Summer Vacation Part 1 -- Anjinsai and Mt. Omura

August is the one month of school vacation in Japan. Teachers still have to go to work, but unlike during the rest of the year, there's flexibility to use some time off.

Here are a few pictures of things I did in Ito during August -- going to Anjin Festival and Mt. Omura.

Anjin Festival (Anjinsai) has all the Japanese festival basics -- lots of people wearing yukata (summer kimono), food stalls with many variations of "meat on stick," and fireworks. So I used it as an excuse to wear my yukata (which otherwise just sits prettily in my closet), ate a hot dog on a stick and two churros, and sat on the rocks by the river to watch the fireworks.

^ Lanterns (designed by local school children, I think?) lining the walk by the river.


^Fireworks!


^A blurry shot of the crowd. It was actually really packed.


^Fireworks reflected on the water.


^ My feet, waiting for the fireworks to start.

Mt. Omuro is a mountain (inactive volcano?) in Ito. There are two mountains with chair lifts in Ito -- Mt. Omuro and Mt. Komuro (O=big, Ko=small), but I'd only been to the top of Mt. Komuro, so I decided I'd try the big one. It's... grassy. And you can hike around the rim. In the inside dip is apparently an archery range. I had not been aware.


^Mt. Omuro from the parking lot. It doesn't really look that big, does it?


^ The lift going up. They kindly mow a path of grass so you aren't kicking it as you go.


^ A slightly hazy view from the top.


^ People practicing archery in the middle.


^ Some statues along the path around the rim.

Part 2 to come later, with a couple of non-Izu destinations.