So here's the rest of the story (and the dragon!).

Last Friday a really nice man took us to dinner in the mountains about a 45 minute drive north of here.  Glad I didn't have to take my bike - I wouldn't have made it (the Captain would have had no problem, though, I'm sure!) :)

As I said in the previous post, this screen was in the restaurant, and it's basically a map of a series of waterfalls in the area.  If you click on the picture, you can see the Japanese numbers beginning at the tail and ending at the head.  I think the restaurant was up by one of the claws.  

It's funny, sometimes, being the gaijin - I'm either really an outsider, who will never be accepted into the group, or sometimes - like last Friday, I feel like an honored guest.  The restaurant was empty except for our party of three, and so I felt like we were simply guests in this lady's house.  It was the first time I've had carp (sashimi), we had another cooked fish, and then eel (unagi).  Of course there was a selection of side dishes, as well.  No one even commented on how well I used chopsticks, though...I wonder if my superior skills are slipping -