Fudodo Beach

rocks the house! Yesterday, Trevor and I went for a long bike ride to the beach near Togane. It was such a complete 180 from Tokyo: we rode on old cruisers down a long country road, surrounded by golden fields that were heavy with rice ready to be harvested. We stopped at the conbini to pick up some tuna onigiri and a liter of cold green tea for a picnic on the beach. Subarashii!

By the way, Japanese people are sugoii about slowing down and giving a bicyclist right of way and a wide berth. Maybe it has something to do with driving as a privilege and not as a right? Hmmmm...

Anyhow, the beach was nearly deserted, save for the guys manning the shacks where you can roast monster clams on a barbecue while you sit on the sand and drink a cold beer (Ah, been there, and it is nice, but we didn't do it this time). We did a little shell hunting, took silly pictures, and poked a dead, donut-shaped jellyfish with a stick. Vacation bliss.

On the way home, we saw a different kind of roadkill than we're used to in California -- a flattened, dried up turtle!