Yesterday evening, as I was coming back from the nearby super market, I noticed this manhole cover.
It looks like a face of a video game character, with a mouth and two eyes. I’ll try to find more. 😉
月別アーカイブ: 2008年5月
A face on the pavement
Ueno
As we went for our regular evening walk, we passed through an old street with little traditional japanese houses and flowers in Ueno. This place has so much character and history that we felt like as if we have stepped into another time zone. We also saw beautiful bonzai trees in Ueno Park that are on display this week.
Hiroshima castle
During my trip in Hiroshima, I visited the Hiroshima castle.
As most Japanese castles, it’s not the original building but a reconstitution as it was destroyed by the A-bomb in 1945.
The inside of what is also called the Carp Castle (rijô 鯉城) has been amenaged as a museum about the history of Hiroshima. There, we learn that the castle was built in 1589 by Môri Terumoto 毛利輝元 who was one of Toyotomi Hideyoshi’s council of Five Elders. In 1600, being on the defeated side at the Sekigahara battle, Môri was forced to leave the castle and to retreat to Hagi (Yamaguchi prefecture). Fukushima Masanori 福島正則 became then the new lord of the castle until 1619. He was then replaced by Asano Nagaakira 浅野長晟.
The museum also explains the different types of Japanese castles and the social organization during the Edo period. It’s probably not the most interesting attraction in Hiroshima, but it’s worth seeing.
Rain
It seems like Japan is going for the world record of the Most Rainfall country this year! It has rained more than any other year that I have been in Japan. Is this normal?? Although I like listening to the rain, I just don’t like my fuzzy hair on a rainy day. Sometimes it is so peaceful to sit in our house’s kitchen, drink a cup of warm tea and listen to the rain.
Recruiting fortune teller…
The other day, in the bus taking me to Asakusa to attend the Sanja-matsuri, I see this want ad on the window.
It says “Recruiting fortune tellers. Hourly wage from 1,500 to 2,500 Yen. Desired skills : tarot, spiritualism (…). Clients are all women.” The ad itself is funny, but the fact it is stuck on a bus’s window is quite unusual, I think.
Festival Sanja-matsuri
Actually is held in Asakusa district the sanja-matsuri festival 三社祭 (festival of the 3 shrines). It celebrates the three founders of the Sensô-ji 浅草寺, Hinokuma Hamanari, Hinokuma Takenari and Hajino Nakatomo.
Many people, both locals and tourists come to see the procession of portable shrines.
If you’re in Tokyo, go there, it’s impressing.
Yoga
There are so many yoga schools in Tokyo area now. I have been a member for the past several years and it is one of the best sports I have done in my life!! I was so happy to find a yoga school in Ueno near our house. It is near Marui department store and so relaxing. As the weather is getting better I keep discovering new things in Ueno and feel happy that I live here:)
Minakami Bungy
Last weekend went to Minakami in Gumma. I tried the only bungy in Japan – a 40meter jump off a bridge looking over the beautiful mountians in middle of Japan, absolutely AMAZING!!! We also did rafting which was so exciting! It is so nice to get away from the city sometimes and blend in with nature. Complete relaxation and peace of mind:)
Make-up in the subway…
Recently, posters recalling good manners as the one below are being shown in Tokyo’s subway.
Here, we have a very frequent case. Japanese women, usually young, who put their make-up in the subway. Personally, I don’t mind much this, but it seems quite dangerous to put on mascara or get one’s eyelashes straight in the subway, especially as the train might brake suddenly.
Atomic Bomb Dome
As I said before, I went to Hiroshima during the “Golden Week”. Apart from the Itsukushima-jinja sanctuary, I also went to the famous Atomic Bomb Dome, also called Genbaku dômu 原爆ドーム. This is another site registered to the Unesco World Culture Heritage.
The building used to be Prefectural Commercial Exhibition Hall and was designed by a Czech architect called Jan Letzel. The atomic bomb is said to have exploded about 160 metres from the building. (The bomb actually exploded about 600 metres from the ground, so the Genbaku domu is actually located 160 metres from the pointed straight under where the bomb exploded.)
Not far from there i, in a park, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum where the history of the city, that of the development of atomic bombs and the ravages the bomb thrown on the 6th of august 1945 by US Army caused on the city and people of Hiroshima are presented. A visit to this museum won’t leave you intact, I assure you.