This is my first manager, Mayo, and my former fellow-teacher, Naoko. Back in May I went with a group of colleagues, past and present to visit Mayo in her hometown of Minoh on her lunch break before doing some sight-seeing...


Not so far from where we ate you can see a monkey or two when out walking! Some furry inhabitants live in the woods surrounding a famous waterfall. (Taro, who lives locally said that monkeys have been spotted in our area on very odd occasions!)The picture above is a fair bit cuter than the real thing... as I was eventually to discover.

The waterfall itself is justly renowned. It's not huge, but it's very picturesque. It was really nice when Naoko sent me a message saying "let's meet, I'll drive - we can go anywhere you want!". I'd heard of Minoh, so we settled on it as it's a perfect daytrip from us.

To get to the waterfall you walk along a long path that often has a canopy of maple leaves. I think it would be worth revisiting in Autumn!

It's nice seeing natural streams here - too often they are concreted on both sides or are basically just a canal between a street and buildings. I've gotten lost before looking for a river that's on a map, only to realise that the festering canal I've been pacing back and forth across is it!

This beautiful white koi was just moseying along - I'm not sure if I've seen one wild before (well, as wild as a carp gets). Did you notice his companion (feeling coy)? They were pretty massive. I think it would be a better idea being the same colour as the creekbed, especially with some of the visitors that come here...

Grrr!!! Is it a monkey? No, but getting warmer - not a fish, at least... has fur!

"Oh great, there's a monkey on my car". No, it wasn't our car but I'm not sure what I'd do to get rid of this guy if it was. By the time we saw him/her I'd forgotten all about the possibility of seeing them. We'd seen one on the path going up to the waterfall, but it was long after when coming back that we encountered this chap. Naoko warned me not to make eye contact as they get rather aggressive. Tough guys, huh? I think he looks like a slim, furry Ron Perlman.

See you, Minoh!