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Nagano - round two

Here in Japan we have been blessed with another three day weekend!  This time it was to celebrate sports day.  When I heard this was the reason, I was very curious as to what "sports day" entailed.  After trying to find an answer to this question, the best I could come up with was "Japan wanted a holiday, so they came up with sports day." Since I cannot verify nor deny this statement, I will just accept it and enjoy my time off.

 I was lucky enough to be invited by my boss to head back to the beautiful prefecture of Nagano.  I was hesitant to head off on another pricy trip before I got my first paycheck.  After thinking it over, I actually verbalized the phrase "you only live once," and opted to join Mitani-san, Ellen, Dominique, Phil, Claire, and Mitani-san's family on a lovely weekend getaway.
The trip started early Saturday morning when we piled into Mitani-san's rented vehicle and drove straight to Nagano.  Our first stop was a delicious BBQ.  After the BBQ we went white water rafting!  We were told to wear a swimsuit, shorts and a shirt.  After attempting to follow this dress code we were given bright blue wet suits, bright yellow helmets, and puffy red and blue life jackets.  It was boiling hot in the sun and I wasn't sure how I felt about piling on all this equipment.  However, once in the water I found the wetsuit to be nice as it was the coldest water I can remember submerging myself in since those wretched early morning swimming lessons of my childhood.   This was much more enjoyable.  The 10k trip down the river included cliff jumping, standing and bouncing on the side of the raft, and free floating under a bridge all the while being accompanied by a wonderful rafting guide who asked us to call him "Ky man."  

After the rafting we headed to Mitani-san's husband's company inn.  It was a cozy modern inn fully equipped with Japanese meals, karaoke, and an Onsen. 


The next day we ventured off to Matsumoto Castle.  This turned out to be the same castle that we stopped by on our last trip to Nagano.  Fortunately, last time we were not keen on standing in the line to tour the castle so we took it one step further this time and explored the inner grounds.  We were even lucky enough to come on a day of the Soba festival!  There were countless stands set up all around the castle and after taste testing some delicious Nagano apples, I made my first fruit purchase in Japan.  
After the castle we said goodbye to Dom and Claire and headed to the historic town of Shiojiri to meet Mitani-san's husband at the Narai train station.  We wondered the main street of this town, took some photos, bought some souvenirs, and then headed back to the inn for  some dinner and a night of karaoke.  

 The following day we ventured off to hike to the 8th station of Onsoke Mountain.  This time of year the leaves have started to change and the colors and views were breathtaking.  


After a moderate three hour hike we stopped at one more souvenir shop in Nagano and headed back to Nagakute where Dom was waiting to surprise Ellen with an apartment makeover and a lovely South African style macaroni and cheese casserole. 

It was another lovely weekend of traveling in Japan with such wonderful people.  I feel so fortunate to be surrounded by such beauty.

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