We celebrated Ritsukos birthday last week. And as usual for our birthdays, we went for dinner somewhere we would not normally go. This year ...

The three day conference in Kobe is over. It was just on the heels of the Paris conference, so I've really had no time to sort out the m...

Venus Bridge Walk up from Sannomiya station in Kobe towards the Rokko mountainside to the northwest. On the way you'll find Ikuta shrine...

We went to Kobe a few weeks ago (as usual, I know - but it's a nice place). The weather was absolutely perfect; a cool, completely clear...

Panoramic view from Rokko mountain. Click on the image for a somewhat larger version. You can also view the really large size , though that ...

I turned forty today. My beard is visibly graying. My next pair of glasses will be bifocals. The top of my head has better use for sunscreen...

Nankinmachi is the Chinatown in Kobe. Long ago the area housed Chinese merchants come to Japan to trade, just like the European merchants cl...

If you go east along the coast from Kobe you'll find Suma, the easternmost ward of Kobe city. It's a sleepy place that seems to most...

Summer is finally over. Temperatures drop, the air dries a bit and we finally get the high, clear autumn days that mark the best time of the...

Autumn is in full bloom as it were, with cool, clear days, trees turning golden and people starting to stress out over the coming New Years ...