Sakata with a population of almost 100,000 is in Yamagata Prefecture. However, it was 127,000 in 1960.   Many immigrants to Hawaii came from this area.   From the 17th to 19th century, Sakata was very prosperous because it was a shipping route for the Sea of Japan into the country, November is the wettest month, but it was sunny yesterday.   This city escaped damage in World War II, with only one air raid.   The Sakata Festival from May 19-21 is their major historical event.   You can catch the bullet train from Tokyo to Niigata, then transfer north to Sakata. City most known for the 2013 film,  Oshin  (click on it to watch the entire movie), which followed the 297 15-minute episodes of  Oshin , the serialized morning television drama, which aired in 1983 and 1984.   Here is a typical episode . I had never before heard of Sakata, but if you decide to visit, here is Trip Advisor link on  Things to do in Sakata . We decided to skip any tour today and essentially did nothing.  We woke up

If you've visited this blog site, you know that I have been living at a senior's community now for almost a decade.  Early in my stay here I joked about 15 Craigside perhaps being Purgatory: COULD 15 CRAIGSIDE BE PURGATORY? MY LIFE IN PURGATORY Life here at 15 Craigside is actually very close to Purgatory.  Here is what I did just during the past 24 hours or so: First, a few things about this place.  They run a clean and safe ship.  For example, mask wearing is back.  Why?  Not sure, for no resident is currently infected.  About the next photo, I caught perhaps a 1000 cockroaches in Hoy Hoy traps during my 32-year stay at the adjacent Craigside apartment, most on my penthouse roof.  Here, I have yet to see even one in my rooms.  However, I still use Hoy Hoy ( and I'll report on this Japanese device sometime soon ) traps on my small lanai, and in my stay here have caught around ten roaches.  All very large.  So they surround us. All that cleaning allows us to better see rain