最近、鹿児島県と宮崎県の間にある「新燃岳」が頻繁に噴火している事、皆さんようご存知だと思いますが、オラがこん間行った時はわりとおとなしかった。

そのかわり、桜島は大きなパフォーマンスで歓迎してくれた。阿蘇山も雪の中から煙をいっぱい出していた。なんだか、火山三昧の一日でした。

鹿児島の空港で食べたラーメンも、うっめがった。

Went down to Kagoshima again recently.  Mt. Shin-Moe has been in the news a lot recently because of increased volcanic activity but on the day I went, it was pretty calm. On the other hand, Mt. Sakurajima right near the capital city was putting on quite a show.  Even Mt. Aso in the next Prefecture north was belching out smoke from beneath the recent snowfall.  It seemed like all the major volcanos of southern Kyushu were getting excited all at the same time.   Gotta be an exciting area to live in.

Mt. Shin-Moe from Kagoshima Airport

Mt. Sakurajima from downtown Kagoshima

A separate eruption, same day

Mt. Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture -- Steam from under the snow.

Went to the “Harada Gakuen School of High Tech” in Kagoshima recently for another speaking engagement.  Good group of students.  I gave them some pointers about how to deal with their upcoming inauguration into adulthood.
Luckily, the weather was beautiful and Sakurajima, that humungous volcanic peninsula in the middle of the Bay, was at its most glorious.   I finished off my  day-trip with a bowl of the local pork-boned based  Ramen.  Yumm.

とにかく、めっちゃうまっ。

The unique "cracker stew" of Hachinohe in Aomori

28 different varieties of apples

りんごも大好きなオラ

ジェッフ先輩とは久しぶりでした

I was down in Inami Town in Wakayama Prefecture today for a speech/event about human rights today.

Jeff and I go WAAAAAAY back.  He showed me the ropes when I first started working as a reporter on TV here.

It was great to see him.  It’s been maybe ten years since we last did a gig together.

ジェッフさんとは、もう１０年ぶりだったかな？

相変わらず、元気で、語り部の技は半端じゃなかった。

印南町はきれいな町。廻りの山は緑豊富で、ミカンの段々畑と梅干しで有名らしい。

印南町のシンボル・マークはこの橋だべな。遠くからも見える、超目立つこの橋は「蛙橋」。

渡る皆さんは無事に帰るように〜。

The Town of Inami is quite pretty.  It is surrounded by beautiful green mountains accented by stepped tangerine orchards.  The town is also near the center of the main “umeboshi” producing region of Japan (“umeboshi”, of course, being those overwhelmingly powerful “pickled plums” that you find in your box lunches).

But I suppose the most outstanding feature of the downtown area is this bright red, frog-shaped bridge.  It’s called the “Frog Bridge”.  The word for frog in Japanese is “kaeru”.  It is a homonyn for the verb “to return home”.  Hence, if you cross the “Frog Bridge” it is wishing you a safe return home.    Anyway, it’s kind of cute.

無事に帰れますように祈る「蛙橋」

お世話になりました皆さん

ツーリストだなっす

首里城のガードしっかりしている

色も形も格別の首里城

改善中の首里城、２０１１年４月で完成

今、まだ改善中だが、来年４月で出来上がりだそうです。

皆さん、見に来てけらっしゃらい。めんそーれ。

Went to Okinawa for a speech recently, There was a typhoon in the area so it rained all day. But we braved it to visit Shuri Castle, the place where the old Ryukyu Kingdom held court. They are in the middle of refurbishing the main buildings, buit it should be done by April 2011. Ya’ll come over for a visit.

いやあああああ。忙しかったよ、先週。山形の東根、東京の大田区蒲田、秋田の横手、三重の津、北海道の紋別、岩手の山田、静岡の静岡福祉大学。全部行ってきました。来週は沖縄と東京と新潟と、えええと、どこだっけ？

Man, what a week I had last week. I went to Higashine in Yamagata, Kamata in Tokyo,

Yokote in Akita, Tsu in Mie, Mombetsu in Hokkaido, Yamada Town in Iwate, and Shizuoka Welfare University in Shizuoka. Next week, I’m heading to Okinawa, Tokyo, Niigata and –uh–where else?

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東根はサクランボで有名だけど、もう一つの名物はこの大ケヤキ。１５００歳で、幹の周囲は１６m、高さ２８m。ケヤキ番付で「東の横綱」になってるよ

北海道にまけねーど

Higashine is famous for its cherries, but another claim-to-fame is its “Big Keyaki Tree”.

It’s 28m tall (93 ft.) and 16m around (53 ft.) near the base of the trunk. In Japan, there is actually a “Sumo Ranking Sheet” for these Keyaki Trees, and this one in Higashine is known as the “Yokozuna of the East” (Grand Champion of Eastern Japan). Cool, huh?

東根はフルーツの宝庫

ぼちぼち旬となるよ、東根のりんご。

Higashine is, of course, best known for its cherries (June – July), but we are coming up on the season for another of its famed products — apples.

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よこてダンサーズと記念写真

本番中、よさこいの一種かな

B級グルメの王様じゃ

Yokote is probably best know for the igloos they make out of the deep snow that falls there in the winter. You build an igloo out of packed snow, set up a little Shinto shrine inside, and sip “sweet sake” to ward off the cold.

But Yokote is also better known recently for its Yakisoba (fried noodles). Yokote Yakisoba, with its distinctive sunny side up egg on top, has recently won several awards in those so-called “B-Grade Gourmet Contests”.

Since the economy is slow, people here are more interested in less expensive yet tasty ways to eat-out. This dish fits the bill perfectly.

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三重県津市の身田中生が金融研究の結果を発表

三重県津市に行ってきました。身田中学校の生徒達が、会社の設立の事、いろんな職業と業界を調べて習った事を発表しました。自分のみらいについて、真剣に考えている生徒さん達の顔を見て、心強くなりました。お疲れ様でした。

I made a speech down in Tsu City, Mie Prefecture this last week too.

A bunch of Junior HS students made presentations about research they are doing into careers and the business world. I spoke a little bit about how kids in America learn about careers and money matters.

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岩手県山田町のカッパ

岩手県の太平洋側のリアス海岸のほぼ真ん中（宮古と釜石の中間）に

山田町といういい町がある。漁港でホタテ貝で有名なスポット。

海のあんなにきれいなところ、めったに見ない。町のキャラは「ホタテ・カッパ」です。普通、カッパは「河童」と書くけど、山田町のカッパは川から海に降りてきたものだから、「海童」と書く。つまり「うみがっぱ」なんだそうだ。さらの上にホタテの貝殻を帽子のようにかぶるから、ちょっとめんずらしい。

I also visited Yamada-Machi in Iwate last week. As any fan of Old Japanese Folk Tales will know, Iwate is famous for its various legends of supernatural creatures, including the “Kappa”, a sort of green, frog-like water sprite. “Kappa” usually inhabit rivers, but the “Kappa” of Yamada is a “Sea Kappa”. It wears a large scallop shell on its head like a hat. The town’s Chamber of Commerce recently published a children’s book about the creature to instill a sense of local pride in the town’s youngsters.

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Some of the modes of transportation used during my trip

Good old reliable Y-Shink

Local airports use these babies

上陸したガリンコ１号

今週、紋別に行ってきました。僕にとって、３回目なんだけど、今回ちょっとだけ観光出来たから、写真を載せるね。

紋別はすんごいいい所だ。気に入った。ホタテ貝、いか、かに、等々海の幸にめぐまれ、また、流氷の研究センターがある。左は「ガリンコ１号」、流氷の見物のために作った観光船。先端の大きなスクリューで流氷をガリガリしながら進むデザインだから「ガリンコ」という名になったのかな？

I went up to the City of Mombetsu in northern Hokkaido this week for a speech. It was my third time there. I did a little sightseeing, so I’ll post some photos.

Mombetsu is a really cool town. They catch a lot of scallops, squid, crabs, etc. so if you are into seafood, this is a great spot. They’ve also got the “Okhotsk Sea Ice Flow Research Center” here. The town is famous for the ice flows which come in from the Amur River in Russia. (Best time to visit and see the ice flows is probably February — dress warmly.) This first photo is of the original “Galinko #1″, a tour boat which actually goes out into the ice flows. Notice the huge grinding screws on the front underside of the hull.

オホーツク・タワー

浜から見るオホーツク・タワー

オホーツク・タワーからも流氷見物出来る。海面下７mまで降りれる。上からも下からも流氷を。

Also in Mombetsu is the Okhotsku Tower, an ice flow observation tower. You can view the ice flows both from above AND below the water line — it descends to the sea floor, about seven meters or 23 feet deep.

さすが北海道

さすが北海道はなんでもでっかい。

おおおおおおおと思ったのはこれ。

このカニのはさみの彫刻の高さはなんと１２m。隣のタクシーはちっちゃい。

Hokkaido is like Texas. Everything is bigger there.

Check out this 12 meter (40 foot) tall statue (?) of a crab claw.

Good thing it ain’t real.

地元の方々と一緒にごみを拾いました。自分の町をより住み良い環境にしようと、皆さんが
一生懸命に頑張っているところをちょっとだけお手伝いが出来て、光栄でした。

ちっちゃい「んぼこ」達も頑張りました。

家族皆さんで頑張っぺ

アルビレックスのスタジウムも見える

いい眺めだなっす

砂蒸し風呂で有名な指宿は久しぶりでした。

講演はビジネスマンの集まりの前でしたので、終ってからの打ち上げは半端じゃなかった。名物の菜の花マラソン、焼酎、鰹節、等々の話しを聞かせてくださった。もちろん、薩摩ならではの御馳走をいただきながら。

翌日、『薩摩伝承館」に案内していただきました。こんなに沢山の日本の美術品を一カ所に集めるのは、初めて見た。薩摩の国の文化は本当に美しいものにこだわりはあった。

国立博物館以上です。

薩摩伝承館 -- The Finest Museum of Japanese Art I've ever seen.

I went down to the Ibusuki Peninsula of Kagoshima Prefecture for a speech recently. I spoke to a large group of businesspeople, so the “after-party” was quite lively.

They told me all about the famous features of Ibusuki, including the Hot Sands Therpeutic Spa, the Shochu, and the Shaved bonito flakes.

After staying overnight, I was given a tour of the Satsuma Densho-kan next to my hotel. I have never seen a finer collection of traditional Japanese art in all my 30 years in Japan.  The people of Satsuma definitely appreciate their art. The collection is even better than the National Museums.

「美しい多摩川フォーラム」のいかだ

今度７月１８日に東京の狛江市で「いかだレース」に参加。

今年は２０回目になりますが、ぼくは去年の１９回目がはじめてでした。

多摩川を大事にしたい団体さんやNPOが参加するのだ。

I’ll be participating in the 20th Annual Tama River Raft Race this coming July 18th (Sunday) out in Komae City.

Groups and NPOs working to promote the environment along the Tama River will design their own rafts and race against eacch other over a two kilometer course.

レースが終わってからちょっとしたイベントもあるよ

２キロぐらいのコースをスピードで競争するが、まっ、勝ち負けは関係ないね。多摩川の環境をアピールするのが目的。

みなさん、楽しみました。レースが終ったらイベントがあって、僕もちょっとだけトーク・ショーに参加した。何の話ししたかは覚えていないが、、、、。多分、多摩川と最上川の共通点についてだと思う。

とにかく、皆さん、来てけらっしゃい。

Though the rafts compete in terms of speed, it doesn’t really matter
who wins or loses.  We are just trying to get people more interested in the River, show them that it is worth keeping clean and pollution free.

After the race, there was an event and we all got to say a few words.