Nagoya Castle

I was in Nagoya over the weekend. On Sunday, I had time to visit the castle there.

The view of Nagoya Castle from my hotel room.

A close up of the castle. The original building was burned in 1945 by the air raid and this one was built in 1959.

Golden Dolphin (Shachihoko) on top the main building roof.

The stairs I took to climb to the observation deck.

The view of downtown Nagoya from the observation deck.

Architectural structure model was displayed in the castle.

Tohoku Rokkon Festival

Last weekend, I was back in Sendai to see Tohoku Rokkon Festival. This was a two-day event to support the disaster affected areas. "Rokkon" means "Six Spirits" - symbolizing the six major festivals of Tohoku, the region that was hard hit by the March 11 disaster. This was the biggest event that took place in Tohoku area after the earthquake.

The logo of the festival - calligraphed by a very talented 12-year old boy - Takuya Takahashi.

Many more people than expected showed up for this event - caused a traffic jam.

On Sunday, my group had a very good seats - air-conditioned restaurant above the crowd. We felt sorry for the people in the sun-baked roadside.

Dancers leading the parade.

Kantou Festival of Akita City.

Waraji Festival of Fukushima City.

Hanagasa Festival of Yamagata City.

Sansa Odori Festival of Iwate City.

Nebuta Festival of Aomori City.

Sendai Tanabata Festival ornaments displayed by the hotel I stayed. A dixieland jazz band was playing.

It was reported that over 360,000 people gathered for this two-day event. Great success!

Boston Freedom Trail

I was in Boston last weekend. On that Friday, I took a walk on the Freedom Trail.

The memorial for Robert G. Shaw at Boston Common.

Paul Revere House.

Old South Meeting House.

The site of the Boston Massacre.

Beautiful USS Constitution.

Boston Harbour seen from a ferry.