After four years, virtually half my twenties, we are leaving Japan.

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To escape the fucking awful miserable stifling really over the top heat of Tokyo, we escaped to Nikko for the second time this summer. We stayed once more in the Shobugahama campground (as we did with DazKat), but in a tent on the side of the lake, and while it was as cloudy as last time on the first day, (and deliciously only 19 degrees)…………

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I have just done something I have never done before in my life.

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I am not as young as I used to be.

We just got back from Fuji Rock, and it was great. I have spent today napping and soaking sore limbs. And we only did one day…..

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We went out to Hinatawada to see the ume (plum) blossoms on Sunday along with several thousand other folk.

It was pretty and smelled nice.

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Kamakura is my favourite day trip from Tokyo. When we first got to Japan we stayed with a friend down that way for a month (thanks Tanya!), and every time I go down there, I get all those lung-tightening, exciting feelings i had when we first moved here. If we were going to be long term residents in Japan, I think it is the only place I could live. It’s close to the water, has lots of beautiful temples, and plenty of trees. It is just much more relaxed than Tokyo, and only an hour away.

Last weekend we visited Kenchoji , an old and beautiful Zen temple, with lovely buildings and spare, peaceful gardens. And a nice temple cat.

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We went to Osaka and Kyoto, and they were both fucking ace.
We took a midnight highway bus and some ambien to Osaka, and woke up groggy and confused. First we went to the aquarium with the express purpose of meeting their whale shark. It was a really pretty fish.

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