# Trip to Takefu



## robert flynt (Oct 13, 2014)

Donna and I have not had time to stop up till now. The Kino ( Takefu Steel) family made a schedule for us and all we had to do is meet one of their people in the hotel lobby at 9:00am every morning and off we would go. They would not allow us pay for anything. The first day we went too the home office and toured plant. Could not take pictures in the plant because of the proprietary procedures but it was interesting. That night they took us to a traditional Japanese restaurant where we were treated to a meal that was so many courses that we lost count after 10. The servers were dressed in Comoros and we sat on the floor. The Saki flowed freely and I had to put my hand over my glass to try to stop the flow, kinda lost count of how many I had. We also lost count of how many courses we had after 10. We got so full we couldn't hold any more and when they brought out another course Donna forgot herself and blurted out " On no please not more food" which prompted everyone to burst out laughing. We all had to walk home because of the O tolerance to drinking and driving. It was around 8:30 at night and Kino-san took us by a Shinto shrine so he could show us how to ring a bell and say a pray the proper way. The next morning Kaoruku, Sales manager and daughter to Kino-san, picked us up and off we went to knife village. All though there was not enough time for me to make a knife, it was very interesting. From there we went to the paper village for the girls to make some paper. The next stop was the chrysanthemum festival to see more varieties of this flower than I knew existed and what they did with them was unbelievable and of course more food in between. Kaoruko drove us back to the hotel. Tuesday Rikako , with the technical department picked us up and took us to Ono castle which was located on the top of a mountain, overlooking the city, which we had to walk up to. The architecture was wonderful but I found the museum, which was filled with old wood tools and other useful artifacts , the most interesting. From here we went to a temple facility so large it consisted of 40 buildings with phenomenal architecture. Had to walk around in slippers so small half my heal hung off of and I had to curl my toes to keep them on. Then it was back home to bed.
Will continue later, Donna just told me about the toilet in our bathroom here having a but wash feature she said made her hemmroid feel good!!!

Reactions: Way Cool 9 | +Karma 1


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## Molokai (Oct 13, 2014)

Robert, glad you are having good time. Keep us photo updated. 
That samurai armour us awesome. Imagine that on a battlefield. Scary

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## NYWoodturner (Oct 13, 2014)

Sounds like a fantastic trip Robert! Thanks for the update. Keep the pics coming!


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## ripjack13 (Oct 13, 2014)

robert flynt said:


> *Donna just told me about the toilet in our bathroom here having a but wash feature she said made her hemmroid feel good!!!*



  

TMI....

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## Kevin (Oct 13, 2014)

Excellent trip report Robert! I can smell all the aromas from your report. Hopefully the benjo ditch is one that is no longer present. I bet the still have them in some of the more rural areas but not sure. 

Can't wait for Part 2!


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## Kevin (Oct 13, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> TMI....



The bidet is a French invention. But the Japanese are technology fanatics as everyone knows, so incorporating all the best technology into toilets should be no surprise. They did not have bidets in Japan when I lived there. At least I don't remember any. I used the traditional squat toilets while I lived there - they didn't have all those fancy toilets yet. This was the kind of toilet we had in our house and you did all your business here either standing or squatting. No sitting . . . no need for a magazine rack here!






Now they have all kinds of fancy stuff to please your bum . . . .






They often go way over the top with technology. Would you entrust your _mini you_ to this steel claw? I don't know about y'all but we Irish ain't got nothin to spare down there laddy, I ain't about to risk any of it in a steel vise!

Reactions: Funny 4


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## ironman123 (Oct 13, 2014)

Robert, glad you and Donna are having such a great time making forever memories. Beautiful architecture for sure. Yep, lots of walking. Have fun.


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## SENC (Oct 13, 2014)

Great report, can't wait for more!


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## DKMD (Oct 13, 2014)

Sounds like fun! Drinking saki, eating good food, and walking around in heels... Well, two out of three ain't bad!

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## Foot Patrol (Oct 13, 2014)

Robert glad you had such a good time. Did you get in before the typhoon hit. I was glad we got out of Tokyo on Saturday as it was suppose to hit on Monday. Looking forward to Part 2 and if you got any steel to sell or trade.


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## robert flynt (Oct 14, 2014)

ripjack13 said:


> TMI....


Yeah it was wasn't it!!!

Reactions: Like 3 | Way Cool 1


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## ripjack13 (Oct 14, 2014)

Great pictures!!


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## robert flynt (Oct 14, 2014)

Kevin said:


> The bidet is a French invention. But the Japanese are technology fanatics as everyone knows, so incorporating all the best technology into toilets should be no surprise. They did not have bidets in Japan when I lived there. At least I don't remember any. I used the traditional squat toilets while I lived there - they didn't have all those fancy toilets yet. This was the kind of toilet we had in our house and you did all your business here either standing or squatting. No sitting . . . no need for a magazine rack here!
> 
> View attachment 61751
> 
> ...


Kevin, It was one like your second picture. Donna and I got a good laugh out of that third picture. That third picture would scare the pee right out of me!

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## robert flynt (Oct 14, 2014)

Foot Patrol said:


> Robert glad you had such a good time. Did you get in before the typhoon hit. I was glad we got out of Tokyo on Saturday as it was suppose to hit on Monday. Looking forward to Part 2 and if you got any steel to sell or trade.


We left Seki yesterday and spent the night in Tsukuba. We are now in Osaka so Donna can shop till I drop. So far we have missed both storms, protected by the mountains I guess. Any amount of rain fell at night so we didn't even see that. Lucky I guess.

Reactions: Like 1


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