Gift in the Mail

Mitsukoshi is a major department store chain here. They sent this furoshiki along with a flyer about a store sale.

Check furoshiki.com to see how to tie a furoshiki.

Walking Home with a Rug

We walk everywhere we go unless Papa is home with the car. So, if we buy something, we have to carry it home. Most people ride bicycles or walk. Stores will deliver things for you or they will make it easy for you to carry things home on your own.

The store wrapped this rug and attached a handle for me. The bubble wrap taped around the handle made it even more comfortable! I save the handles and carry one with me. I forgot to tell the salesperson that I had one.

Stores provide plastic or paper shopping bags. When people go out shopping, they usually carry vinyl shopping bags to carry small bags of purchases. This one was available near the register where I bought the rug. It was 20 yen. Do you know how to figure that out in your country's currency?

Click to enlarge. Do you see a familiar name on this bag?

Shop Gift

On the second day of the new year, our grocery store gave chances to win prizes. I bought enough groceries for two chances. I drew two coupons from a shiny silver box. The clerk opened them and told me to choose from a tray of these charms. I chose this one. All of them were inoshishi, boars. These are hung on bags, telephones, wallets, keychains, whatever. There is a little bell on it.

This picture is quite blurry, but I wanted to show the braided string. I may replace this picture later.

Decorations at the Grocery Store

This is a common decoration used in stores.

This citrus fruit is used for a decoration.

A display of decorations at the grocery store.

Cabbage & Lily Root

These Chinese cabbages and vegetables were outside a grocery store. Look how big the cabbage is!

These are packages of lily root.

Two Christmas Ads For Japanese Stores

Billboard on the train platform.

A close-up. It's an ad for a store.

At the store front for Isetan department store. It looks like a Norman Rockwell painting, doesn't it?

Pet Dishes and Another Japanese Halloween Store Display

These are pet dishes.



This is a Halloween display at another hardware store. There are more Halloween displays in my area this year. They are getting bigger, too. There are more Halloween items for sale now.

It's Beginning To Look More Like Halloween

Here is a sweet pumpkin! I have mentioned before in an earlier post that people here give you the "Peace" sign when their picture is taken.




Big sister and I went shopping today. We had fun looking at Halloween decorations. Halloween displays have been in some stores since the end of September. The displays are small, but they're everywhere. In the last five years, Halloween has become more popular in Tokyo. I'm not sure about other parts of Japan.

Little by little over the years, more decorations have become available. Orange pumpkins of varying sizes can now be found. Big sister, Little Brother, and I used to use kaki, persimmons, to make little jack-o-lanterns. They were easy to cut. We took them down to the entrance and lit them for a while. Baba and Jiji came to look and enjoy them with us.

Today at this store, two salespeople were dressed in costumes. They were giving candy to children. They were happy to have their pictures taken.

P.S. This year, there were very few displays for jugoya, the day to honor the full moon. I was surprised.

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".

Grocery Store Thoughtfulness

What a nice service! This is a bin for customers to put the outside rough leaves of the lettuce. I have also seen this kind of bin for corn husks.

Mugicha, Summer Tea

During my first years in Japan, mugicha or barley tea could only be found in stores during the summer months. Nowadays, bottled mugicha can be bought throughout the year. In the summer, I buy the tea bags and make it at home. I prefer this brand. It is made by a company called House.

I fill the mugicha pitcher with tap water, put a tea bag in, and let it steep in the refrigerator. No sugar is added. The pitcher of mugicha in the picture above is just starting to steep. The tea should be darker before it is ready to drink. I take the tea bag out when it is ready. It is served to guests usually in short wide glasses like the one in the picture. When it is just us, we use our daily glasses.



During the summer, stores have displays of mugicha containers like this one. The short wide glasses are available in stores at that time, too.

Department Store Cart

I went to a department store today. As I left, I noticed they had these carts. I usually go out another door so I had never seen them before. Maybe they were new, I'm not sure. These are to carry all your bags and packages of things you have already bought. I guess. I can't imagine that they are shopping carts for you to load up and take to the register. How much stuff would you buy in one visit at a department store? Besides, many clerks are around to help carry things to the register for you.

Public Toilets

You may cringe at using the word "toilet". I know I did before coming to Asia. Students and speakers of English here and in Asia used the word "toilet" instead of "restroom" or "bathroom".

This is a public Japanese-style toilet. If you're visiting Japan, don't worry, there is usually a choice of toilets in a public restroom. The door of the stall may say "Western" in English and Japanese. I have even seen signs on stalls written in Japanese and English saying "Japanese" meaning Japanese-style. Some people prefer the old style.

The stalls may not have signs, so take a look in each stall unless you're standing in line to use the toilet. I've actually had people wave me into a western toilet thinking that I would prefer it. Sometimes there is not a choice. Parks usually only have Japanese-style toilets. I remember seeing on TV that it is faster and easier to clean a Japanese-style toilet.

Many, many years ago I saw a sign in a downtown restroom with instructions on how to use this kind of toilet. The main thing is that you have to squat or bend down over it. And because it is so low, you have to balance yourself while trying to keep dry. I would suggest flushing with your foot after standing. Sorry to be so indelicate, but it's worth pointing out.

I don't have the official word on how to flush (hand or foot). The instructions on that sign didn't get that far. I started thinking about it when my children were learning how to use the toilet and were too small to hang onto the rail. (They wanted to hang onto the handle.) I took a poll among my friends and no one seemed to know or want to tell what they thought was the proper way to flush. Perhaps the idea of flushing in public with your foot and with your hand in private homes is good advice anywhere. This may be more than most of you want to know about toilets and their use here, but I heard several of you are coming to Japan soon. Nowadays, you can visit Japan without ever having to use one of these toilets so don't lose any time worrying about it! Oh, yes, I'm not going to get in the habit of teaching Japanese words but you may want to know the polite word for "restroom" is otearai. O is pronounced "oh" te rhymes with "day" a is pronounced "ah" like in "mama" and rai rhymes with "rye". Oh-tay-ah-rye. The "r" sound in Japanese is somewhere between "r" and "l".

Note: This picture was taken at my local hardware store. It is quite an old restroom. There were two Japanese-style toilets and three western toilets, though.

Bicycles: Parking in Public

These bicycle parking spaces are outside a department store. Money is not needed. A key is not provided. Perhaps the main advantage is that the bicycles are not all packed together. In addition, they will not fall down and start a domino effect. That happens a lot, especially when it is windy.

Umbrella Bags

Here is something incredibly important for rainy days. These are placed outside the entrances of stores. There are long, narrow plastic bags hanging from hooks. Customers put them on their wet umbrellas. They can then carry them into the store without getting everything wet. The used plastic bags are tossed in the bin as customers leave the store.

Small shops usually have an umbrella stand to leave wet umbrellas outside by the door. Train stations need these bags. Our local station doesn't have them. It's miserable to shake out your umbrella and then carry it dripping onto the train. We have a heavy plastic umbrella bag that stays in the car. I need one of those for my purse.