Walked around after dinner and took these photos I’ve missed before. The first is the restaurant I ate horse in, the second is the KFC we went into after that(Colonel Sanders is creepy af), and the last one is the restaurant we ate at last night with Ishide-san and her son.

Breakfast: Ham+Eggs again. Ate mackerel with Ishide-san and Travis for lunch today. After that we stopped by the nursing home she works for, and then went to Kodaihasunosato to see the awesome rice art for Dragon Quest. Then we drove by a temple that Ishide-san’s grandfather worked at, then I had Katsu Curry at the food court in Ario.

[With Musashi-san, Ishide-san, and Travis] Went to to Tomioka Silk Mill, a World Heritage site(unfortunately, it was raining). After that we went for lunch and Travis and I tried Soba. Actually really good.

Round 1 + Aira-san

Yesterday Travis and I went to a Round 1. We rode a train to get to an area nearby, and it really is exactly as anime portrays it. Semi-crowded, with everyone on their phones. At the Round 1 we tried the batting cages, rollerbladed for about an hour and a half(Travis is really god damn good), sang a bit of karaoke(Database by Man With A Mission), and played a bit in the arcade(guess which games we played?). All of this we did with Aira-san(the daughter of one of Ishide-san’s friends/coworkers) and one of her friends. After that we drove to a Bronco Billy’s(at least an hour long drive) and we ate Hamburg with Aira-san, her mother, her brother Ryusui-kun, Ishide-san, and Musashi-san.

Ate ramen (しょうゆ) with Travis and Ishide-san. Very delicious(うまい！). After that we stopped by a nursing school that Ishide-san works with and introduced ourselves. Then we went to Ario and bought some things for dinner, and Ishide-san cooked up rice for us to eat later. Still a very relaxed day.

Went to Kazo-shi and walked around the Matsuri festival. Was there with @bellasworldadventures, her roommate Renee, Aira-san + her friend, Ryusui-kun and two of his friends(Ryusei-kun & Yui-kun), and Travis. Travis and I got free yukata as souvenirs.

Video from Matsuri

Video from Matsuri

Video from Matsuri

Went to Akihabara today. Was there with Travis, Sora-san, and one of Tatsumi-san’s friends named Kazuma-san. We visited a few stores/game halls(so apparently the Japanese really love UFO Catcher??). Later on Tatsumi-san joined us and we walked around a bit more, before going to Ikebukoro.

Pictures of the animate store we went to in Ikebukoro. Travis, Sora-san, and I walked through some of its floors, but we didn’t get much. There were a lot of Fujoshi-type girls there and Travis wanted out ASAP. Unfortunately I didn’t find any good Durarara goods but oh well. Also Sora-san went back home at that point, while the rest of us(Travis, Tatsumi-san, Kazuma-san, and I) walked around Ikebukoro some more. Also we ate dinner at a Denny’s, and it was like a really fancy sit-down restaurant?? It was really surreal compared to my few times at American Denny’s.

My souvenir haul for today: Four Rhythm Across the Blue t-shirt, Adashino Benio(Twinstar Exorcists) Keychain, and a Shino Kuribayashi(GATE, Thus the JSDF Fought There) Keychain(?). The Kuribayashi chain has a plug so that it fits into your phone audio port?? First time seeing that.

Video of the Tanabata Festival.

Today

BBQ with some Lions. We met up with Altai again, and also met a girl from Denmark(she’s also going to the camp). We met Erika-san, who is an American girl who is fluent in English & Japanese. There was a lot of meat, some rice(with curry), chicken, and shrimp.

Went to Kumagaya-shi today with Hirashiki-san, Travis, Rion-san, and Sara-san. We met up with Altai(Turkish exchange student) and his host family, walked around, sang some karaoke, ate a bit, and watched some of the Tanabata festival.

Yesterday

Relax day, with a few exceptions. Morning: Musashi-san came to remind us about the festival tomorrow(today). Afternoon: adventuring around the area to help Travis find a GranBlue Gatchapon machine(unsuccessful, but I did get another souvenir and some melon bread so it wasn’t a wasted trip). Evening: Ishide-san and Hirashiki-san introduced us to YCE member Yamamoto-san’s three daughters - Rion-san(16才), Sara-san(13才), Nene-san(9才), and later we met his son Kodai-kun(7才). We all ate together at Steak Miya.

2 days ago we went to Mt. Fuji. The night before we were at Ichiyanagi Hotel, and I tried bathing in an onsen(felt really good). I also met Rahul and Moe-san, who joined us that day at Fuji and yesterday for our scheduled trips.