Shashin shashin shashin

So here are some pictures of places I've been in the past year. The top left picture is of the mausoleums of the 2nd and 3rd feudal lords of the Date clan. The Date (pronounced "Dah-tay") clan ruled the whole region around Sendai and Miyagi prefecture for over 250 years (ending in 1868). The first lord (Masamune Date, whose mausoleum is close to these two) is still a well known figure around Japan and his image can be seen all over Sendai. The main station has a statue of Masamune on a horse, and it's a very popular meeting place for people. The mountain picture is at the top of a large temple structure on the side of a mountain in Yamagata prefecture, in a town called Yamadera. There are about 12 temples on the mountain side and 1,015 steps to the top. It's a great view and great exercise. I've been here 3 times so far and when I went in the Winter, Renae and I saw a group of monkeys on the side of the hill :)
And the last picture is of a Buddhist temple in the city of Shiroishi. The temple is close to Shiroishi castle and those two people off to the left are my parents. This was my first visit in early May, when the cherry blossoms were just finishing in the area. Hope you enjoy the pics!
Plenty more to come (^_^).
And not much else to report here except that my baseball team won another gameon Sunday.
BDG