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I came across the above at a shrine. This is a “Hundred Time Stone” (Hyakudo-Ishi) and has a rotating top section and a counter of discs like an abacus. You go from the stone to the shrine, pray and then go back to the stone for 100 times for 100 days.

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Can you imagine living somewhere where you place your handbag on a seat and then go into the cafe to place your order? Or, in the case of the second photo, place your bags down and then leave the shopping centre? When I am out and about walking and can hear someone running behind me, I don’t clutch my bag, turn around or take other defensive movements …. it will be someone just running for exercise or because they are late.

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I am always amused by the positioning of this photo booth, in a carpark on the edge of the pavement and nowhere near a shop. How long do you think it would stay intact in most of our home countries? There is an obsession with vending machines here, and they are squeezed into any small space such as that in the photo above. People who own small plots of land are convinced they will make a fortune by hosting a vending machine … regardless of the huge number of convenience stores. And the product selection, of hot and cold drinks, in each of these machines appears to be almost identical.

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Electioneering is always noisy here, and usually involves vans with loudspeakers driving around spewing out a short message. Yesterday I came across an even noisier event outside the station … at times the speaker was so energised I thought he might fall off the van! I attempted to find out more via google translate and the lady handing out the fliers. This is Japan First Party, founded in 2016, a far right group but they don’t have any representation in the National Diet. Their policies include rewriting the Japanese constitution with the Emperor as head, installing a military force and reducing income tax. I don’t fancy their chances …

At the Tomoika-hachimangu Shrine, these are monuments where the names of Yokozuna are engraved; Yokozuna is the top position in sumo wrestling. Starting in 1684, sumo wresting events were held in the grounds of this shrine every spring and autumn.

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For the engineers amongst readers of this blog, above is a photo of a hydraulic arm (I hope the terminology is correct!) under a bridge. Everything here is built with ‘give’ to withstand earthquakes. The second photo is the mono-rail … I used to find it disconcerting to see trains whizzing above me but I now am very used to them.

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So how do they do this? Hard boiled eggs, soft in the centre and salted. Boil eggs in salted water?