Japan

The first city I visited in Japan was Osaka, where I spent a day prior to going to Sapporo.

This is Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. I was going to Japan in order to participate in a workshop at the Slavic Research Center, the main center of Russian/Soviet research in Japan. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Sapporo, as our workshop took up most of our time there.

More Sapporo, taken early in the morning before the second day of our workshop. Other than this brief walk and a great night out my last night there, most of what I saw in Sapporo took place inside university lecture halls, restaurants, and the banquet rooms of local hotels.

In Kyoto, we did have an opportunity to take some excursions. This is a lake and rock garden that I visited, along with other workshop participants, on one of the mornings of our stay in Kyoto.

Me next to the lake.

Back area of rock garden

The rock garden--as you can see, some of the rocks had grown pretty high this year

Again, back area of rock garden

Outside the rock garden

In the gardens outside the rock garden

A lane for strolling in the gardens surrounding the rock garden.

The Golden Pavillion, also in Kyoto

In the gardens behind the Golden Pavillion

The Golden Pavillion from another angle

Me and the Golden Pavillion

While staying in Kyoto, our group participated in workshops at universities in both Kyoto and Osaka. This is an office building in downtown Osaka that we passed on our way to the university.

One of our workshop participants in downtown Osaka

Scene from our Osaka workshop

Another pavillion in Kyoto

The home of 1000 Buddhas--photography not permitted inside

On my last day in Kyoto, I rented bikes with one of our hosts from Sapporo, Nori. In this photo, Nori is checking his Kyoto street map prior to setting off.

Two geishas that I spotted while riding my bike

A temple in Kyoto. The barrels on the left are filled with sake and are used as an offering.

This was a temple that I visited by myself, after Nori had returned to the hotel to fly back to Sapporo.

Again, something that I saw while cycling around on my own.

This was a pretty canal near where our group had dinner the night before.

Another shot from the same area

Houses by the side of the river


The first city I visited in Japan was Osaka, where I spent a day prior to going to Sapporo.	Osaka	More Osaka



This is Sapporo, on the island of Hokkaido. I was going to Japan in order to participate in a workshop at the Slavic Research Center, the main center of Russian/Soviet research in Japan. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of Sapporo, as our workshop took up most of our time there.	More Sapporo, taken early in the morning before the second day of our workshop. Other than this brief walk and a great night out my last night there, most of what I saw in Sapporo took place inside university lecture halls, restaurants, and the banquet rooms of local hotels.	Sapporo



In Kyoto, we did have an opportunity to take some excursions. This is a lake and rock garden that I visited, along with other workshop participants, on one of the mornings of our stay in Kyoto.	Me next to the lake.	Same area



In the gardens outside the rock garden	A lane for strolling in the gardens surrounding the rock garden.	Next to the lake



The same area	Me and the Golden Pavillion	While staying in Kyoto, our group participated in workshops at universities in both Kyoto and Osaka. This is an office building in downtown Osaka that we passed on our way to the university.



One of our workshop participants in downtown Osaka	Kyoto scene	Scene from our Osaka workshop



The home of 1000 Buddhas--photography not permitted inside	Street in Kyoto	Kyoto street scene



On my last day in Kyoto, I rented bikes with one of our hosts from Sapporo, Nori. In this photo, Nori is checking his Kyoto street map prior to setting off.	Kyoto street



The magic crab	My bike	Traffic