OizumiGakuen, the birthplace of Japanese Animation

At Oisumi Gakuen Station, the conductor of the famous galaxy express 999 will meet you.

Street Performers

Street Performers announcing sales.

Christmas Decoration in Roppongi

In front of Suntory Museum of Art, you see the decoration.

One evening in Shibuya

Office area in Shibuya.

Ginkgo trees

It is getting colder everyday and leaves are begin to change their colors.
This is an picture of an avenue lined with ginkgo trees at Keio Univ. Hiyoshi Campus.

Oshibori

Many foreign friends who left Japan after spending sometime there told me they were going to miss being served a oshibori, or a wet hand towel served at any restaurant before you eat.

Not only can you clean your hands, you can use it to entertain people by doing origami with it.
http://jp.youtube.com/watch?v=qdm7u7DRf2g&feature=related

The Maneki Neko

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


The Maneki Neko (literally "Beckoning Cat"; also known as Welcoming Cat, Lucky Cat, Money cat or Fortune Cat) is a common Japanese sculpture, often made of porcelain or ceramic, which is believed to bring good luck to the owner.

The sculpture depicts a cat (traditionally a Japanese Bobtail) beckoning with an upright paw, and is usually displayed—many times at the entrance—in shops, restaurants, pachinko parlors, and other businesses.

Some of the sculptures are electric or battery-powered and have a slow-moving paw beckoning. In the design of the sculptures, a raised right paw supposedly attracts money, while a raised left paw attracts customers.

To Americans and Europeans it may seem as if the Maneki Neko is waving rather than beckoning. This is due to the difference in gestures & body language recognized by Westerners and the Japanese, with Japanese beckoning by holding up the hand, palm out, and repeatedly folding the fingers down and back up, thus the cat's appearance.

The Maneki Neko made specifically for Western markets will have the cat's paw facing backwards, in a beckoning gesture more familiar to Westerners.

Local folk song

In a Izakaya in Tokyo, or a tavern, owners entertain customers with local folk songs.

Cat Cafe

The housing situation in large cities in Japan makes it difficult have pets.

Many cat lovers in cities go cat cafes hoping to spend some time with them.

Cats are cats no matter they live.

Visiting cat cafe is no guarantee for seeing them.

They come and go・・・or never come if they don't feel like it.

So what cat lovers do at cat cafe while waiting those capricious creatures?

They look at photo books of cats, read books on cats and eat cat curry.

Shiisa

Shiisa is a legendary creature in Okinawa.
They are the placed on a gate, a roof, or a hill in a community because they are believed to protect the house, the dweller or the community and invite luck.

Coming Soon!

At Kabuki-za, tiles of the Kabuki that will be performed soon will be shown with a picture of the each story.

willow & ghost

In the tales of old Japan, ghosts usually appear under a willow tree.

The leaves and bark of the willow tree have been used as pain killer from ancient time in many parts of the world so it is thought to have mystical power and that may be the reason why ghosts and willow tree are related.

Christmas Decoration

We have start seeing Christmas decoration in many places in Tokyo.

This is one of them but you feel like you would be sucked into UFO if you go underneath the lights.

The Lions became Japan Series champions

The Japan Series is a Baseball championship series for professional teams.

This year the Saitama Seibu Lions captured Japan Series crown.

Seibu Group has department stores and many enjoy a special sale to celebrate the teams victory. At the entrance, you see a sign with the team mascot and the letter V for victory.

Name for a newborn Baby

Parents give great consideration to the names they bestow upon their children, using names to express their hopes and dreams for the child's future,as well as their expectation for the kind of person they wish the child to become.

When parents decide on a name, a parent (usually the father) write it on a piece of washi and the unveiling of the name to their family and friends.

The first letter 雫 consists of 雨（rain） 下（down）and it means a drip of water.

The second letter 希 means a wish or a hope.

The mother ocean is born from a drip of water. A drip of water gather together with its friends to form river and run into the Ocean.

The name reflect the baby's parents wish for her to become someone who can turn both happiness and sadness into pabulum to live with first class water drips.

A gallery in a Underground Passage in Ginza

There is a gallery in a underground passage in Ginza.
They exhibit may kinds of 2-dimensional works of art.
Sometimes they have paintings and other times photos.
Now they are exhibiting works of Japanese calligraphy.

Manneken Pis from Brussel

Manneken Pis is very well known in Japan is often used when one needs to attract people's attention.

The photo was taken at JR Hamamatsu-cho Station.

You see a Shinkansen (a bullet train) passing behind the boy, right?

He was serving for traffic safety this time.

Kabuki-za

Kabuki-za is a theater especially for Kabuki.

It is going to be closed and rebuilt due to decrepitude and and out of concern for weak quake resistance.

Many wants to keep the building and prefer it to be renovated (not rebuilt!) because it is a tangible cultural properties.

I personally hope that the building will be preserved somehow if its' renovation does not solve the issues of safety.