Huki or Fuki

There are fields behind our house. The farmer who grows vegetables there told Baba she could have the huki that was growing along the fence. Little Brother went into the field and cut it for her. He handed it to her over the fence.

Huki is called fuki in English. There is no /f/ sound in Japanese (actually the sound is between an /h/ and an /f/). I think the plant is in the coltsfoot or Japanese Butterbur family.

Medicine Book

This is a medicine book. You can request one when you get a prescription filled at a pharmacy.

You write your name, address, and other personal information here on the first page.

Each time you go to the pharmacy, the pharmacist types a label with the name of the medicine and the dosage and sticks it on one of the pages. It's optional. It's mainly for you to keep a record of your medication.

Tissues

Everyone seems to carry packages of tissues with them at all times. Papa, Big Sister and Little Brother carry a handkerchief and at least one package of tissues in their pockets. (I carry mine in my bag.) They need a handkerchief for the restroom at school and at the office. Most Tokyo public restrooms in our area have paper towels these days.

Packages of tissues are used as advertising. People stand on the streets (usually around stations) and hand them out to passersby. The package in the top left hand corner has an advertisement on the plastic packaging. The smaller packages are for kindergarteners and pre-schoolers. The white package with the bunny face has lotion type tissues. They are really soft.

Do a blog search to see handkerchiefs.

Mother's Day in Japan

Mother's Day is celebrated in Japan, too. Carnations are the common flower given as a gift. Big Sister brought me this one. Carnation plants in pots and flower arrangements are also sold as gifts. We have FTD here. Other gifts are given, too. Restaurants and food delivery services are really busy on this day.

Note the sticker is written in English.

Little Brother went to the annual Mother's Day festival for kids near the station. He bought me a necklace and an owl statue at a flea market there. Papa brought me roses.

Kids Web Japan-- Mother's Day

Bob Marstall's Visit to SCBWI Tokyo

Bob Marstall was in Tokyo today to speak to SCBWI Tokyo, the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. He has illustrated many nonfiction books. He spoke about his process of observation and illustration. He showed slides of his studio, its surroundings, and his paintings and sketches. He did workshops at international schools for several weeks before he came to talk to us.

Here are some of his books. Click to enlarge. The Lady and the Spider is a Reading Rainbow Book and was selected as one of the "1001 Best Books of the 20th Century"! Check out Bob Marstall's website for info. about his other award-winning books, his life, and schedule. Check these pages at amazon.com to order his books.

Many people came. Most were Japanese.

Naomi Kojima, author of Singing Shijimi Clams, translated for him. She took notes when he was speaking and then said what he said in Japanese. I wonder if she were taking notes in English or Japanese. I didn't ask her. She did a good job. The presentation went smoothly. It was very interesting. His illustrations are great, too.

Naomi Kojima, Bob Marstall, John Shelley, and Holly Thompson.
Volunteers, Keiko Okamoto and Yoko Yoshizawa were also there.

Souvenirs for Bob Marstall

I knew Bob Marstall liked nature. The books he illustrates are about nature. We're coming into the summer season when there are many toys and products with nature themes. So, I thought I would take some stuff to give him. I almost hesitated to give it to him until he showed his photo of his "wonder cabinet". He has many treasures in shelves in his studio. I gave him this cricket in a cage. It's all plastic, but when you push a button, it sounds like a real cricket. He liked it!

I gave him this goldfish. I had never seen anything like this before in a toy shop. Lots of bugs but never a goldfish. I got it and the cricket at that small toy shop where we bought tops at New Year's. See pictures of the shop in posts of the first week of January.

I also gave him this money frog. In Japanese, the same word is used for "frog" and "return". So, if you put this frog in your coin purse or pocket, your money will return to you. These are sold at temples all year. I made the card explaining what it is and put it and the frog in the plastic bag. At the temple, there is just a bin full of little frogs.

Emergency Sign

Click to enlarge. Do you know why there is a catfish on this sign? It's there to catch your eye, but did you know that catfish are sensitive to earthquakes? They start acting strangely before the earth starts to shake. In the past, I have seen tanks of catfish in some subway stations. I haven't seen one in a long time. I'll be on the lookout. Hopefully, I'll have the camera with me.

Driveway Gate

Houses usually have a wall or a fence around them. This house has a driveway behind it, so a big gate was needed. This one is unusual because it lifts up. It's probably lifted manually. I got pictures from two different angles, but didn't notice a motor.

Bobbing Discs

No, it's not a UFO or Glinda floating above the onion patch.

There were several of them.

Can you tell what they are and why they are there? Click to enlarge.

A farmer tied CDs to plastic and bamboo poles. The CDs bob anyway but especially in a breeze.

School Urine Test

Little Brother had to take a urine sample to school today. There are directions on the envelop. The little bottle is put in the envelop and taken to school. There is a name label on the envelop and on the bottle. The test is for diabetes.

Big Sister started public high school in April. She had a urine test a few weeks ago, too. Hers came with a little plastic zip lock bag.

Braille Train Information

Today for the first time, I saw braille train guides next to the ticket machines at two stations. Click to enlarge. How does a blind person know which button to push for her ticket? I never noticed, but maybe there is a button to push for the machine to speak. I'll look. It may take a few days because we're not going by train anywhere soon.

Click on the labels below or do a search for more "braille" and more aids for the blind.

Braille on a Jam Jar

Why do you think there is braille on a jam jar? Can any of you read braille?

This is blueberry jam made by Aohata. Blueberry and strawberry were the only "flavors" of jam made here when I first came many years ago. Nowadays this company makes jams from other fruit like apricot, fig, and lemon. You could and can find imported jams.

Bouncing at Showa Kinen Koen

There are many fun things to do at Showa Kinen Koen, Showa Memorial Park. Here is one of them. See that big white blob in the background? It's a place to bounce. By the time we got there, it was closed. We were too busy doing other things. Besides we got there late in the day. It's a good thing we went yesterday. Today is a rainy day.

Click on the picture to enlarge. There is a person in a blue shirt on the left. That will give you an idea how big it is.

Dragon Sand Mountain at Showa Kinen Koen

There were big dragons to climb

and slide down at Showa Kinen Koen, Showa Memorial Park.

They were made out of concrete and pieces of pottery, shells, marbles and stones.

The pavement leading to the Dragon Sand Mountain had round and square tiles decorated by children.

More Climbing at Showa Kinen Koen

Near the Dragon Sand Mountain, there was this replica of a Mayan Temple. There were food stalls all around, but in this picture they were closing and cleaning up.

There was also a grassy knoll. That's a bench made out of pieces of pottery or tile.

There were stairs up the grassy knoll. At the top of the stairs was a huge replica of the moon. You can walk around the moon and look out on the park.

There were several small bubbles along the railing of the stairs. This one had two squirrels eating.

Showa Kinen Koen

More Fun Things to Do at Showa Kinen Koen

Click to enlarge and you may be able to see children playing in this stream. It is really a flowing fountain, I guess. It is made out of concrete and pebbles. It was a really hot day and this was a cool place to sit.

This is the same stream at another angle. Everyone has gone.

This is putt-putt golf. No big animals or windmills. Just a course of mounds and shrubs.

This little train was available to go around the park.

Showa Kinen Koen

Late Bloom

While sitting under this tree, we looked up to find

cherry blossoms! Rather late and alone and unusual. At least we had never seen a clump of blossoms on a tree full of green leaves before.
Showa Kinen Koen

Poppy Fields at Showa Kinen Koen

This is what I was looking for.

Fields of poppies.

It's nice to see big fields of the same kind of flowers.

Showa Kinen Koen is a big park, isn't it?