Printer Paper Illustrations

I love how companies put illustrations on products here to show how to use them. I also love that this paper comes from a sustainable forest. They call it "made from plantation forest".

And What Is This?

And this is?

Another Spring, Another Year : Happy Blogoversary to Us!

Ethel was my first post last year. Click on the archives to read more about her. She is now eighteen years old. Here and There Japan is now one year old!

Unlike last year, Ethel did not brumate. She did not sleep through the winter. I guess it was just too warm this winter.

Today we noticed our wisteria is blooming for the first time in five years. That's a gift!

Thank you, regular and new readers, for visiting HTJ! There's so much more to show and tell, so come back.

The Number 4

It was Friday the 13th. The number 4 is the unlucky number in Japan. There are two ways of saying 4, yon and shi . Shi also means "death". I have noticed that there is no parking space number 4 in some (most) parking lots. Hospitals don't have a number 4 doctor's office or patient's room. I have visited some hospitals where there is no number 4 on the elevator's panel. I wasn't able to get pictures of this. I'll try another time. Little Brother said his elementary school has a classroom number 4.

Sets of plates, bowls and cups are sold in fives not fours. Food items, too. Trays or boxes of five mochi or cakes are sold.

P.S. 4-17-07 I bought a tray of four fish at the grocery store. It was the first time I had seen four fish in a package!

Toothpaste

Big Sister and Little Brother went to the dentist. They actually had Colgate toothpaste for sale in the office.

FIRE ALERT

As I was publishing three posts this evening, I heard hollow sticks clacking and people groaning and yelling. I rushed to the roof to see what was the matter. Groups of people were walking through the streets and yelling "Hi no yoojin!" "Be careful about fire!" I heard people off in the distance in other neighborhoods, too. I have been here a long, long time and have never seen or heard anything like this before!

The houses here are very close together so fire is a big concern. Over the years, candles and Christmas lights have become popular. Several times this week I have heard fire trucks, but they go out to traffic accidents, too. By the way, 119 is the emergency number here.

Little Brother suggested I go turn off the Christmas lights for the night. Everybody, take care!

Shoes on the Roof

It rained today so I didn't go out to take pictures. I took this picture on my way home from the class observation the other day. Click on the picture to enlarge it. I've been wondering if they're still there on this blustery rainy day.

Why would anyone put shoes on the roof like this? There is a balcony around on the front.

A Big-Footed Bird?

I like to check the back of the house in the morning even when it rains. There's always something crawling around. This morning there were two small birds running around. They looked a lot like sandpipers. But look at this!




It looks like something jumped our fence and made tracks through the field. It ended up in that clump of plants. There are rose bushes on our fence right there so it wasn't a good place to go over. Whatever it was didn't make a bee line for the clump. It must have been a sore-footed whatever or a big-footed bird jumping around. See how the tracks veer off to the right and then back? Never seen anything like it. Any idea what is was?

P.S. I forgot to mention in yesterday's post that we have bats flying around at night that help keep the mosquito population down.

You may never have seen anything like this before. I hadn't before I came to Japan. These are bamboo shoots or baby bamboo. This is the season for them and I've seen them in every grocery store I've been in recently. I never take my camera with me when I shop because I have to carry my groceries home. (I walk everywhere.)

I've been advised to ask permission to take pictures in a store. Yesterday I saw these bamboo shoots at an outdoor market. I had my camera with me so I asked if the shopkeeper minded. I drew a small crowd. Everyone watched and snickered as I took these pictures. Fortunately, it turned out to be a paying crowd. Some of them bought vegetables from the shopkeeper.

These bamboo shoots were huge. I didn't have a tape measure with me (imagine the laughs that would get). I estimate the biggest one to be around 46 cm in diameter and 28 cm in length. Maybe you can figure that out in inches.

We eat bamboo shoots, but I usually buy them already cut up. Pieces are sold in a bag of liquid to keep them fresh. I took the picture of this small bamboo grove in town last year. I just wanted to show what it looks like when baby bamboo grows up.

The Gift

When you go to a wedding or a funeral here, you give an envelope of money to the couple or to the family of the deceased. You are then given a gift. Over the years, some people have started using a service that allows their guests to choose their gift from a catalog. We recently went to a wedding and chose this from the catalog we received at the reception. It was delivered just the other day. We've needed one for years. I am so happy to have it because it has rained a lot this month, and the rainy season will start in June. Do you know what it is?

I'll tell you later.