Shizuoka prefecture is Japan's epicenter of green tea.
Shinklansen bullet trains - the fastest way to see Japan - especially when you have your own wheels. I took the Shinkansen from Odawara to Kakegawa to stay with the Tom Bickel family.
Handy use for your camera - take a snapshot of train timetables on the internet and protect the shot for ready reference.
Late to bed and early to rise - salary man, student and retiree all doze on the way to and from the job.
On the bus from Kakegawa station to the Bickel's house. About $US5 for a 20 minute trip. Enter at the rear, exit and pay at the front.
Tom's son Roman crossing two cultures - America and Japan.
The Bickel's pet basset hound, Bowser.
Roman and Bowser take five!
The Keens Commuter sandals and Traffic Cone Bag (in city mode) do the right thing on entering a public space.
"Dr Seuss-like" ornamental gourds.
His and her toilet slippers. The signsclearly say, don't forget to wear the slippers!
Scarecrows on the way to the store in Kakegawa.
Bowser plopped himself down on the pink blanket which was spread out for the pink Bike Friday tikit demo
A party of English language students and friends welcome me to Kakegawa
To the right is Kuroda-san, the Bickel's landlord and a keen photographer.
Intense interes in the tikit
Next day, Tom takes me for a tour of Kakegawa on his Bike Friday. Oregon House of Kakegawa is the name of his language school
We pass green tea plantations - the main product of the Shizuoka prefecture that Kakegawa resides in.
The green tea berry is simply discarded.
The Triumph lingere factory hails from Kakegawa. A different, always Caucasian model is featured each year.
Underground passages from the war era, now used to house agricultural tools. They have a tendency to cave in, says Tom.
It takes a local to know the best backroads for biking.
A tunnel reinforced to withstand earthquakes.
Green tea farms abound.
Persimmons grow like crazy. This variety is the one you can eat while still firm. (The other kind will ducttape your mouth if you try to eat it before it's ripe to mushy).
Totoro, a famous character by Manga artist Hayao Miyazaki. Wiki it.
Kakegawa's famous wedding facility Oak Hills Izumoden, with the romantically named restaurant Verona (home of Romeo and Juliet). Caucasian marriage celebrants are most popular.
Japanese style ATM housing.
Mr & Mrs Kuroda's Tokonoma, or alcove in their tea ceremony room. The kakemono (scroll) says "In one tree a beautiful wind blows through the branches."
Mrs Kuroda prepares the kamma (kettle) in the ro (furnace set in the floor).
She whisks the matcha (green tea powder) with the chasen (tea whisk)
She then offers the chawan (tea bowl) to me.
Yummm! It also gives you a bit of a buzz - it's pure green tea powder.
The higashi (dry sweets) offered with the tea.
A close up of that sweet - the moon in action!
Mrs Kuroda has trained for 30 years to become a tea ceremony master teacher.
There are no dress rules for guests.
With the brochure for the Kuroda's website: http://www.urasenke.or.jp/texte/index.html
The remote control that accompanies the toilet.
A last look at the Kuroda's divine tatami house.
Looking back towards to the ceremony area.
Over the other side are supplies, including some very, very expensive bowls.
Arigato, Kuroda-san!
Popped by the council building to say hi to Seigo, a BF owners.
Those fans are stylised versions of the ones found in the field to protect against crows. .
Another look at that ride-paddy-like library.
BF families galore.
Lunch at Ganesha and lotsa carbs!
That's the restaurant.
The Tsunomi Onsen.
Aaaah! Was that a ginsend pool or ...?
View from inside of the Onsen
A lap of honor past the onsen facility.
A shrine in the middle of a field.
Wombat crossing!
The neat and orderly green tea farms of Shizuoka prefecture.
Uh oh. This is a pornography vending shed along the side of the road in Kakegawa.
Inside: vending machines with magazines, underwear, DVD's, you name it.
Yup, underwear.
It says 'real cheap' in red. One of the strange paradoxes in the otherwise considerate and respectful Japanese culture ...
The Triumph lingere factory is in Kakegawa.
Ornate man hole cover. One is displayed in sister city Eugene, Oregon.
Ultra-man appears on this can of pop from a roadside vending machine
An ubiquitous Pachinko parlor looms large.
Now heading for Kyoto!