Wednesday 13 - The Shirakami mountains behind Iwasaki. When Fukaura and Iwasaki (different from Iwasaka, which was already part of Fukaura - how confusing??!) merged, the BOE was moved from the town office in Fukaura to the modern, spacious, open-plan sofa-packed sub-office at Iwasaki - thus condemning half of us to an hour-long commute and a life with no order-in lunches! I won't actually be at the BOE any more but am starting Wednesday visits to Iwasaki junior high, which is hilarious (with 51 kids it's the smallest junior high in the county - and boy are they genki!). Iwasaki is (was) the last village before Akita and is (still is) tucked right in against the fantabulous Shirakami, which makes for a scenic drive.