizuoka for a four-day weekend.  I flew in to the new (and small) Shizuoka Fuji airport, only completed in 2009.  It was the first time I've been back to Shizuoka since moving away almost three years ago.  I got to meet some old friends, and take an fantastic road trip with one of them to Ise (home of Ise Grand Shrine, dedicated to the major deity Amaterasu, goddess of the sun in the Shinto religion). This is considered to be the most sacred shrine in Japan, though it was my first time there. Interestingly, every 20 years the main buildings of this shrine and destroyed and rebuilt nearby to the previous.  When we were there the new ones were currently in construction.

Also on our jaunt to Ise we visited a huge aquarium, or at least the largest one I've been to.  The trip overall was packed to the brim with activity and nostalgia, and could hardly have been better.

Fujisan from the airplane on approach to Shizuoka airport.

Yumi and Karen.  Karen was only a toddler when I started teaching her basic vocabulary, and I also became good friends with her mother over time.  Yumi has continued to speak in English at home as much as possible, and Karen, six as of this writing, now speaks it fluently.  It was amazing to come back after all this time and have a conversation with her.

Outdoor bar in Ise selling various craft beers on tap.  The pilsner was awesome.

The chrysanthemum as seen on this banner is the Imperial Seal of Japan. 

Feeding time.

やったあ！

Cuttlefish

It's not hard to get a sense of how wildly intelligent Belugas are.  You can see the wheels turning in their heads when they face the glass to study you.  I couldn't get enough of this little guy. 

Pufferfish, also known as Fugu.

A parting of shot in Mie prefecture as we depart Ise for the mountains.