Today, there were two plans, well, three, if you count actually getting out of bed. One was to head down to my surf club at Kamakura at some very early hour to participate in a beach clean up in preparation for the new swimming season. We were meeting before 9.30am. That kind of meant getting out and on the road, well the train, at about 6.30am. On a Sunday. The last day of a last holiday stint.
It would have made up for yesterday's comparative sloth. (Although reading doesn't really fall into that category, does it?)
Faling that, there was another beach, plan B. Well, sort of beach. From my office building on campus I can see the Rainbow Bridge, I know nearby there is something of a city 'beach', bit like South Bank in Brisbane, for those Brisbane readers (and yes, as a Gold Coaster it took a long time to get used to that idea, but I digress).
There is also an historical precinct, battlements from the 1850s as Japan's feudal government attempted to stop the arrival of the so-called Black Ships, commanded by the American Commodore Matthew Perry. This is the point (1853) at which my studies of Japan started, all those years ago.
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| Cannon placements (one of the cannons is on display at Yasukuni Shrine; that's for another day) |
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| On the 'beach' |
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| Very interesting clouds today |
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| Windsurfers |
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| Earthquake detection station |
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| View from the fort |
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| Explained |
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| Fortified wall |
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| Looking in |
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| Stairs down |
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| Those clouds, again |
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| Yes, it is a Statue of Liberty... |
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| Fuji-TV |
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| Bit closer than usual to the Rainbow Bridge |
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| Boats passing in the day |
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| A different view of the wheel |
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| Flying low |
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| Facing the Black Ships |
So there it was. I've been working over the way for the last two and a bit years and never managed to get quite this close to 'history'. It is one more thing ticked off the list. Done.
[Camera : Canon EOS M5, 3.55pm-4.41pm, 6 May 2018]
