Ichikawa Volunteer Interpreters' Society sponsors a bus tour every year and as one of the itinerant foreigners in their circle (I'm not a member, because I am not fluent in two languages) I was invited again this year. The trip was to two attractions in Chiba Prefecture. First, the Kikkoman Soy Sauce factory and second to Mt Nyotai. As you can see from the picture, they gave us samples at Kikkoman. It was really quite interesting to observe the process for making this staple seasoning.
I was also interested to meet a family who are from the Philippines working with Navigators here in the Tokyo area. It's indeed a small world.
It was a good tour. While sitting in the restaurant at lunchtime on the side of the mountain we experienced a small earthquake. I thought it a particularly apt place to be. One could just picture the whole building just sliding down the mountainside into those lovely rice fields below.
