My nephews will giggle when they see this sign in June. I’m taking my nephews (7 and 8), their parents, and my partner, Dwight, to the area where I grew up. I took the photograph last year in the main train station of my home town, Newcastle upon Tyne, England. I expect a few bathroom… Continue reading Bathroom Humor
Month: April 2016
Uncomfortable Scene, Comfortable Food
Train stations in Japan can be busy places, but boarding trains is an orderly process. In mainline and subway stations, symbols on the ground show where to form lines. When a train arrives, each door aligns with the queuing passengers. Train stops are brief, trains run on time. But things can go wrong. I can’t… Continue reading Uncomfortable Scene, Comfortable Food
A Small-Town Bullet Train Station
The last time I went through the town of Itoigawa (population 47,102) I was on an express to Kanazawa. Since then, the Shinkansen (bullet train line) from Tokyo to Nagano was extended to Kanazawa, and the new section opened in 2015. This week I rode the bullet train 97 km from Nagano to Itoigawa, just… Continue reading A Small-Town Bullet Train Station
Temple Plumbing 2016
The Shikoku 88 Pilgrimage connects 88 temples over 750 miles on Japan’s Shikoku Island. It’s a circuit: temples 1 and 88 are 17 miles apart. It’s a journey: I’ve watched pilgrims making quite perfunctory stops at temples. This speaks to me. I walk to walk, not just to visit a sight like a waterfall or… Continue reading Temple Plumbing 2016