Week 34: September 23-29, 2013 Serving in Kumamoto Japan

Preparation Day, a day to prepare for the rest of the week.  We loving talking to our children and grandchildren on Skype.  This week we had a call with four of our sons in Newark, California.  The previous week-end they had completed an Ultra Ragnar, from San Francisco to Calistoga.

An  Ultra Ragnar has a relay team of 6 (compared to a normal Ragnar of 12), which consisted of four son's and two nephews.  They finished in above average time.  This was a fantastic accomplishment.

Here they are at the finish line box.

After the phone calls and letting the missionaries use our computers to email home and friends, we took a 20 mile ride to try again to visit a less active church member who was not home again.  Monday was the holiday in Japan for the start of Autumn, so many people we off work.  Here are some sites on this ride.

A beautiful Zinnia blossom,

and Sunflowers,

A set of rapids on the Shirakawa river,

The sun peeking through some clouds, no rain today.

The rice is now ready to harvest.  See these stalks heavy with rice.

In this field the rice has been cut down apparently by hand and awaits drying in the sun before thrashing and winnowing.

On Saturday we drove to Nobeoka to inspect the missionaries apartment and pick up the zone leaders and bring them back the same day.  It turned out we had perfect timing to stop at the Tsujunkyo Stone bridge.

Tsujunkyo Bridge is the Japan’s largest stone-arch aqueduct bridge. The bridge was constructed in 1854 by Yasunosuke Futa, a local official in Yabe, in order to supply water to the Shiraito Plateau where people were suffering from a shortage of water. The water is supplied from the upper stream of the Sasahara River roughly 6 km away, and the total length of the water passage is approximately 30 km, and the irrigated area is an extensive 100 hectares. The bridge has the capacity to supply 15,000 m2 of water in 24 hours, in order to irrigate the paddy fields. It was designated as a national cultural property in 1960. The bridge is well known for its water release during the Hassaku Festival. The length of the water passage is 126 m. The bridge itself is 75.6 m in length with a width of 6.3 m and a height of bridge of 20.2 m. The radius of its arch is 27.6 m.

Here are some of pictures starting with a shot near the parking lot.

Now more up close.

With Luetta in it to prove we were really there.

People on the other side of the river getting ready for the show.

look how small the people look on the top of the bridge, there are no guard rails to protect people from a misstep, thus I didn't go up there.

Notice the two holes in the bridge one above the other. 

The man in the Red cap has a sledge hammer that you can't see.

The top one goes first, then

the bottom.

 

More proof we were there.

Luetta was brave and went to the top and got this shot of water gushing out on both sides and no guard railings.

How you enjoyed your electronic trip to the Tsujunkyo Bridge.