Sheena Ringo

I have always felt Sheena Ringo , an exceptional artist would deserve a little more attention. and below goes her third single ‘kiss me'. when she appeared this way, we found it irresistible...

wrapped train with anime

In Japan, wrapping buses are not covered only by adds, sometimes by anime characters to make the district unique and appealing to the fans.
Here are ones from Love, Chunibyo & Other Delusions.
They jack the car inside as well. Hand straps included.

Lake Biwa Canal 2014

Last spring, we visited this canal in Kyoto side. The other side of this canal is located just next to Onjo-ji temple in Shiga. This way, residents in Kyoto receive a stable water supply from Lake Biwa . It draws a lot of cherry blossom viewers in the season.

overlook view from Onjo-ji

From the observatory, you can overlook Otsu city and Lake Biwa .

Onjo-ji temple

Onjo-ji temple is beautiful in the beginning of April with its cherry blossoms.

the consumption tax hike raised the price of stamps

On April 1, a new fiscal year started across the nation. The consumption tax went up from 5% to 8%, which means something to local people. Some of them lined up to do the last time shopping before the tax hike.
A stamp for an envelope now costs extra 2 yen. If you haven’t used 80 yen one up yet, you have to add this tiny rabbit one.

sweets ahead of cherry season

sweets from Tsuruya Yoshinobu and akafuku , both long established confectioneries.
Haiku on the package by Yamaguchi Seishi goes;
This house has a luck
Swarrows come over
To build their nest
Prior to cherry blossom season, sweets are hinting the blossoms, spring.

family emblem for the nobility

There are traditional patterns for the court nobles. They came over from ancient China and later got Japanized. They have been marked on the costumes and furniture as family emblem.

this is what we got when she tried kimono for court-ladies on. It is called ‘mukai-cho’, and represents “two butterflies facing each other.

a town of Hina dolls

this town of Hina dolls is also the home of merchants and has kept its traditional storehouses.

The box of fire extinguisher on the street has something on top of it,,, which is another set of the imperial hina dolls.