Gold Bar- This is one of the main attractions in my town. It's a gold bar worth 100 million yen(~1 million dollars!) and it's a five minute walk from my apartment. It weighs 63kg (~140lbs)!

Kawaisou- This is the Japanese word for pitiful. The reason I use this word is because in the same park that the gold bar is in, there is a mini zoo. The saddest cage is a cage that has a baboon and a dog inside of it. I've been to the park about 5 times and these two always look soo sad! I would be too if I were trapped in a cage.

KinkiBooks- This definitely has shock value when you first see it until you are told that the Kansai region of Japan was first called the Kinki region. I thought it was amusing though, that a store with this name with be a two minute walk from my apartment.

Flowers- There are always flowers here on Awaji...even in the middle of winter! I thought these were beautiful!

Shizuka Hall- This is my town's music hall. It is where they hold many cultural events like traditional dancing, wa-daiko performances, and all the events for culture day take place here. I think the architecture of the building is very remeniscent of the Sydney opera house in Australia.

Darkness- This is an example of some of the interesting weather in Japan. I've truly come to appreciate mountains since arriving here. I'm a New Yorker and I never got to see mountains while growing up so Japan is definitely a change of scenery for me.