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posted: December 29th, 2010 |
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The photos on this page were all taken on Christmas Day when we climbed Mt. Takao. We finally found Frost Flowers - the most incredible ones we've ever seen. We also watched the sunset over Mt. Fuji - the 3rd time for me this week, but the first time for Kazuya. Note how much the sun angle on Mt. Fuji has already changed since December 23rd. After the photos you'll find a list of all mountains which we climbed during 2010, plus a graph of the elevations. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
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| Begin December 25th - Christmas Day |
The Tokyo Sky Tree is a broadcasting, restaurant and observation tower under construction in Sumida, Tokyo, Japan. When completed, the tower will have a height of 634.0 meters (=2,080 ft). Construction of the tower is scheduled to be completed by December 2011, with the public opening in spring 2012. One of Tokyo Sky Tree's main purposes will be as a television and radio broadcasting tower. Tokyo's current broadcasting tower, Tokyo Tower, is at 333 m (=1,093 ft), no longer tall enough to give complete digital terrestrial television broadcasting coverage as it is surrounded by many high-rise buildings. When completed, the Tokyo Sky Tree will be the tallest tower in the world beating Canton Tower (600 m = 1,969 ft), the tallest structure on an island, beating Taipei 101 and the second tallest structure in the world, after the Burj Khalifa. (Thanks to Wikipedia for above information.) In the first photo (not zoomed at all) you can barely see the Tokyo Sky Tree. In the 2nd photo I have zoomed in and you can very easily see it towering over everything else in the city. The 3rd photo is the first shot of a Frost Flower this year.
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Every year during either December or January we go out and search for FROST FLOWERS. If you go to the "Complete List Of All Photos" page HERE (will open in new window) and do a text search for "frost flowers" you will find photos which we took in December 2009, December 2008, January 2008, January 2007 and December 2005. These occur here in Japan on the stems of Keiskea japonica, in your country they may occur on a different plant. Knowledge of the formation of these amazing "flowers" is not well understood, but the best and most complete knowledge about them appears to be most concisely summarized HERE (will open in new window). Note that the ice is coming OUT OF a plant stem. A Google search for "Frost flowers" will give you more results than you want to look at. These things are SO AMAZING!
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Today is Saturday! I was here on Thursday and there were no Frost Flowers, the ground was muddy and it was 8° C (=47° F). How fast can these things grow anyway?! This year we were amazed to find the biggest Frost Flowers we have ever seen. In the center photo in this row that is Kazuya's hand for scale. This group here must be about 30 cm tall (about 12 inches).
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Here are 2 VERY SIMILAR photos of that group of very tall Frost Flowers - they are just different enough in both composition and in exposure so that I wanted to share both of them with you.
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Here are 3 more photos of Frost Flowers. Some years there are lots of very intricately formed ribbons and shapes. This year it seemed to be more random - possibly because it happened so fast? In the 3rd photo in this row - that flower is a random mess!
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Here are a few ribbons and shapes, but there were just not that many like this.
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The first Frost Flower in this row is an interesting one. The 2nd one is an intricately and interestingly shaped one. The 3rd shot is a nice Japanese Red Pine Tree (Pinus densiflora) against a nice blue sky background at I-Ccho-Daira.
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Here are 2 shots of Mt. Fuji from I-Ccho-Daira. Can you believe (center photo) that the sun is going to sink at such an angle so that it will go down behind Mt. Fuji? The 3rd shot is more Frost Flowers.
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The first 2 shots in this row show some amazing "Candle Ice" - in the 2nd photo I stuck a toothpick in the ground to give you an idea of the scale. The 3rd shot is some kind of Blue Berries - pretty.
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We ate our lunch, which we took with us, at I-Ccho-Daira and then we went back to the place where all of the Frost Flowers were. So, here are 3 more shots of Frost Flowers.
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And here are the final 3 shots of Frost Flowers for this year (probably).
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After that, we went back to the summit of Mt. Takao to watch the sunset, but there were lots of people to watch the sunset, so we went to Momiji-Dai. There were fewer people there and we could see just as well, if not better. The first photo in this row was taken at 3:08 PM, the 2nd at 3:53 PM and the 3rd one at 4:01 PM.
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Here are 3 more shots of the sunset going behind Mt. Fuji - it's not quite a "Diamond Fuji" today, but close enough. The first shot in this row was taken at 4:05 PM, the 2nd one at 4:07 PM and the 3rd at 4:08 PM.
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In these 3 shots we're getting very close to sunset. The first shot was taken at 4:11 PM, the 2nd one also at 4:11 PM and the 3rd shot at 4:12 PM.
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And, there it goes - behind Mt. Fuji - at 4:13 PM in the first shot. The 2nd shot was a few seconds later, but also at 4:13 PM. The 3rd shot was 2 minutes later - 4:15 PM.
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The first shot here was at 4:15 PM - the sun is pretty much gone now. In the 2nd shot - at 4:16 PM - the rays of the sun are still showing a bit. In the 3rd shot - at 4:17 PM - the sun is definitely gone.
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The first shot here was taken at 4:18 PM. The sun is GONE! The 2nd shot was taken at 4:21 PM, some decent orange colors. The 3rd shot - 4:28 PM - that same type of shadow as I saw on the 23rd (Page 2, Row 14, 3rd Photo).
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| End December 25th, End December 2010's Photos, Begin Mountains Climbed |
Here you can find a list of all the mountains which we climbed during Calendar Year 2010. Note that 54 mountains were climbed during 2010 - although not 54 different ones. Numbers in parenthesis (e.g. #6) indicate the number of times that mountain has been climbed since I've been in Japan.
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| Mountains Climbed in 2010 | ||||||
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| No. | Date | Mountain Name | Elev., Ft. | Elev., M. | Location | |
| 1 | Mar-13-2010 | Jiizou-no-Kashira | 5,499 | 1,676 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 2 | Mar-14-2010 | Tsugaike Kogen | 6,070 | 1,850 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 3 | Apr-11-2010 | Sougaku Mtn. (#6) | 2,480 | 756 | Tokyo | |
| 4 | Apr-11-2010 | Iwatakeishi Mtn. (#6) | 2,602 | 793 | Tokyo | |
| 5 | Apr-11-2010 | Takamizu Mtn. (#6) | 2,490 | 759 | Tokyo | |
| 6 | Apr-24-2010 | Sougaku Mtn. (#7) | 2,480 | 756 | Tokyo | |
| 7 | Apr-24-2010 | Iwatakeishi Mtn. (#7) | 2,602 | 793 | Tokyo | |
| 8 | Apr-24-2010 | Takamizu Mtn. (#7) | 2,490 | 759 | Tokyo | |
| 9 | Apr-30-2010 | Mt. Kurotake (#3) | 5,882 | 1,793 | Yamanashi Prefecture | |
| 10 | Apr-30-2010 | Mt. Hafu (#3) | 5,492 | 1,674 | Yamanashi Prefecture | |
| 11 | May-09-2010 | Mt. Takao (#57) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 12 | May-09-2010 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#20) | 2,199 | 670 | Tokyo | |
| 13 | May-15-2010 | Mt. Makiyose | 3,898 | 1,188 | Tokyo | |
| 14 | May-15-2010 | Mt. Sasagatawamine | 3,796 | 1,157 | Tokyo | |
| 15 | May-15-2010 | Mt. Maruyama | 3,603 | 1,098 | Tokyo | |
| 16 | May-15-2010 | Mt. Douhyoudake | 3,298 | 1,005 | Tokyo | |
| 17 | May-22-2010 | Mt. Mitake (#28) | 3,048 | 929 | Tokyo | |
| 18 | May-22-2010 | Okunoin Peak (#2) | 3,281 | 1,000 | Tokyo | |
| 19 | May-22-2010 | Nabe-Wari Mtn. (#2) | 3,556 | 1,084 | Tokyo | |
| 20 | May-22-2010 | Ohtake Mtn. (#4) | 4,155 | 1,267 | Tokyo | |
| 21 | Jun-04-2010 | Mt. Akadake (#2) | 9,511 | 2,899 | Nagano/Yamanashi | |
| 22 | Jun-05-2010 | Mt. Sansha (#2) | 9,268 | 2,825 | Nagano/Yamanashi | |
| 23 | Jun-05-2010 | Mt. Yokodake (#2) | 9,281 | 2,829 | Nagano/Yamanashi | |
| 24 | Jun-05-2010 | Mt. Iodake (#2) | 9,055 | 2,760 | Nagano/Yamanashi | |
| 25 | Jun-25-2010 | Mt. Takao (#58) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 26 | Jun-25-2010 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#21) | 2,199 | 670 | Tokyo | |
| 27 | Jul-10-2010 | Mt. Shibutsu | 7,310 | 2,228 | Gunma Prefecture | |
| 28 | Jul-10-2010 | Mt. Koshibutsu | 7,093 | 2,162 | Gunma Prefecture | |
| 29 | Jul-23-2010 | Mt. Norikuradake | 7,994 | 2,437 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 30 | Jul-23-2010 | Mt. Korenge | 9,075 | 2,766 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 31 | Jul-23-2010 | Mt. Shiroumadake | 9,620 | 2,932 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 32 | Jul-24-2010 | Mt. Shakushidake | 9,226 | 2,812 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 33 | Jul-24-2010 | Mt. Yarigatake | 9,525 | 2,903 | Nagano Prefecture | |
| 34 | Aug-01-2010 | Mt. Mitake (#29) | 3,048 | 929 | Tokyo | |
| 35 | Aug-07-2010 | Mt. Kurodake | 6,509 | 1,984 | Hokkaido | |
| 36 | Aug-08-2010 | Mt. Hokkaidake | 7,051 | 2,149 | Hokkaido | |
| 37 | Aug-08-2010 | Mt. Hakuundake | 7,315 | 2,230 | Hokkaido | |
| 38 | Aug-08-2010 | Mt. Hokkaidake (#2) | 7,051 | 2,149 | Hokkaido | |
| 39 | Aug-09-2010 | Mt. Hokuchindake | 7,362 | 2,244 | Hokkaido | |
| 40 | Aug-09-2010 | Mt. Nakadake | 6,932 | 2,113 | Hokkaido | |
| 41 | Aug-10-2010 | Mt. Asahidake (#2) | 7,516 | 2,291 | Hokkaido | |
| 42 | Aug-10-2010 | Mt. Araidake | 7,162 | 2,183 | Hokkaido | |
| 43 | Aug-10-2010 | Mt. Mamiyadake (#2) | 7,169 | 2,185 | Hokkaido | |
| 44 | Sep-03-2010 | Mt. Nana-tsu-ishi (#8) | 5,765 | 1,757 | Yamanashi/Tokyo | |
| 45 | Sep-03-2010 | Mt. Kumotori (#7) | 6,620 | 2,017.7 | Yamanashi/Saitama/Tokyo | |
| 46 | Oct-16-2010 | Mt. Takao (#59) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 47 | Oct-16-2010 | Mt. Kobotoke-Shiro-yama (#22) | 2,199 | 670 | Tokyo | |
| 48 | Nov-05/2010 | Mt. Mitake (#30) | 3,048 | 929 | Tokyo | |
| 49 | Nov-05-2010 | Hinode Mtn (#12) | 2,959 | 902 | Tokyo | |
| 50 | Nov-19-2010 | Mt. Takao (#60) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 51 | Dec-11-2010 | Mt. Takao (#61) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 52 | Dec-20-2010 | Mt. Takao (#62) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 53 | Dec-23-2010 | Mt. Takao (#63) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
| 54 | Dec-25-2010 | Mt. Takao (#64) | 1,965 | 599 | Tokyo | |
 Mountains Climbed in 2010 Click to see full size image (in new window) |
| End Mountains Climbed, End Page 3, End 2010 |
Here are links to separate web pages - all of them will open in a new window (or new tab). The first link shows some photos of our DVD Collection, an AVI Movie of our Home Theater System and 9 photos of our Sharp Aquos TV. The 2nd link shows our entire DVD collection in DVD Profiler (if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend). The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on the "Title" Column to sort that way if you desire. The 3rd link shows our entire DVD collection in php DVD Profiler, which is much more sophisticated than the plain vanilla DVD Profiler just above it. The 4th link takes you to a set of pages which show you the FRONT cover-art of our entire DVD collection.
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 February 22, 2009 - DVD Collection & Home Theater System   
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 Please check it out by clicking on the above button. (Click on the "Studies of Plants and Wildlife" link in the new window.)  Kazuya's 2010 Christmas Letter |
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