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This is Page 3 of 3 - the best of April 2005 - Vacation!
posted: May 2nd, 2005
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Photos included on this page are those taken from April 10th to the 24th, a bit past the end of vacation. All but the final 3 photos are vacation shots though. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

  Photo 1 is me - same time & place as the final photo on the previous page. In this row and also in the next row are several "Yu" photos - "Yu" = bath. In Kusatsu there are 18 free public baths, all fed by natural hot water! On the 3rd day our mission was to visit as many of these free baths as we could fit into our schedule. Our bus back home did not leave until 5:00 PM, so we had all day to do so. The weather forecast was for rain, so we did not want to try any mountain hiking this final day, plus, we were still kind of tired from yesterday's hike. Note the interiors of the baths in shots 2 and 3. We squeezed in visits to 6 of the 18 free hot baths and all but one of them was constructed of wood and very tall for easy escape of the steam. One of them was made of concrete and it was all steamy inside, we saw the benefit of wood construction.
Kusatsu_DanSainoKawaraPark02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_DanSainoKawaraPark
02RC
Kusatsu_ChiyoNoYuInside01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_ChiyoNoYuInside
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Kusatsu_ChiyoNoYuInside02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_ChiyoNoYuInside
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  The first shot here was the newest appearing free bath we visited. The 2nd shot, a Japanese skunk cabbage was along the road between 2 of the hot baths. The 3rd shot was a very nice one, even though it looks old and decrepit, it was not! Oh, by the time we were on our way to the 6th bath, it was beginning to rain too. The weather forecast was correct.
Kusatsu_OkinaNoYuOutside01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_OkinaNoYuOutside
01RC
Kusatsu_SkunkCabbage02RC.jpg
Kusatsu_SkunkCabbage
02RC
Kusatsu_NikawaNoYuOutside01RC.jpg
Kusatsu_NikawaNoYuOutside
01RC

  Rows 3, 4 and 5 were all taken on April 16th at Nogawa Park. That is a great park for flowers which is near our house. They have a fenced in area with board walks which is not open to dogs, picnickers, frisbee throwers, baseball players and etc. It is strictly for flower and bird people. Note the WHITE Dandelion!!! There appears to be only one plant in the area. The rest of them were the typical dark yellow. Note that it has it's own species name, albidum - Latin for white!
April2005_NogawaTaraxacum_albidum03RC.jpg
April2005_NogawaTaraxacum_
albidum03RC
April2005_NogawaSakurasou01RC.jpg
April2005_Nogawa
Sakurasou01RC
April2005_NogawaRenge03RC.jpg
April2005_NogawaRenge
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  The most amazing thing in this row is the VIOLET VIOLET! Ha, I mean, that the color is REALLY Violet!
April2005_NogawaLamium_album02RC.jpg
April2005_NogawaLamium_
album02RC
April2005_Nogawa_Ajuga01RC.jpg
April2005_Nogawa_Ajuga
01RC
April2005_Nogawa_VioletViolet03RC.jpg
April2005_Nogawa_Violet
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  Another Violet, Cherry Blossoms along the Nogawa (gawa = river) and a green tinted cherry tree. Yes, the flowers were truly green tinted, it is not merely a reflection off the surrounding greenery.
April2005_Nogawa_PurpleWhiteViolet03RC.jpg
April2005_Nogawa_PurpleWhite
Violet03RC
April2005_Nogawa02RC.jpg
April2005_Nogawa
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April2005_NogawaGreenCherry03RC.jpg
April2005_NogawaGreen
Cherry03RC

  This row brings us to April 17th - another trip to the Mt. Takao area, this time - in search of the elusive Takao Violet (Viola yezoensis). Last year we only found one of them. We did much better this year! The first shot is one of them - note the purple leaves and the purple veins in the flowers. The next 2 shots are 2 species of Corydalis.
Apr17HikageTakaoViolet01RC.jpg
Apr17HikageTakao
Violet01RC
Apr17HikageCorydalis_decumbens02RC.jpg
Apr17HikageCorydalis_
decumbens02RC
Apr17HikageCorydalis_sp04RC.jpg
Apr17HikageCorydalis
_sp04RC

  Two more shots of the Takao Violet. These little 480 x 640 pixel pictures do not do it justice. This first shot is incredible when printed as an 8 x 10 photo. If you would like to see the full size print of this photo CLICK HERE for the 806 KB JPG file (1,516 pixels width x 2,000 pixels height) (which will open in a new window) or if you'd like to save the JPG file, then right click and click the appropriate menu option for your browser. The 3rd shot is another nice little Omphalodes japonica.
Apr17HikageTakaoVioletBEST11RC.jpg
Apr17HikageTakaoViolet
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Apr17HikageTakaoVioletBEST13RC.jpg
Apr17HikageTakaoViolet
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Apr17HikageOmphaloides_japonica01cropRC.jpg
Apr17HikageOmphaloides_
japonica01cropRC

  All 3 shots here are Asarum caulescens, a weird plant - the flowers are virtually underground and you have to move some leaf litter and stuff to find the flowers. The first shot is an increbibly well lit shot by Kazuya.
04_17_05HikageAsarum_caulescens05RC.jpg
04_17_05HikageAsarum_
caulescens05RC
Apr17HikageAsarum_caulescens06RC.jpg
Apr17HikageAsarum_
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Apr17HikageAsarum_caulescens07RC.jpg
Apr17HikageAsarum_
caulescens07RC

  Mitella pauciflora - the entire plant, and a close up of the weird flowers of this small guy. The 3rd shot is an Oka Violet, which must be rare, because this one group of research people was freaking out over it. There were several of them at the higher elevations of Castle Mountain.
Apr17HikageMitella_pauciflora06RC.jpg
Apr17HikageMitella_pauciflora
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Apr17HikageMitella_pauciflora07RC.jpg
Apr17HikageMitella_pauciflora
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Apr17HikageOkaViolet02RC.jpg
Apr17HikageOkaViolet
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  The first 2 shots are a species of Oxalis, both taken by Kazuya. Great lighting, he's really good at lining himself up so that his lighting is wonderful! And, check out all of that green in the 2nd shot. That ends what can be considered vacation pictures. The final shot in this row is a pink dogwood flower at Koganei Park, taken just a few days ago (April 24th).
04_17_05HikageOxalis02RC.jpg
04_17_05HikageOxalis02RC
04_17_05HikageOxalis04RC.jpg
04_17_05HikageOxalis04RC
Apr24KoganeiPkPinkDogwood01RC.jpg
Apr24KoganeiPkPinkDogwood01RC

  A white dogwood flower, a repeat of the Takao Violet in the center position of Row #7 (an afterthought actually) and a new picture of my DVD shelf!!! Yes, it's actually a current photo. You may ask why I don't update this photo more often. The reason is that I take a separate photo of EACH SHELF using the tripod. I have to use the tape measure to make sure that the camera is the same distance from the shelf for each shot, and then bring each photo into PhotoShop, crop, adjust and so on, and eventually paste all of them together. It took me 6 hours to create this photo. Here is a link to my entire DVD collection if you're asking yourself what might be good to rent for the weekend! Click Here. The DVD's will be sorted by date purchased. You can click on title to sort that way if you desire. This link will open a new browser window.
Apr24KoganeiPkWhiteDogwood04RC.jpg
Apr24KoganeiPkWhiteDogwood04RC
Apr17HikageTakaoVioletBEST13bR.jpg
Apr17HikageTakaoVioletBEST13bR
DVDShelfApril15_2005Small.jpg
DVDShelfApril15_2005Small

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