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Here is my sister Monique in the Catholic high school where she works. After spending 40 years in Japan as a missionary nun, she naturally has become more Japanese than Canadian!
And here, Monique and I are enjoying a home cooked Japanese meal with her friends the Nakamura family.
Jun Nakamura showed me what Japanese hospitality can be by taking Monique and I for a tour of the region. This is Inawashiro Lake, between Koriyama and Wakamatsu.
Aizu-Wakamatsu is a small town in the mountains. Here is a view of it from nearby Tsurugajo Castle.
And here is Tsurugajo Castle, a relic from feudal times. Originally built by the Ashina clan in 1384, it was destroyed during the Boshin civil war in 1874 but it was carefully restored as a historical museum in 1965.
Nikko is one of the most important cultural heirlooms of Japan. Here is the Sacred Red bridge of Nikko built in 1636 to give access to the the mausoleum of the first Tokugawa Shogun, the Toshogu Shrine.
Pilgrims in the rain on their way to the Togoshu Shrine.
Left detail of the Shrine - right, five storied Pagoda.
The countryside in the north has to be seen for it is completely different from the big cities. This is an ancient ryokan where old traditions are carefully preserved.
Here is a typical farmer's house. Farmers wield a lot of political power in Japan.
Here is my friend Jun in front of the house of a wealthy farmer.
It was interesting for me to see how this new house was being built to resist earthquakes.
We stopped by this traditional castle to see the chrysanthemum festival.
I will close with these pictures of a few of the thousands of flowers exhibited at the chrysanthemum festival.
The people on the porch are not people, they are mannequins made with hundreds of chrysanthemums.
After this tour in rural Japan, it was time for me to say goodbye and face the long flight back to Montreal.
