Hornet Sighting, Nightmares Do Come True

The mythical Japanese Hornet has been sighted. On our recent weekend adventure to Kurama and Kibune, the large beast was spotted on the lower portion of the trail. It looked tenacious and fierce, proud of its notorious reputation. I'm almost certain that it smelled the fear emanating out of my body (or maybe that was just the sweat from the 90+ degree heat). Either way, he gave us a dance that clearly said "stay away" and we obliged. One thing we've learned, don't mess with the Juju in Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. This guy was left well enough alone.

Update: We've come across these hornets on other hikes. They appear to live in the woodland hills around Kyoto.  No stings yet, but we'll post on the damage if it occurs.

Where it all began

Kev and I met while living in Seattle. Prior to knowing each other, we both signed up for kickball teams to play on Tuesday nights at Green Lake Park. Although Kev's team chose a series of offensive names, our team immediately chose to be known as "We're Huge In Japan." A rowdy bunch, we wore our baby blue t-shirts and japanese, hand-drawn flag tattoos with pride.

On the first night of kickball, still not knowing each other, our teams battled it out (both verbally over their terrible name and physically on the field). Three years later and a tour of the mid and west states of the US, we are moving to Japan....to truly be HUGE in Japan.

Standing at 5'11" Kev's height will be 4 inches taller than the average Japanese male, and at 5'7" I will be a whopping 5 inches taller...And as if standing almost a full head taller than everyone around us won't be awkward enough, the average weight of Japanese males is 140lbs and woman is 110lbs. I won't speak for Kev, but my skeletal structure alone weighs more than most Japanese women...can't wait to go clothing shopping!

Can you spot the classic signs of Japan?