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This is Page 1 of 3 - the best of October 2007!
posted: October 31st, 2007
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This page actually begins with September 29th, pictures which came too late for last month's pages! Then, it goes through October 6th. It covers Fireworks at Chofu City and a trip to Hakone and Sengoku Kogen. Click on any thumbnail to begin.

Begin September 29th
  On September 29th Chofu - a town quite near where we live - had their Annual Festival and fireworks. Here are 3 fireworks pictures in this row. I also have several fireworks movies, but they are so huge that nobody would ever download them.
Sep29_ChofuFireworks12RC.jpg
Sep29_ChofuFireworks12RC
29Sep_ChofuFireworks09RC.jpg
29Sep_ChofuFireworks09RC
Sep29_ChofuFireworks16RC.jpg
Sep29_ChofuFireworks16RC

  And here are 3 more fireworks pictures taken at the Chofu Festival.
Sep29_ChofuFireworks34RC.jpg
Sep29_ChofuFireworks34RC
Sep29_ChofuFireworks43_BESTRC.jpg
Sep29_ChofuFireworks43_BESTRC
Sep29_ChofuFireworks50_BESTRC.jpg
Sep29_ChofuFireworks50_BESTRC
End September 29th, Begin October 4th
  Here are a couple of miscellaneous photos - one taken by Kazuya, a waterwheel near Jindaiji Shrine (note the wheel in motion) and a sunset photo taken from our office window at Haneda Airport.
04Oct_JindaijiArea_WaterwheelRC.jpg
04Oct_JindaijiArea_
WaterwheelRC
Oct04_HanedaSunset02RC.jpg
Oct04_Haneda
Sunset02RC
End October 4th, Begin October 6th
  On October 6th and 7th Kazuya and I went to the Hakone Area - a rare weekend when we BOTH had Saturday and Sunday off, so we took advantage of it. First we took a train from Tokyo to Hakone-Yumoto (108 meters). That was a normal high speed railway. At Hakone-Yumoto we transferred to a slow train - the line had 4 switch-backs in it as it rose from 108 meters to 553 meters at Gora Station. The 3rd shot is Gora Station under a beautiful blue sky.
06Oct_HakoneYumotoStation02_DanRC.jpg
06Oct_HakoneYumoto
Station02_DanRC
Oct06_GoraStation01RC.jpg
Oct06_Gora
Station01RC
Oct06_GoraStation03RC.jpg
Oct06_Gora
Station03RC

  In Gora there isn't much, a few small restaurants and this nice hand bath - the hot water comes from way high on the mountains above town. Then we boarded a Cable-Car and continued on to Sounzan (761 meters). We walked around Sounzan for an hour or so and Kazuya found these small apples or whatever they are and constructed this scene.
Oct06_GoraStation09_Kazuya_HandBathRC.jpg
Oct06_GoraStation09_
Kazuya_HandBathRC
06Oct_Sounzan01RC.jpg
06Oct_
Sounzan01RC
Oct06_SounzanStation14_FallSceneRC.jpg
Oct06_SounzanStation14
_FallSceneRC

  Here is one more shot in Sounzan environs - a bell at a local shrine. From Sounzan we took the Ropeway and went up to Owakudani, passing through (actually over) some forested area and some volcanic area. This area exploded up out of the ground several years ago and now it is a research area - that explains all of the pipes, stairways and so on.
06Oct_Sounzan20_ShrineBellRC.jpg
06Oct_Sounzan20_
ShrineBellRC
Oct06_SounzanStation32_CableCarRC.jpg
Oct06_SounzanStation32_
CableCarRC
Oct06_SounzanStation35_CableCarRC.jpg
Oct06_SounzanStation35_
CableCarRC

  Here is a shot of a bunch of steam vents (from the ropeway), Owakudani Station and a shot taken outside of Owakudani Station looking at the steam vents.
Oct06_SounzanStation38_CableCarRC.jpg
Oct06_SounzanStation38
_CableCarRC
06Oct_OwakudaniSummit01RC.jpg
06Oct_Owakudani
Summit01RC
06Oct_OwakudaniSummit05_SceneryRC.jpg
06Oct_OwakudaniSummit05
_SceneryRC

  This is a major tourist destination - lots of foreigners here, speaking many languages of the world! The first shot is the area where they cook eggs using the natural steam to do the cooking. The eggs come out black (center photo) due to the sulfur content in the steamy water. The 3rd shot shows a worker pulling the cooked eggs out of the steam water.
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery06_BlackEggPlaceRC.jpg
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery06_
BlackEggPlaceRC
06Oct_OwakudaniSummit14_BlackEggsRC.jpg
06Oct_OwakudaniSummit14_
BlackEggsRC
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery09_BlackEggPlaceRC.jpg
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery09_
BlackEggPlaceRC

  The first shot here is a closer look at the just cooked eggs. The 2nd shot is right beside the trail - a mountain ash of some kind. The 3rd shot is an entirely different area - Sengoku Kogen.
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery11_BlackEggPlaceRC.jpg
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery11
_BlackEggPlaceRC
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery19_BlackEggPlaceRC.jpg
Oct06_OwakudaniScenery19
_BlackEggPlaceRC
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis04_BESTRC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis04_BESTRC

  We took the Ropeway down the other side of the mountain - from Owakudani to Togendai and then took a bus from there to Sengoku Kogen where the "susuki" grass (Pampas grass) (Miscanthus sinensis) was at its peak. These 3 shots attempt to show how incredible this area looked. It too is a major tourist draw for this area at this time of the year. It's about all that this little town has going for it to attract people!
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis13RC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis13RC
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis17RC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis17RC
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis21_BESTRC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis21_BESTRC

  Here are 3 more shots which attempt to show how incredible this area looked.
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_Miscanthus_sinensis33RC.jpg
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_
Miscanthus_sinensis33RC
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_Miscanthus_sinensis37_BESTRC.jpg
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_
Miscanthus_sinensis37_BESTRC
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis43RC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass
_Miscanthus_sinensis43RC

  Here are 3 final shots which attempt to show how incredible this area looked.
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis47_BESTRC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis47_BESTRC
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_Miscanthus_sinensis54RC.jpg
06Oct_SengokuKogen_Susuki_
Miscanthus_sinensis54RC
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_Miscanthus_sinensis60RC.jpg
Oct06_SengokuKogen_SusukiGrass_
Miscanthus_sinensis60RC
End Page 1, but October 6th continues on Page 2
And, that shows you what we saw from September 29th through mid-afternoon of October 6th. Thanks so much for taking the time to look. Please continue on to Page 2 for the conclusion of October 6th. Go To Page:


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