-
Construction flagmen
What on earth are these construction workers doing? They are taping a battery powered, blinking light stick to the hand of their colleague–the mechanical flagman whose head and helmet are visible in the upper right corner of the frame. I guess his must have burned out; he’s not really able to just grab himself a…
-
Otama-jakushi
otama-jakushi is the Japanese word for tadpole. We’ve been watching these grow in the Tokyo War Memorial Park near Korakuen station. Their heads are bulging out now and if you look carefully, you can see the budding legs (not in this photo, though, sorry!). The park was also the site of my first dragonfly (tanbo)sighting…
-
23:56 on Kasuga Dori
23:56 on the way home from a meeting and dinner. Kasuga Dori, the main street through our section of town, is lined with glowing red cones. They have been doing improvements to the undergrown conduits for over two years. The end is in sight. Last night, they were snaking pedestrian traffic through corridors of cones…
-
Traditional gate
This traditional gate belongs to a private house on my street. It’s usually closed but I caught it open yesterday afternoon. What a lovely landscape inside.
-
Someone flipped a switch
Someone flipped a switch and turned summer on. The weather is sunny and hot during the day with just enough humidity to feel sticky. The evenings are wonderfully warm. There’s no excuse not to spend lots of time outdoors. The veranda has become our extra, outdoor room–we eat breakfast and dinner out there, carry our…
-
Tree trimming
Tree trimming in our back yard. From forest to manicured garden in a day.
-
Hamster’s Lunch
Hamster’s Lunch. “Seed shape rice cracker and hamster figures will provide you a enjoyable tea time.” The box also explains that there are 12 different figures and each comes with a Hamster Facts card. The rice crackers are shaped like sunflower seeds and are made of 100% mochi rice, in case you should mistakenly think…
-
2002 FIFA World Cup
The 2002 FIFA World Cup starts tomorrow. The papers are full of articles about hooligans and what’s being done to avoid trouble. Extra police are on alert, of course. To support that, pachinko parlor owners have agreed not to install any new machines during the World Cup because the law states that police must be…
-
Container gardening
The joys of container gardening are not to be overlooked. On my tiny balcony, I’ve got a healthy dose of nature. And most of it is edible: mint, rosemary, sage, basil, marjoram, thyme, parsely, bay. What’s not edible is flowering: daisy, lavender, marigold, impatiens, pinks, petunia. It gets my attention every day. I water it,…
-
Sapporo Lion Ginza
From the street, it’s pretty unremarkable, just another Sapporo Lion beer hall with a display of plastic food in a big, modern building. But stepping inside this place was a surprise. This beer hall was designed and built by Eizou Sugawara in 1934. It’s gorgeous. It’s an art deco cavern. At the far end, a…
Archives