When I camped in my car a week ago, we stayed near Fujimidai. Fujimidai means a place where you can see Mt. Fuji. I was lucky because the evening rain cleared the air. When I walked up to Fujimidai the next morning, I could see Mt. Fuji far away just above the Southern Alps. Then, as I was driving down the mountain later that morning, I passed a car coming up the narrow road. There were cameras on the roof of the car. It was a Google Street View car, and it was taking photos of everything! I was excited at first, but then I thought, “Is there anywhere that Google hasn’t been? Traveling is no longer an adventure because you can see every place online before you go there.”  (130 words)

The artistic gymnastics started last week. I first heard about the Japanese gymnasts from my sister, who lives in the U.S. She said in an email, “I don’t know who I saw, Hashimoto or Oka, but he was fantastic!” I found out later that the Japanese men’s team won the gold medal, and Oka Shinnosuke got the gold in the Men’s All-Round. Then I saw Simone Biles do her incredible floor exercise. The American women’s team won the gold medal. Then Biles got the gold in the Women’s All-Round, and her teammate, Sunisa Lee, won the bronze medal. I was happy to see both countries doing so well. (108 words)

I bought my car because I wanted to go camping in it. If I put down the back seat, I can lie down and sleep in a sleeping bag. Last summer, I went into the mountains with my wife, and it was wonderful. The stars were beautiful, and it was so cool that we had to wear a jacket. We came back this year. It was cloudy in the afternoon, and it rained in the evening, but it cleared up by the morning. When I got up at 5:30, it was a wonderful 15 degrees. I went for a walk with my binoculars, my camera, and a field guide. I could hear Japanese warblers (“uguisu”) everywhere. They are hard to see in the trees, but I finally saw one with my binoculars, and I got some great pictures of it, too. I felt very proud of myself.  (147 words)

Marco Polo wrote that Japan was a land of gold about 700 years ago.  The Sado gold mines were a big reason. In fact, Japan was one of the world’s largest est producers of gold at the beginning of the Edo period, and Japanese gold was very pure. It was used to make money, of course, but it was also used in paintings and on lacquerware. Now the Sado gold mines are in the news again. UNESCO registered them as a World Heritage site on July 27. The Japanese government wanted to register these mines for many years, but the South Korean government was against the plan because many Koreans had to work there during World War II. South Korea okayed the plan after Japan promised to include an exhibit showing how hard life was for these workers. (138 words)

One of Japan’s most famous manga characters is Doraemon, and this year, Shogakukan is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the comic books. Who, or what, is Doraemon? He is a robot cat. He came from the future with the great-great grandson of Nobita, Sewashi. Sewashi wants to help Nobita because he is worried about him. Nobita isn’t a bad kid, but he is lazy, and he isn’t very talented. Doraemon always tries to help him, and they have many adventures together. I first saw Doraemon on TV when my children were small. I got into the anime almost as much as they did. I loved Doraemon’s wonderful gadgets, and I really wanted an anywhere door and a small light!   (119 words)