Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Chigasaki, Japan (11/29-30/2011)

Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Kent had business in Japan and Tamiko accompanied him on this trip.
We arrived at Tokyo's Narita Airport.
No smoking allowed outdoors, so smokers have smoking "rooms:"
Took a bus that dropped us off at a hotel in the Roppongi area:
Oh, yeah, they drive on the left side of the road here!
Kent's colleague met us and we went to the BASF offices. After a meeting, the colleague accompanied us to the city of Chigasaki, by Metro then Japan Rail (JR). We had dinner, then checked into the hotel:
An odd-shaped room, but we had an air humidifier and yakatas/cotton robes.
Also a pants press:

Wednesday, November 30, 2011
View from the hotel room:
The Sunlife Garden Hotel complex includes a chapel used for weddings and other events. The church was moved here from Scotland, and has been used in TV dramas.
Hotel courtyard:
Hotel entrance:
Kent had meetings/training presentations and a business dinner in Chigasaki that day.
Tamiko took a walk heading towards the beach.
A Harley Davidson dealership:
An interesting cable suspension bridge on the Shin-Shonan Bypass Highway:
A cemetery:
My understanding is that with Japanese cemeteries, each family has a plot with a small monument. When someone dies, they are cremated, as there is not enough land in Japan for burials. The ashes may be buried under the monument. However, a wooden marker is made with the person's date and place of birth, date and place of death, and his name with honorifics added. You can see the ski-sized wooden markers standing in the family plots. The markers eventually decay and leave room for following generations of markers.
Reached the beach:
There are surfers in the center wave.
I knew I was going in the right direction when I was passed by wetsuit-clad surfers on bicycles with a board in brackets hanging on the bike:
Chigasaki is a seaside resort community and the birthplace of Japanese surfing.
Not as good as Kristen's surfing photos!
The Southern "C" sculpture:
A section of the shore is called Southern Beach, inspired by the pop music group, the Southern All Stars whose lead vocalist Keisuke Kuwata hails from Chigasaki.
A symbol of Southern Beach is Eboshi-iwa, a large hat-shaped rock:
A torii:
The Goddess store claims to be the first surfboard shop in Japan:
The shape of Eboshi-iwa is seen everywhere:
The Sebastian Inlet Surf Shop:
Aloe arborescens:
On the walk back to the hotel, passed a beach rental?
Cherry blossoms out of season?
Trimmed hedges and futons airing on the balcony:
Stopped for lunch at the 24-hour McDonalds:
Peeked through gates at landscaped driveways:
Camellia hedge:
Sidewalk shrine:
Private home:
Took the free shuttle from the hotel to the JR station and made my way back to Roppongi in Tokyo.
Continued in the next blog (Tokyo).

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