Hobbies in Japan

A couple days ago in Tokyo a British English teacher was found murdered. It's a really tragic story, (with weird twists and contridicting info as the story continues to come out). I didn't want to mention it, but it shouldn't be ignored if it can help someone. It doesn't make me nervous, so please don't be nervous for me. I'm not going to strangers' houses (although some reports say it was her other boyfriend) and my town actually has never had a recorded murder case. These terrible things happen everywhere. Even though Japan is really really safe (albeit quirky)- I still keep my guard up.

In happy news, while Japan is a dry spot when it comes to letterboxing, it is rockin' out with geocaching! I found and fell in love with letterboxing the beginning of last year. Let me tell you why:
1. It's free
2. It's gets you outside
3. See places and wildlife that you have never seen
4. Adds zest to an out-of-town trip
5. You feel like you're a part of a secret society
6. You can pretend you're a pirate on a mission
7. It encourages you to leave the place better than you found it.
Thus the term "Cache-In, Trash-Out"

I went out to find Japan's only known (that is listed) only to find it MIA. Now I have everything ready and assembled to make Japan's only known letterbox. Perhaps I will carve the stamp tonight! UPDATE: There is a new letterbox in Tokyo, placed a mere week after I was there!

Geocaching is much like letterboxing, except you use GPS to find the hidden treasure instead of clues (mostly). As just mentioned, there is also treasure. Take something from the box and leave something. There is also no use of hand-carved stamps.

Well... this means only one thing. I have to buy a GPS!

Another occasional hobby I had was http://www.wheresgeorge.com where you can track and follow American or Canadian money. I used to see a lot of stamped bills at the dry cleaners and I would always enter them in. Most are still local, but one made it to PA and one went to TN!