2018-06-02, Work Outing to Shizuoka-ken

There was a company trip in early June.  There are 4 different departments/schools under the Education Network company.  Mine is the kindergarten.  There is a weekly, one hour class program, an after school (4 hours /day) program and something to do with music and field trips and I don't quite understand what...  This trip was for everyone and about 34 teachers attended.  The company rented a bus and we left at 8:30 on a Saturday morning.  Each year they go to a different place and from what I'd heard it was always fun and interesting so I was excited.  More so because we were going to my Japanese 'home town' prefecture  - Shizuoka.  It's beautiful there with mountains, lakes, Mt. Fuji and the ocean and lots of green tea plantations. 

After stopping at a rest stop that was next to a very pretty lake we went to a fish market for lunch which was an all you can eat sushi place.  They put out a buffet of sushi, along with rice topped with baby fish and delicious miso soup with tuna.  Yummy!  We had some time to walk around the market where I picked up some delicious tea.

On to the sightseeing.  It would have been nice to have more time to explore but we saw most of what we came to see.  This is a shrine for Ieyasu Tokugawa.  We took a cable car down to the shrine, walked around quickly and then rode back up.

I loved these bamboo poles with designs cut into them.  Evidently they light them up at night. 
I'd love to have them in my backyard.

I was really looking forward to our next stop - the beach!!!  We could see the Izu Peninsula from the shore - that's where I lived as an exchange student.  We could also see just the top of Mt. Fuji through the clouds in the distance.  The view is the one of the views the ukiyoe (woodblock print) artist Hiroshige painted.

Izu

If you look very closely (or can enlarge this picture) you can just make out the top of Mt. Fuji peeking over the clouds.

I did put my feet in the water which was so warm compared to the California ocean! 

A little ice cream and back on the bus for the trip home.

On the bus rides there were different games to play and we were provided with snacks as well.  The staff that organized the trip really put in a lot of time and effort and it was a very nice day.