Endoshima

At the moment there are lots of plum trees coming into blossom. They are so beautiful and vary from yellow, white, bright and pale pink. Sometimes there is a beautiful tree flowering in quiet an ugly setting. The one above is on Endoshima Island.

I went there last Saturday as it was going to be a clear day and hoped to get good views of Fuji. It was a clear day in Tokyo and Endoshima but a cloudy day over Fuji- very disappointing as it is a quiet famous viewing point (the fore cast tomorrow is for a clear day so I’ll try it again).

I meet Kate, an Australian artist from Warnambool, which is sister city to the Kanagawa district, where Endoshima and Kamakura are located. She is here as an exchange cultural ambassador, teaching English in local high schools and writing for the local paper in Warnambool. We had a nice day talking about life and art, and exploring the island including going up the tower for fantastic views of the coast.

When I arrived at 8am there where only a few Black Kites about, although more than at Kamakura. I had been thinking about re-enacting my encounter with a Black Kite and though that it would be good location given their greater numbers and boldness. Around lunch time though I started to re-think that. There were really large numbers of Kites and as they don’t usually hang out in flocks there was a lot of territorial dive bombing going on- handing out free food would just be asking to be attacked. (I have had a niggling doubt about the worthiness of this as an artwork anyway- I have found better option- will blog later). There are 15 black kites in the shot above. The warnings where a little more explicit here than in Kamakura (Tsunami signs too).

There are lots of cats in Endoshima. They to be domesticated strays, although this one looks like he is a pet.