#33: Buddha and the Beast — February 2, 2013 Yesterday we told you about our strawberry-picking excursion to Tochigi Prefecture. Today we continued our tour of the area, exploring the architectural landmarks of Tochigi City. Once the prefectural capital (an honor now belonging to Utsunomiya), Tochigi City was an important trading center prior during the 1800s. Many of the stone kura (Japanese storehouses) and other buildings from that era still stand today.  Atop the buildings are roof ornaments designed to resemble mythical creatures, such as the one in the picture above.

  #32: Strawberry Fields for Buddha — February 1, 2013 Tochigi Prefecture, about 75 miles north of Tokyo, is the strawberry capital of Japan. The berries are grown year-round; outdoors during the warmest months, and in houthouses during the off-season. Many farms open their strawberry fields to tourists. For a small fee, visitors can pick and eat as many strawberries as they want within a certain amount of time (usually 30 minutes). We invited the Manga University Daibutsu to pick strawberries with us at one of Tochigi's premier farms. A half-hour and 50 strawberries each later, we were all experiencing...

  #31: A Month of Buddha Goodness — January 31, 2013 We've completed the first month of our Buddha 365 project! But there's still plenty of time to jump on the Manga University Daibutsu bandwagon. Here's to 11 more months of daily Buddha goodness!

  #30: Mobile Suit Buddha — January 30, 2013 A couple of weeks ago we found the Manga University Daibutsu hanging out with a few of his retro robotic friends. Today, he's sizing up an RX-77 Guncannon mecha from the Mobile Suit Gundam series. The future is now.

  #29: Brad Pitt, Meet Buddha — January 29, 2013 The dress code at Manga University is "college casual." T-shirts. Baseball caps. Flip-flops.  And, of course, blue jeans. Our favorite brand is Edwin. These jeans are fashioned after the classic Levi's 501s. Brad Pitt is an Edwin celebrity spokesmodel, appearing in numerous TV and print ads for the brand. Even better, Edwin jeans are made right here in Japan. (Levi's, on the other hand, haven't been mass-produced in the USA for a couple of decades.) The Manga University Daibutsu wants Brad Pitt's job.