Happy Drug

Near my house there is a store called Happy Drug.  In Japan most drug stores are called something like Happy Drug, Mega Drug, etc.  I wonder how much business a store in the US would be getting if they decided to call themselves that. 

Japanese Parking Garages

I had the experience of learning about how a different type of parking garage works in Japan.  Space can be an issue sometimes so to solve this problem they just build up.  You drive your car into a lift and the attendant puts it on a shelf.  When you are done it comes out facing the other way so you can just drive out. 

Misawa Air Show

Yesterday I saw an air show at the United States Air Force base in Misawa.  The US air force did a few things, but the Japan Self Defence force put on the majority of the show.  The groups name is Blue Impulse, and it was amazing.



Blue Impulse wasn't the only thing that was there.  The Air Defence Force Symphonic Band was playing as well as a taiko group.

Seiryu-Ji Temple

Yesterday I rode my bicycle to Seiryu-Ji temple.  This main temple was built relatively recently in 1992.  It has one of the tallest wooden pagodas in Japan  at 120 feet high.  It also has one of the tallest statues of Buddha in Japan, it was built in 1984.  The temple has two ponds, a large hidden bell that nearly gave me a heart attack when someone rang it without me realizing it, and two ponds one of which has a statue of Kobo-Daishi, the founder of a major sect of Japanese Buddhism.