Bath Stools & Pails

This post got lost in the shuffle. It was dated in 2007 and wasn't published. It is a display of bath stools and pails at a department store.

Yuzu in the Bath

For the winter solstice, yuzu is put in the bath. You just take them out of the mesh bag, wash them, and toss them in. The whole yuzu float around as you take a bath. Yuzu is very fragrant. No squeezing or peeling is necessary.

It is sold at the grocery store in the fruit and vegetable section. I found this net of yuzu and a paper of explanation at our grocery store. It is the first time I have seen a paper like this. It mentions that yuzu was believed to get rid of bad energy. Yuzu is supposed to be good for the skin, too. The paper also mentions eating kobocha on this day, too. We eat it throughout the year, but it is a custom to eat it on the winter solstice. I'll post about kobocha later.

By the way, I put a mikan in the picture to show you the size of the yuzu. They are both smaller than an orange.

For the Elderly

Tomorrow is Grandparents' Day in the States. Japan has its Day of Appreciation for the Elderly on the 18th of this month. Not all grandparents are elderly. Here are some things that would make life easier for those who are.




These are shopping carts that have seats. The wheels lock so Baba (Granny) won't roll down the street as she sits down. Most people ride bikes or drive cars and carry groceries home that way. Some of us walk everywhere we go. Older people use these carts. I use a cart when I shop. A neighbor laughed and called me "Granny" when I first used my cart. It doesn't look like these, though. These carts are for people much older than I am. I have seen really, really old people do their own shopping with these.




You've probably seen these. One is a shower stool and one is a shower chair. There is also a toilet in this picture. There are other toilets in the picture below. Most of these would have to be emptied. The one on the left fits over a regular toilet.



P.S. You may want to look at the post for July 4th, 2006. Tokyo Gas visited Little Brother's school. They held a workshop to show the students what it's like to be old. Do a search of my blog and look up "School Days: Visit from Tokyo Gas".

Bath Water For Laundry

Along with garbage, laundry was part of fifth grade homework recently, too (see May 9th). With our laundry machine all you have to do is load it, push a button, and wait. The machine weighs the clothes and determines how much soap to put in. It tells you how much soap is needed! Pretty easy for anyone. The capacity of the machine is quite small so several loads are necessary. Machines come in various sizes. See the really small one in the first picture? I took this picture in a recycle shop. This one must be for an apartment. Some people don't have room so they have to put their laundry machines outside on their balcony. Rough in rainy weather.

Our laundry machine has a hose with a filter so that we can use bath water to wash clothes. This is the only way we can have hot water to wash clothes. The washing machine is next to the bath. We can open the sliding door, put the hose into the bathtub, and push a button for that option. Sounds yucky? Well, you may have heard that in Japan, a shower is taken before you get into the bathtub. I'll explain bath time at another time.