Monday/Sunday in Yasugi

Today was a perfect spring day ... in mid-June. The rainy season has already begun south of here but it hasn't yet reached Yasugi, so the temperature has remained cool. Today we decided to take off for the Adachi Museum, which is about five miles away. The art was so-so: the collection included a few "I-could-have-done-that" pieces, and even a few "he-could-have-done-that-too" ones, too. The garden was the best part. I'm not sure how you could ever decide, but some organization has rated it the best garden in Japan for the past four years. It was not the sort of place you'd expect to find in the middle of nowhere. After getting back from the museum, we met Yamamoto-san while walking through the backstreets. He's a fifth-generation sake brewer who just last year had to close down the family business because it was losing money. He invited us in for tea and even showed us the brewery, which was just out in back. He invited us back any time, so I'm sure we'll see him again before we return to Tokyo next month. After lunch, we hiked to the top of Tokamiyama (a.k.a. "Ten God Mountain"), which juts into the nearby "Inland Sea." It's 5:30 p.m. and we're zapped. Lori's taking a nap and I'm listening to some of the 25gb of music Tim hooked us up with yesterday. More on life here later!