After more than a year in Japan, staying mostly at home in our apartments in the city (we’ve moved from Shinjuku in Tokyo to Matsudo in Chiba, then to Yokohama in Kanagawa), we basked in the wide expanse of the mountains and skies around us. For the first time in a long time, it’s as if the troubles of a pandemic-ridden planet melted away. Day 2 was our day off. Ralph and I decided to take a walk back to the michi no eki where we ate lunch the day before. The Beatles’ "Dear Prudence" plays in my head. "The sun is up, the sky is blue, it’s beautiful and so are you…"

Day 3: back to work! First stop: pick up bento for our lunch up in the mountains.

An adorable sign announcing that someone left their watch. I need to ask Ayumi if the owner already claimed their watch. When I took this photo, Ayumi said this sign has been up for about two weeks.