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Honking
Background: I’m teaching my first workshops at Satoyama Design Factory today. It’s in my new rural neighborhood and I have no idea who, if anyone, will turn up. Could be little kids, could be elderly neighbors, all of the above or no one at all. I’m OK with letting things flow and I can take…
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Courtesy Call
Our local policeman, Matsuda-san, dropped by this afternoon. He spoke in gloriously slow and clear Japanese to welcome us to the neighborhood and make sure that he had our details for his emergency book. We’ve had these courtesy calls in Tokyo,too, but this one was a little special. “If you ever have any trouble, like…
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Takezawa Demystified
Our questions about the mysterious Takezawa of the abandoned house were answered yesterday by Kawakami-san, who runs the gas station and LP gas business in the village. Takezawa moved down into town and lives in a nice, new house near the barber shop. He truly did abandon the house with no further thought of it.…
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4 Plugs
When Tod ran us our first bath in the new house, we discovered that the old bath plug was no longer sealing the drain – a slow leak meant that the water was noticeably lower upon getting out after a good soak. PLUG 1: Tod measured the plug – 34 mm – and we biked…
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Bus Tickets
Without a car in the countryside, we ride the bus pretty frequently. In fact, I have the schedule memorised now but it is pretty easy because there are only four busses a day that leave from our stop. Tod has invested in “kaisuken” discount bus tickets. They come in different denominations so you can pay…
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Adventure Hiking
A view from the heights above Kozuka According to Open Street Map, up behind the Hackerfarm, past the Kamado no Hi bakery and the site of the Kozuka Art Festival, and there’s a hiking trail. Google Maps doesn’t show it. Akiba said there was nothing but his friend’s house at the end of that road.…
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Shoji repairs
The holes and the old paper removal process This old house is totally wonderful and it is full of projects to do. Today I learned how to replace shoji, the paper on our interior doors. First you take the paper off by dampening the old glue and peeling the paper away from the frame. Our…
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Unpacking in Kamogawa
The movers arrived at 9:00. 90 minutes later, everything in that truck was in the house. How did we get so much stuff and where is it all supposed to go? We’ve spent a few days now sorting through boxes and trying to put our square peg into this round hole. My favorite Japanese word…
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Goodbye, Bunkyo-ku
In the living room at 3:30, 4:30, and 6:30. It was a long day scrambling to get the last of the gear and materials packed. We did get to the stage of putting things in boxes marks “stuff” and “random” when the movers arrived half an hour early. But I’m sure it will all be…
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Bittersweet Goodbyes
The kids’ chalk drawings at this house have gone from Anpanman scribbles to train schematics. Me: We’ve only got a couple of days left; we should plan to eat at our favorite restaurants and say goodbye to the neighbors we like. Tod: Yeah, we should but we’ll come back. Me: Did we go back to…
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