秋分の日

An absolutely incredible day yesterday on the Autumnal Equinox. Mark (from Northern Ireland) and I joined Kieran (a Scot), John (an Englishman) and Yamauchi-san (Japanese) for an exhilirating day of international wakeboarding in Matsushima (Pine Islands), supposedly one of the three most beautiful places in Japan.

It was my first time wakeboarding, though I have been waterskiing several times before. Fortunately the movement is very similar to snowboarding, so I picked it up quickly. Before long, I was attempting jumps and failing miserably trying to land them. Water hurts much less than hard-packed snow. However, I must have used some new/out-of-shape muscles, because today my upper body feels like it got run over by a firetruck. Everything hurts, even after taking 800mg of Advil.



We had beautiful weather, especially in the afternoon when the wind died and the sea became quite calm. The islands of Matsushima (several hundred of them) looked quite brilliant in the afternoon sun. If the photos look blurry, its because we were going so fast!

I was exhausted on the train+car journey home, but stayed awake to peer out the windows and enjoy the fine fall afternoon. I love this time of year here, as the rice turns from lush green to golden, and the harvest looks heavy in the paddies.