晴れ時々曇　べた凪そよ風

  

I visited ancient lands with my wife and son.
At the first, we visited Kohfukuji temple where many national treasures are preserved.
In particular, I decided to visit the five-storied pagoda because it will be closed for a while due to restoration.




Of course, photography is prohibited inside all buildings.
In the National Treasure Museum, many national treasure Buddha statues were kept, which was a masterpiece.
However, in my personal opinion, compared to Yakushiji Temple and Toshodaiji Temple, which are also in Nara, the impression was weak.
However, it is very Nara-like that there are many deers because it is close to Nara Park where Todaiji Temple is located.
I had booked a restaurant for lunch near Kofuku-ji Temple, and the service and food were very good.










The accommodation is the Nipponia Tawarahonn-machi Maruto Shoyu Hotel, which was renovated from an old soy sauce brewery in Tawaramoto-machi, Nara Prefecture.
This hotel is new, but the food was so highly rated that my family decided to book it.
Shortly after check-in, the hotel owner suggested that he explained about soy sauce and let us experience making soy sauce.
Moromi is made by adding bacteria to soybeans, wheat, and salt and letting it mature for at least two years.
Then squeezing it makes soy sauce.



We ate baked rice cake with soy sauce that we squeezed.
The freshly squeezed soy sauce has a very fragrant and mellow taste, which surprised me.


The building of the hotel retains the taste of a mansion everywhere. Even just looking at the ranma and tokonoma is truly a work of art.










There is no clock or television in the room. In a rapidly changing world, this hotel makes us forget the passage of time.


It's time for dinner.
This is the dinner menu.
There is a list of sauces arranged with soy sauce.
It was my first time to see such a menu, but we were really looking forward to what kind of dishes would be served.














I forget to take a picture of the dessert.
All the sauces cooked from the same soy sauce were different in flavor.
We were able to enjoy the wonderful food that lives up to its reputation.
The next morning, before breakfast, we took a walk to Muraya Shrine under the morning sun with the guidance of the hotel owner.
After checking out, we visited Omiwa Shrine, the oldest in Japan.


On the way home, we stopped by Iga-Ueno, which we visited last time, to end our two-day, one-night trip.
My family's travels, whether domestic or overseas, tend to be more food-hopping trips than sightseeing trips.  

I went squid fishing last night.


The climate was a little cloudy and windy, so the sea had about a 1m wave.
The boat made a splash and went ahead with rolling.
The boat reached the fishing point and used the para shoot anchor to make it easy to fish.
I was excited to use the new tackles, but I couldn't fish for about an hour.
I changed many bait logs during fishing.
Eventually, I could find out a color that was good for squids.


Afterward, I continued to fish squids.
I have been interested in this fishing that I had become to not fish when squids tired of the same color.
I have to change the color to curious of squids.
It's necessary to imagine how to move the bait log and what color is attractive for squids.
As a result, I got 28 squids.






  

Today I thought about how to catch squid.
Although the method of fishing varies slightly depending on the type of squid, it seems that fishing with artificial bait has existed since ancient times.
It’s said to have a long history of more than 300 years, and a squid clinging to a piece of the torch that was burned down by a fishing fire and sinking into the water was the hint.
The bait log is said to have originated in the Nansei Islands (around Amami Oshima) in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Bigfin reef squid fishing is famous as game fishing which uses bait logs in relatively shallow areas.
It’s called the Egging.


About two decades ago, the main squid fishing Swordtip squid, Doryteuthis, and Todarodes were caught by attaching many artificial baits to one line.


But recently, it's called squid metal fishing and has been very popular for game fishing.


I have been hooked on egging for bigfin reef squid for more than 15 years.
It was the first time I bought a small boat for egging.
I wrote about that time on the first page of this blog.
After that, I gradually bought a bigger boat and got a boat class 1 license to operate the boat.
Egging has also changed to squid metal fishing.
I heard that my friend Mr.bumi tried to modify his bait log to make a good result for squid fishing.
So I repainted the old and less-used bait logs with paint today afternoon.
They are black and purple.


I hope these bait logs will give me good results on my next fishing trip.




  

※　I'm sorry I don't know 餌木 in English.
So I dare direct translate Japanese into English, called Bait log.

I learned a lot from the ship’s master at last squid fishing.
And although the tidal stream was not fast, I used a long leader.
At the first, I should look up the tidal stream, and then I decide on the system of tackle.
We have about two systems those are omo-rig or metal-rig.
Leaders are available long, middle, and short.
And the tackles are either bait tackles or spinning tackles.
And I should change the bait log color very often, and then I choose some color bait logs that are hit by squids.
So I had better have at least 6 colors of bait logs.
I'm going to make some systems for fishing this weekend.
I got 9 different colors of bait logs today!!!!!


Its huge typhoon is coming near mainland Japan next week according to the weather forecast.


I wish to challenge squid fishing after over typhoon.
Please pray good result for me.

  

It's been a long time since I've fished for squid.
This time, I went fishing with longtime blog friends.


The climate was very fine and the sea was calm as a photo.


The boat arrived in front of the Tsunegami peninsula at about 94m depth.
The wind was light, about 3m, but the tidal stream quickly and we started fishing using a parachute anchor.
After a while, my friend Mr.Nemunemu the first fished double squids.


And my friend Mr. Bumi also fished a squid.


But I didn't fish it still.
After a while, I could get a squid.
The pull of the squid jet was very exciting and I enjoyed that feeling for the first time in a long time.


By 11 pm the boat had drifted off Obama.


Eventually, I got 13 squids that were not much enough my expectation but I was satisfied fishing.
We had a great time fishing.
I came back home at 2 am at the midnight.
And then I cooked two kinds of dishes with squids.










  

I have a marvelous friend who is a farmer.
But he was an excellent businessman when I met him for the first time.
He is planting various kinds of organic vegetables and rice.
He is an enthusiastic man who first starts to make soil for plants.








Of course, those vegetables and rice are very delicious.
I'm so happy that he brings me a lot of vegetables every once a month.
But he won't sell his harvest to an agricultural cooperative.
He takes great pleasure in providing us with an infinitely delicious crop.
Because farming is one of his hobbies.
I can understand him very well.
That's just potatoes, but now we have 6 varieties of potatoes.
Those potatoes are of a variety you don't see even in big supermarkets.
Of course, the shape, taste, and texture are all different.
I can feel the Andes of the place of origin.


His harvest makes our diet happy and healthy.
We can't thank him enough.






  

Favorite the painting and the photo make me relax.
I don't feel tired of viewing them every day.
But even photorealistic paintings are very different from photographs.
This is because the painting is painted on blank whiteboards,
while the photographs have been removed or cropped from the real thing.
A painting is an addition from 0, a photograph is a subtraction from 100.
Although they look similar, they are completely different in how they are achieved.
It's interesting to imagine why the artist used this color or why he painted it in such a shape.
An artist can freely change the shape and color of a painting.
Therefore, an artist can paint a world that does not exist.
Or he can paint even a dream that he dreamed of last night.
Colors and shapes are painted with the emotions and sensibilities of the artist at that time.
Fun to paint, fun to imagine, and fun to admire.
I feel like understand why Pablo Ruiz Picasso is great.


  

Since August 1st, heavy rains have continued in various areas along the Sea of Japan as Yamagata prefecture, Niigata prefecture, and Ishikawa prefecture.
Consequently, landslides and large-scale floods occur in various places.
The atmosphere is still unstable.

Floods occur not only in Japan but also in China and the United States.
The earth is currently facing a period of major climate change.
Severe heat exceeding 40 degrees Celsius was hit in Europe, India, Pakistan, etc. Forest fires and drought are also a concern.
We are powerless against these natural wonders.
Unfortunately, it is clear that it is we humans who are creating climate change.
Around the world, people are destroying buildings, burning plantations, and killing people because of their territory.
These actions are causing food shortages and rising prices on a global scale.
Will that country be able to survive and create an ideal country as expected?
I think we are doing the exact opposite of what we should be doing for future species.
Most people love nature and want to protect it.
However, Arctic ice continues to melt and sea levels are rising faster.
The ozone layer is in danger of collapsing.
I think the anger of the earth will become stronger and stronger in the future.




  

I already retired from the company in 2018.
So I have a lot of time to spend on myself.
When I played tennis on the 7th of July, I felt fatigued during the match that I didn't usually feel.
I immediately stopped playing, drank lots of water, and rested.
I thought maybe it was the early stages of heat stroke.
Fortunately, I recovered within 30 minutes.
I learned I shouldn't do exercise when the temperature was more than 30℃ even if on indoor courts.
Especially at my age.
I thought about how I should spend a fulfilling time on such a day.
It's time for the mutated covid-19 to spread again.
I won't go out other than necessary.
I've always liked going to museums and admiring famous paintings.
Suddenly I came up imitating a famous painting.
I immediately prepared paints, paintbrushes, and a palette.
Of course, I bought Kent papers.
And then I selected one painting that I had taken pictures of at the Bilbao museum in Spain.
By the way, this Bilbao museum was allowed to take pictures.
This painting's title is "Passage of Mirrors".
It's an abstract expressionist oil on canvas painting created by Maria Helena Vieira da Silva in 1981.


I was drawing carefully it while watching a photo.
The size was a big difference from the original painting.
The size of my painting was much smaller than the original painting.
However, I intended to draw the aspect ratio the same.
Configurations should be placed carefully.
I redrew it many times.
What was most difficult was deciding on color.
I mixed many colors to make resemble the color of the original painting.
I tried it many times while imagining a great painter.
I eventually spent 13 days completing it.


I like woodworking and have been making figurines and frames before.






And I made a wooden frame for this painting.
The frame was made of walnut.
I cut matte paper to fit my painting and framed it using an acrylic board.
The painting on the wall could not be taken well.


When I am painting, I am so concentrated that I lose track of time. It's fun to spend time imagining what this artist wants to express while painting.  

It has been for a long time.
My Blog has just Started again,
I decided to write my blog in English.
Nowadays, I'm learning English in my free time.
When I started learning this, it became very interesting for me, who is enthusiastic about everything.
I want to improve my English so that I can do it when I have to use English someday.

By the way, I went to Igaueno for the first time with my family a few weeks ago, not far from my house.
My first impression of this town was that it was very quiet, traditional, and beautiful.
We ate the Udo noodle which was typically arranged deliciously for lunch.
This dish was the most special udon I had ever eaten and was very impressive.
In fact, the time was around 12:30, but unfortunately, our next customer was sold out.


The hotel is a renovation of an old Japanese house, and although there is no TV in the room, it made me feel more relaxed.
The dinner was completely French and cooked with local ingredients.
Needless to say, it was a very delicious meal.






















The next day, we went to Nara and visited Tohshodaiji Temple which is a world heritage site.
Fortunately, there were a few visitors so we were able to spend a calm time and were very healed.
If it weren't for Corona, it would have been crowded with many tourists.
Nara is an ancient capital of Japan and there are many deers around the streets and parks so we have to pay attention to driving a car.

We visited the Nara hotel for lunch.
The hotel is a traditional hotel used by His Majesty the Emperor, the royal family and foreign celebrities.
I've been there before, but it's a prestigious hotel that I hesitate to enter.
This hotel's restaurant is famous for afternoon tea as well.
We were really happy with our lunch.











Only two days short trip but we could enjoy it very much.