This is a great one, the sign on the bathroom at the Fuji
Safari Park said Family Toilet. The concept is supposed to
be a nice sized room where mommy or daddy can change baby, etc. But if
you had no idea, doesn’t it appear on the left that the room is
supposed to be for pregnant mothers and their husbands with bad knees?

Here’s a nice image of a modern Japanese house, at least one in the
countryside. Plexiglass covered carport, and I didn’t notice it when we
passed by but I think that you can spot a solar water heater on the
awning. You see a lot more of that in Japan than in the US.

A new house will be built around the corner from Grandma’s house. I
love the shadow of the clouds on Fujisan in this image.

Sunset on a spring evening…

Yours truly leaves another putt short of the hole. This was such a
beautiful day, clear sky and vivid colors everywhere. One of those days
you’re just like Wow, I am so glad to be alive! Even if I three
putt every hole!

Yes, in Japan you can already reserve and pay for tickets on the Shinkansen
“bullet train” via your keitai denwa (mobile phone). In
America, we will have that sometime in the future. You know,
when we drive to work in our flying
cars.

On the way home we were able to see a clear view of Denali out the window of the 777.

This shot really highlights how advanced this country is. We’re not in
the metropolis of Tokyo, but in the suburbs of Shizuoka Prefecture. In
fact, some Japanese would refer to this as a “country” area. But around
the corner from here, the Circle K convenience store can sell you blank
DVDs, ADSL splitters, line noise filters, USB mobile phone connector kits…

A trip to the convenience store in Japan yields exciting finds. Like Homo
Sausage. I was thinking about what kind of funny comment I would
write about this, but I don’t think it is necessary to say anything
else.

A shot of Fuji from the Izu peninsula.

This restaurant needs to reach you in fresh food to your comforable
life and smling. And they will stop at nothing until they do.

… and the people are in cages. That was the slogan of Jungle Habitat, a shortlived safari theme park created by Warner Brothers in the early 70s. Today we visited Fuji Safari Park and did see lions, tigers, and bears. And cheetahs, giraffes, and elephants.

We rode the Lion Bus.

The indash LCD of the Honda Odyssey lets us know many things as we are travelling the Tomei expressway. Here it is telling us what town and prefecture we are in, how many kilometers to the next rest area, when we can expect to arrive there, and that we can expect ¥850 in tolls when we get off the highway.

I’m sure by now you’ve seen the conveyor belt sushi shops which are known as kaiten zushi. I had never actually been in one before,  but there’s now a new twist, one which shouldn’t be entirely unexpected if you know anything about Japan…

For those folks sitting at tables out of reach of the conveyor belt area, touch screens allow you to view the menu and place your order without the hassle of actually having to speak to your waiter or waitress.

Yakiniku is one of my favorite meals in Japan. Thin slices of beef grilled over a flame, dipped in sauce, washed down with a cold one… Heavenly.