19:13. Upon arrival in Kusatsu we had a barbeque by Biwako, apparently the largest lake in Japan, with Chie's sister Kana and some of her friends.
19:13. Kana (on the left hand side) and her friends enjoying delicious Japanese style barbeque food, including Yakiniku sauce, which is very delicious indeed.
19:14. Me pulling a strange face (I wasn't really that miserable!) with some of Kana's friends.
19:14. The girls again.
19:19. Soa soa here waiting for more barbequed stuff.
19:22. Nice group picture, but way too dark!
19:24. A view across Biwako using the long exposure on my camera. I thought this was rather nice.
19:25. My hand, I think I took this accidentally while fiddling about with focus lock.
19:25. A spider in it's web.
20:09. Must be time for hanabi (fireworks).
20:10. Japanese sparlkers are a bit more fun than English ones.
20:11. Chie with a red sparkler.
20:11. I'm sure the embers of a barbeque aren't a safe way to light fireworks, but never mind.
20:13. Me and Chie illuminated by eerie green light from a sparkler.
20:13. Hmmm, maybe the flash is on this time?
20:16. Errr, not too sure what I was trying to take a picture of here...
20:16. A bit blurry.
20:16. There's something wonderful about signalling peace with one hand, whilst holding what is effectively an incendary with the other.
20:16. Getting a bit smokey here!
20:18. I don't recall English sparklers being multi-coloured like this, but I could be wrong.
20:19. Some slightly more dramatic fireworks now...
20:20. ...oooh aaaah etc. Hard to capture in still pictures, but trust me it was a very nice display.
21:09. Back in Kana's flat now, and I found myself in need of a beer. However, as anyone with knowledge of Japan will quickly be able to tell from the can, this is actually Happoh-shu - fake beer. However, it has the same ABV as normal beer and tastes the same, so what is fake about it I'm not sure. (It is, however, a bit cheaper)
21:10. Chie opening up something or other.
21:16. Mmmmmm Asahi. Probably my favourite Japanese beer at present.