Day 298: Walk around Taiji town...

Day 298: ...trying to not look...conspicuous?

But I guess a foreigner with a bit more than the average compact digital camera is always going to look conspicuous, particularly in a town (actually, it feels more like a seaside village) wary of nosy foreigners...hopefully my language skills will help. Being with Jinko probably helps too. And no doubt, by the end of the day, most people will know where I'm staying and what my purpose is...it seems like that sort of place.

Sunrise, the view from the window of the B&B

Our charming host Shigeko-san does warn us that carrying around big cameras and pointing them in other than typically tourist-scene directions, will get us noticed and we will be asked questions...if we're not careful. Hmm, OK. 

Awoke to the sounds of the local sea bird, the tonbi

Interestingly, on the way down yesterday, Jinko mentioned that if I hadn't been going to Taiji, it wasn't a place she'd have thought about going, and in fact, hadn't ever really heard much about it before I mentioned it. It is more of the map of the western mind than Japanese it seems. 

Now *that's* a bee...

It's a big day; we wander all over the town--the whaling commemoration park, the, um, 'museum' with its whale and dolphin shows, the Kachitorizaki Peninsula. Back to the village central to see the 'old town' and note a few of the graves and monuments which recognise and respect the local whaling history. 

Outside the museum is a pond. In the pond, there are many tortoises...

We head back later to the same place for dinner; I still can't bring myself to try the whale...it's just too 'black'-looking. It's nice to chat with the locals though...a second night in a row makes us regulars!

...erm, expecting food from you...

Just a few hours in the morning before we head back around the peninsula and back to Wakayama for the next three days.

Flora aplenty of course, this in a side street

And a dragonfly on the Peninsula

Its has been a most interesting and worthwhile few days*. 

[Camera : Canon EOS 60D, 28-80mm, 100-300mm; iPhone 6

*I've had another blog set up for a while, just waiting for the right moment to start. It's one I'm planning to write up the drafts of the whaling book. My excursion to Taiji will kick it off in a few days...keep watching this space. (There were over 400 pics in the end...way too many for this blog...)