To our disappointment, we learned that the early blooming of the Sakura ten days ago....stopped, with cold weather.  Thus, the chances were that we would not see anything.  But we took the JR Yamanote Line to Shinjuku Station and walked to Shinjuku Park.  There is a small charge, but the guards said that we should come back in two weeks, so we did not even enter.  This photo was from  four years ago when on April 4 there were a lot of blossoms . We then took the Marunouchi Red Line Tokyo Metro to Ginza Station, and transferred to the Hibiya Line to Ueno Park.  Incidentally we this time had no Japan Rail Pass, and paid for these rides using a Suica card which we added around $50.  This amount should cover several days of riding about in Tokyo. At Ueno Park, we were met by my Blue Bar Pigeon.  Looked up the walk path where in the past it was all white and pink.  This time, nothing.  The season officially starts here tomorrow, March 22 with the  Ueno Sakura Festa 2024 .  Lights go on and

One more craziness about the frozen Iowa caucus today.   Republican candidates have spent $123 million in advertising so far.   With such low temperatures throughout the state tonight, it would not be surprising if only 123,000 show up to vote.  $1,000/vote????  In the  2020 presidential election, $14.4 billion  was spent to gain 155.4 million votes.  That calculates to around $10/vote.  Does this make any sense?  Incidentally, the first official primary election state for Democrats is South Carolina, although only Joe Biden will get votes.  Bet you did not know that  President Grover Cleveland is on the newest $1000 bill , which has been discontinued.  The  appraised value if you have one is $5000. We're better off in the USA than anywhere else.  I say this on the basis of the following from  Wikipedia  ranking household expenditure per capita/year: #1      United States          $43,931 #2      Hong Kong             $37,893 #3      Luxembourg           $33,647 #4      Bermuda   

Tried to get a tour to visit the wagyu beef farm, sturgeon caviar facility and mango orchards, but they have no such thing.  So the next best thing is to send you to some of my earlier visits to Miyazaki.  As for example, this was in 2015:       GAWA Day #7:  Miyazaki Wagyu Beef--THE BEST STEAK IN THE WORLD Miyazaki Wagyu has won various awards from the industry, including the most honoured "National Wagyu Award" by the Wagyu Registry Association in Japan. The award, also known as the "Wagyu's Academy Award", is given to the best cattle once every five years. Each time, more than 400 wagyu from some 30 places of origin would compete in the event which is attended by imperial family members. The beef are judged by their colour, fat distribution, meat fibres and taste. The National Wagyu Award has now gone to Miyazaki Wagyu two consecutive times meaning it has held the reigns for ten years! With its outstanding meat quality and breeding ability, the Miyazaki Wagyu