Zombie of Wood

So we found this guy in someone's yard today. I think he looks like a wooden zombie, and Jonathan thinks it's a scarecrow. Creepy.

Myoshinji Temple

We took a nice walk today, just meandering around some streets near our neighborhood. We found a Buddhist temple we'd never been to before named Myoshinji. The area is quite nice, and is near a bamboo forest.

Spring Lovelies

Lemon Chips

Found another yummy treasure at 7-11! These are kettle cooked potato chips that are lemon butter flavored. They are so delicious! The butter flavor is prominent, but the lemon is very subtle - almost an after taste. The bag is really pretty too!

KitKats

I've been finding a lot of new KitKats recently, and just tonight I found these ikinari dango flavored ones. Ikinari dango are dumplings that are filled with red bean paste and sweet potato. They are a treat from the Kumamoto region of Japan, which was recently hit by a very bad earthquake. The proceeds from this certain flavor of KitKat are going to help rebuild Kumamoto.

Little Birds

I love the cuteness that is all around Japan. On metal rails (usually ones that are blocking traffic from entering pedestrian walkways) you often see these adorable metal birds. Sometimes people crochet outfits for them! So awesome!

Taking a Hike

We went hiking today, exploring long trails through the hills, and enjoyed the lovely weather and sakura. Found a few shrines, and tackled some really steep hills! I always love imagining people 1000 years ago climbing the same steep hills to build these old shrines, then annually, or maybe even weekly, making the same trek up the rocks to ensure the harvests are good and evil spirits stay far from their family.