Henna-na and Imari

Japan recently opened the first robot staffed hotel in the world. Andrea and I took a little walk down there to check it out. It was interesting and really strange living up to its name of Henna-na or "weird hotel". It was really interesting, but part of me still wonders what the point is of having a robot receptionist. Even thought the velociraptor was supposed to speak fluent English we weren't able to get it to really communicate with us, so they have a long way to go in making it user-friendly for foreign visitors. 

Beautiful orchids are a gift given for good luck in a new venture, the hotel was covered in huge beautiful orchids!

Reception area

Storage lockers and the entrance 

Hot foods vending machine and sitting area. 

Afterwards Leisa and I took a drive to the Okawachiyama village of Imari. It is a beautiful little area with several ancient kilns and fancy pottery shops. It is just such a pretty area to walk around, and the shopping is a plus. Okawachiyama was tucked into the surrounding mountains to hide and protect the secrets of an ancient kiln method called Nebeshima Porcelain. The artist there are still known for making high-quality (and expensive) pieces. We went for the summer Furin festival where you can purchase porcelain wind chimes that are popular in Japan in the summer. 

I loved how these stones were placed to direct the flowing water in a lovely pattern.

These chimes played a little tune when you crossed over the bridge

Decorated handrails on the bridges

I loved how beautiful the artwork on these were

This shop had a bunch of umbrellas hanging from the ceiling...we quickly realized it was to collect all the poop from the birds nests in the beams...interesting ingenuity

I love that even the town map was made out of porcelain tiles.

Some beautiful big Furin outside the largest store