海の日

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The official beginning of the summer season in Japan starts on the weekend of Umi no hi 海の日 , or day of the sea, a recently introduced national holiday on the 3rd Monday in July to celebrate the ocean. The day marks the return of Emperor Meiji from a boat trip to Hokkaido in 1876. That weekend all of a sudden the beaches are clean, you can get food and beach amenities work plus the fact that tons of Japanese descend on the beaches en masse. And they do love to bring their toys…anything to float on.
I prefer the solitude of the beach though, no screaming kids, dogs or crazy Japanese.

We had dinner tonight at the house of Yoshi and his wife opposite the medical faculty. It was a big place by any standard and huge for Japanese standards. They prepared an enormous dinner for the Dutch students. We met Yoshi last year on a street car and he , noticing that we were Dutch and he himself having studied in Delft for a couple of years, took us to our first Japanese restaurant in Nagasaki. He has now just come back with his wife from Holland and decided it would be nice to have us over for dinner. After several beers, sake etc. I decided it was time for the old man to leave.
Did manage to sell my bike to a recently arrived Dutch man, called Eric, who’s here on an internship at Mitsubishi.

On top of that I sold my side table and lamp too.

Here are the backs of the cards that Paul has send over the last 10 months...... It certainly did keep me going.

p.s.
Tomorrow Saul is taking me out for dinner in the “best French restaurant in town” called “Impeccable”. Alex and Christoph will join us. Looking forward to all these nice things this last week.