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The son of my longtime friend, a professor in New Delhi, came to Japan with another software developer who lives in San Francisco. He also met my son in Tōkyō who is a bit of an IT entrepreneur, so I hope there will be a second generation of McCarty-Sharma collaboration. I chiefly took them to the Ōsaka Museum of history, which is stunning in its views of Ōsaka Castle, its life-sized historical displays inside from the early 8th Century on, and an Emperor's storehouse outside from the early 5th Century. The last photo is of the real Japan of bright lights in the big city. Publications and projects as a Professor in Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org #Japan #India #history #culture #Osaka #Tokyo #castle #museum #sightseeing #photography #photos (2025-12-22 ↗)

The latest honor is that researchers at universities in Tōkyō have a national grant to study podcasting for educator professional development, and they are taking my Japancasting podcast as a case study. They interviewed me by Zoom and I could enjoy recalling my innovations from 2005 in Japan, soon after podcasting started in North America. Here I'm showing some scenes from the early period, and again in collaboration with Indian colleagues, partly to reach English learners in South and Central Asia and those interested in Japan. See the Podcasts & Videos web page for most of the educational podcasts and publications about the process: https://japanned.hcommons.org/multimedia #OnlineEducation #OpenAccess #OER #podcasting #podcast #podcasts #education #HigherEducation #Japan #Japanese #BilingualEducation #bilingual #LanguageTeaching #InterculturalCommunication #academia #culture #linguistics #language #languages #EFL #ESL (2025-12-14 ↗)

One more batch of striking photos of the temples Nanzenji (南禅寺) and Eikandō (永観堂) along the Eastern Mountain Range of Kyōto or the Path of Philosophy (哲学の道). The first batch, including climbing up the huge gate of Nanzenji, is at https://hcommons.social/@SteveMcCarty/115706568145190275 It hasn't been reported in the Japanese language news, but I heard sirens and ducked into the back of Nanzenji to walk along a little-known path along the mountainside by the old canal that runs from Lake Biwa to provide fresh water to Kyōto. But the rescue trucks went to the exact same place, and I saw rescue crew looking into the canal, and men going up with at least one stretcher. I didn't stick around, though, and I left, past gawking East Asian tourists. What did they want to see? I just wanted a contemplative walk, but it was an odd coincidence. Open access publications on Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org/japanology #Japan #Kyoto #autumn #maple #leaves #nature #culture #travel #Buddhism #Buddhist #temple #sightseeing #photography #photos (2025-12-13 ↗)

Last of the changing leaves, well into December, at the temples Nanzenji (南禅寺) and Eikandō (永観堂) along the Path of Philosophy (哲学の道). I climbed up the huge gate of Nanzenji to get a panoramic view. This is only a small sampling, so I can show more interesting scenes. See the captions for more details. Publications and projects as a Professor in Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org #Japan #Kyoto #autumn #maple #leaves #nature #culture #travel #Buddhism #temple #sightseeing #photography #photos (2025-12-12 ↗)

After we brought my wife's aging mother to Kyōto Station to board the Shinkansen for Nagoya, we went to the central business and tourism district of Shijō Karasuma. Our younger son and his wife had given me a coupon for any drink at a Starbucks, so I took my wife to the one by the famous Buddhist temple Rokkaku-dō (六角堂). Earlier I showed photos of it outside, and reported meeting a royal family member who runs the temple and also leads the Ikenobō (池坊) school of flower arranging, Japan's largest. For that post see permalink https://hcommons.social/@SteveMcCarty/115469151749164500 So there we were, in the best seats in a most scenic Starbucks, looking out the window at the six-sided temple building and other attractions. The first photo is taken from my seat, while the other photos are from after we went outside to see the temple area. Publications and projects as a Professor in Japan: https://japanned.hcommons.org #Japan #Japanese #Kyoto #temple #swan #willow #culture #travel #photography #photos #Starbucks (2025-12-08 ↗)