First Few Days in Japan- Tosayamadacho Igenoki

The flight to Japan was good. Everything was on time and people were very helpful directing me to where I needed to go when I transferred terminals at Hanaeda in Tokyo. Customs in Japan went very very quickly and with a two hour layover to pickup bags, clear customs and get on my next flight I actually waited around for an hour. This was much preferred to missing my flight. Kochi airport is small and similar size to Hamilton airport in Canada. Cab prices are similar if not a bit cheaper than Canada (in Kochi at least).

My first night in Japan was just relaxing at home and getting settled in before passing right out. Since I still can't sleep on planes I really was right out.  I never thought Japanese futons would be so comfy but it really is like sleeping in a marsh mellow.

I live in a three story traditional house right on the Monobe River. With the exception of the basement all of the floors have two full walls of sliding glass doors. The basement only has one. The view is amazing and it is so very pretty and bright to wake up in the bedroom.

View from my house in Japan

When I stumbled out of bed at 7am on my first morning there was a Long-tailed Tit sitting outside of our kitchen window. I proceeded to create the perfect spot for myself in the house.  A comfy chair with fluffy blankets and a view of the river and mountains so I can watch birds and drink my bowl of tea (no this is not a Japanese thing, I just don't have a mug yet!). Now I do this every morning!

My spot

 The birds I have seen from my balcony were:
Carrion Crow
Japanese Cormorant
Mallard
Gadwall
Japanese Tit
White Wagtail
Long-tailed Tit
Gray Heron

Gray Heron

Black-eared Kite(subsp. of Black Kite)
Little Grebe
Brown-eared Bulbul

Brown-eared Bulbul

Japanese Wagtail
Daurian Redstart
Common Kingfisher
Gray Wagtail
Dusky Warbler
Eurasian Siskin
Pale Thrush

Pale Thrush

 The Kochi University of Technology Kami Campus has large gardens with part of the area forested, a small pond and a section of open area. This is the only place I have seen a lawn in all of Japan since most of peoples yards are ornamental or vegetable gardens.

Kochi University of Technology, Kami Campus Pond

During a walk around the Kochi University of Technology campus I also saw:
Japanese White-eye (very cute little birds like vireos)

Japanese White-eye

Eurasian Turtle Dove
Rock Pigeon
Eastern Buzzard

Eastern Buzzard

Brown-eared Bulbul

Brown-eared Bulbul

Pale Thrush
Eyebrowed Thrush
Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker

 Daurian Restarts are particularly bright and when I followed one I ended up walking a path away from the roads and up into the hills. A walk in the hills around Todoroki Shrine I was able to see Goldcrest and Red-flanked Bluetail as well as many of the birds I had seen already. This is a very nice walk and I expect it will always be a good morning stroll. The shrine itself is very inconspicuous and I wasn't really sure that I was actually at a shrine since it looks more like a house but with an arch at the entrance.

Todoroki Shrine, Tosayamada, Japan

Williams colleges have been very very welcoming and since I was arriving and a student was leaving we went out as a group for BBQ. All you can eat is quite common in Japan from the sounds of it. I was a bit jetlagged still, which for me comes with a bit of a loss of appetite but the food was amazing!

On the 31st we went to Kochi City as a group to see the eclipse from a rooftop but it got cloudy right when it was supposed to be starting and then started to rain so we ended up going to vanburger (this is literally a guy selling burgers out of his van, not even a food truck) for dinner and walking around the streets for a while in Kochi City.  I am sure I will go there again and have more to say about it but the city is very brightly lit and the parts I passed were very full of shops and restaurants.