Can now recognize kanji for "entrance," "exit," "parking lot," and "coffee," and for the subway stops "Takeshiba," "Shiodome," and "Odaiba." From this you get an idea of what our priorities are.
E. wrote our names for us in katakana script.
kawa = river
nami = wave (thus, tsunami; o-nami is a "man" wave or a big wave; there is a special kanji for smaller waves, "woman waves")
matsu = pine
Also -- near the mall, there's a place where you can visit with a roomful of cats for an hour if you want. It's like a cat rental place. Rent-a-kitty.
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label japan. Show all posts
19.9.07
Mots & Choses & Ten Little Toes
At breakfast in Expensive Hotel, Japan:
J: What's a category?
D: It's an imaginary box to put things in.
MJ (laughs): Not bad for 7 AM!
J: What's a category?
D: It's an imaginary box to put things in.
MJ (laughs): Not bad for 7 AM!
This Is More Like It
Back in Kanda, after lunch with our friend N., who took us to a great organic restaurant called Mother's.
The book displays are astonishing -- the piles are high and very precarious!
The book displays are astonishing -- the piles are high and very precarious!
Not a Stinkhorn
Wood fungus, belonging to the Emperor. We have tree stumps in our yard too, but only disgusting stinkhorns grow on them.
Old & New & MJ
A bit of the ultramodern Tokyo skyline is visible behind the roof of the Emperor's old-fashioned guard house.
Imperial Garden - Entrance
It was hot, we were hours from lunch, and Jane was floppy. So after a quick trip to a real Japanese grocery store where we were delighted to discover such delicacies as Hello Kitty cookies, little mango-flavored jello snacks that come individually wrapped in plastic, and a bewildering variety of rice crackers, we hightailed it out of sleepy Kanda, and headed for the Imperial Gardens.
The Fox & The Rabbit -- Kanda
Seen on the street in Kanda. The rabbit looks like it better watch out.
Morning in Jimbocho
We arrived too early -- the bookstores weren't going to open until 10:30 or so, and since it was Honor Your Elders Day, a national holiday, things were even quieter. Here's a typical street in Kanda, in a quiet moment.
Kanda, Jimbocho, and the Imperial Gardens -- Day 5
We wandered around Jimbocho for a while, looking for Kanda, the used books district. Snapped this one after we stopped for coffee.
Not So Serious
Looking up, just behind the plaque -- it's a bathing suit contest! Here are the contestants, a dozen or attractive young women in bikinis and four-inch heels, and the mob of photographers that was following them around.
Philosophy of Water
Outside the museum, Y. kindly translated this plaque for me. It is a statement from the museum's founder on the "Six Principles of Water."
Maritime History Museum, Odaiba -- Day 4
Our friends took us to Odaiba's Maritime History Museum, a ship-shaped (!) building just a short walk from Expensive Hotel. The kids had a great time playing with the interactive exhibits, most of which featured models of ships' controls and their correlated propellers and engines. Our two girls were quite a sight, piloting imaginary ships while their Hello Kitty and Aristocat handbags dangled from their elbows. But instead of a picture of that (E. probably doesn't want her daughter's picture on the internet, and I understand) here is a photo of the enormous old-fashioned propulsion engine that took up most of the main hall of the museum.
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