The American West

[r16inaz]

i miss this place, i grew up here and have not been back for at least 10 years.

[brokenchopstickz]

i love this video cuz im native canadian! and it good to see some people who appreciate my culture and not disrespect!! also i love japanese culture just as much as my own!!

domo arigato ^__^

[lameman777]

great video and love the pixs. I remember this place so well....

[ShinichiHIRANO]

I went to "VAN TRADING CO." in TUBA city, and bought apples.

Is the store still there?

I uploaded a video "Traveling in the American West #1."

The store is in the vid.

[lilmartypwnz]

Beautiful place, beautiful music, all the best and good luck from ireland :)

[ureshiiiusagi]

しにちさん～～～

きれええ～～～

涙　を　出た

私もほしいwestへ。。。

人類学の学生です。。。このNativeのTraditions­をまもりたい。。。

[ShinichiHIRANO]

みてくれて、ありがとう。

[regfmcd]

Thank you for sharing. Been there many times.

All teh best.

Regina

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks.

:-)

I'll visit there again.

It's a really wonderful place.

[1plus2equals]

Excellent video. You turned something that could've been boring, into something beautiful. Great choice of music, as well!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

I'm happy to have such a nice comment from you.

[stpsokura]

二十数年前でしょうか・・・。

あまり変わってないように感じます。

フラッグスタッフという街から日帰りで

行ったように思います。

８月だったのでとても暑かったですね。。

[ShinichiHIRANO]

そうでしたか。モニュメントバレーはこれからも変わらないままで­いて欲しいと思います。

あの景色の隣に高層ビルなんてゴメンです（笑）。

[stpsokura]

モニュメントバレー良いですね。

大昔に行きました。当時アクセスが不便で、レンタカーを

借りて往復７００キロほどかかった覚えがあります。

でも、アメリカでいちばん行ってみたかった場所でした。

懐かしいですね。

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Ｌ．Ａ．に到着後タクシーでダウンタウンに行き、レンタカーに飛­び乗り家族で国立公園めぐり、トータルで３０００キロ走りました­。モニュメントバレー最高です。大昔は今と随分違ってたんでしょ­うか？

[zndprophet]

Shinichi, very beautiful video you did here. I like how you had the horseback riding, looks very peaceful. I grew up in Kayenta, and never once rode a horse through Monument Valley, but after seeing this, I will have to. I am glad you like the American West. I would like to visit Japan one day, even if it is expensive-I'll ask you what the best places are to visit.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

I think there are lots of places worth visiting in the States. I have only visited little part of them so far.

But, Monument Valley was the top priority place to visit for me. I had kept the dream to visit there for decades and it came true last year. It was awesome place as wonderful as I had imagined.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

There are also many places where I recommend you visit in Japan. I don't know your preferences of travel but some of them will definitely suit you very much.

We have long history of the nation than that of the States, so man-made national heritages from hundreds or few thousands years ago will give you wonderful impression.

If you have a chance to visit Japan, please let me know. We welcome you, for sure!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks.

I put "Central Park" in my travel destination list.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Not yet.

But, I wanna visit N.Y. and bike around there.

Is it OK bike around in Manhattan?

[NichiBeiTrader]

What a great experience!

I really enjoyed this video!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks. I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[decibel182]

Wow. I don't really enjoy America's desert climate, but you made it interesting. Hehe, I swear... you make the best videos. The song was great, and I really thought the jumping pictures were cool. It seems that you are indeed very talented, sir. Keep up the awesome videos ShinichiHIRANO-sama!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks for your comment.

Fortunately, the desert climate when we visited was not bad at all.

I chose the best season, didn't I?

[fantim]

Looks like a beutiful trip

Who went with you?

[ShinichiHIRANO]

with my wife and two kids.

Can you believe that traveling in the States costs less than that in Japan? It's true.

[fantim]

Yes I can definitely believe that. Japan is so expensive!!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

It took me few weeks to choose the best-fit song to the video.

It's a tough job choosing the music that follows well after the song of the horse owner.

I love both songs.

[theuglyninja]

wow fantastic vid thanks

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks for watching & your comment.

:-)

[shotamerican]

you know, i bet you've travelled america more than i have!

i have never seen any of the places that you've been to in person! (or at least the ones in your video) very beautiful scenery, and that music is so nostalgic!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

It's beautiful indeed. I felt as if I were in the different planet while seeing the bare ground and the mountains there.

[anskov]

Great job, Ray! I want to go explore the American Southwest now!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks Matt. There are awesome national parks in the American Southwest. The Grand Canyon, Zion, Death Valley, Bryce Canyon, ...

I don't know why but Monument Valley is not a national park.

Does anyone know why?

[zndprophet]

It may be because it is all on the indian reservation. The other national parks are not....part of the Grand Canyon is on the Havasupai reservation, but the park itself is not...

I'm not sure though, just my guess

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks for telling me.

I thought that Monument Valley deserves one of National Parks and be kept by the States. It's now clear to me.

[Kobayashi77Maru]

awesome vid, and great pictures

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thank you very much.

[Kobayashi77Maru]

by the way, great blog too! The pictures are amazing.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks. btw, if you haven't watched my videos

"Drum Festival in Matsue, Japan #2"

and

"Drum Festival in Matsue, Japan"

Please check them out. You like drumming, don't you?

[NaruyoJapan]

素晴らしい！西部！っていうかんじですね。お嬢さんたちのジャン­プショットがとても可愛いですわ。

[ShinichiHIRANO]

ありがとうございます。

いいショットがとれるまでピョンピョン繰り返しジャンプお願いし­ちゃいました。(笑)

[kansaiPJ]

I used to live in northern Arizona. This beautiful video brought back a lot of fond memories. Thanks so much. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time there. I love the snaps of your children mid-jump; a fun way to mark the occaision. Great vid!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

I went to the Grand Canyon in Arizona twice. But I didn't trek. Someday I wanna go trekking in the Grand Canyon trail. Have you ever trekked? Will it be very tough job?

[kansaiPJ]

I've never trekked the Grand Canyon, but I would luv to try someday.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Someday, I wanna look up the Grand Canyon walls from its bottom. The view may be completely different.

(@_@)

[zndprophet]

If you make reservations a year or 2 in advance, you can ride mules down to the bottom. You can also raft on the river that is at the bottom.

and do you know about Havasupai Falls? it's a beautiful waterfall in the Grand Canyon-search for an image on google, if you see it, you will want to go, if you have not seen it already.

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks for the precious information.

OMG, "a year or 2 in advance"

After reading your comment, the more I want to go trekking.

I'll check out Havasupai Falls' pictures on the Web.

Do you think summer is the best season to visit?

[2ylite808]

wow! very beautiful place! and riding a horse looks great! wonderful video!

[ShinichiHIRANO]

Thanks Harry. The owner told us the names of horses.

Their names are Trigger, Scruffy, Quarter and Donut.

Nice names. lol