Change of Seasons

This is an ad for rose ice cream. The straw ring was used to hold sticks of rice cakes around a charcoal fire.

Potato Patch

The field behind out house is now planted in potatoes. This picture was taken a day or two ago when it was sunny.

Nogawa Koen

Those are pine needles on the ground at Nogawa Park. . Those are roots coming up out of the ground.

Pink Roses

A drugstore and its parking lot were built near this old house. Fortunately, they didn't tear up the pink roses to put the parking sign. We walk past this house and love the pink roses in the spring and fall.

Click on the picture to see the detail of the house.

New & Improved

A picture of a chopstick cover has already been posted. But this cover is different. It has a ledge so that you can do this:

This is very handy when you're eating your lunch at your desk.

This cover also has a cut out so that you can open it more easily.

Tea Gift

Once in a while, there are small gifts given with drinks. This is a bottle of cold unsweetened tea. The cold case at Ministop was full of drinks with gifts around the necks of the bottles.

The gift is a small plastic box. There are several designs available. On one side of the package, the different designs are shown. Luckily, you can see through the other side of the bag so that you can choose the design you want. We chose the goldfish design. It is a common summer design. Of course it isn't summer yet, is it?

Little Brother came home saying that he can start wearing short sleeve white shirts to school. June 1st used to be the time when businessmen and students who wear uniforms to school* started wearing short sleeves. Things change!

*not all children wear uniforms to school. Private elementary school students wear uniforms. Public elementary school children wear what they want. Junior high school students and high school students at public school and most private schools wear uniforms.

Dandelions

The dandelions are in bloom, too. Click on the picture to enlarge it. I'm not sure why the green net is draped around this garden. It has been here for a long time. Usually scaffolding and cloth is draped around houses when they are painted or torn down.

Irises Everywhere

Irises are in bloom. There are a lot of them this year in gardens, in fields, and along the street.

And here on the side of a small road along the train track. Irises are used in Boy's or Children's Day decorations on May 5th.

Bomb Evacuation

 

A bomb was found down the road from us. It was left from the U.S. bombing of Tokyo in WWII. Posters like this one have been in stations along our train line. It tells about the evacuation and the planned removal of the bomb from 9:30 to 3:00 today. 16,000 people had to be evacuated from the area. The evacuation continued through early morning. We didn't have to leave our house, but we couldn't use the train and we couldn't go through that area. They finished removing the bomb around 12:00. We heard the announcement on the public loudspeaker system and checked the TV news.

First Frog

There was a frog in our garden this morning. It was the first frog I have seen--in our garden! His leg looked injured. I hope he stays here a long time and eats mosquitoes. We have thousands of mosquitoes in the summer. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

Poster in Train Station

There is another new style of benches in stations. Our neighborhood station only has a poster of them.

New Station Benches

The station near the American School got new benches. There are even small tables between some of the seats. Very unusual, but homey.

Painting the Poppies at Showa Kinen Koen

Artists can be found painting in parks and gardens. This one was quite unusual. That is, the way he was dressed was unusual.

He had an old fashioned backpack. Click on the picture to enlarge.

Mother's Day Here, Too

These two signs on this store window advertise Mother's Day. The red figure on the smaller sign is made from the kanji for "mother".

We went to an Indonesian restaurant on the seventh floor of the department store. I ordered coconut juice. Nice lemon, huh?

The Big Bounce at Showa Kinen Koen

This year, we went to Showa Kinen Koen earlier in the day so that Little Brother could bounce. We went too late in the day last year. This area was closed by the time we walked through the park.

As you can see, there were lots of kids bouncing. He had fun. Click on the picture to enlarge it. See all the shoes around the edge? Click on the label below to see pictures from last year.

Same Season, Different Time of Day

There were lots of people in the poppy fields at Showa Kinen Koen. Click on the picture to enlarge it.

There were lots of people in the wading stream, too. Compare pictures from last year by clicking on the label below. There are other fun things to see and do here.

Giant Koinobori at Showa Kinen Koen

This is a huge koinobori. This picture was taken at the top of the hill. The koinobori is down in a ravine. With the children standing in front, you can tell how big it really is. Click on the label below to see last year's pictures.

The koinobori from last year was moved and draped among the trees like a tent. Kids were running through it.

Boy's Day/Children's Day

Check past posts (in late April and early May of each calendar year)for more information about this holiday. Also check out the links and labels below. It is Golden Week so everyone is off and having fun.

We call it "Boy's Day" (in English) around our house because we have a boy. (Girl's Day is celebrated March 3.) We don't put out the full display every year. This kashiwa mochi on this little wooden table is fake. It is part of the display.

Kids Web Japan--Boy's Day/Children's Day

Kids Web Japan--Golden Week

The Wisteria is Blooming

At Jindai Botanical Gardens, the wisteria is blooming. It hangs overhead from an arbor.

I noticed it smelled kinda like bubble gum! I was alone and bubble gum flavor is not very well known here so I didn't get a second opinion. It could have been my imagination. But maybe wisteria is part of the bubble gum formula!

Wisteria is a vine. The base of this wisteria is really big! Click on the picture to enlarge it. See the cat? A few feral cats live in the gardens.

On the left is the wisteria arbor. Roses are on the right. They are not blooming yet. The building on the right is a pavilion where you can sit and admire the gardens. There are some Japanese maple trees behind it. They have bright red leaves in early December.

The azaleas bloomed earlier this month. I missed them this year! Look at last year's posts by clicking on the labels below.

Touching Flowers

Right as I took this picture, a woman reached out and touched this peony.

These are safe! They are in the middle of a bed of straw.

Yakimochi

There are vendors outside the Jindaiji Temple grounds. This sign advertizes cooked mochi, glutinous rice cakes. They are filled with azuki beans. This steam basket has sweets wrapped in bamboo paper.