Birthplace

Birthplace
　

　




Kato, I haven't seen you for a while. 　What happened to you?



I'm in Japan.

No kidding!

Diane, do you remeber that I was in Japan last October?

Yes, I do... So, Kato, are you saying that you're like a migrating bird? 　Every October you fly back to Japan?

Yes, I do... I migrate into Japan every October from Vancouver.

Why is that?

My migrating instinct.

You must be kidding.

Actually, I visit my mother who is in hospital.

Are you saying that she is terminally ill?

Oh no, not that critical. 　But she's been sick on and off for last decade.

I see... so, Kato, you visit Japan to make an enjoyable and memorable reunion with your mother, don't you?

You're telling me, Diane.

How do you like Japan at the moment?

I like it here in Japan very much. 　Here, the city of Gyoda is my birthplace.











Wow! ... seems like an interesting place.



You bet on that, Diane. 　My hometown is a very interesting place to live in.

Gyōda (行田市)



Gyōda is a city in Saitama Prefecture, Japan.
As of April 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 87,089, with 33,570 households and a population density of 1,292.70 persons per km².
The total area is 67.37 km².
The city was founded on May 3, 1949.
On January 1, 2006 the village of Minamikawara, from Kitasaitama District, was merged into Gyōda.

Transport

Gyōda Station (JR East Takasaki Line)
Gyōdashi Station (Chichibu Railway)

Sakitama Kofun Park



Sakitama Kofun Park is a 300,000-square-meter historic park dotted with large ancient tombs, including a tomb of ancient potentates on Mt. Maruhaka-yama, one of the largest round burial mounds in Japan.



Maruhaka-yama

At Mt. Shogun-yama, a 91-meter-long burial mound that is square at the head and rounded at the foot, there is a display room of its interior where the stone cave hut and excavated articles have been restored to their original conditions in the 5th to 7th centuries.
Every spring, residents celebrate a fire festival, which symbolizes the myth that the ancient goddess of Japan gave birth in fire.



Ancient Lotus

Gyoda City is proud of its ancient lotuses that grow in the Kobari Marsh.
The seeds of ancient lotuses here, estimated to date back 1,400 to 3,000 years, were found by chance during excavation for the building of a waste disposal facility.
After a few thousand years of dormancy, they awoke and germinated.
The large pink blossoms bloom only in the morning for about a month from mid-July after the close of the rainy season.





Ancient Lotus Park







Oshi Castle (Oshi-jo) was built by the daimyo Narita Akiyasu near the end of the 15th century.
It was considered impregnable, and was built using the natural levee of the surrounding marshlands and river.

When it was attacked by the army of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (who ruled Japan in the latter half of the 16th century) it was besieged by over 20,000 soldiers.
The castle did not fall even when it was flooded by water drawn in from the nearby river.
After that it was rumored that the castle had been able to withstand the flood because it floats on water.
The largest turret in Oshi Castle is Gosankai Yagura, although it was demolished in the latter half of the 19th century when political power changed from the Edo shogunate to the Meiji government, due to its condemnation as a symbol of the samurai.
The existing turret was reconstructed in 1988.

Culture



Gyōda is renowned for its Jeri Furai or fried jelly.
This is a local speciality consisting of fried bean curd, carrots, onion, and potato.

There are many shops which sell it around town, especially during the warmer seasons.



Gyōda is also quite well known for the making of traditional tabi socks, worn with kimono.
Gyoda still makes half of the tabi made in Japan.

---

SOURCE:Gyōda, Saitama
From Wikipedia
PICTURES from the Denman Library

I wish I were with you in Gyoda.



Yes,... yes..., someday ... someday...

You always say that ...

He, he, he, he, he , ...

By the way, Kato, how come you place a swimwear-clad girl in front of Mount Fuji at the top?

Good quastion! 　It's quite hot here--- 25 degree Celcius. 　I'm experiencing a second summer here.

　



No kidding!



Look at the following weather chart!


(gyo21006.gif)



Wow! 　So you're recalling the summer of Vancouver.



You're telling me, Diane.





It's getting cold in Vancouver, you know.



I know ... I know ...

How do you know?

I checked the Vancouver weather. 　Look at the following chart!


(van21006.gif)



I really wish I were in Gyoda with you, Kato.



No big difference between in Gyoda and in Vancouver.

How do you mean?

Well ... you feel quite hot, don't you?

No, I don't. 　Kato, we're running into winter here.

But, Diane, you must be feeling hot?

Why is that?

... 'cause you're enjoying VIFF.

You're sexually hot.

An open mind is advised!





Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, ... Oh, Kato ..., you like a black humor, don't you?



Oh, no... I like a hot humor.

【Himiko's Monologue】



Wow! The VIFF viewers are getting sexually hot.

By the way, did you happen to see the following clip about the Tōhoku Earthquake 2011?



Whenever I see the above clip, I feel scared to death.
What an awful and devastating quake it is!

I hope I'll never experience a super quake in my lifetime.
But I hear that a big quake will hit Kyoto within next 30 years.
I'm living in Kyoto---the anciant capital of Japan.
Nobody knows exactly when the big one hit the region, but many seismologists predict that the big one will definitely come in the future.
Well..., I'd better be well-prepared for that.

In any case, I hope Kato will write another interesting article soon.
So please come back to see me.

Have a nice day!
Bye bye ...

If you've got some time,

Please read one of the following artciles:




■"Net Travel & Jane"

■"Net Love"

■"Complicated Love"

■"Electra Complex"

■"Net Début"

■"Inner World"



■"Madame Riviera and Burger"

■"Roly-poly in the North"

■"Amazing Grace"

■"Diane in Paris"

■"Diane in Montmartre"



■"Diane Well Read"

■"Wantirna South"

■"Maiden's Prayer"

■"Bandwidth"

■"Squaw House and Melbourne Hotel"



■"Tulips and Diane"

■"Diane in Bustle Skirt"

■"Diane and Beauty"

■"Lady Chatterley and Beauty"

■"Victorian Prudery"



■"Diane Chatterley"

■"From Canada to Japan"

■"From Gyoda to Vancouver"

■"Film Festival"

■"Madame Taliesin"

■"Happy Days"

■"Vancouver Again"

■"Swansea"



■"Midnight in Vancouver"

■"Madame Lindbergh"

■"Dead Poets Society"

■"Letters to Diane"

■"Taliesin Studio"



■"Wright and Japan"

■"Taliesin Banzai"

■"Memrory Lane to Sendai"

■"Aunt Sleepie"

■"Titanic @ Sendai"

■"Birdcage"


(sylvie121.jpg)

■"Roly-poly in the wild"

■"Silence is dull"

■"Zen and Chi Gong"

■"Piano Lesson"

■"Dangerous Relation"

■"Electra Complex"


(juneswim.jpg)

■"Covent Garden"

■"Fatal Relation"

■"Notre Dame"

■"Anne Frank"

■"Biker Babe"

■"Diane Girdles the Globe"

■"Diane in Casablanca"

■"Infidelity Neighbourhood"

■"Forest Bathing"

■"Enjoy Ramen!"

■"Sex, Violence, Love"

■"Halifax to Vancouver"

■"A Thread of Destiny"

■"Fujiyama Geisha"

■"Beaver Lake"

■"God is Near!"

■"Holy Cow@Rose Garden"

■"Vancouver Earthquake"






Hi, I'm June Adames.

I like Sylvia Kristel's Lady Chatterley.

Lady Chatterley's Lover

Sylvia Kristel (1981)



Talking of Sylvia Kristel, you might as well

remember Lady Emmanuelle.



Emmanuelle 1 - Ouverture



Emmanuelle 2: L'antivierge

Sylvia Kristel (1975)



Well...if you love to visit Paris,

please enjoy the Paris theme:

Sous le Ciel de Paris

by Hideshi Kibi（日本人）



You can find some Japanese musicians in Paris.

Fujiko Hemming also likes Édith Piaf

who sings "Sous le ciel de Paris."

Sous le ciel de Paris

by Édith Piaf



I like Chanson Française (French song).

How about you?

Kato also love Édith Piaf,

but he considers Juliette Greco's

"Sous le Ciel de Paris" much beter.

Sous le Ciel de Paris

by Juliette Greco



I believe Yves Montand's "Sous le Ciel de Paris" is the best of all.

Sous le Ciel de Paris

by Yves Montand



I love Paris, but Vancouver isn't bad at all.

To tell you the truth, Vancouver is a paradise to me.





ところで、愛とロマンに満ちた

レンゲさんのお話をまとめて

『レンゲ物語』を作りました。

もし、レンゲさんの記事をまとめて読みたいならば、

次のリンクをクリックしてくださいね。

■『愛とロマンのレンゲ物語』



とにかく、今日も一日楽しく愉快に

ネットサーフィンしましょうね。

じゃあね。