As of today, Kyoto can boast of having a Costco located within the prefectural boundaries! Today will be a good test for those who live in the area to see how traffic will be and see how best to get to the store. It will also be a good test for employees who have hopefully been well-trained for the fast pace that Costco works at. I’m heading there right now! Of course, by bicycle.

At Hashimoto Elementary now with Noah as we wait to walk in the Yawata city parade with the Hashimoto Elementary baseball team. After that, we have practice and then out for all-you-can-eat yakiniki dinner with the team. Update: We walked around Yawata for about 45 minutes or so through the Hashimoto area up the mountain and back down to the school. As we walked, many people came outside their homes and greeted us. It wasn’t anything like parades back in America where businesses, schools or organizations ride around through town on floats they’ve made, march and/or play music to show the...

Finally, we were able to see the aurora under starry skies! Once again, it was foggy at first. But this time, the fog lifted earlier and revealed more star and aurora than we have seen the entire trip. The aurora was also a bit stronger tonight and wavy.

While it wasn’t the best aurora conditions we could have asked for, it was good enough to see the Northern Lights lighting up the sky. We woke up several times throughout the night in order to see the lights. Early around 8pm, it was too foggy, so we ate dinner and then checked periodically until around midnight. After midnight, we went to sleep and woke up about every hour or so until around 5am, which is when we had the best view of the aurora because the fog had lifted. Here are some of the the shots we got the first good night of visibility.

We are out in front of the house we are staying in right now waiting and hoping to see the aurora. It is supposed to be Active tonight. Anyone else out looking for it tonight? September 26, 2011 10:45pm Fairbanks, Alaska time