Street Tiles Made by Children

Tiles made by school children were in the sidewalk near a school.

Sidewalks are sometimes made of brick and sometimes made of concrete. See the orange design in the street railing? It looks like a bird, doesn't it? I'll be on the lookout for other designs.

No Snow This Year?

I was saving this picture to post when it snowed. But it never did snow in Tokyo this year. It was the first winter since 1876 that there was no snow in Tokyo. (Japan's weather started to be recorded in 1876.)

Anyway, this is a money charm that is sold at shrines. At a shrine near us, they are sold in packages like this one. The little snowman on the right was taken out of its package and carried in a coin purse. The wish here is that your money will snowball through the coming year. They are carried throughout the year.

Some Things on the Street

This luggage cart was strapped to a street mirror. It seemed rather strange that the box wasn't strapped to the luggage cart. I wonder why someone left the cart and box here.

This is a vacuum cleaner sitting in a bin on the street. It's not unusual to see this kind of thing. Big garbage that cannot be recycled is put out in a central location in some neighborhoods.

Ume Rice Crackers

These are ume rice crackers. Ume potato chips are sold during this season, too.

Bicycle Child Seat

Most mothers use bicycles to shop. Small children ride on the front of the bicycle. Older children ride on the back. This bicycle has a child seat on the front and a basket for purchases on the back.

This bicycle seat had cushions and blankets. There was a wind shield in the front and on the child's leg area. There were also toys to keep the child amused. See the Thomas mobile? Bicycle bells are required on bicycles to alert people on the sidewalk. This was a Thomas bell. This child likes Thomas! Click on the pictures to see the details. Click on the label below to see other posts about bicycles.

Sakura Mochi

This is sakura mochi, glutinous rice with sakura or cherry blossom flavoring. It doesn't taste like cherries. The mochi is wrapped in sakura leaves. Not everyone eats the leaves, but we do. There are sakura buds on each one. We eat those, too. It is sold in department stores and grocery stores in February and March.

Jiji used to buy it for my birthday cake. (We have four February birthdays so we used to get tired of cake.) We also eat it for hina matsuri. Sakura trees usually bloom in Tokyo at the end of March or in early April.

This box of sakura mochi came from a department store. It was wrapped in paper decorated with sakura blossoms and a drawing of sakura mochi.

Big Sister's Dolls

This is the set of dolls that Baba and Jiji bought for Big Sister before her first hina matsuri. We don't set out its lacquer platform and the silk screen because they are too big for this space. Her set has two ume trees.

Kids Web Japan-- hina matsuri

Kids Web Japan--manga, The Missing Doll

Details of An Emperor

This strap is to lift the doll without touching its silk robes. Actually white gloves are worn when handling them.

Details of An Empress

Layers of silk robes.

Even the back of her fan is decorated.

The Doll's Tables

Lacquer table.

Vases of ume branches.

Painted ume branches.

This is a lacquer table with wooden mochi on top. Real mochi that is diamond shaped and hard is bought and put in front of the dolls. We just use the wooden ones that came with the set. Note, too, that the dolls sit on tatami, straw, mats.

The Dolls' Lamps

Two lamps came with the set of dolls.

This is ume, plum blossom.

This is take, bamboo.

This is matsu, pine.

Aunt's Dolls

Aunt has not married so she still sets her dolls out. She has a set with seven tiers, but she only puts out the Emperor and Empress now. These dolls are over 45 years old. She has set a bag of snacks, a plate of red rice, and a cake on her doll's small tables.

The Emperor.

The Empress has a different hairstyle.

Emperor Mickey and Empress Minnie at TOYS "R" US

Girl's Day Vest at TOYS "R" US

Some little girls wear a silk vest on Girls' Day. This was the only one left at Toys "R" US.

Hina Matsuri Dolls at TOYS "R" US (more pictures added,03-03)

Tomorrow, March 3, is hina matsuri. Since the middle of February, department stores have been selling sets of dolls. Even the TOYS "R" US in Fuchu had them. (There is another one in Machida.)

The set on the right is a full set of dolls. On the top shelves to the left, there are sets with just the Emperor and Empress. The one on the top shelf is quite small.

A set of dolls is bought after a baby girl is born. She has to be at least three months old before it is bought. Many years ago when Jiji and Baba bought Big Sister's dolls, the clerk at the shop told us "small apartment-size" sets were being introduced. A set of dolls takes up a lot of space, but the storage boxes take up even more closet space! So, smaller sets have become available.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them.

Here is a three-tier set. Ume and citrus trees are part of the set, but those are sakura blossoms on the paper above the set. This set includes ladies of the court and decorative mochi. On the lower tier are trees, guardsand utensils for the tea ceremony. Click to enlarge.

Over the years, sets of just the Emperor and the Empress have become more common.
Here is a two-tier set.

Here is just one tier.

Sometimes one doll like this one is given by grandparents or aunts and uncles when they visit on hina matsuri.

Note the prices. Can you figure how much these dolls cost in your country's currency? The prices at this store are low. Some sets cost much much more at department stores and specialty shops.


Kids Web Japan--hina matsuri

Red Rice

Big Sister and I went out to buy sekihan, red rice, this afternoon. The white rice turns red after it is cooked with azuki beans. She took entrance exams for two high schools this month. She passed the first exam and found out today that she passed the other one. It is the school she really wants to attend, so she was happy. We decided to celebrate. Red rice is eaten for celebrations.

Baba was going to make it, but then she reserved some at this neighborhood shop. This shop also sells Japanese cakes called wagashi.

The shopkeeper was upstairs eating his dinner when we walked in. A bell sounded as we opened the door. How did we know he was eating dinner? It was dinner time, and he came downstairs chewing and wiping his mouth!

He weighed the red rice and then put it in a plastic container. He wrapped it in a narrow sheet of paper.

He also gave us a small bag of black goma, sesame seeds. They are sprinkled on top of the rice.