Day 17 June 11th

Today we did some exploring so I've got lots of pictures. We started out by going to Port Island so I could see where Craig is working. It is a human made island that's about 30 years old. Other than the RIKEN building and Craig's desk there wasn't much to see. One public sculpture/fountain and an Ikea, the third in Japan. Is what we came upon while walking around. There is a “Mimami Koen” South Park :) and a Central Park but the mosquitoes were out in force so taking a pleasant stroll wasn't an option. The Port Liner train had some nice views. Apparently it is quite the faux pas to stand in the wrong place on the platform.

We saw this sign, which we suspect is a Japanese Haiku.

After that we decided to take the train to Suma Temple. The temple was built in 886 A.D. and is the main temple for a specific sect of Buddhism. The location is mentioned both in The Tale of Genji, which was written during the 11^th century and is the first novel ever written and The Tale of the Heike, an epic poem describing events from the 12^th century. There were people clearly worshipping and leaving offerings so we were trying to be respectful with the picture taking. I didn't take any of anything people were praying in front of or chanting in. The grounds were gorgeous. Full grown trees were trimmed like bonsai, the buildings were ornately decorated, there was a museum section with little figurines made of rocks acting out famous historical meetings in the area and some statues were on motion detectors and would move if you passed your hand over them. Craig posed with a group of monkey statues that acted out see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and a couple more we hadn't heard of.

The Suma temple is a short walk from Suma Beach. In the summer time temporary structures are build and it turns into a boardwalk area. You can take a train right to the edge of the sand. These are pictures we took on a little pier people were fishing off of. I know my audience so all these pictures of Craig and I are for you, mom.