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This is Page 2 of 3 - the best of April 2005 - Vacation!
posted: May 2nd, 2005
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Photos included on this page include only those taken between April 7th at 3:07 PM and April 10th at 3:00 PM, mostly a trip to Kusatsu for vacation. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

  This row continues with Phase 2 of Vacation, with 3 more shots of Violets. We THINK that we identified all of them, but if you think there is a mistake in the name, you could be right.
April7Ogesawa_Viola_keiskei03RC.jpg
April7Ogesawa_Viola_keiskei
03RC
April_OgesawaViola_bissetii01RC.jpg
April_OgesawaViola_
bissetii01RC
April7Ogesawa_Viola_eizanensis07RC.jpg
April7Ogesawa_Viola_
eizanensis07RC

  This row begins with a shot of Chloranthus japonicus showing how it always grows. The 2nd shot is an Omphalodes japonica and the 3rd shot is the next day - a beautiful street of Cherry Trees at the ICU (International Christian University) campus, only a 10 minute walk from our house.
April7Ogesawa_Chloranthus_japonicus02RC.jpg
April7Ogesawa_Chloranthus_
japonicus02RC
April7Ogesawa_Omphaloides_japonica09RC.jpg
April7Ogesawa_Omphaloides_
japonica09RC
Apr8_ICU_CherryTree02RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_CherryTree
02RC

  The first two shots are beautiful close-up shots of Cherry flowers, both taken by Kazuya. Aren't these shots amazing?! The 3rd shot is some other flower - maybe a Peach tree?!
April_ICU_CherryTree03RC.jpg
April_ICU_CherryTree03RC
April_ICU_CherryTree02RC.jpg
April_ICU_CherryTree02RC
Apr8_ICU_PeachTreeMaybe05RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_PeachTreeMaybe05RC

  The first shot is another Violet, at ICU, then a Trigonotis peduncularis - such a tiny little flower, less than 1/4 inch across. The 3rd shot is a Glechoma hederacea.
Apr8_ICU_Violet01RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_Violet01
RC
Apr8_ICU_Trigonotis_peduncularis02RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_Trigonotis_
peduncularis02RC
Apr8_ICU_Glechoma_hederacea02RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_Glechoma_
hederacea02RC

  This row includes 2 beautiful Gentiana zollingeri flowers and an Ajuga nipponensis.
Apr_ICU_Gentiana_zollingeri02RC.jpg
Apr_ICU_Gentiana_
zollingeri02RC
Apr8_ICU_Gentiana_zollingeri02RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_Gentiana_
zollingeri02RC
Apr8_ICU_Ajuga_nipponensis02RC.jpg
Apr8_ICU_Ajuga_nipponensis
02RC

  This row begins Phase 3 of vacation - a 3 day and 2 night trip to Gunma Prefecture. We traveled to the Kusatsu Area, a very famous geothermal area. The first shot is called Yubatake. It is a hot "spring" which puts out something like 14,000 liters per minute of extremely hot water. I don't remember how hot - very hot! They run it through these wooden things which collect some of the sulfur and then they periodically remove the sulfur from the wooden slats and dry it for selling in packages so that you can take home a bag of sulfur and make your bathtub into a "hot spring". The 2nd shot is a footbath right beside Yubatake, kind of a funny shot with all of the old people sipping on their drinks. The 3rd shot is one more of Yubatake.
Kusatsu_Yubatake03RC.jpg
Kusatsu_Yubatake03RC
Kusatsu_YubatakeFootBathRC.jpg
Kusatsu_YubatakeFootBathRC
Kusatsu_Yubatake04RC.jpg
Kusatsu_Yubatake04RC

  The first shot is of course - Kazuya - at the base of Yubatake. The 2nd shot is right at sunset time of day - a HUGE outdoor hot pool in Sainokawara Park. You can't quite tell from the photo, but all of these people are stark naked. The Hot Pool is behind a fence so that you can't see in (easily) from the outside. Oh, I did take this shot from inside the fence, NOT outside. You CAN see snow on the hillside in the back. The 3rd shot is the base of Yubatake at night. Interesting lighting.
Kusatsu_Yubatake_Kazuya08RC.jpg
Kusatsu_Yubatake_Kazuya08RC
Kusatsu_SainoKawaraParkBigBath02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_SainoKawaraParkBigBath02RC
Kusatsu_YubatakeNight10RC.jpg
Kusatsu_YubatakeNight10RC

  The first shot is the same photo as in the previous row, but with that Sheet Metal effect. The 2nd shot is me along the road which we followed to Mt. Shirane on Day 2 of our stay in that area. And the 3rd shot is a shot from along the road to Mt. Shirane. There were buses, but we had to wait an hour for the bus, so we decided to hike, it took about 1.5 hours to hike up the road to the bottom of the mountain.
Kusatsu_YubatakeNight10SheetMetalRC.jpg
Kusatsu_YubatakeNight10
SheetMetalRC
Kusatsu_DanRoadToMtShirane01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_DanRoadToMt
Shirane01RC
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadToMtShirane01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadToMt
Shirane01RC

  In this row, the first shot is a scene from along the road which we walked up, the 2nd shot shows a person skiing down a slope. The 3rd shot is taken from the Gondola car which we rode to the next level of Mt. Shirane.
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadToMtShirane06RC.jpg
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadTo
MtShirane06RC
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadToMtShirane13RC.jpg
Kusatsu_WalkingRoadTo
MtShirane13RC
Kusatsu_GondolaToMtShirane03RC.jpg
Kusatsu_GondolaTo
MtShirane03RC

  In Row 10 you see one more shot from the Gondola car we rode in, and the next 2 shots show the scenery from the top of the mountain. After the Gondola, then we had to ride a ski lift to the summit of the mountain. The big building in shots 2 and 3 is the top station of the Gondola.
Kusatsu_GondolaToMtShirane02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_GondolaToMt
Shirane02RC
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_FromMt
Shirane01RC
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane01_2RC.jpg
Kusatsu_FromMt
Shirane01_2RC

  Two more scenic shots from the top of Mt. Shirane and a shot of Kazuya in the bright snow. The snow was still meters deep, we could not hike anywhere after we got to the top of the mountain. In addition, it was still ski season, lots of people skiing around us. There were a few people like ourselves, just on foot.
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane05RC.jpg
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane05
RC
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane04RC.jpg
Kusatsu_FromMtShirane04
RC
Kusatsu__KazuyaAtMtShirane09RC.jpg
Kusatsu__KazuyaAtMt
Shirane09RC

  The first shot here shows both the top of the Gondola and the bottom of the ski lift; well, there are actually 2 ski lifts showing in the photo, but obviously the one we rode is the one which shows in the lower left quadrant of the photo. In the 2nd photo, the mountain WAY in the distance is Mt. Asama and that is SMOKE billowing out of it. It's an active volcano. It does not show well, but it's right in the center of the photo. The 3rd shot is in the evening after we got back to town, back in Sainokawara Park and after a refreshing soak in the outdoor hot spring.
Kusatsu__FromMtShirane_Gondola_Lift10RC.jpg
Kusatsu__FromMtShirane_Gondola_
Lift10RC
Kusatsu_MtAsamaFromMtShirane14RC.jpg
Kusatsu_MtAsamaFromMt
Shirane14RC
Kusatsu_KazuyaSainoKawaraPark02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_KazuyaSainoKawara
Park02RC

Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 3 for the continuation of April 10th at Kusatsu. The next page goes through the end of the month. Go To Page:


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