The crypto-Christian bug had bitten me. The whole concept of "going underground in plain sight" with something was mind-boggling to me. One of hiding places for Christians during their period of persecution was among the Amakusa  islands off the coast of Kumamoto . I went to seek out some of those remains on a return visit to Kyushu near the end of my time in Japan. In 1569 the small fishing village of Sakitsu was visited by Portuguese missionary Luis de Almeida. In 1596

March 1985 On my Spring Break trip to Kyushu seeking warmth and sunshine from a still cold Sendai, I ended up in Kagoshima on the...

Daigo-ji, Kyoto. 2012 [from FB post: January 20, 2012] Saw a great temple (Daigo-ji) and shrine (Fushimi Inari) today.... wow, Japan...

Temple guardian, Ninnoji, Kyoto. 1986 [from FB post: January 16, 2012] Just found out my neither of my mobile phones will roam in Japan. ...

Sendai YMCA. March 1987 If I ever felt conflicted in my life, it was leaving Japan. I went for a two year stint and extended almost...

Me and Kimio, March 1986. On my little street in the Kawauchi section of Sendai, I lived a few houses down from "Convenience 52". It...

グラバー園. March 1985 I left my heart in Nagasaki... Tony Bennett may have left his heart in San Francisco (a part of mine, too), but I bet...

Me and Kan-chan...I think we were at Kinkarou, MS's Uncle's place. Oh yeah... I'm eating whale meat sashimi.... ummmmmmmmmmm. Onagawa,...

Skiing, Yamagata Zao. February 1986 Zao-san, a mountain straddling Honshu's spine was locally famous in both Sendai and Yamagata-city...

Daigo-ji, Kyoto. January 2012 On our last ever vacation we were in Kansai, Japan and had the rich bounty of Japanese history to choose...

Shabu-shabu in Kobe. January 2012 Shabuuu Shabuuu, you can hear it The Japanese love onomonpoeic words. "Shabu shabu" - thinly sliced...