Bunsui

Last night I spent a little time wondering around Nagaoka. The pace here is much slower than Tokyo, the dress more casual, and there's no waiting in lines to get on an elevator.

From "the brochure," as of March 2000 Nagaoka has a population of 191,174. There are a couple of museums and a technical university here that I'd like to see.

There's a summer festival on August 1 to commemorate the "rebirth" of the city after it was virtually destroyed during World War II.

After dinner last night, which was a real experience in trying to order something vegetarian, I came back to the hotel wiped out, and went to bed early.

Today? I have a timetable for the buses and will take the 9:40 one to Bunsui like I did last year ... leaving in 45 minutes.