tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78421972011-10-17T11:14:18.505+09:00This blog is about an obachan's way of life that you may or may not find interesting. The background designs will change semi-periodically to show the seasonal changes in Japan. obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.comBlogger2751100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-75653906869453739142010-09-29T12:29:00.002+09:002010-09-29T13:00:58.221+09:00

Things are getting hectic around me since that big day. It's not so much of the workload in the office, but rather the difficulty in managing the combination of the daytime work and the chores I need to do at home.Last week was another big challenge. In some traditional areas in rural Japan, people offer special meal to their ancestors during Higan period which is about a week around spring or

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-5408904210468523582010-09-22T12:46:00.003+09:002010-09-22T13:20:39.255+09:00

WE DID IT!!!As I wrote on my foodblog, we got an endorsement from a domestic geopark committee about a week ago. Oh, it was a BIG day. TV crews from all the local broadcasting companies (we only have four)... People from several newspapers... When our chief answered the phone from the committee, we couldn't tell for a while if it was a good news or a bad news from his facial expression. Then he

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-33849722709976065012010-08-28T15:01:00.003+09:002010-08-30T12:27:21.812+09:00

So, that is my situation in August, 2010. (Those who missed the beginning of the story, please read the previous post first.) But Mom's operation and my work were not all the challenges I have to face. Here's my dad -- who shouldn't be, and cannot be forgotten.Let me tell you something. He suffered from hypochondriasis from his late 30s to early 60s. By the time he was 45 years old, his name was

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-11481383997714257372010-08-26T11:45:00.005+09:002010-08-26T14:22:44.958+09:00

Finally! The worst part is over. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that because it was not really the "worst" -- I did enjoy some of the new experiences after all -- and also, things can get worse from now on.Anyway, where should I start? Mom's operation, maybe.As I posted on my foodblog, mom had been complaining about her foot problem for years, and she finally went to see the doctor several months

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-73410636159908662182010-03-15T20:53:00.007+09:002010-03-16T07:25:04.813+09:00

Recently I often go to the cape and practice tour guiding. (I'm a volunteer tour guide of the local geopark.) See? I'm doing my best to stay active in my jobless days.Honestly, it is nice to be close to the nature when you are a little tired of people and their lip services. The rocks are silent and they show us a totally different kind of time span, which often heals me a lot.If you ever come

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-45675877387170877002010-03-12T06:59:00.022+09:002010-03-12T08:00:27.103+09:00

My mom's hometown is another small town which was once prosperous from the production of good quality charcoal. Now the place is a national preservation district of traditional houses. There they started a new event several years ago to attract tourists. It is doll festival celebration, but instead of each household celebrating the festival privately, almost all houses in a certain section of the

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-35462927614136026892010-03-03T18:05:00.004+09:002010-03-03T21:48:20.465+09:00

This is my favorite place which is not too far from my parents' house... maybe 10 minutes by car? It is close to the tip of a cape and the climate there is almost subtropical. So spring flowers bloom much faster there than in neighboring towns. These field mustard or turnip mustard flowers are all over the place, and the whitish stone shrine gate stands out in the yellow and green carpet. This

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-7407171381997628132010-01-17T07:48:00.005+09:002010-01-17T14:04:03.125+09:00

We will never forget that morning of January 17th, 1995.And my heart is on Haiti, too...

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-72965905288459381882009-12-29T17:39:00.005+09:002009-12-29T19:29:37.118+09:00

It's hard to believe that it's almost the end of 2009. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was complaining about having to work on the January first? Well, the big difference this year is that I am really taking it easy in the holiday season. I'm off from Dec. 29 to Jan. 3rd. Six solid days without work! It hasn't happened in my life for a very long time.Today was a big cleaning day. I never like

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-9836536001364806952009-10-21T09:06:00.008+09:002009-10-21T10:01:09.857+09:00

I've been busy lately, and talking/emailing to someone who is younger than my parents almost every day. But it has been much more stressful than I had thought. I'll tell you more details soon.BTW, these are the photos I took yesterday afternoon (Oct 20, 2009). Rumor has it that a cloud like this (the one making a long, straight line across the sky) could be a predictor of an earthquake. I hope

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-48484500833820587322009-10-16T22:11:00.026+09:002009-10-17T21:40:04.365+09:00

Mikoshi (portable shrine) being washed in the oceanYesterday (October 15th) was a gorgeous autumn day. I spent all afternoon taking photos at our traditional autumn festival. The details of the festival are posted here and here, so I'm not going to repeat the explanation again. Instead, I'm making this post a sort of "photo gallery."The photos in my previous posts about this festival were taken

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-2661895801871841532009-10-07T13:01:00.003+09:002009-10-07T13:54:15.731+09:00

Typhoon Melor is coming.Mom and I went to my aunt's house and closed all the rain shutters there. Dad picked most of the early oranges yesterday, and closed up all the doors and windows of the barns and garages this morning. After lunch today, I took down the laundry poles and took in all the hangers.It's definitely getting windier, but strangely enough, the waves are not as rough as it should

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-25104157000378042372009-10-01T07:16:00.000+09:002009-10-01T07:58:17.937+09:00

As I mentioned on my foodblog, I got a job offer from the local city office, which was helping with the language while the city office staff gave visitors from abroad a tour in town. The visitors came from September 27th to 29th, and we -- at least I -- had a great time! :D Not just because it was my rare chance to talk with someone other than my parents, but because the visitors were such nice

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-44739422013706147462009-09-15T16:34:00.003+09:002009-09-15T19:10:05.489+09:00

But it's difficult at the moment. Today is a gloomy rainy day that you can't do much of anything. Everyone in this house is "goofing off," postponing most of the chores to tomorrow. For me it's a good chance to bake something, but I've been sitting in front of my laptop all day (except for the time I went to the post office).On a day like this, everything I've been working on -- including job

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-20373998981573464442009-09-12T17:38:00.003+09:002009-09-12T20:49:25.203+09:00

Last Thursday, I spent an afternoon and night at my aunt's house ALONE. Yes, it's my project of securing a place where I can be totally alone and relax, as written in my previous post, in order to keep my mental sanity. :P I truly enjoyed the broadband Internet service there, sitting at the desk near the window. This photo doesn't show it very well, but there's a green curtain of morning glory

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-81686896371860208692009-09-06T19:52:00.015+09:002009-09-08T22:39:32.756+09:00

September 1st is National Disaster Prevention Day in Japan. But because the day fell on a weekday (Tuesday) this year, most towns and cities had a disaster drill on the first Sunday of September so that many people could participate. Yes, we, too, had it today. And it was the most laid-back drill I've ever had in my entire life! :DSince a major earthquake is expected to hit this area in the near

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-49910449375260822232009-08-25T13:11:00.010+09:002009-08-25T18:31:56.567+09:00

Time stands still on a summer afternoon when the grilling sunshine makes a sharp contrast with the shade under the trees, and all you hear are the chorus of cicadas and the sound of an old electric fan.Then from somewhere, you hear a little kid -- your best friend -- calling your name."Let's go swimming!" the voice says.And you see yourself -- a little boy or a girl -- hurrying to the beach with

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-58908052229169047322009-08-23T19:39:00.005+09:002009-08-23T20:55:23.038+09:00

The weather has been summer-like the whole past week. Yesterday I joined a group of people who cleaned the beach. As I wrote in a previous post, this part of the prefecture is applying for UNESCO Geopark status, and some people from related organization are coming to visit this town at the end of August. Of course, we want to show them our hospitality and give a good impression. That's why local

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-44477973857139026402009-08-09T21:37:00.005+09:002009-08-10T06:26:33.433+09:00

My younger sis and her two kids are coming tomorrow to stay for about a week.GOOD!I've got to have normal conversation with someone younger than my parents.And,I N-E-E-D F-U-N!!!... But the weather is going to be lousy. Amazingly, a tropical depression just turned into typhoon close to Japan and coming this way. Gee. Water temperature of the Pacific Ocean must be pretty high. Another

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-51914378682922740462009-08-01T13:36:00.005+09:002009-08-02T10:12:47.785+09:00

So I went to the three-day lecture on local geology, and I enjoyed it very, VERY much! The teacher who gave the lecture was hilarious, energetic and knowledgeable. He is the center of the project to apply for UNESCO Geopark status for this area, I heard. I think they chose the right guy.The lecture totally changed the way I look at the coastline and rocks that I'm awfully familiar with and have

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-57495143876259304912009-07-29T09:47:00.003+09:002009-08-02T17:45:51.479+09:00

... it really sucks. It sure does.It's been three months since I moved into my parents' house in this super-rural town. Yes, I love the beauty of the nature, fresh food and laid-back way of life. It could have been a paradise... IF I had a job and friends here. But the truth is I didn't -- still don't, and you know what I've learned? I can never enjoy life without them, no matter where I live!For

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-63713670679180371232009-07-22T21:47:00.002+09:002009-07-22T22:20:06.213+09:00

I wonder how many people enjoyed the total eclipse today. Here in Kochi, a partial eclipse was expected and some lucky folks did see it. (I know that because I read a few posts about it on some Kochi locals' blogs.) Unfortunately, in this part of the prefecture, it was cloudy all morning with occasional rain. I stepped out a couple of times at around 11:00 AM and looked up, but couldn't see

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-68361110945856661352009-06-25T21:51:00.012+09:002009-06-27T10:56:51.664+09:00

Today I went to Kochi city (where I used to live) and saw this movie, The Harimaya Bridge. Yes, the one that I was an extra in a year ago. Was I in the movie? No, I couldn't find myself today. But if I rent a DVD and play it slow over and over, there might be a surprise, so I still have a hope.To me it was a lovely movie like a handmade gift made with lots of love. Nothing gorgeous, but warm,

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-16921048301503556472009-06-05T20:12:00.006+09:002009-06-05T21:28:32.670+09:00

Yes, I moved back into my hometown on the last day of April, 2009 and now I live with my parents. My life here is full of challenges, and I don't know if I can ever "settle down" someday. I've been posting about the challenges on my new foodblog:http://kokonuggetyum2.blogspot.com/so please come and take a look if you haven't.:)On that foodblog, I've been posting some photos that I took on my

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-19989164703061197062009-04-12T19:24:00.007+09:002009-04-13T17:56:26.596+09:00

I'm in the middle of major cleaning now, because I've got to throw away most of my large nonburnable garbage tomorrow morning, between 6 am and 8 am. Since this morning, I have been sorting out the garbage looking at the list on our city government's official website on my laptop. It's hard to concentrate on the task I truly hate. Really. Guess how many times I started reading my old books/

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-39763600414723134272009-03-21T16:56:00.003+09:002009-03-25T09:00:56.612+09:00

March 21, 2009* Click photos to enlarge.These wild cherry blossoms are my favorite. They bloom earlier than most cherry trees in the park or popular "cherry viewing spots." The smaller blossoms with reddish young leaves look more delicate than gorgeous... Maybe that's why I like them so much.------------March 24, 2009

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-15649472663594840672009-02-11T20:04:00.012+09:002009-02-14T08:49:56.292+09:00

I wonder how many readers of my foodblog have noticed the change in the photos there. Those who click on the photos to see the enlarged versions may know that I have a new camera now, because they can see the filenames of the photos briefly.Yes, I bought a new compact digital camera the other day as part of the preparation for my moving to my hometown. I plan to continue blogging there and will

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-8086459649927804622008-12-30T07:55:00.003+09:002008-12-30T08:13:33.658+09:00

Oh, come on. It's not about Japanese being workaholic or not. I'm sure that some people DO work on January 1st in many countries as far as there exist services that cannot be stopped or closed during the holiday season -- such as hotels, restaurants, hospitals, security-related services, Internet-related services, etc....I'm just trying to make myself feel better, you know, since I'm going to

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-9075067439000576172008-11-30T23:04:00.006+09:002008-12-30T08:30:51.546+09:00

At Suberi-yama (Kochi Castle) and Johsei park, Kochi, Japan

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-69681289571221498622008-11-13T18:20:00.004+09:002008-11-14T00:05:58.518+09:00

Gee, I have neglected this blog for such a long time! Shame on me.I did go out and took some photos in October, and I was going to post them as soon as I came back to my apartment. But I forgot, as you see.Also I was planning to go to autumn festival at a nearby shrine to take some photos, but it didn't work out because I had to go to work on that Sunday. Ahhh, where's my life? How long would I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-4446299167809272792008-10-01T23:56:00.000+09:002008-11-14T00:03:06.562+09:00

These are some shots I took in late September.Let's wait and see how they look in late November.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-48989463365184278772008-09-06T14:52:00.002+09:002008-09-06T17:18:24.340+09:00

First day of two-day holidays before a devastating week. Nice weather. Gosh, I've got to enjoy every minute of these holidays, don't I?So, as a starter, I spent the whole morning at a fishing port and on the beach today, trying to catch fish. Though what I actually did was feeding fish and retrieving the bait that wasn't even touched by any fish, I still enjoyed the morning. The weather was nice

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-67252843446544657892008-08-21T23:28:00.012+09:002009-08-10T08:14:53.571+09:00

Click on the photo below to see the slideshow of my photos from Yosakoi Festival 2008 in Kochi, Japan! :)*Copyright of all photos in the slideshow belongs to the author of this blog. All Rights Reserved.スライドショーの写真に写っている方で掲載を希望されない方は、メールにてお知らせください。アドレスは、右のサイドバーの "Email Me" を右クリックするとコピーできます。スライドショーに含まれる全ての写真について、一切の無断転載を禁じます。------My previous Yosakoi posts:The Blessing of Being Nuts - Yosakoi

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-69157721554311428892008-06-24T09:21:00.009+09:002008-12-12T17:12:07.524+09:00

The filming? Yeah, I enjoyed it, though it was far more exhausting than I had expected. (It started at 12:30 and went on ‘til past 18:00 – on an extremely humid day!) Too bad Danny Glover wasn’t there. :( But we were able to see Ben Guillory and Saki Takaoka pretty close. We extras were there as the crowd watching yosakoi dance parade in the shopping arcade, and the actor and the actress walked

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-25106399759276421822008-05-15T18:31:00.002+09:002008-05-15T18:45:05.074+09:00

Check this out!Too bad. I'm just A LITTLE BIT too old to apply for the audition. But I don't mind being an extra in the movie. Oh, I'd be happy to play the role of a local obachan and sell yuzu citrus to Danny Glover at the Sunday Market!Hey, honestly. You might see me somewhere in this movie if you would have a chance to see it. Ahhhhh... now I feel so close to Hollywood! LOL

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-49272494371224340552008-05-10T09:06:00.011+09:002008-12-12T17:12:09.449+09:00

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-31351216543392587672008-05-05T09:20:00.006+09:002008-05-05T09:49:39.307+09:00

Gee, I have neglected this blog for months! :O Shame on me, right?Now it's "Golden Week" again. At this time of the year last year, I was cleaning like hell to get ready for the surgery and the hospital stay. Mmmmm.... time really flies.Today is my first COMPLETE day off since last February. Usually in early May, my "urge to purge" comes and I (at least try to) clean up my place as much as

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-20368007894076872612008-02-09T08:22:00.000+09:002008-02-10T10:42:57.264+09:00

So, yes, I got a daytime job. But I don’t feel like going “hurray!!” because I remember how it was when I got my previous job at the bento shop which closed last month. I was like “Hurray! I got a job! I know there’s gonna be a big challenge but I’ll do my best.” And I drew hundreds of bento illustrations at home every day to memorise how to pack different kinds of bentos. OK, I exaggerated. Not

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-59606534056514881812008-01-29T12:47:00.000+09:002008-01-30T13:05:21.394+09:00

I didn't get the job at the restaurant, after all. The guy called me this morning and told me that they hired someone else.Oh, well, life goes on and I'm heading for the local employment agency named "Hello Work." Nice name, huh?

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-89756327909091179322008-01-22T23:43:00.000+09:002008-01-31T14:11:47.264+09:00

I had a job interview this morning at the small office of a restaurant chain in town. It was a cold, rainy morning, and riding my bike for more than 30 minutes to get there was already quite discouraging.But the interview went well. There were only two people there in the office: a middle-aged guy and a young female assistant, and they were both really nice. The assistant even gave me a cup of

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-74239616964975684092008-01-17T12:27:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:11.189+09:00

We will never forget that morning of January 17th, 1995.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-35758909909567272722008-01-14T10:12:00.000+09:002008-01-30T12:57:33.532+09:00

In Japan, you see the same type of news programs on most channels in the morning, and most of them have “your fortune for today” segment. I used to hate seeing it, because it can be pretty discouraging. Who would want to start a day with a prediction, “You are going to have a bad luck today?” So when it was time for a fortune-telling segment, I would zap the channel. But now, job hunting at

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-61229660437516837072007-12-11T08:58:00.001+09:002008-12-12T17:12:11.632+09:00

At Kochi castle (Dec. 9, 2007) Click to enlarge

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-48038997843855626742007-11-25T20:56:00.001+09:002008-12-12T17:12:12.789+09:00

It's still a bit too early for photos of beautiful maple/ginkgo leaves. See how they were on Nov. 28th in 2005. This year, on Nov. 25th, those trees are still pretty much green, and I'm going to have to wait a couple more weeks before I go to Josei park and Kochi castle with my camera.These are some photos I took in my neighborhood today when I went walking along a small river.　This was a huge

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-7559392718613621352007-10-11T15:36:00.000+09:002007-10-11T15:43:03.687+09:00

“We cannot change the cards that are dealt... It is just how we play with our hands...”-- Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy PauschI accidentally found this site the other day and have been watching the video of his speech over and over since then.Awesome. Empowering. Definitely one of the best things I've encountered in cyberspace.Makes me want to believe that now I’m climbing up the brick wall ...

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-67763782938965119712007-09-21T10:50:00.000+09:002007-09-24T19:28:40.555+09:00

The first couple of days at a new job are always tough, being full of excitement AND anxiety. And it is as if the older I get, the more anxiety I have than excitement in a situation like this. I guess all I can do at this point is just trying my best, right?If choosing this job was a good choice, I’ll be living a happier life (compared to the previous years) this winter on. And if not… Oh, well,

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-32486961693220873522007-09-15T08:56:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:13.507+09:00

Here are some photos from summer 2007. No, this is not my hometown. I forgot to bring my camera to the beach when we (my parents, my sister and her kids and me) had fun there. This beach is called Ya-shii park, which is about 30 minutes by train from Kochi. I went there when I terribly missed the ocean a couple of weeks after coming back from my hometown. I felt kinda stupid about being there

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-65633441162881613722007-08-27T11:36:00.001+09:002008-12-12T17:12:29.224+09:00

＊写真に写っている方で掲載をやめてほしいという方は、kokopelli_sa88 at hotmail dot com までご連絡下さい。Are you a dancer?Are you a professional dancer of taking dance lessons as a hobby?Even if you’re not, in this rural town in Japan you can experience the followings every summer if you decide to participate as a dancer in our big summer dance festival, Yosakoi Festival. (To find out more about Yosakoi festival, click HERE.)*

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1719389297105806982007-08-09T21:41:00.000+09:002007-08-09T22:28:59.480+09:00

You thought I forgot about our crazy dance festival this year because I haven't written about it like I did in previous years?No way!Right now I'm packing up all my "photographer's tools" for tomorrow. I already checked the program and decided which dance venue to go at what time. A photographer must consider the effect of the sunlight, you know, especially when the venues include some shopping

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-13180950647781777432007-07-22T16:21:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:29.599+09:00

I saw a celebrity at the mall today.He looked pretty busy.The kids looked happy.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-9751385585697158272007-07-01T19:21:00.000+09:002007-07-01T23:00:37.458+09:00

I learned something very nice today. What do you do when you throw away CD-Rs which have your personal data on? You break them? Or do you use one of those "disk shredders ?"　Here's an easy, cheap and effective way. Check out this site. No, you don't need to read the explanation. Scroll down to the photos-- they'll explain everything. Believe me. It's fun.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-58788649091677540982007-06-23T22:03:00.000+09:002007-06-23T22:20:42.307+09:00

You know what happened today? This afternoon, when I was riding my bicycle in a hurry to a nearby supermarket, a girl on a bicycle rushed out from a junior high school and we had a crash. The break of my bike hit one of the incisions from the surgery real hard as I fell. Which one? The left one. Yeah, the one that took weeks to heal. The wound did not open, but I might have a bruise. And after

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-32299607872142518522007-06-20T23:46:00.000+09:002007-06-21T00:05:35.489+09:00

One of my colleagues @ my daytime job is quitting soon. I didn’t know that until today, and now I’m drinking in my room because I’m feeling terrible. I liked her a lot. I would never be able to work with a person like her again.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-56211632646040146392007-06-17T14:17:00.001+09:002010-04-07T20:29:57.497+09:00

2nd week at work (17 days after surgery and later)This week, my feet were firmly on the ground, but I felt more tired when at work than the first week. Also I felt a bit strange in my abdomen. No, I didn’t feel pain in the wounds, but it was more like deep muscles there were sore …like your muscles suffer after having too much exercise, more on the second day than the first day. You know what I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-27240342341648747302007-06-17T14:13:00.000+09:002007-06-21T09:04:59.234+09:00

May 15, 2007 -- 4th day after surgery --I wish I could write, “Being totally relieved, I slept for eight straight hours.” But that was not what happened. Though I fell asleep rather easily around midnight, I woke up at 4:30 am and couldn’t go back to sleep.First thing I did was walking one block to take garbage to the closest garbage collection point. No problem. For the rest of the morning, I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-60251112749527138272007-06-11T10:28:00.000+09:002007-07-03T15:20:49.041+09:00

May 14th, 2007 -- 3rd day after the surgery (The day I left the hospital) -- How I slept on the last night at the hospital? Same as other nights. I woke up every few hours for no specific reason. Gee, didn’t I come here to get plenty of sleep to make up for the hectic and sleepless days before my hospital admission? Unfortunately, that plan didn’t work out. But one thing was achieved:Pinoko was

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-61613504128935589892007-06-07T09:58:00.000+09:002007-07-03T15:20:11.923+09:00

May 13th 2007 – 2nd day after the surgery –Thanks to the pain killer, I felt less pain when urinated or coughed that morning. Other times, the incisions did not hurt, which was rather strange. Another strange thing was that my muscles were not weak like they were after I suffered from a high fever or something in the past. Honestly, already on the 12th, I felt that my arms were strong enough to

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-641674170815262852007-06-03T18:09:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:54:20.799+09:00

May 12th, 2007 -- 1st day after the surgery --I know this sounds stupid, but since my childhood, I had fantasized about me being an inpatient once in a while. …Visitors would be surprised to see me being unbelievably weak in bed and I’d be flooded with sympathy. The doctor and nurses would be impressed to see me going through a painful rehab bravely with absolutely no complaints but a smile on my

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-75056912953127150802007-05-25T11:27:00.001+09:002008-12-12T17:12:29.898+09:00

May 11th, 2007　 -- Day 3: Surgery (Good bye, Pinoko) --Good thing was that it didn’t rain at all during my hospital stay. Rain always makes me depressed and I didn’t want to have a surgery on a rainy day. The bright sunshine that morning made me less worried about the tracheal intubation. Oh, it will be alright… I’m physically strong and my veins are easy to see. So my esophagus and windpipe must

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-19302253123969863872007-05-23T14:47:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:29.988+09:00

May 10th, 2007　 -- Day 2: Bad decision?? --I couldn’t sleep well. I managed to sneak out the four-bed room at 3:30 am and fill my growling stomach with inari-zushi, but it didn’t help. The room was a bit too warm (or was it my hot flash??), and hearing other patients toss and turn made me feel restless. Maybe I should have brought ear-plugs like someone advised on her blog….Around 10:30 am, I met

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-48014865606322740612007-05-21T12:07:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:37:21.289+09:00

May 9th, 2007 -- Day 1: Admission --Mom and I arrived at the hospital around 8:20 am that morning. It was too early for our scheduled check-in (9:00 am), but I wanted to have a nice breakfast at the coffee shop in the hospital. Mom had to take an early train, and I knew she didn’t eat anything before leaving home, even though she said she did.After breakfast, we checked in. A nurse took us to

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-86846919652765669182007-05-17T12:08:00.000+09:002007-05-17T12:17:44.870+09:00

Six days after the surgery. Now I’m sitting in front of my laptop, being surrounded by the stuff I brought back from the hospital. Gosh, look how many papers I had to sign! There’s even a photo of Pinoko sitting right next to the keyboard now. I asked for one copy for me and the doc said OK. I’m not going to post it on this blog, but let me tell you… she’s much more photogenic than many of the

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-36680680122179339112007-05-03T09:49:00.000+09:002007-05-07T00:12:39.006+09:00

First day of four consecutive holidays. I’ve decided to use these holidays for cleaning my room and baking goodies. Why baking? To cheer myself up before and after the surgery. I’m going to bake a batch of my favorite oatmeal raisin cookies and store them in an air-tight container so that I can eat them at the hospital. Also I’m going to bake my favorite “creamy apple cake” and freeze it before I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-16289144480345970212007-04-28T23:13:00.001+09:002007-06-21T08:36:22.571+09:00

Well, do you think I should be scared? But the truth is: I’m not. This may sound really stupid, but honestly, I’m excited just like an elementary school kid waiting for the first school trip. I’m not kidding.Yesterday was the day of my preoperative test. I went through blood test, urine test, chest x-ray, lung function test and ECG. (My doctor forgot to input the request for my tests, so I had to

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-3862936142334014382007-04-18T11:04:00.000+09:002007-04-18T11:09:29.911+09:00

Not long after we heard about the tragedy at Virginia Tech, a mayor was shot to death in a southern prefecture here in this country. He was shot when he came back from campaigning for this coming Sunday’s election, and the murderer was a gangster.Some will argue that because today’s society is this dangerous, each person should be allowed to protect him/herself with a gun. But… honestly, I can’t

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-882413806802839962007-04-05T08:39:00.000+09:002007-04-05T08:45:14.135+09:00

I don’t want to go into too much details, but I’m just so disgusted that I have to spit this out in order to keep going. I HATE working with those who constantly lie just to make them look better than what they really are – just to save their asses – and do not care about trampling on others’ feelings for that purpose. It's DISGUSTING!

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-45546126432379928192007-03-14T10:09:00.000+09:002007-03-14T10:28:35.515+09:00

The small airport in this rural prefecture has suddenly become the center of public attention yesterday because of this incident. We saw the video of this airplane landing on its nose over and over on almost all TV news programs this morning. Good thing that no one was hurt.They say that this DHC-8-400 is a popularly used model in rural areas in Japan (with loads of accidents reported in the past

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-30615737404045251102007-03-12T09:37:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:33.216+09:00

I went to the spring Daikoku-sama festival at Sugimoto shrine last Sunday. Yes, it's the same shrine that I posted about in the autumn of 2005 when the autumn Daikoku-sama festival was held there.　The event then was gods' excursion to a nearby river bank. This time, the festival was dedicated to Daikoku-sama, God of wealth widely known and loved in Japan. People praying at Sugimoto shrine and a

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-13488038320462799402007-03-02T11:30:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:34:58.656+09:00

OK. My surgery date is set. It’s May 11th, 2007. I need to be admitted on the 9th and go through all the preparations. According to the blogs by Japanese women who went through the same thing, looks like I have to be “emptied” completely before the surgery. Which means, what I will have eaten/drunk by then must be completely removed from my body. Gosh, what fun.Today the doc said that two weeks

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-74792414863856480342007-02-24T13:47:00.000+09:002007-02-26T09:50:19.226+09:00

Last week was the second week at my new nighttime job. In mid February, I started working at a private school from 5 pm to 9 pm, 4 days a week, as an office clerk. (They have night classes.) Unlike the days in the kitchen at an izakaya or a kaiseki place, the work at the school is not physically demanding, and I can go home a lot earlier. Friday night used to be the hardest night and I was never

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-81906129903248405552007-02-12T11:43:00.000+09:002008-12-12T17:12:33.564+09:00

It’s been really warm and my allergy is not terrible at this point. So I go walking quite often these days. Actually that’s the only exercise I do recently. I used to do stretching and some kung-fu exercise in my room. But these days, with Pinoko in my stomach, I’m a bit scared to do certain moves. Perhaps it wouldn’t make any difference because, as far as I know, you can’t prevent ovarian

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-22537204405233432682007-02-06T22:00:00.000+09:002007-02-06T22:05:15.128+09:00

It was darn warm today with the daytime high of 21 degree C or something. Can you believe this? It’s February! My boss said that an old guy in her neighborhood was worried about a possible big earthquake. According to her, he said it was unusually warm just like this before a major earthquake hit this prefecture about 50 years ago. Gee, I hope it doesn’t happen … especially before or right after

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1169968622504795932007-01-28T16:16:00.000+09:002007-01-28T21:01:55.270+09:00

I attended CPR/AED training workshop this morning from 9 am to noon. Guess what. When I woke up, it was already 8:19 am and I was supposed to ride my bicycle for about 40 minutes to get to the venue. Skipping breakfast, I rode my bike halfway and took a train, and luckily, I made it on time! :DThe training was fun! I have had CPR training apx. 10 years ago when I was in Kansai, but the CPR

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1169827315844473582007-01-27T00:55:00.000+09:002007-01-27T14:42:09.663+09:00

Hehehe …I waited to address this issue until someone else posts about it in English so that I can just link to it instead of explaining it from scratch in my poor Engrish. :P And now thanks to posts like this and this (great summary!) by Maki of I was just really very hungry and other online English newspapers, now this topic is known even outside Japan. (Well, obviously this guy who wrote this

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1169363202625615832007-01-21T15:36:00.000+09:002007-01-21T20:58:53.433+09:00

Last night I played pool (8-ball) with a friend of mine. After the game, we had nice ramen noodles at one of the vendors on the street. After coming home, the canned coffee I drank while playing pool kept me awake until 3:30 am this morning. Now I have trouble concentrating on the instructions on the photobucket website. Well, this photo-sharing service doesn't look very attractive to me anyway.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168992754122755452007-01-17T09:10:00.000+09:002007-01-21T11:42:41.603+09:00

A prayer at 5:46 am, January 17.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168910818769179022007-01-16T10:26:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:33:48.614+09:00

MRI scan on Dec. 28th. (Details here.)MRI fee: 10689 yen (copayment) (= apx. US$ 89) *In Japan, copayment is 30% of the expense.At the appointment on Jan. 5th, 2007…To be perfectly honest, I was kind of excited about seeing the MRI images of my cyst. You know, it’s a rare chance to see inside of my body! When I went in, the first thing the doctor said was, “Yeah, it is dermoid.” He also said that

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168768963107135652007-01-15T01:02:00.000+09:002007-01-14T23:41:03.933+09:00

Take a break from the dermoid story ;)These are the shots I took yesterday when I went for a short walk along the river at the sunset. BTW, now I see a sign on my blogger dashboard and it tells me to switch to tne new version of Blogger. But it only gives me, "Could not switch you to the new Blogger" message everytime I give it a try.BOO! :(

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168755230420170782007-01-14T14:14:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:32:49.904+09:00

It was that night that I started a frantic net search on ovarian cysts. What do people usually do with a 5 cm cyst?! According to the websites I consulted, the rule of thumb at most Japanese hospitals seemed to be “surgery for cysts 6 cm or more in size.” But does that mean a 5 cm cyst will never cause torsion of the ovary? Of course, you cannot find a guarantee like that anywhere.But when I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168749476839248332007-01-13T13:27:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:30:07.831+09:00

Here, you have to have the patience of a monk when in the waiting room in a big hospital. Maybe it’s the same in other cities in Japan, or in other countries, too. That day (Dec.15, 2006), I knew my turn could be the last, because obviously my case was not urgent. And the insight I got there after a couple of hours’ meditation was: “I should have had a bigger breakfast.”As expected, my name was

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168565198880783552007-01-12T09:59:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:29:07.306+09:00

Now I don’t remember when I first noticed it, but in the autumn of 2006, I was already aware that I often feel a little tension, or feeling of fullness(?) in right abdomen when I was tired… or even when not tired. Absolutely no pain. Just the feeling that something is there. But still it never occurred to me to relate it to my cyst -- I didn’t expect it to GROW. There was another thing I was

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168429229661592002007-01-10T20:37:00.000+09:002007-06-21T08:27:17.030+09:00

OK. I’m finally getting to it. This is going to be 'part one' of the story of me and my dermoid cyst. Yep, there will be a series of posts here on this topic, because I need to live with the cyst for a few more months before I have a laparoscopic surgery. （BTW, I’ve decided to write this series in Japanese, too. Ever since I got a formal diagnosis, I have done a frantic net search for just any

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1168054778012333062007-01-06T12:38:00.000+09:002007-01-06T12:39:38.033+09:00

These are the shots I took at my parents' house on New Year's Day. Household altarPlants ... ?

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1167359210420655442006-12-28T11:19:00.000+09:002007-01-21T16:19:45.866+09:00

Only a few days left in 2006. Nearly everyone in Japan is busy now getting ready for the New Year’s Day. On TV, you see end-of-year specials every day and you lose track of what day of the week it is. At such a busy time of the year, what I did today was having an MRI scan at a hospital. What a luxury.At the examination in mid December, the echography showed that my suspected dermoid cyst had

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1166510640308080762006-12-19T15:43:00.000+09:002006-12-20T09:42:11.920+09:00

These are the photos I took in Josei Koen on Dec. 3rd and forgot to post until today:P * Click on photos to enlarge.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1164550026910771842006-11-26T22:45:00.000+09:002006-11-27T10:09:24.260+09:00

I guess some people were born to attract unfortunate happenings, and my mom seems to be one of them. Why do I say this? Well, I just got back from my “stormy” weekend in my hometown. Let me tell you how “stormy” it was.The reason why I was there was the community agricultural/industrial fair in my home city held by the local chamber of commerce and industry. My mom is a tea ceremony teacher, and

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1164354208183190892006-11-24T16:39:00.000+09:002006-11-26T19:23:30.733+09:00

A couple of day s ago, when I was working on my kaiseki posts, I thought I heard something outside that I was not supposed to hear. It sounded like a locomotive whistle. -- No way. We don’t have steam locomotives here any more. It must be TV. -- But the TV was not on. Then I heard it again, very clearly, from outside the window. No, it cannot be true! Or maybe I’m going crazy… maybe I worked too

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1163660459637418892006-11-16T15:44:00.000+09:002006-11-16T16:01:00.830+09:00

In the past several weeks, a series of suicides by students and even school principals has been reported. We hear about school children committing suicide one after another because of the bullying they experienced at school. One principal killed himself after his school was found to be one of those that skipped teaching some required courses.　Another did so after being accused for not properly

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1163236671172911232006-11-11T18:15:00.000+09:002006-11-11T18:26:58.756+09:00

After my work at the small kaiseki place finishes, I get changed and go straight to my bicycle waiting by the sidewalk. Usually there are several taxis waiting in line on the street, near where I park my bicycle, for the drunk customers who come out from numerous drinking places. While waiting, taxi drivers often stay outside of their cars to do the stretching or chat with other taxi drivers.Last

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1162259471664674482006-10-31T10:49:00.000+09:002006-10-31T10:51:11.683+09:00

Pix from Halloween costume party (Saturday, Oct. 28th) @ Hirome ichiba in Kochi This is me. I made this costume myself.

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1161744371562062302006-10-25T11:33:00.000+09:002006-10-26T09:44:26.866+09:00

Well, I guess writing about our autumn festival meant really something to me. I’m feeling so relieved, and somehow feeling a sense of closure… It was almost like having some kind of closure on my long-term issue related to my hometown. Something is telling me that it's not completely resolved but I can move onto a new chapter. After I uploaded the festival posts, I started feeling like throwing

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1161517583012938882006-10-22T20:45:00.002+09:002009-10-24T07:52:33.957+09:00

-- October 15, 2006 --(Some photos can be enlarged.)The main festival day was a gorgeous, sunny day with a forecast of a daytime high of 28 C. It was the day that the gods enshrined at the Hachioji 八王子 shrine take a short trip to two other smaller shrines. Gods’ short trip seems to be a common practice of Shinto festivals in Japan. You can see parades with mikoshi (portable miniature shrines) and

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1161319162508195872006-10-20T13:33:00.000+09:002006-10-23T16:15:28.316+09:00

-- October 14, 2006 --(Some photos can be enlarged.)On Saturday, October 14th, I took an early bus to my hometown to help with the cooking for the festival. At around 10:30 am, I was walking toward the old shrine at where I played hide-and-seek in my childhood. I haven’t been to this part of town since my elementary school days. When you visit your hometown after living somewhere else for about

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1161139069316096152006-10-18T11:36:00.000+09:002006-10-20T14:03:11.163+09:00

Most Shinto festivals are organized and run by the staff called “touya 頭屋,” and my dad was one of them this year. In my hometown, one family (actually, the man of the house of the family) from each neighborhood has to do this task. There are 3 or 4 neighborhoods there, so the festival is usually taken care of by 4 touya people. In order to be fair, the families take turns to be touya, and a turn

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1160631254990630572006-10-12T14:33:00.000+09:002006-10-17T10:36:59.220+09:00

This is the ornament that has been hung in front of my parents’ house for the past couple of months (I guess). Some of you might know that this symbolizes something sacred in Shinto religion. Oh, no, it does NOT mean that my parents did something awesome and the local folks started worshiping them. It just means that it is our family’s turn to take care of the autumn festival of my hometown this

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1159582850528106472006-09-30T11:20:00.000+09:002006-09-30T11:34:14.040+09:00

I passed the test!Yesterday I got a mail in my mailbox. When I saw the envelope, I knew what it was about. Since it was thin, I expected a good news (because if I didn’t pass, they would have enclosed bunch of flyers with info. on the course schedule and ads of study guides, etc.) I was right. There was a piece of paper in there just saying “passed.” That was it. It didn’t say anything about how

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1159323290168185202006-09-27T11:00:00.000+09:002006-09-28T00:49:24.816+09:00

Yesterday I visited a tea ceremony club at an elementary school in Kochi city. It was for an article I’m currently writing for a magazine, and I had a great time there. (For those who are not familiar with the tea ceremony, here is some information.)　As I wrote in my blogs before, my mom is a tea ceremony teacher. She made arrangements for me with her fellow teacher who teaches this club. (Thanks

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1158975316963655502006-09-23T10:33:00.000+09:002006-09-24T18:50:47.906+09:00

It’s such a nice day out. Not too hot, not too cold. Perfect day for going out with my camera and a nice bento. I’ve got to enjoy every minute of a gorgeous autumn weekend like this. (But first of all, I’ve got to finish doing the dishes…)--------Yep, I changed the background design though it is not the end of the month yet. It’s not that I got tired of the dragonfly graphic. It’s just that I

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1158373375599428472006-09-15T23:17:00.000+09:002006-09-16T11:23:22.946+09:00

Yes, we were informed about it beforehand, so it’s not the power company’s fault. They had given us flyers about the scheduled power down from 13:30 to 16:00 for some power distribution work. I just completely forgot about it.When the light went off, I was in the middle of my net search. Luckily, I didn’t lose any data or anything. But the following two and half hours felt soooooooooooo long. No

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7842197.post-1157559184874027452006-09-06T23:55:00.000+09:002006-09-12T23:55:48.976+09:00

Princess Kiko gave birth to a baby boy this morning. I guess many of us Japanese felt somewhat relieved by the news, not because the birth solves all the problems but it bought us some time. I have to admit that I am one of them.I have to confess that I wasn’t clear about the difference between supporting “a female emperor” and supporting “maternal-based succession of the throne” until this

obachanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18146311760014752971noreply@blogger.com4