'Water City', Matsue

I was able to spend a wonderful autumn vacation in Shimane prefecture for the first time in 25 years. I met my family members, visited historic places and autumn festivals.
I've uploaded pictures I took in Matsue city during my trip, from Oct. 17 to Oct. 23.
In the picture follows, a construction workers' boat and a pleasure boat in which several travelers are on board are cruising slowly on the castle moat.

About an hour pleasure boat trip takes you around Matsue Castle. As you float along the canal, you can see beautiful sights of Matsue Castle, old Samurai Residence and pine tree streets. You will also travel under 16 famous bridges that span the castle moat.

Matsue Castle is nicknamed the "plover castle", it is one of the few remaining medieval castles remaining in their original wooden form, and not a modern reconstruction in concrete.

Most Japanese castles have been damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes, or other causes. Since a large part of their construction was wooden, fire was a major hazard. Matsue castle was built after the last great war of feudal Japan, so it never saw a battle.

The construction of Matsue Castle began in 1607 and finished in 1611, under the local lord Horio Yoshiharu. In this year 2007, the local government celebrates four hundred year anniversary of the beginning of the construction of Matsue Castle. Next weekend, I'll upload pictures of Dou Gyoretsu drum festival commemorating the anniversary.

Staying in My Hometown Shimane

I took a week off and came back to my hometown Matsue city, Shimane prefecture last Wednesday. I'm staying in the house in which my mother, my brother and my sister live. It's the top season for autumn festivals here in Matsue. I bought a bike right after arriving at Matuse station. I rode the bike, went many places and took a lot of pictures of the festivals last five days.
To my regret, I haven't brought back a data connector between a camera and a PC, so I can't upload those pictures now.
I'll go back to Tochigi tomorrow and show you them on the blog in a week or two.

Tennis Tournament in Mohka, Igashira Park

I attended a Mohka tennis club tournament today with my friends. One club team consists two doubles teams and one single team. Each club team which wins more than two matches out of three wins against its opponent club. In the preliminary league competitions, we battled against two clubs.

The result of our club was terrible. We lost all six matches (lost against two clubs, all three team matches). As a result, we can’t go on a winners’ tournament next week.
Only losers’ tournament waits for us next week. Saaaaaaaaaaad!

Tennis courts are in the beautiful forest park called Igashira-Kouen in Mohka city, Tochigi prefecture. As I wrote you, visitors on my blog before, it is a beautiful place. Even game losers can enjoy walking around and taking pictures there.
Pictures of a persimmon tree and flowers beside the tennis court follow,

Today is Health and Sports Day in Japan.

Today is Health and Sports Day or Sports Day. It's a national holiday in Japan. It’s held annually on the second Monday in October. It commemorates the opening of the 1964 Summer Olympics being held in Tokyo, and exists to promote sports and an active lifestyle.

I was born in 1959, so I was five years old then. To tell you the truth, I don't remember the live Tokyo Olympics. Of course I know many famous scenes of the Tokyo Olympics, but most of them are scenes I watched on TV after the event.

Anyway, in spite of Health and Sports Day today, I haven't done any sport today. Even I didn't go anywhere outside my condo, just stayed home. I got up late and had late breakfast. Then I made a video of pictures I took yesterday in Kanuma, Tochigi prefecture. This time, I used “Photo Story 3 for Windows” instead of “Windows Movie Maker.” One of my web friends, Pachipro recommended it. It is quite fast, easy to use and capable with enough functions to make videos. Thanks Pachipro.

I still have had a slight backache since few months ago. I wonder I can recover the pain completely. Many athletes have some troubles on the part of their body. Professional athletes sometimes should retire in their early age. Luckily I'm not a pro-athlete. I want to continue sports like biking, climbing, playing tennis and skiing more several decades. lol

Autumn sceneries in Kanuma, Tochigi prefecture follow,