Canned Bread

"Pan" is pronounced like the Spanish word for bread. This is canned bread, but this bread looks more like crackers. Kan Pan is the main staple of emergency food supplies. Everyone has Kan Pan in their emergency supply shed or bag.

This is what it looks like. The packet and the salt rock are de-humidfiers. The top of the can shows you how to open the can. Nowhere on the can does it tell you how to eat it. Kan Pan is hard as rocks!

Earthquakes, Typhoons, and Supplies---OH MY!

We had an earthquake last night. The shaking went on and on and on and on and on. Click on the link below to see more about it.

Then this morning we had a downpour of rain! It came from the typhoon that hit China.

It's too wet to check the earthquake supplies in the shed outside. I peeked in and found some of the food has expired. OH MY!

Wall Street Journal-- earthquake in Japan August 9th

Emergency Food

This is a packet of emergency food.

Can you figure out how to make this pork and garlic rice dish? Sounds good. Too bad it has expired. Usually, I replace the food packets before they expire. We have "camp food nights" and eat the food before it expires.

Anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki

Today is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Baba is from Nagasaki, but was not there that day. She was in Tokyo and her family had escaped to the mountains.

This is the season of o-bon. It is a time when the spirits of the dead return to visit their relatives. It is common for the living to visit relatives and their hometowns, too. Big Sister, Little Brother, and I are usually visiting family in the United States in August. This year we are here.

I bought flowers for the family altar. These are white and yellow chrysanthemums with a red carnation. This is the usual combination sold for the family altar. Every flower shop has at least one bucket full of pre-packaged bouquets like this one.

Kids Web Japan-- anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Kids Web Japan-- o-bon

Click on the labels below, too, for more posts.

Eye Chart

These are samples of questions or tasks used in an eye test here in Japan. Usually, there are rows of circles with a piece missing in each. You must tell where the missing piece is. Top, bottom, left or right. The doctor may point to the circle and ask or the doctor may tell you the line to "read". The doctor would then say "next" after you tell about each circle.

Small children hold up a finger and point where the gap is. They point to the ceiling if the gap is at the top, to the floor if the gap is at the bottom, etc.

This sheet shows some hiragana, one of the writing systems for Japanese. The character next to the top circle is yo. I have been given an eye test with hiragana. I think the circle test is more accurate. It is almost impossible to guess where the missing piece is. I remember being able to guess the letters in an American eye test.

Can you guess what the letters are in an eye chart even if they are blurry?

Children's eyes are checked at school. If there is a problem with the results, they are given a slip of paper recommending that they see an eye doctor for a more thorough test. So far, Little Brother and Big Sister haven't had any trouble passing the school eye exam. Recently, I get my eyes checked at a frame shop where they use a machine that automatically measures my eyesight.

Check this post to see a complete eye chart that is used at the doctor's office. It was used in an ad.

Kids Web Japan--language

Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima

August 6th is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. There is a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial every year. The mayor read the Peace Declaration in English this year.

Here is a link to Kids Peace Station at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Kids Web Japan-- anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Click on the labels below for more posts.

Eye Chart At the Station

When I looked across the train tracks from the platform at Harajuku station, I was surprised to see the eye chart used in doctors' offices. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It is an ad for a store. The name of the store is near the bottom. Can you see the ad slogan?

Click here for an explanation of the chart.

Solar Powered Sign

This sign was on the other side of the platform at Harajuku Station.

Summer Breeze

Wind chimes are hung in gardens during the summer. Papa says that the tinkling sound of a wind chime makes him feel cool. Today I went to Harajuku. When I was inching through the sweaty crowd toward the exit of the station, I heard these wind chimes. They are made out of glass. They are very common here. Paper strips are tied to the glass clapper or tongue of the bell to catch breezes.

Ting! Ting! Ting! Even the smallest breeze is welcomed! I'm not sure I felt any cooler.

Click here or the label below to see more wind chimes and other summer things.

Hands-Off Flushing

Most public toilets flush on their own when you leave the stall. Some can be flushed by moving your hand over a sensor like this.

Itch Stop

Even though bats swoop and dive for mosquitoes in the field behind our house, there are still a lot of mosquitoes in our garden. They find Little Brother and Papa tasty. Both use this on their bites. It takes the itch away. Mosquitoes rarely bite me and Big Sister.

Shiso

This is the way shiso is sold in grocery stores. Sometimes it is placed on ice or on wet paper towels in the vegetable section.

Shiso is used as a garnish. Raw fish is placed on top of shiso leaves. Shiso is also sliced in strips and sprinkled on top of rice.

Earlier in the summer, there was a shiso Pepsi available at convenience stores. We tasted it. It tasted like shiso. I didn't get a picture of it and now I can't find it in our area.

One summer there was a cucumber Pepsi.

Check this post for purple shiso. And this one for a look at Little Brother's onigiri, rice balls, with shiso.

P.S. I found a shiso Pepsi at our grocery store!

Taro and Lotus at The Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas

I love to photograph taro--anywhere, any time. I grew up with elephant ears in our flower beds. Here is a big pot of them at The Dallas Arboretum. They're in the same family as taro, aren't they?

Lotus at The Dallas Aboretum.

Click on the labels below to see pictures taken in Japan.

The Bamboo Cutter's Daughter at The Dallas Arboretum

There are storybook playhouses on display this summer at The Dallas Arboretum in Dallas, Texas. This house is based on the Japanese story "The Bamboo Cutter's Daughter".

Read what Kids Web Japan says about "The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter".

Baby Ears

Granny's baby elephant ears in Texas.

Baby taro in the field near our house in Tokyo. They are not the same. Click on the label below for more about taro.

Chautauqua

I've lived in Japan for over 20 years. We have a roof garden where we sit to admire Mt. Fuji on clear winter days and brown bats on summer and fall evenings. Still, one of the things I've missed over the years is porch sitting.

This is the porch at the Athenaeum in Chautauqua. I got to sit here every morning from July 12th to the 18th. I was given a grant to attend the Highlights Foundation Writers Workshop. It was a great experience!

The view was fantastic. This is a morning shot of the lake. In the evening, I watched brown bats here.

Highlights for Children®

Purple Shiso

 

 

The green plants are taro.

Check this post for purple shiso.

Lines and Vines

Telephone lines and kiwi vines. Click on the picture to enlarge it. That's a stop sign in the bottom left hand corner. Check this post for a picture of this kind of stop signs. And here for another kind.

The kiwi is over a carport. Check this post for more pictures of the carport.

It is still the rainy season. We are having overcast days, sunny days and rainy days. Yesterday was sunny. Today is overcast. We need some sun!

Our vegetable stand man pulled some onions and tied them together to sell. That dark plastic thing is a shower stool. Some people use them to sit while they wash themselves before getting into the bathtub. He's using it for a field stool.

That's a bundle of dried onion stalks. He used them to tie the onions together.

Here are some onions with their roots still in the ground. They're waiting to be pulled. I bought some from his vegetable stand. They are nice and sweet.

He has a lot of them!

Construction Mat

There's more construction on our street. This time they put down this mat to show us where to walk.

Our vegetable stand man returned from his field carrying a load of onions. He rode his bike through the construction to get to his vegetable stand on the other side. Those kanji painted on the street tell drivers to watch and slow down. There is a park on the left.

Here is a post about another sign painted on the street. And the machine that painted it.