my pretty neighborhood

I leave Japan next week. Of course I will miss the friends, the travels and the students...but I have neglected to post evidence of Japan's natural beauty....the landscapes. Here are some shots I snapped in the last couple of days from around Taneichi & one of the bigger beaches in our area--Shirahama. What a gorgeous place to live! It's a little remote, but perhaps that's precisely what makes it one of Japan's best kept secrets!

The mountains were a nice change of scenery, but Minnesotans need to be near water, and living on the ocean this year offered some breath-taking views like the ones below.