winter song 2

poster for good manners in train 2

a character from science ninja team Gatchaman cautions not to get on drunk and trouble others.

TORAYA's

TORAYA’s yokan is a traditionally high-class staple of Japanese confectionery .
Yokan is a a thick jellied dessert made of red bean paste, agar, and sugar.
The package is designed after the oriental zodiac of next year, snake.
It says white snakes are auspicious sign for a new year.

MYV81 launched

MTV81, a digital platform designed to showcase Japanese artists and pop culture to international audiences has been launched.

The National Museum of Art

Isn't the architecture of the Museum peculiar?

El Greco exhibition

El Greco exhibition is on in Osaka.
entered the exhibition one hour before the closing time, but it was still crowded.

be sure to vote

They were giving away sticked-to-cloth body warmer to promote the election awareness campaign.

from the Rose of Versailles

got to watch and touch it to appreciate this elaboration.
Viva The rose of Versailles!

one piece exhibition in Osaka

This is on the wall of underground.
The official website of one-piece is not supported in English?

unique poster

Autumn leaves viewing

why peel apples?

National Convention of Haiku Association

with the winner of 'rookie of the year award'

ap bank fes

‘ap bank’ was founded by three major musicians in Japan, SAKAMOTO Ryuichi , KOBAYASHI Takeshi, SAKURAI Kazutoshi.
It stands for ‘Artist Power’ or ‘Alternative Power’ and works for environmental protection and reproducing energy.
ap bank fes , a summer open air festival has been hosted since 2005 and this year happened in areas hit by the mega earthquakes in 1995 and 2011.
The proceeds go to NPO that help the area recover from the disaster.
The footage of the festival was on TV last night and it was fun to see all those musicians gather and perform for the same cause.

exhibition on Buson

The exhibition on Buson and his pupil Gekkei collections in Kakimori Bunko is on till November 4.
About 80 pieces of his paintings and haiku are in the lineup.

universal clock

The center of this universal clock is somewhere around Marshall Islands, central pacific.
In the small circle, Australia, Northern tip of America, and East Asia is located.
Spot yourself on this.

textile from Kyoto

One of my friends is a obi weaver at Nishijin fabric.
The process is so complex and has been automated more or less, but she is still weaving by hand.
This is a book cover and a piece of her handwork.

the gift box

it is filled with walnuts and azuki sweetened beans.
this photo is offake food, just in case.

local confectionery shop

visited a local confectionery shop for a gift.
The goods are neatly displayed on classic tansu.

poster for good manners in train

a character from yatterman commands to make space on the seats.
filmed in 2009.

apple rabbit or rabbit apple?

a very familiar item in portable lunch-box.

SUGA Shikao

Although his unique and edgy lyrics is his biggest selling point, in my view,
something will get across without lyrics, I hope.
Japanese most well known novelist, MURAKAMI Haruki says in his essay
he doesn’t like Japanese pop songs.
He likes American music, especially jazz.
The only Japanese musician who MURAKAMI praises is SUGA Shicao.

in tribute to the porcelain

Imari ware is from northwestern Kyusyu.
They made manju(Japanese sweets) in tribute to the porcelain. I enjoyed this.
The wrapping is designed to look like the colorful porcelain style.

astro boy working for a clinic

rurouni kenshin

It is on right now.
The editor of furansu-do spoke highly of this in her blog.

Haiku book fair

This book fair is three more days to go.
I wish I could fly to tokyo...

myoga

homegrown myoga
you slice them and put then in miso soup, or eat with soba noodle or tempura.

memories of summer

men's yukata

men's yukata washed and ironed, sleeves on the left.

folded

further folded into a small rectangular.

rice field to crop

It is still super hot and muggy, but harvest season is coming near.

summer festival in Kyoto

bon fires lit on mountains to send the spirits of deceased family members back to the spirit world.
We saw it from the rooftop of the building of my friend.
The photo above is of Japanese sweets that represent the positions of the five fires.

This character means 'big'.

Thai foods

a lady in the lamp shade

Thai curry and tom yum goong on a scorching day

dragon quest X online

it came on sale yesterday.

rilakkuma socks

rilakkuma is one of japanese cute characters.
it comes in toe socks.
and in games and in obento

mini-length yukata

yukata is a casual kimono, so they are full-length in other words,to the heels.
this one is turned into over-the-knee and seem to be for daring teenagers.
very unconventional.

turn off your mobile!

Casshan is a hero of an anime series from 1970’s.
The film version was released in 2004.
His famous tagline is used in the poster for a good manner on the train campaign.

vegetable garden

sheltering under a big leaf.