Derek's Asia Photos

I took a boat load of photos while I was in Japan. Unfortunately I hadn't yet bought my digital camera, so it's not so easy to get those photos up on my site. I do have a few photos that I took while I was in Japan here, and there will be more to come at a later date. Since I'm back in Korea, but without my photos from my previous trip, it's not likely this will get updated any time soon. By the way, scanning photos is surprisingly time-consuming... Sigh.

The images below are thumbnails. Click on them for larger versions.

	While Tokyo is the present-day capital of Japan, historically it was Kyoto, still regarded as the cultural capital of Japan. When I finally arrived in Kyoto, the first thing I did was sleep. A lot. When I woke up, one of the first things I did was to see a review at Gion Corner, a theater in the Geisha district. This photo depicts a traditional dance performed by a genuine geisha.
	Apparently, I was not the only one who needed sleep that day. Some Japanese high school students attended the same showing of the geisha review that I went to. One such student, seen zonked out in the center of the photo here, caused quite a commotion for his inability to remain concious throughout the proceedings. No doubt his friends had something to talk about at lunch the next day...
	Japan is an interesting mix of ultra-clean, modern buildings with futuristic designs that rival anything in the west, to dank, squat buildings of the sort you will find in any Japanese monster thriller, such as Godzilla. This photo is an example of the former. I thought the design of this building, with its contrast between the straight lines of the edges of the building and the circles at its ends, was visually interesting, so I snapped it.
	From Kyoto, I moved on to Fukuoka, the terminus of my travels in Japan. There you will find all sorts of interesting sites and activities. For example, you'll find Canal City, an experimental Japanese mega shopping and entertainment complex. There, you can buy all your favorite western brands, and dine on western food, Indian food, or Japanese food until your heart's content. This photo has nothing to do with Canal City though. This photo is of some Cultural Center down the street from Canal City. I'd much rather have had photos of Canal City, but I never got around to scanning them.
	This stalwart sea-faring vessel ferried me from Hakata International Ferry Terminal in Fukuoka, Japan, back to Busan, South Korea. The ride was about 3 hours long, and surprisingly smooth. No rougher than riding in a taxi in Seoul, anyway. When I got off the ferry, I met a very friendly Korean guy who spoke English very well, despite his protestations to the contrary. He pointed me in the right direction to get the train back to Daegu. Not that I needed it... But such helpfulness was hard to come by in Japan.