Where Globe-Trotting meets Beach-Combing
Asamidori sumiwataritaru ozora no Hiokio onoga kokoro tomogana . “Blue sweep of heavensWide and clear—Might my heart shareTheir spaciousness!”—Emperor MeijiThis traditional 31-syllable poem was composed by Emperor Meiji himself…or maybe Empress Shoken; no one’s quite sure. At the family’s shrine you can shake a canister until a stick falls out. This stick will have a…
Surprise! I was running late this morning. As I dashed out the front door and hopped along the stepping stones by the side of the house I noticed a patch of newly bloomed orchids. Ooo la la! Naturally growing orchids! Well who’s going to enjoy them out here behind the wall? No one. But now…
I love Yokohama’s Chinatown. In fact, I like it a whole lot more than China. It’s cleaner, less crowded, smells better and no one grabs your arm and tries to 1. sell you things or 2. drag you into their shop by force. There is a little restaurant we like where we always get great,…
Japanese families celebrate Children’s Day May 5th! Traditionally it was just Boys’ Day (Girls’ Day is still March 3). The Japanese admire the carp, or koi, for its stength and perseverance as it swims upstream, so all over our neighborhood people have hoisted up enormous fishing poles all aflutter with fabric koi to symbolically wish…
I do a better job blogging about travel and stuff than squadron life. But that’s the whole reason we’re here, not to mention it’s kind of romantic and I’m super proud of Chris, so I’m being sure to include the ‘squadron life in Japan’ aspect more often. HSL-51 has been busy lately: last night we…
One way I like to sightsee is to pick a metro line and see only things along it. This gives me a manageable number of options. Like Saturday, for instance—the Nezu Shrine is near Nezu Station on the Chiyoda Line. The Chiyoda Line also happens to pass through Meijijingumae, near Meiji Shrine, Harajuku and Yoyogi…
So what do Japanese go look at after cherry blossoms, once the weather actually gets nice? My house told me—an azalea bush (tsutsuji) near the driveway burst into miniature pink blossoms this week. Kawaii! Last year at this time I was back in Texas as my sis planned for her and Justin’s Big Day, so…
