Making Tops

The end of January we went to an arts & crafts festival in Oimachi. It was really interesting to see all of the techniques used by the craftspeople, many of which still used traditional materials and methods for their art.

One of the most popular booths was set up by a pair of woodworkers, who were using their lathes to make tops that kids could decorate. Of course being the big foreign kid, I jumped right in line, and dragged Aya with me

Aya uses a paint pen to style her top

Now she applies wax to seal & finish the top

The final step is to chisel the point, and then break it from the dowel

Fukuyama

A few months ago we traveled to Fukuyama (about 400 miles southwest of Tokyo & 35 miles east of Hiroshima) to meet with our client and present the first phase of the project.

Our client is a shipbuilder (large cargo ships), so naturally their office is on the coast in a small bay enclosed by islands which offer a bit of protection.

While hotels rooms are not generally that exciting, they do become memorable when they are almost as big as your house.

View of the bay and part of the shipyards from my hotel room

The hotel bar

and library (lounge)

View of the bay from the bar terrace

Outdoor hot tub that was part of the hotel's onsen (hot springs)

View to the bay, and the marina that is part of our clients office complex

View from my room of the massive cranes at work building a ship

Marina at our clients office building. The vertical white columns at the end of the pier are part of an aquarium built and operated by the client

Miroku no Sato (Village of Miroku) is an amusement park constructed and operated by our client, that Miyakoda-san helped design over 20 years ago

What amusement park is complete without a drunken sailor who runs a fish camp?

Amusement parks look pretty much the same all over the world

Hanging out with the other white guy

Mainstreet, Japan - a recreation of what an older historic Japanese village may have looked like

Inside the school house

Why principals should never fall asleep on the job

An interesting sign...for what I have no idea

All cultures love wrestling

and Go-zilla!!!!

After touring the amusement park, we toured the rest of the Chairman's land. (over the years his family has accumulated a lot, and each generation has shaped it through development as they see fit) The building above is the family memorial, which is adjacent to the zen school they operate

The rock garden outside the Zen temple and school

The gateway leading into the garden (it began to snow while we were there)

Looking back up the hill at the gate leading into the temple garden

Before heading back to Tokyo, we had about an hour to tour Fukuyama. This allowed us to see Fukuyama Castle

The shinkansen (highspeed train). Not the one we rode, but exactly the same model.

A slightly different model, the JR500 series

A different model of the JR500 series