The Giant Buddha of Kamakura

The Giant Buddha of Kamakura

Boarding the train to Kamakura.

Before entering a temple, we must purify ourselves first by washing our hands and mouths.

The instructions for our helicopter ride off of the Hiei. No photography, grr. We tried to ask how many mileage points we needed to earn a free flight or upgrade to 1st Class but the pilots didn't understand.

Aerial photo of USS Mustin and JS Hiei, taken by Kanzaki Hiroshi.

Aerial photo of USS Mustin and JS Hiei, taken by Kanzaki Hiroshi.

Aerial photo of USS Mustin and JS Hiei, taken by Kanzaki Hiroshi.

Proper eye protection before boarding a helicopter is for wusses.

I got to conn the ship during a man overboard drill, woot!

Keeping a wary eye on those little boats.

LTJG Bob Thomas is the OOD for our entry to Etajima.

Half of our midshipmen force (we were split between Hiei and Mustin).

The sun rises as we begin to enter the passage to Kure and Etajima. We're following the Hiei, off in the distance.

Japanese conn commands.

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Alan and I in the Landing Signal Officer shack on Hiei.

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I met the photographer on the Hiei. Turns out he's the main JMSDF photographer. He said he was the only NPS photographer in the entire JMSDF.

Manning the rails as we approach Etajima.

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He showed me his office, it was stuffed with a whole array of lenses. Too bad he's a Nikon.

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We wondered what flavor "Fanta White" was. I bought one from the vending machine to find out. :(

Lunch in Kamakura, yum!

We ran into a traditional wedding at one temple.