What's this? And what is it used for?

It's not a clothes pin.

It's a clip to hold the net. I think that's daikon under the net.

Winter Vegetables

That's imo guki on the left and leeks on the right.

On the top shelf: cabbage, Chinese cabbage, bag of taro

middle shelf: turnips, spinach, broccoli

bottom shelf: leeks, daikon (Japanese radish)

Yesterday, children were walking home carrying daikon, Japanese radishes. Little Brother planted and pulled daikon in one of the nearby when he was in elementary school.

Click on the labels below for more posts about these vegetables.

Some Winter Vegetables

These are daikon, Japanese radishes, in a field near our house. They are also grown in other seasons.

These daikon are 100 yen each at a local vegetable stand. Can you figure out how much that is? First you'll have to find out what the exchange rate is today.

A cabbage patch. Click on the picture to see the taxi in the background.

Here's a cabbage.

Young Woman Carrying a Daikon

She stopped by the vegetable stand near our house. The man there gives a plastic bag if you need one, but a lot of people use their own bags to carry their purchases.

Drying Daikon

I was walking along. I saw this rack of daikon drying, so I started walking toward it. A woman met me smiling. I realized I was walking up a private lane. I asked for a picture. She said it was okay but she wanted to see it!

I had the wrong lens on the camera, but I felt I had to take it fast. She was busy, and I didn't want to waste her time. So here are the pictures. She approved of them. I would have liked more background in them. The house in the background is not her house. It's not her laundry.

Pulling Daikon At School

Little Brother planted these daikon with his fifth grade class back in the summer semester. The field was near their school.

They had to take newspaper and two plastic shopping bags to school. They pulled the daikon up last Friday. Everyone took two home. They were delicious.

Japanese Restaurant: Lunch

We sat down and were immediately served tea. Chopsticks and wet towelettes were on the tray. Usually wet cloth towels are given, especially at a traditional Japanese restaurant. We were given the lunch menus. We were asked to push the black button when we were ready to order. While we waited, I took pictures of the things on the table.


These were some of the choices on the menu. This is the season for mushrooms.


This is the name of the restaurant printed on the chopstick cover. Notice anything familiar?


This is a common sight on a restaurant table; soy sauce, toothpicks, and a bottle of seasoning flakes for rice. Paper napkins are sometimes on the table. They are a recent addition. In the past, a wet cotton towel was the only thing offered. It was supposed to be used to wash your hands before eating. Everyone carried tissue and a handkerchief everywhere they went. We were given a wet disposable towelette, and there were napkins on the table at this restaurant.



I took pictures of the shoe box keys.



This is the back of the keys.



I was busy taking pictures and Papa was busy making a chopstick rest out of its paper cover. People sometimes simply tie the paper cover to rest their chopsticks. This cover, however, had instructions on how to make a bird. It was time-consuming, but he did it! I was going to post the instructions, but then I noticed the © . Remember, that means that it is protected by copyright.



I ordered this set lunch. There was fish, rice, pickled cabbage, miso soup, and a savory egg custard. There was also a lightly fried tofu in sauce with crisp strips of seaweed on top.















These are pieces of ginger on top of grated daikon, the big white Japanese radish. It is a garnish for the fish.



This is what Papa ordered. There was a separate plate of fried fish, pickled vegetables, and miso soup.


There was a fried fish head.



The main dish was a seafood mixture on rice. There was one whole shrimp on top. There were also fish eggs and raw fish in it.



The bill was put in this. We took this to the register and paid.

School Days: Reaping and Sowing

Taking care of a rice plant was part of Little Brother's fifth grade homework over the summer vacation, too. After planting it at school (see post for June 15th,) he brought it home on July 12th (see that post). Here is a recent picture of his rice plant. It has produced rice!




Yesterday while I was out and about, I came across two fields with long sheets of black plastic stretched across rows. Round holes were cut in the plastic. In each hole as far as I could see, there were pink pellets strewn. I wondered what the pink things were.


Later Little Brother came in and announced that his class had planted daikon, Japanese radish, in fields near their school. "Yeah, and the seeds are pink!" I was nowhere near the fields he planted, but I got the answer to my question. He said he made a hole with his finger and put three seeds in it and covered them with soil.


Here is a picture of a daikon. I took it last year. The daikon was sitting on a table to be sold for 150 yen. The price was lowered to 100 yen. There is a blue tin money box on the scale next to it. Whoever wants to buy it will put the coin in the tin box. It is an "On Your Honor" system at this vegetable stand.