Introducing Namerikawa, Japan
Posted on August 31, 2010 1 Comment
I arrived in Japan on July 25. After a 13 hour flight where I watched The Time Traveler’s Wife (not as cheesy as I thought it would be), we landed in Tokyo, the city which would be my home for the next four days. We stayed in Shinjuku, which is the same neighborhood I stayed in on my first trip to Japan. While I normally adjust to time changes fairly well, the four days of orientation were pretty much a blur to me as I was very nervous and kept waking up at 4 a.m. Unfortunately, I barely had enough time to explore Tokyo for the second time.
I arrived in Namerikawa-shi on July 28. Namerikawa is a small town of about 30,000 people in Toyama-ken. It is situated between the Tateyama Mountain range and the Sea of Japan and is about 20 minutes away from the prefectural capital of Toyama – Toyama-shi, a city of about 400,000 people. Toyama is the pharmaceutical capital of Japan, and my town is known for the famous hotaruika, or “firefly squid.” These are squid with a type of natural fluorescent that makes them glow in the dark. I have yet to try eating the squid though I have walked near the museum several times (it’s right off the sea). Please enjoy these pictures of Namerikawa. More stories are to come!
Sheila Burt 