Japan
Checking it out …
On the weekends I often go and visit an interesting place.
… the monkeys in Arashiyama, in Kyoto. The humans are inside, in the cage, so to say, because this way it appears easier to feed them. Near Arashiyama are beautiful mountains, for nice hikes, and gorges to swim in …
… this is Kurama, also near Kyoto. It features a beautifully cultured hike that is also a pilgrim route, with an onsen, i.e. hotspring, at the end.
… it seems the Japanese are making fun of these little guys. I’ve seen it in various places, not only in Kurama … …
… I went to a number of places in Osaka, such as Osaka castle (above), kinda big ancient building that was rebuilt this century though.
… I saw the castle when the plum trees were just flowering which was very beautiful. Another cool place in Osaka is Den-Den town (the place to be for electronics equipment) …
… in Iga-ueno is a “ninja-castle”. The photo doesn’t display the ninja-castle of course, but a building nearby. The castle can’t be photographed, otherwise it would be very “ninjutsu” (freely translated as “stealthy”) …
Quite soon after I arrived I had the opportunity to visit Tokyo neighbourhoods such as Asakusa (temple with lots of tourists and shops full of incredibly artistic souvenirs), Harajuku (should have been there on sunday to see weird people though), Akibara (electric town just like Den-Den town in Osaka, full of amazing electronics) and Roppongi (at night, for bars etc.). As for Roppongi, I thought I was going to find out about the true metropolitan nightlife of Japan. Well, I was somewhat disappointed. Of course it’s Japan so it’s different. Anyways, I had a hard time finding any good bars with live music. All of them closed around midnight (just when I arrived at the scene …). 
… above and below are two pictures of a park in Ibusuki, which is all the way on the southmost end of Kyushu. It is well-known for it’s sand baths, in which you are literally buried. The sand is quite hot and after half an hour you are ultra-relaxed. The onsen (hot spring) culture of relaxation is quite big in Japan. Ibusuki is near Kagoshima, where they have delicious ramen (a kind of noodle soup) and Sakurajima, which is a vulcano that continuously spews out steam. It’s a bit like Naples in Italy … 
… just like in Tokyo, Osaka has its modern architecture. This building is the aquarium near the harbor …