Nagaoka Sunsets

~Japan is known as The Land of the Rising Sun, but unfortunately for my sense of aesthetics, I'm not a morning person. Although the thought of watching the sun rise strikes me as relaxing, there's one thing I find infinitely more so: sleeping. However, the skies over Nagaoka are host to some spectacularly gorgeous sunsets, which I can see from the excellent vantage point of my apartment building. Here are some of the better pictures I've taken of Nagaoka Sunsets (which, by the way, would be a good name for a rock band. Or a sports team):

^ It looks as if something has burned a hole in the clouds, leaving the outer ring on fire. This is one of my favorite pictures from the large number that I've taken since coming to Japan.

^ Lighter clouds layered with thicker clouds create this curious "river" effect, which looks like a pink waterway floating in the sky. I think it would be take a small plane and fly along this aerial river.

^ These swirling cloud patterns are caused by the interaction of eastward winds from the sea of Japan that run up against the "Japan Alps" just beyond Nagaoka. The masses of moving air are blocked by the mountains and just sit here, swirling around. That's why we get these clouds, along with lots of rain and only a small number of thunderstorms. By the way, the Japanese word for cloud is "kumo" ( 雲 ).

^ The long, thin cloud in the above image appears to be an airplane contrail, but it's not. It's just another interesting meteorological effect of the interaction between the mountains and the ocean breeze.

As always, I'll post more interesting nature pictures in the future. ~Oyasumi!