Marine or Ocean Day

Today was a holiday from school. It was Uminohi which means Ocean Day. However, someone told me the Embassy translates it as Marine Day. My children don't know anything about its significance and we couldn't find out anything on the internet. It's just one of those holidays, I guess, that has no special traditions. At least here in Tokyo in our neighborhood.

It rained today so going down to the bay was out of the question. I thought I would go to the grocery store and at least photograph fish and sea creatures, but I didn't make it down that way today. So, instead of sea creatures, here's a picture of a creature I found in our garden yesterday. She looks extra-terrestrial, out of this world. I think it's the same one that was jumping around on my arm a couple of weeks ago. It's a lot bigger now. Its ancestor was huge. I think it may be the offspring of a praying mantis that my son's friend brought to our garden last year. I had a picture of her but it got erased by mistake along with a lot of other pictures. She was huge. And green.

P.S. (written several days later) I had not heard that another tsunami hit Indonesia on this day when I wrote this entry. In fact, it hasn't been in the news much. Best wishes and prayers go out to those affected by this tragedy.

In the Hardware Store

I've always thought these paintbrushes were unusual.





A ball is a ball everywhere you go, but look how these are sold. This netting makes it easy to carry home and to store at home.




This is a cart of cotton gloves. They are used when cleaning up in the garden, but workmen use them, too. I've seen workers wearing them as they carried panelling and wallpaper. It protects what they are carrying from smudges and fingerprints.




I've never seen an umbrella stand like this one. I've never liked putting a wet umbrella in a canister-type stand. This one will allow the umbrellas to dry faster. We have to air out our umbrellas to make sure they don't sour.

An Electrical Storm, Hide Your Belly Button!

One thing I truly miss about Texas is electrical storms. That may sound strange, but they do clear the air. We have them here very rarely. However, we've had two in the last two weeks. I got stuck at the grocery store during one of them. The electricity went out for a while. The doors were halfway open with rain blustering onto the floor. All the registers went silent as we watched bicycles blow across the parking lot. It was really bizarre.

Today we had another one. Lightning crashed all around our house. I was concerned about being near windows and the TV. That's what I had been warned about when I was a kid. Old wives' tales, I guess. Anyway, I took no chances and herded the children and the two dogs into a bedroom away from electrical appliances. It was a dark and hot 40 minutes while it lasted. The dogs amused us.

At one point my son said, "I bet all the first graders are hiding their belly buttons."
"What?", I said. He then reminded me that in Japan they say that lightning takes belly buttons. He said little kids believe those kinds of things. (He's in fifth grade so he doesn't.) I had forgotten that old Japanese wives' tale.

After the storm, I took pictures of puddles. The picture above is the puddle in our garden. You can see the reflection of the palm tree near our gate. Many gardens around here have at least one palm tree. They must have been in fashion in the past. They do pretty well here in Tokyo. I guess because we have mild winters.

The next picture is of a puddle in the vegetable stand around the corner. Remember, when I said I thought it was amazing how sunshine makes its way through crowded narrow places? I think it's odd that water made its way through and settled here.





After all that noise and water, the sun came out again. I looked over at the sofa and there was a patch of sunshine. It had bounced off somewhere and made its way there.

Flowers for the Family Altar

Later, I went out to the grocery store and bought these flowers for the anniversary of Jiji's death. It was yesterday and I wasn't able to buy them. Flower shops and grocery stores sell these bouquets for the home altar. They sell them daily year round. O-bon, the return of ancestors, is coming up and they are selling out. The bouquets are usually chrysanthemums, but these include summer flowers like dahlias and daisies. I'll tell you more about obon later.

At the Hardware Store: Summer Things for the Outdoors

There aren't that many lawns of grass here. If there is grass in a garden it is more than likely quite a small patch. Small patches require small mowers like these. These are about a 12 inches wide.



This one is a push mower. Note the yellow strips on the ground for the blind! See the post for June 25th for more information about these lines.





Screens are put outside windows to block the hot summer sun. All different sizes are sold. These large screens will lean against the wall outside a sliding door. There were some smaller screens inside the store, too.



These are glass wind chimes with a moss decoration on top. Usually they are just the glass chime with a piece of paper hanging on the string. The paper catches a breeze making glass clink against glass. It is a sound that gives the feeling of summer. On a hot day, the clink lets us know that there is a breeze. The chimes are put away after summer.

The Look of Summer

Hydrangea and a screen on the window. Ah-h-h, summer. This is a friend's kitchen window. It's not unusual for windows on the first floor to have this kind of bars. Shutters are on bigger windows.

Walking to the Hardware Store

Today was hot and sunny. No surprise that people had their laundry and futon outside. Actually, I was surprised that there weren't very many futon out. On my way back home, it started to rain. As I passed this way again, the woman was scrambling to get her beds inside and I was carrying my dogs' toilet sheets over the camera case to keep it dry. She and I didn't watch the weather report this morning. There was a lot of thunder, too. No wonder there hadn't been many people out on the street as I was coming and going. The weather report includes thunder forecasts. The reports can be pretty accurate here, but not as accurate as they used to be when I first came to Japan in 1988. Baba usually watches me as I leave and tells me to take an umbrella. She was asleep on the sofa today when I left.






I took this picture of these two houses to show how close some houses are here. I am amazed how the sun makes its way through the most narrow and smallest places. These houses open to the west. Look between the houses at how much sun the house on the left gets even though the house on the right is so close. Amazing.






I saw these two dragonflies. I took many pictures of them trying to get a close-up. Each one would fly away and then light in only two places. The top two pictures are of the same dragonfly on her two chosen places. The one in the bottom picture chose another place that was too difficult for me to get close enough to take a picture so I only got this spot. My son said that many dragonflies came during pool time at school today. Some were red and some were orange. No blue ones went to his school.

I'll show you pictures from the hardware store tomorrow.

Big Job and a Big Haul

A workman came today to put wooden molding around the shower door in the laundry room. We had a leak so the door was replaced last week. They had to take off the molding and had to order more.



Here is his work truck. He pulls the green tarp over the back of the truck and ties it down before he drives.





Here are some of the tools he used. Can you see the wooden handles on some of the tools? I'll show you great-grandfather's tools someday. He was a contractor.

The workman cut the molding in the garden and brought it upstairs. I was stuck in the kitchen with the dogs. They were quiet as long as I was with them. When he finished upstairs, I went down and took pictures. As I was taking pictures, he was replacing the ceiling in Baba's kitchen because of the leak, too. It was a big job. There was no room to take pictures in there! Jiji, grandfather, had never liked the idea of putting a bath on the second floor. He was worried about plumbing problems. Luckily, it wasn't the pipes!





My son carried home the rice he had planted at school. Bless his heart! He hauled it all the way home along with his water bottle and calligraphy bag not to mention the heavy randoseru, school bag, on his back! He said it was really heavy. His hands were red and he was dripping with sweat. After drinking a big glass of water, he said he has to keep it watered. He has to keep the birds away, too. School will be out next week so little by little he'll bring things home. He had a pretty big haul today. (See the June 13th post to find out how he chose the rice seed to plant.)

Summer Days: Fireworks & Cars

Fireworks are sold in convenience stores, hardware stores and some department stores. They are mostly sparklers and poppers. Children light them with their parents. They usually hold them over a bucket of water and then drop the leftover into the water.





The movie Cars opened recently in Tokyo. There were goods at the department store where I took the picture of the fireworks. We want to see the movie, but the Japanese dubbed version is only shown at kids' times. Most movies are shown in their original language and have subtitles written at the bottom of the screen. However, children's movies are dubbed by Japanese actors. Though my children are fluent in Japanese, they actually prefer to watch American movies in the original English. Me, too. We'll have to go all the way downtown or wait until it comes out on video/DVD.

Summer Days: Lavender

I have waited all year to see this! Last year, I noticed that the parking lot of a garden nursery had lavender planted all around it. It is pretty far from our house, but I can get there easily by train. I went back several times to take a picture this spring but it hadn't bloomed. I finally went at the right time.

When I went to Tasmania many, many years ago, a friend and I stumbled onto a lavender farm that was in full bloom. We were there at the right time. It has always been a great memory. Seeing a field of flowers is awesome. I'm glad I got to see this.




As I got closer to take a picture, the parking lot attendant warned me about the bees. Maybe you can see them. They don't sting, do they?




He's got a nice spot to work despite the bees and the humid weather. The humid (wet) weather we have in Japan makes it all even more precious and incredible; lavender prefers dry conditions.

P.S. The children aren't as eager anymore to make long treks by train and on foot in these hot, humid days so I went alone. Hopefully, we'll get to go by car to see the lavender at the foot of Mt. Fuji. Hope there aren't many bees. My son doesn't appreciate them as much as he does other bugs.

School Days: Paint Set

This is the watercolor paint set that my son has used at school since first grade. He brought it home over the weekend to clean. Yikes! It's Sunday evening, and it still hasn't gotten cleaned up! I just found it under his school bag when I was looking for something to photograph. We didn't go anywhere today. We did go to the roof garden to blow bubbles, but bubbles are hard to photograph. So, I decided to take a picture of this paint set before the sun goes down. Even though it's dirty.

Anyway, it is used in class and is kept in shelves under the window in the classroom. There are twelve tubes of paint in a plastic case, brushes in a plastic case, a palette, and a deep plastic water tray. Everything fits into the water tray and then into the bag.

He just came in from Baba's downstairs and told me he brought it home because they're not going to use it again before the summer holiday. (He has two more weeks.) So, he has all summer to clean it up. I think we ought to do it now before we forget.

Chris Eboch's SCBWI Tokyo Workshop

Chris Eboch gave a writing workshop in Shibuya, Tokyo today. It was very helpful. (I'm trying to write a middle grade novel.) She wrote Well of Sacrifice, an historical novel set in a Mayan city. We don't have many English books in our bookstores and libraries here, so I haven't read it. I looked up her website. Her book sounds interesting especially because of what kids said about it. I think I will order it.

She seemed really comfortable being in a new place. Look up her website and you'll find that she has lived in and traveled to many places.

I took this picture after the workshop. Chris is third from the right in the white shirt. On her left is Holly Thompson, author of Ash, a YA/adult novel set in Japan. This link will take you to information about the novel but also information about Japan. Naomi Kojima is on Chris' right. She is wearing a striped shirt. She is an illustrator and author. She has written and illustrated several books and her picture book, The Singing Clams , was published again in the United States recently. John Shelley, an illustrator of many books, is in the back of the group. Makiko, Laura, Aisling and Mary are working on projects.

Tera Tera Bozu

Someone at this chopstick shop put up a tera tera bozu wishing for good weather for the festival tomorrow.

Tanabata

Today was Tanabata. Here is our Tanabata decoration on our porch. There have been branches of bamboo outside homes and shops everywhere for about a week. My son had one in his elementary school classroom. Now that I think of it, there weren't many outside homes. Perhaps people put them inside the entry hall. The weather has been pretty unpredictable lately.

The branches, called sasa , are sold at flower shops. People decorate them with handmade paper decorations. They also write wishes on strips of paper. The branches are usually put in a container of water to keep them fresh. Jiji used to burn everything promptly the next day, but there are now city laws against it. Now we throw it all away. As you may remember, we have a garbage day when we put out burnable items.



I took this picture above of a branch in the hallway of the elementary school when I visited. It ended up decorated in a classroom.



This was outside a community center.




This was at a shopping center. They had already set up shops but were setting up games for tomorrow's matsuri or festival.




Kids Web Japan--information about tanabata

Kids Web Japan--story of tanabata

School Days: More School Pictures

Students change into their indoor shoes at the entrance of the school. There are shelves for students to store their street shoes. Their indoor shoes stay in the shelves at night through the week. On Friday, students bring them home to wash.
There are two entrances at this school and each grade and class has its own area for shoes. Each student has his own shelf to put his shoes. It has his student number on it.




This is a shelf to dry artwork. It is rolled into the classroom and then out into the hall for the papers to dry.




I took this picture to show you the soap in the net hanging on the faucet. This sink is in the hallway outside the clasroom.




These baskets of sports equipment are in shelves along the wall on the way to the gym. See the American footballs?




These hula hoops and unicycles are at one of the entrances. There are more at another entrance.

School Days: The Classroom

I took these pictures at the elementary school before the demonstration. There wasn't enough time to take pictures of all the classroom this time.





These are sinks in the hallway outside the classroom.




Bags of gym clothes or swimsuits hang outside the classroom depending on the season. Note the little door near the floor. It is for ventilation.




There is no air conditioning in the school but there are fans on the ceiling that gyrate.




Students put their randoseru , public elementary school bags, in the shelves near the door. Because it is summer, students bring water bottles to school. See them on top of the shelves?




Some of the students have old tennis balls on the legs of their chairs to prevent them from making so much noise as they are moved across the floor. They need more. Several chairs do not have them yet.

The disaster hood is on the back of the chair. The lunch mat (in the blue bag) is hanging on the side of the desk. See the rag clipped on the bar on the front of the desk? That is the zokin. You may be able to see the school box inside the desk. See April posts for more information about these school items.

School Days: Visit from Tokyo Gas

I went to observe and take pictures of an activity at my son's elementary school yesterday. It was organized by representatives from Tokyo Gas. Each fifth grade class went to the gym at different times during the day. They had to take long pants and a long sleeved shirt to change into before the activity. They changed in the classroom.

Black suitcases were on the floor as we all went into the gym. The students sat in pairs on the floor at a distance behind the suitcases. The speaker explained that they would take turns experiencing what it would be like to be elderly. They would take turns being an elderly person and a guide. Everyone then moved next to a suitcase. The speaker asked two students to go to the stage to help demonstrate. She directed everyone on how to put on the contents of the bag. A PTA member assisted each pair of students.

First, the guide wrapped weighted straps around his partners' right foot and leg. Then he and the PTA member helped him put on plastic gloves, then cotton gloves and then a cotton half glove. Afterwards, he had to put on a vest by himself. They helped him adjust thick googles and earplugs in his ears. They handed him a cane. Then the guide escorted him to different stations set up around the gym.

At one table, "the elderly person" had to look something up in a thick, heavy dictionary. He read from a newspaper at another table and had to write his name at another.





A cassette player was set up for him to see what it was like to try to listen to something when hard of hearing. He had to count coins and pick them up and place them in a basket. He climbed the steps of the stage, walked across mats, and then down again.

He opened and poured water from a big water bottle.




He also stood in front of this bulletin board to try to figure out how many figures there were on each paper. The glasses made it hard to see.



It was a great activity. All of the students were engrossed. Everyone paid attention. No one misbehaved. My son said later that it was very interesting. I asked him what he had learned and he said that it was hard to do things when you're old. I asked him why it was important to know that. Maybe you have some ideas about that, too.