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I took this shot at Sai Ko (lake) last weekend. There was a row of seemingly abandoned buses near our campsite lined up pointing toward the lake. Why?? I asked one man, and he thought they’d been placed there for shelter in case of strong rain. Another person told me that “classic buses” have been intentionally deposited all around the lake — as an artistic statement by some Japanese Cristo.
This evening Hitomi told me a story about Reia. Reia is tough, in her own way, but overall she’s a gentle personality. She has to learn how to handle people who are naturally more aggressive. One of the girls in her class is that way. Hitomi asked Reia what she does when “Hanako” is over-bearing. Reia said that the other day “Hanako” was pushing her around, so Reia told her:
“Nakama deshou! Yowai kedo.” That means, “We’re both ‘in together/on the same team’ (friends) okay! But I’m weak.”
The first part is right on. Then Reia intended to say, “But I’m a more gentle/soft type than you.” Unfortunately, “yowai kedo” simply means, “But I’m weak.”
It probably just went over the other girl’s head anyway. Putting aside whether the second part of her response was wise (correctly stated or not), we both gave her an “A” for effort and appreciate her level of self-awareness.… Keep Reading
A minor annoyance…being identified as a Neck Face.
A brief family update. Reia was scared to get her face wet in the shower two weeks ago. Then she started swimming in the course of three days (in my parents’ pool). Today she was diving in the water and swimming through her grandfather’s legs (wearing goggles). Mari is jumping in and no longer (much) afraid of going underwater. Maika still hesitates but she’s coming along.
Earlier I posted an image of three guys (who have traveled various parts of the world) playing music together in the park. Here is a close up of one of their instruments (from Zimbabwe).
We have a visitor here, so I forgot to post a photo yesterday. I’ll post a couple more today.
This weekend is [Design Festa](http://www.designfesta.com/02_en/00_df_e/index.html) at Tokyo Big Site. I’ll be there…! It’s a semi-annual event billed as the largest art event in Asia. Last time they had 6000 exhibitors and 51,000 visitors. You’ll find interesting art (good, bad, in between), crafts, great ethnic food decently priced, music (good, bad…), and loads of people watching. If you’re in Tokyo wondering what to do right now, don’t miss it. I think it costs about 1000 yen at the door (maybe a bit more, I forget).
All the mannequins in this store had large chips in the mouths or noses, reinforcing my hammer theory (or maybe they’re able to buy chipped mannequins at a discount).
The dollar is rising against the yen. But Japan is talking about [raising interest rates](http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-japan10mar10,1,4011395.story?coll=la-headlines-business) in a way that could shake up economies far and near. It would be nice to know what what to expect from all this in terms I can understand…
It’d be an interesting project just photographing all the mannequin’s in Harajuku. In fact, I’ll do that sometime. I’ve noticed that a great many mannequin’s there have their noses broken, cracks in their faces, clownish smiles, missing heads, and other signs of psychological trauma. But whose? The store owners? The marketing gurus? The clientele’s?
I confess. I’m holding onto some of my better photos that I’ve taken recently. I’ll be moving soon, things are getting busy, and I’m afraid of running out. But hang around, because this month is going to get better and better (I hope).
Tonight I’m working on taxes. Japanese taxes are due March 15…
UPDATE: My US taxes are done. The hardest part was writing my address in the little space on Form 2555. The whole process took about three hours though. Japanese taxes are the easy part (esp. since my wife does them). 😉
UPDATE 2: U2 has [postponed](http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002155644) the last 10 dates of their Vertigo Tour, including Japan. I guess [Warrick is going to be disappointed](http://www.japanwindow.com/index.php?showimage=272).
