A Sign Hanging from the Ceiling in a Hall

I looked up and saw this sign hanging from the ceiling in the hallway in a public building. If you read yesterday's post then you know where and why it was there. It was outside that small kitchen. I had never seen anything like this before. The first kanji means "hot water". The second one means "boil". The third means "room". The picture tells it all, though, don't you think?

Chrysanthemums and Tea

These chrysanthemums were just inside the entrance. There were many of them. The two starburst chrysanthemums at the end of the bottom and second shelves had papers with gold paper at the bottom. They had won a competition. I took many pictures of the
chrysanthemums. I have chosen these to post:

This one had a piece of heavy paper under it for support.

This chrysanthemum was given a tree post for support.


This is the base of the chrysanthemum plant. It was planted next to the tree post and was trained to grow up its trunk and on its branches.

There were chrysanthemums everywhere.

There were many chrysanthemums in stalls built especially for them. These stalls had bamboo screens in the back and corrugated plastic for roofs. There were purple sashes at the top. Tea was served near the red umbrella.

This display was on the steps of the temple next to the tea area.



These red chrysanthemums were part of that display.

This was set up on other steps. Kerosene heaters had aluminum tea kettles on top. Trays of tea cups and hot pots for hot water (under the tea towels) were warming in the sun.

We sat near the red umbrella and drank tea. It was served with a slice of pickle and a sweet gumdrop-like treat. I put it next to me on the bench to take this picture. It was nice to sit, drink tea and enjoy the chrysanthemums. There were many bees enjoying them, too.

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.

Things that Brightened a Rainy Day

No, I haven't run out of things to post. This is the second time I have posted a picture of a rain chain (see April). This one, however, is a close-up and the chain actually has rain splattering down it. It was a nice view from the window of Denny's, a family restaurant.





Before going into the restaurant, we passed through two sets of doors. Both were plastered with signs congratulating the birth of the new prince. It made us smile.





Before going to Denny's, we went to the hospital. This picture was taken at the hospital's parking garage. At the exit, there was a bin of umbrellas for visitors or patients. We used two of them to walk to the main building. Another bin was at the entrance for us to leave the umbrellas. The name of the hospital was written on each umbrella in bright purple marker. It was a nice service.


This is a close-up of the umbrellas.





This person was well-prepared for the rain today. It would be nice to go out to a dry bicycle, wouldn't it?

Grocery Store Thoughtfulness

What a nice service! This is a bin for customers to put the outside rough leaves of the lettuce. I have also seen this kind of bin for corn husks.

Gift for Repair

A few weeks ago we had to have our shower door replaced. Afterwards, someone from the company asked to meet with Papa. He came with this nicely wrapped gift. (Papa unwrapped it before I could take a picture of the wrapping.) The box contained two bone china tea cups! What a nice repairman!

We have had repair work done in the past but never received a gift. The gesture could have been because the faulty door caused damage to the ceiling. It could have been the inconvenience of having everything torn out. (I had to wait in the kitchen to keep the dogs quiet.) Or it could have been because they gave us the wrong style of door. They put in a door without a lock on it. Our old shower door had a lock on the outside to keep out small children. Fortunately, we no longer have small children in the house.

P.S. I finally got the full story from Papa. The gift was for all those reasons, but especially for not explaining well. They stopped making the door with a lock because people got trapped inside (someone locked them in by mistake). Besides the door was defective because it leaked. They felt at fault. Apology and cups gladly accepted!

Delivery and Free Curb Service

I have already posted a picture of this kind of food delivery bike. It was a picture of one parked outside a restaurant. I thought you might be interested in seeing one in use. He is probably delivering lunch to someone's home.




These pumps were outside a bicycle shop as a free service. People can stop by this shop to put air in their tires. Bicycles are a major form of transportation although you won't see hoards of them on the streets of Tokyo like you might in other Asian countries.