Biwako

An important part of S's grant experience here in Kyoto was meeting regularly for lunch with an American born colleague, Carl, who has been at Kyodai for most of his career. For the final "meeting," we met Carl and his wife, also an academic, in a town on Lake Biwa (near their home) for a fun and interesting day on the shore of Japan's largest lake.

After visiting a small "floating" Zen temple, we enjoyed lunch at a restaurant specializing in local vegetables, fish, and meat. The restaurant was at a larger market selling local foods, and it was very interesting (and delicious) to wander around and sample the goods.

We spent the afternoon touring a regional cultural and natural history museum that was really quite remarkable in its size and exhibits. It was especially interesting to get an overview of the geology of the area in which we've been living, but J's favorite part was the extensive aquarium with various exhibits of mostly local fish.

Much of the fun of the day was to visit with Carl and Akiko. As if often the case with friendships in academia, it turns out that we know many of the same people and places.

I have to thank Carl for these pictures--I had taken the data card out of my camera the day before and neglected to reinstall it for our excursion. Thanks, Carl!