Greetings from Japan, where the beef prices in the grocery store don’t seem all that bad, until you realize that the posted price is per 100grams. (Multiply by 4.5 for the per pound price.) No wonder there’s mad cow disease. You’d be mad too if they were selling your flesh for these prices and you weren’t getting any of the money.

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We took a weekend vacation last weekend. Two places. We went to Gero Onsen, and Shirakawago.

Gero Onsen is a tourist town with an economy based on Onsen, the Japanese communal hot spring bath. Very relaxing and nice.

For exclusive images of the Thomas family enjoying the natural outdoor spings, please click this link.

http://www.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/livecam/monkey/index.htm

The second place we went was Shirakawago. A preserved village with Gasshou style (A-Frame, like praying hands) architecture and straw thatched roofs. Pretty amazing.

Japan does a thing where they have manhole covers that are made special to the area. Kinda neat.

A little slideshow of our fun.

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Japanese Proverb:
A good sword is the one left in its scabbard.

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