A neat journey through the mysterious land of extrusive igneous rocks! Otherwise known as volcanic rocks, these dark, brownish, blackish, reddish chunks of rock form from cooled lava.

We stopped by a little oni (Japanese demon) themed park today near Karuizawa, Nagano, Japan, to check out an old lava flow at the foot of Mt. Asama, a currently smoking, semi-dormant volcano.

It was a wonderful little place, and with the beautiful red Buddhist temple and entrance amongst the black, jagged rocks, it seemed as if we had just entered some sort of final stage of a video game or had arrived on another planet.

I think maybe pictures can do this place far more justice than lengthy descriptions, so perhaps that is the route we’ll take today.

Enjoy.

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At the end of our walk, and after visiting the temples, saying our prayers, and ringing the large steel bell for good luck, we happened upon a gift shop where kids (or anyone, really) can paint their own ceramic figures. The shopmaster then fires the freshly painted piece in his kiln, and it comes out nice and colorful and glossy.

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An excellent day was had by all, if I may say so myself.

~*~

~KafkA

!

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Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as DLive and Twitter. (Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!)