So—You're in JAPAN.  Now—WHERE do you eat?  Subway, of course.

      ( :p :P )

      A little about getting there. For some totally UNFATHOMABLE reason, I displayed an . . . uncanny ability, to navigate Japanese "pedestrian zones."  (Some "hidden logic," somehwere? (?)) We NEEDED it—just to get to the train station, where we rode. . . .

      An OLD trolley car—I mean, it had wooden floor(s).  (!!) (And the top—it looked like the top of grandma's refrigerator.)  It was like something out of prehistoric New York [City].  It came as a bit of a SHOCK—the rest of Japan seemed "HYPER-mondern. . . ."

      It ran fine, though.  And we arrived.

      A little something . . . personal, about John.  When I first heard the sound of a "rural train crossing in Japan" in anime (probably "Neon Genesis Evangelion")—I thought it was something otherworldly, made for an anime world.  I was to come to learn later—it real, even commonplace, Dude.  I never knew—if I would ever get to hear it, in "real life."  Well, here, I did.

      :) ;)

      BOOBS!!

      Crossed "Make eye contact with a yakuza." off my bucket list.

      Some cool Japanese stone carving-thingie.

      A closer look.

      The following picture, was, technically, very challenging—it was taken at extreme zoom, very quickly, at a fast-moving target.

      Apparently, in Japan, the seagulls are dark, and have claws..

      Trusty me Baby—it was mutual:

      Enoshima.

      There were people, EVERYWHERE!!  I took this picture, of a mass of people, confined to a "moving groove."

      In the middle, all those people, were wriggling.

      Lord help me.  –All I could think about was . . . maggots in an open wound:

      We started climbing the hill.  The pressures, both social, and physical–on 2 200+ pound (14 stone 4) Gaijin–was . . . well-nigh crippling.  Twice, we took refuge, from the "social storm."

      In a coffee shop, I was immediately, very powerfully taken, with this picture.

      I don't really know why.

      Further on up the hill, I found this.  When we were wee ones, vacationing at Strathmere, I was very taken, with bleached, dead–yet strangely intact–things from the ocean.

      This display so totally captured, that impression, from so long ago. . . .

      I like how the wood grain, um . . . yeah.

      ( :) ;) )

      When I was younger, I was SO taken with these. . . .  (I still have one, somewhere.)

      Mr. Bubbles?

      :) ;)

      The entrance to the place, 'n stuff.

      A turtle - dude. Chillin' like a villain—waitin' for like, food from the tourists, or somethin'.

      I took this pic—because of that scene, in Shin Godzilla. . . .

      Took me a moment.  These are like, the critters from the "Chinese Zodiac," 'n stuff.  ([It] Took me a while, to like, realize that, 'n stuff.)

      A view back out.

      Another view back out.

      Another of Japan's–seeminly ubiquitous–giant spiders, 'n stuff.

      Another high view.

      I shall never forget—for as long as I live, my first view of the open sea, from Japan.

STUNNING.

      Something . . . weird here.  One of the GREAT things, about being a Christian—is being able to feel the presence of God, at any time, under any circumstances.  Well, being in the "heart," as it were, of a Shintoist thing-a-ma-jigy, I felt it was time.  So, I started to pray.  I felt that I had to reach out, almost like through a tunnel, and when I made "contact"—I felt as though I was being WRENCHED forward.  This was DANGEROUS, as I was like, on the edge of a like "cliff," 'n stuff.

      Later, I felt . . . like I had LOST something . . . PRECIOUS.  This feeling even followed me into [my] dreams—which these sorts of things, almost never do. . . .

      Yet another of one of the EXTRAORDINARY things about Japan, was the state of preservation, of their elderly.  (I rememeber, on tv, watching a married couple, both 100 (! (!)), JOGGING down the street. . . .)  As arduous as this climb was, there was a 90 year old up there—seriously.  On the trip back down the stairs—knees no longer bend?–No problem!  She just turned them to the side. . . .

      Um, the exit—or something (We never did find "the caves. . . .")

      Um . . . your guess is as good (or perhaps better) than mine:

      (Strangely enough, at another place, we heard some Aussies talkin'.  (One of them, commented on the increased cost, for host springs—where bathing suits were permitted: "The price of modesty."   :) ;) ) I didn't quite catch what they were sayin'—but I think they said, that this was a place where one could pay, to see this ANCIENT, giant coy, 'n stuff.)

      (??)

      No matter how you slice it, Japan is hyper-modern . . . and just plain damn weird.  I watched a couple, recording there faces, with a selfie stick, on the climb up, for posting on the Internet.  I also watched a line out the door, for squid, CRUSHED by a one ton weight—which "Makes a great snack or souvenir."  (I can't make this sh** up.)  Alien country, indeed.

      Towards the VERY end, Laura asked me, "What are you thinking of?"  I responded, "I was wondering, how close this is, to where Shin Godzilla made landfall."  "Are you SERIOUS??!!!!"

      Well, as it turns out. . . .  (!!)

      :) :) ;) ;)

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