It has been quite a while since I last wrote one of these updates and the reason for that is simply because my life here has basically flipped in its entirety and I’ve been pretty busy trying to get things done. 

Since my last post I spent the next month and a half or so in Nagoya, filling up my time with my host family and friends there, studying on my own a bit, and of course skateboarding.  I took a trip to the industrial city of Osaka, which is a pretty cool place.  If you’ve ever seen the movie Blade Runner, then you can imagine the city scapes at night.  Neon fills the sky and people bustle around, all seemingly on their way somewhere or another but most probably just as awed by the surreality of the streets as I was.  In the middle of the “water district” aka red light area, I discovered a small shrine which I later learned represents the water trade.  It was back down some maze like alleyways and had I not been completely lost I doubt I would have stumbled upon it.  The interesting thing about this shrine was the Buddha statue, which was covered in a thick coat of moss, due to the water that people splash on it.  In the middle of all the neon and blocky buildings, this was a truly striking image.

(more…)