Well again we slept before midnight on New Years Eve, so that we could get up early to catch the sunrise. Fortunately in Japan being winter for New Year, the sun doesn't rise so early as in Australia which is in summer at New Years' time. However, in Japan we were invited to watch the sunrise from a mountain and we had to climb it first! Our Neighbour Mr T, arrived at our house very early on New Years morning to pick us up a bring us to the base of the mountain.
Soon after we started climbing the mountain it began to snow, I can still recall the feeling of the cold snow brushing against my face as we ascended. When we got the spot where we could get a view towards the sunrise we found that the sky was too overcast. So we decided to climb to the summit instead. At the summit we drank warm Sake which had dried fugu (blowfish) soaked in it, so it tasted like dried fish and alcohol. We ate lots of other types of dried seafood, and the drink didn't help wash away the fishy taste! Anyway after we were up there for about an hour the sun came out between some clouds, so the shot is of the first sun I saw on New Years Day, about an hour or so after sunrise.
After returning home from the mountain we caught a train to Shimamoto (about 6kms to the Southwest of Nagaokakyo). We attended the New Year service at Shimamoto Church and caught up with our friends the Sakamotos and other members of Shimamoto Church. We stayed there for lunch.
After we got home from Shimamoto our landlady brought over this “Osechi” (a special New Years Meal) for Ritsuko and I, which we ate for dinner.