Due to the bears in Akita prefecture, you actually aren’t allowed to go into the forests or on hikes around nature. This is both to protect the bears natural habitat, and to protect humans. So, most of the cool things I see in nature are in the local parks and gardens. I think, this week, it had to be the koi. They are genuinely the biggest fish I have ever seen, and seemed very excited to see us! Our personal theory is that they normally get fed from the bridge we were standing on, and were hoping that we would have food!
In other nature news, I properly explored some local parks for the first time and really enjoyed the way the parks here are a combination of local forest and walking paths. Now that it is October, it is becoming crisper here, and the leaves are finally changing. With that, the bears are settling down, and everything is getting ready for winter! I saw way more animal sightings than in previous weeks, as I got to spend a lot more time in parks and an entire day at the beach!
