...a giant Japan-sized rain blob of death:


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I made it back to Japan, and my apartment with giant suitcase in tow. I quickly realized that Japan is seriously lacking in the "accessibility" department after dragging that thing up and dstairs own with nary an escalator or elevator in sight. Not that I mind so much, but it makes me wonder what do people with wheelchairs do around here?

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For those of you (*cough* mom *cough*) who don't have facebook, you haven't seen the rest of my pictures from Japan since I haven't updated for about 5 weeks. Sorry!  It's way easier to do on facebook, but I'll pick out some of my favorites for here!


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Yes yes, I know I haven't updated in about a month ( Read more... )

Eating delicious Japanese food of course!!

This one is my creation, made from recipes in my newly bought Japanese veggie cook book:
Sanma (the fish) pan-fried with mini-tomatoes and onions, on the side is sweet potato simmered in
brown sugar and lemon. Nom!

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These pictures are all from the bridge that runs from Port Island to Sannomiya, and the dock thats at one end. I was inspired by the beautiful day and the great composition that the multiple layers of the city and beams of the bridge made over the water. At the dock, the colorful boats and blue sky were reflected in the water and back onto the side ( Read more... )

Suita city is part of Osaka prefecture and basically connected to Osaka city. Pretty urban area, apparently only 8% of its "natural areas" are left after it got developed!  Hime-fireflies still live in those areas.

The train on the way to Suita, its like a never ending city! If you click on the picture to see the larger version, you can see the sky ( Read more... )

Last week was spent going around to different places to conduct my interviews: Suita, Wadayama, Tanba, and Nagoya (2nd time).  I only have 2 more interviews scheduled, one in Gotemba (near Mt. Fuji) and one in Niimi in Okayama prefecture.  I'm wondering if this is actually going to give me enough data to write a master's thesis?!?!  Lets hope so...

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I couldn't resist....

These guys are some type of damselflies.  Aren't they cute sitting there on the leaves? They have black wings <3
A local elementary school is participating in a study with the Museum of Nature and Human Activities, Hyogo.
The 4th graders catch them, mark them and release. Then the researchers can see where they've been flying!
(In ( Read more... )

I survived my first interview session with the Hime-firefly groups! Actually, it was super fun, the group members were awesome, eager to talk to me, and showed me the firefly habitats around Nagoya Castle. The castle is in the middle of the city, and its extremely rare for there to be fireflies in a place like that. Hime-fireflies are especially ( Read more... )