And even the shrine itself is a little controversial. It has a war museum on the grounds, the first thing you see being a kamikaze plane. Also of interest are the bride dolls, that have been given as a kind of offering to the fallen soldiers, most of which would have never married, since they were so young. Our professor told us that they have a whole room filled with dolls; that would be really cool to see. Outside, there are statues in honour of the animals that aided the troops in war; dogs, horses, and pigeons. This is again an attempt to placate the spirits. So yeah, that’s another thing I have to put on my to-do list when I go to Tokyo. Earlier today, Katie brought up the fact that mid terms were only two weeks away, and likewise, the professor told us we’d been taking this class for a month now. I really believe how fast it’s gone; my time in Japan is rapidly running thin! But that’s why I have to make the most of the time I have left, and that’s exactly what I did this afternoon; Plum blossoms at Yamada Lake!!!
I got home, and Hugo was there, having come back in his break between classes to do some homework. I went up to have lunch, watching the Olympics, and then got my washing in, before going out again. I had my camera and tape recorder prepped, and sped toward the lake on my bike; probably only took 10-15 minutes to get there. I rode around to the north side of the lake, and was at first worried, and confused about the lack of flowers in the trees; where were all the blossoms? Then I rounded a corner and a flash of colour caught my eye, and soon enough a sea of whites and pinks stretched out before me. I quickly parked my bike, and then dived in, consumed by the intoxicating smell of the blossoms. I busied myself taking as many photos as possible, using the macro setting on my camera feverously. I was honestly overwhelmed; there must have been at least 200 flowering trees. And the colours were spectacular, with a huge range from white through to deep pink. There were a few people picnicking, but overall it wasn’t very crowded, so I could walk through at my leisure, taking video at one point.
I spied Sydney, capturing the moment in another way, with her pencil and sketchpad. She was so focused that she didn’t hear me come up to her (fair enough she had head phones in), and accidently took out her earring in surprise; sorry… It was fine though (she said it happens all the time), and we soon got chatting. She told me she came here almost every day, and had therefore seen the transition, which she said was very sudden; one day buds, the next day an explosion of colour. She also told me that I’d come on a good day. The wonderful sunny weather had brought the masses out here yesterday. I soon let her get back to her drawing, and continued taking photos. She told me about the bamboo groove to the east, and while I had indeed seen it before, I’d never ventured through it. So I made my way over there, passing a fair few cats. It 
was a bit more open than I had expected, but still very beautiful to walk through, and I came out by the Australian fauna part of the park; the wattle were already flowering. I slowly made my way back to the bike, taking some more photos from the top of a hill of the lake, and the plum grove. Keeping my bike company was a sad-looking black and white cat. He probably wanted food, but unfortunately I had none to give. I really do feel sorry for all the stray cats, a lot of them don’t look to be fairing very well. However I did see a rather fat ginger cat a bit earlier on, so I guess some of them are doing well for themselves.
I rode past more gardens, and cats, and decided to check out the open fields to the south, where I had previously gone for a BBQ with the clubs from Gaidai. There were many people with their dogs and a few kids too. It was getting dark and windy, and threatening to rain, so after taking a few more photos of a small corpse of plum trees, I made my way back home. I decided to go back via the highway, to see if I could find the park Simon had been talking about with all the plum blossoms, before realising (due to his directions), that it was indeed Yamada Lake he had been to. Since I was out this way, I decided I may as well do some grocery shopping (fun), so I went to Kirindo, and Fresco before finally riding home. I put away my purchases, and then soon returned to the kitchen to make dinner. Since I had to use up the rest of my vegetables (especially the potatoes), I decided to make stew, not exactly the right kind of meal for a warm day but still; this meant though, that I had to wait an hour for it to cook. In the mean time, I talked with Katie, Ash, and Rachel, telling them about today’s exploits, and urging them to see it themselves. Ash seemed eager and, weather permitting, we might go Saturday morning. Didn’t stay in the kitchen quite so late tonight; got back down here at about 9:30. I played Plants vs. Zombies for a while, and did my readings for Gender and Sexuality, and then got ready for bed. Hugo still isn’t back…
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