Colas, Teas (fruit, bean, leaf, barley), Coffees, Ice Cream,
Soups, Juice, Sports Drinks, Liquid Vitamins...

These are just a few of the things you can find at this line of vending machines! I often read the cliche about vending machines as a reflection of the Japanese and value of convenience and instant gratification. I won't take credit for coming up with it but I will agree. I haven't seen the machines with undergarments yet but I'm looking... (Kamakura, Japan)

Gin Nan: My Current Obsession
On Veteran's Day (Nov 12) I went to Kita Kamakura, a less visited section of Kamakura. At the "divorce temple," as I call it, I leaned over an antique water pump that nuns used to pump water to bathe. Months after the ginkgo trees in this region had dropped their fruit, the old, giant tree above the well had a few left to spare. This temple is situated between two large hills and lots of foliage which is maybe why it lagged in bearing fruit. Yumi's uncle just aquired six lbs of ginko nuts for me and I'm eating about twenty a week. I'm totally obsessed and fear that I'll never touch them again after my obsession subsides! (Rest of photos can be viewed here)

Japan: Where Everything is Small Except the Insects...

When discussing godzilla-sized spiders, SciFi centipedes or houseflies that could crack a windshield, I always make a joke about how small the country, the cars, the streets, the Japanese themselves--everything!--is except for the insects. It's true! Take this moth for instance. It was sitting on a wall outside our bathroom window (not where one tinkles, but where one bathes/showers but that's a whole 'nother post,) probably a good nine feet from where we were, and yet we could see it. The thing was at least seven inches wide. I was too chicken to look at it but Matt got his eyes a few inches away and said that those circles were like reflectors with layers of color. Warning: The next insect post will definitely be the infamous huntsman spider and the "to kill or not to kill" debate. Stay tuned.