Every year, around this time, we drive from Minneapolis to the North Shore of Lake Superior. It was Sunday, so most people were driving in the opposite direction towards work and school. On the drive north, we paused for a few hours to enjoy the trails of Tettegouche State Park. We then drove on to… Continue reading Snapshots: Tettegouche State Park
Year: 2018
Travel Gear: Medications
The first time my partner and I arrived in Japan, we were stopped at Customs. Something prompted a search of our bags. Maybe the official spotted that my partner looked rather miserable with a cold. The official found an American over-the-counter cold medication containing pseudoephedrine. It’s illegal to bring this substance into Japan, but, after… Continue reading Travel Gear: Medications
Snapshots: 1,000 Miles by Train to Tokyo
September 2018. I had spent the previous week exploring the three national parks in eastern Hokkaido. It was now time to figure out how to chunk a journey to Tokyo over the next 10 days. I had flown to eastern Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island. The journey back to Tokyo would be slower. Armed with… Continue reading Snapshots: 1,000 Miles by Train to Tokyo
Mono no aware: the Pathos of Things
Mono no aware, Japanese.Roughly pronounced: moh-noh noh ah-wah-ray. Roughly translated: A wistful awareness of the impermanence or transience of things. [Source] Cherry blossoms exemplify the Japanese mono no aware sensibility. The intense beauty lasts just a few days before disappearing. The short time blossoms are in season is a time for celebration. Kyushu, southern Japan, March 2014.… Continue reading Mono no aware: the Pathos of Things
Should I Press This Button?
In my experience, Japanese hotels are always clean, comfortable, and safe. Usually they are great value. Sometimes they come with a twist. I’ve stayed in a bicycle hotel, an art hotel, but, until this trip, I had never stayed in a hotel modeled on a nursing home. I stayed at this nursing home-themed hotel in… Continue reading Should I Press This Button?
Snapshots: Eastern Hokkaido National Parks
This past week I’ve briefly visited the three most easterly national parks on the island of Hokkaido, Japan: Kushiro-Shitsugen, Akan Mashu, and Shiretoko. Kushiro-Shitsugen National Park Kushiro-Shitsugen is Japan’s largest wetland, famous for its Japanese red-head cranes. A JR (Japan Rail) line runs along the edge of the wetlands, with several stops. I decided to… Continue reading Snapshots: Eastern Hokkaido National Parks
After the Quake
September 20, 2018. The view from my seat on the turboprop from Central Hokkaido’s New Chitose Airport summed up my hesitancy to visit Japan’s northernmost island. Below, I could see hills pockmarked by landslides. In some places roads were blocked. I was witnessing effects of Hokkaido’s massive earthquake exactly two weeks earlier. In the early… Continue reading After the Quake
Disaster Tourism
Hawaii Big Island, April 2009. My partner and I hiked across lava. A map on our GPS guided us along the invisible lines of streets buried beneath us. A school bus, trapped by lava, reminded us this is a disaster site where homes had once stood. Disaster Tourism can be distasteful. I think of people… Continue reading Disaster Tourism
In the Event of an Earthquake…
I’ve just received a message from the the Air Terminal Hotel at Sapporo’s New Chitose Airport, the main airport for Hokkaido, Japan: I had been expecting the message, as there was a similar announcement at the hotel’s Web site. As instructed, I went ahead and cancelled my reservation at the Air Terminal Hotel for next week.… Continue reading In the Event of an Earthquake…
A Man in a Machine
I spotted the machine pictured at the top of this post earlier this week. It looks a little cheaply built for a medical body scanner, but that was my first assumption. I’ve met medical imaging systems of many shapes and sizes in recent times. It’s not in the same league as this beauty I snapped… Continue reading A Man in a Machine