Since my last post I’ve broken out of the Covid blues and spent the winter at a small Greek coastal village. While there I put the finishing touches to my next novel tentatively titled Towers of the Hungry Ghosts, a mystery set in Romania. That’s my true story for the long delay in sending out these Japan photos of 35 years ago. I went to Japan at first to work as an English teacher for the YMCA in Himeji, a large city between Kobe and Hiroshima. That was at the very beginning of the stampede of like-minded youth when Japan’s economy was humming. I partied and made a lot of money there, went travelling, and returned a few years later to work in Tokyo at the Japan Times and Kyodo Newswire as an editor. What Japan lacks in isolation as per my other destinations posted here, it makes up for in rich history and esoteric, outlandish customs. I stayed in Japan a total of five years but it was next to impossible to integrate even after a fair fluency in Japanese. It is largely monoethnic and proud of it. The country, which adapts their own version of Western culture, is an enigma. I found it wildly fascinating and although I had a Japanese boyfriend at one point, ultimately it was not a place for independent-minded women. Perhaps women have more freedom now. These photos are the Japan tourists don’t see. Sorry, not a single shot of Mt. Fuji although I did hike it. The link at the top or below will take you to the Japan photos. Click on the menu for other adventures posted. Enjoy.
#photosoftheday #Japan #Adventuretravel #RetroJapan #Japanese #Himejicastle