Japanese People

It's fun just to watch people, living and playing, eating and laughing, waiting and complaining. During a shopping trip to Kyoto for Christmas, I saw a group of high school students dancing on a stage constructed in the middle of a shopping plaza. They all seemed so happy, as if there was nothing in the wo

rld that could possibly stop them.

So I took a picture.

The dating scene is remarkably strong in Japan, despite the declining birth rate problem here. Families and couples gathered around the

entrance gate to see street performers before shopping or climbing Mount Arashi. The leaves of the trees on this mountain turn bright red and orange in the autumn season, creating a great contrast to the lower Kyoto metropolis.

I also took a walk through a small mountain range that lead to the back of the Ryoan Temple's

famous rock garden. Sitting down for a good half hour, I watched as the floods of people entered and left the rock garden, listened to them talk about the idea behind the rock arrangement, and tried to imagine what one of the little children must think of the rock garden. I couldn't imagine that it's as fun as Disney Land.