Tuesday, March 31, 2015

2015.3.31

It was fine and warm.
Cherry blossoms are full in bloom in Tokyo and they are so beautiful.

Today is the last day of academic and fiscal year in Japan.
From tomorrow the new academic and fiscal year starts.

There are graduation ceremonies in March and entrance ceremonies in April.

Cherry blossoms are the symbolic flowers of these events and we like to take pictures in front of cherry trees.

There were many pictures of cherry blossoms uploaded to the Facebook today.

 

Monday, March 30, 2015

2015.3.30

It was fine and warm like May.
Cherry blossoms in Tokyo are full in bloom.

There was an accident in the morning and my train delayed for 30 minutes or so.

From today a new NHK drama started.  It is broadcast from 8:00 AM and lasts for 15 minutes from Monday to Saturday for six months. Rebroadcast is from 12:45.
Since I am on the train in the morning period, I enjoy watching the drama with my  smartphone at lunch time.
The title is "Mare" which is a name of the heroine of this drama.  The location is Noto peninsula.
Since the new bullet train opened its operation in the Hokuriku area on March 14 this year, there will be many tourists there this year.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

2015.3.29

It was fine and warm this morning and afternoon. But it started raining in the evening as the weather forecast said.

Today I went to ex-colleague's house to have a party for her newly born baby and two birthday girls and farewell for the one who will go to stay in Osaka from next month.
Eleven of us got together after eight months at her house. Her first son was grown bigger since the last time, and we were all surprised to see him walking around and talking.
Children grow very fast and learn many things.

This was a potluck party and everyone brought something.  We enjoyed many dishes.
Since I organized the party, everyone thanked me the opportunity to get together.
We had a nice time.

After coming back,  I went to  attend the general meeting of the community.

Saturday, March 28, 2015

2015.3.28

It was fine and warm.


I went grocery shopping to three stores and a bank in the morning.


There will be a party tomorrow at my friend's house, so I prepared many things for that.

Friday, March 27, 2015

2015.3.27

It was fine.  It seems it was warm during daytime, but since I was inside, I do not know how warm it was.

TGIF
I am so glad today is finally Friday. Last Friday I went to Tokushima and came back on Monday morning and went to  work directly, and there were big events this week so I stayed at the office longer, thereore it was a long week.
I went to massage after work. She was surprised at my hard body.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

2015.3.26

It was fine.

Yesterday there was a graduation ceremony.

Today there was an orientation for incoming students.

School is now in spring vacation but we are getting busier for welcoming new students. 

There are two semesters in our university, so this is one of the two busiest seasons.
But we accept more international students in fall.

I hope they will learn many things and have good time in Japan.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

2015.3.25

It was fine but very cold.

There was a graduation ceremony today.

They entered the university in 2011 just after the East Japan Great Earthquake and Tsunami. Therefore it was the year most university did not hold the graduation and entrance ceremonies or held it one month later or so.
Four years has passed since then and they graduated today.

Most of women wore the formal long sleeves kimino called furisode (振袖) or hakama (袴) on it. They look very nice.

Congratulations!!

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

2015.3.24

It was fine but very cold.

Mt. Fuji looked so beautiful covered with snow this morning.

Yesterday there was an announcement of blooming of  cherry blossoms called someiyoshino (ソメイヨシノ) in Yokohama. It was three days earlier than the average year and two days earlier than last year. 
The day before yesterday it became 16 degrees centigrade and it looked like spring, but today it seems winter came back again.

There will be a graduation ceremony for many universities tomorrow.
I hope it will be fine tomorrow.

Monday, March 23, 2015

2015.3.23

It was fine in the morning but became cloudy and rainy in the afternoon, and a bit chilly.

I came back to Shinjuku around 7 AM this morning, then headed for Ikebukuro soon.  I usually use the Metropolitan Exit there but it was too early and still closed.  It opens at 7:30.
The supermarket I go every morning was also closed. It opens at 8 AM.
The doors to the office was also closed and I needed the ID card to open.

My office hour is 10 AM to 6 PM. So I came to office more than two hours and a half earlier than usual.
I was surprised to know there were some staffs working from earlier than 8 AM even if their contract is from 8:30 or 9:00 every day for nothing. 

Since I walked a lot the day before yesterday, I had muscle pain here and there.

2015.3.22

It was fine.

There was a big marathon event in Tokushima. They say 11897 runners participated. Therefore hotels there were full and I could not book the one close to the station.

I left the hotel before 7:30 and went to rent a car. The key, break,  and gears  were quite different from what I have been accustomed to and I was afraid of driving it at first, but I could drive without any problem.

After all I drove for about 150 km, visiting the temples No. 16 to No. 23 and some shrines and completed the whole temples in Awa no kuni (阿波の国) which means Tokushima prefecture.

I am so glad to accomplish the plan I made this time. Without using a car, it was impossible.

After returning the car, I took a  hot spring bath near the station and enjoyed talking with strangers.

I am on the night bus bound for Tokyo.

Sunday, March 22, 2015

2015.3.21

It is a national holiday called shunbun no hi (春分の日), equinox day. Since it is Saturday, we only have two days off.

I arrived at Tokushima around 6:10.  I took a bus at 7:10 and rid for an hour. Then I walked about 9 km for two hours and 15 minutes. When I got to the No. 12 temple, there were less than 10 people, but while I was  there two big groups came by bus. After that I walked more than 9km.

There is a hospitality of local people for pilgrims which is called "osettai (お接待). " Today I got this kind of hospitality and drank five different  tea. And I had a chance to paint.
I took a bus and visited five temples and some shrines today.

Today's total steps was 45783.

Friday, March 20, 2015

2015.3.20

It was cloudy.

It's been 20 years since the sarin gas attacks by Oumu shinrikyo(オウム真理教) cult happened in Tokyo metropolitan subways.
20 years means the length for one person to be an adult from the birth. 
I was in Australia and my friend showed me the newspaper but I did not understand what happened exactly.
This is one of the many historical days most Japanese people can't forget forever.

Now I am on a night bus bound for Tokushima.  We left Shinjuku at 21:25 and expect to arrive at 6:36 AM having rest every two three hours.
This is my second pilgrimage to Awanokuni (阿波の国). I hope to visit 12 temples in  two days.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

2015.3.19

It was a cloudy and rainy day but it was not so cold.

Yesterday it was the first day of higan (彼岸), the equinoctial week. There is a saying "Atsusa samusa mo higan made (暑さ寒さも彼岸まで). " Both heat and cold last until the equinoctial week.
So maybe it is right.

Because of the warmth of this past three days, many flowers started blooming.

2015.3.18

It was fine and warm in the morning but became cloudy in the afternoon, and rained at night.

March is a graduation season.  There was an impressive article in today's newspaper.  A 75 years old woman graduated from graduate school and received a Master's degree in dentistry with an honor prize.  She entered university at the age of 70.  She was a housewife, a company owner, and a board member of school at the same time.
Isn't it amazing?

Nothing is too late to start if we have a strong intention.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

2015.3.17

It was fine and warm today.  But since I was at the office all day long, I did not know how warm it was outside.

There were some souvenirs today.  One is iced rice cake from Sendai.  There were two tastes.  One is zunda which is green soybean.  The other is maccha, green powder tea.  Last time I had zunda, so I tasted maccha this time.  There were red bean paste and fresh cream inside the rice cake too.
The other is a rice cracker from Nagoya. Its name is Yukari. It is a hard cracker of shrimp taste.  This is one of my favorite rice crackers and whenever I go to Nagoya, I cannot help buying it.
Another was almond chocolate of tiramisu taste from Malaysia.  I love chocolates.
I enjoyed tea break.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

2015.3.16

It was cloudy in the morning, and became rainy in the afternoon.

In the morning when I arrived at the station, there was a kid on a kind of a cart. The sign said something like "My name is May of a kid.  I came here to heal you during strolling. "
Kid (子やぎ: koyagi) is a small goat.
There was a member of the city council nearby for distributing the leaflet.
I do not know who took the kid there. Maybe he did.
There are a few stray cats at the station always.
But the kid belongs to somebody. I do not know whom it belongs to.

It was strange.

Sunday, March 15, 2015

2015.3.15

It was fine.

I could sleep late after a long time.

After lunch I visited a shrine and went shopping and to banks. 
In addition to the regular stores, I went to nearby home-related shop to buy something which I have wanted to buy for a long time.  It was difficult to find but I am glad to have bought them.


 

Saturday, March 14, 2015

2015.3.14

It was fine but became rainy.

I went to Yokohama to attend a monthly meeting.  One of my friends from high school joined me.
After that another friend from high school joined and three of us enjoyed Italian lunch sharing pizza and two pasta.
I attended the seminar in the afternoon, then visited a shrine, went to post office, watched a Japanese movie, and went to kimono shop.

Friday, March 13, 2015

2015.3.13

It was fine.
After work I went to Yokohama  to see a movie "Mortdecai" by Johnny Depp.
Today was the last day and new movies will be released from tomorrow.
I used to go to see them in Shinjuku because of invitation tickets for stockholders. But the theaters have been  closed since last December, therefore it became inconvenient.
I hope there will be a good solution shown at the general stockholder's meeting this month.

2015.3.12

It was very cold and windy.

I took a different route from the station to the office this morning, and I found a small spot with statues  of owls. 

I went out for lunch with colleagues at a nearby Japanese restaurant where there were so many owls goods.

Owl is fukuro (ふくろう)in Japanese.  Fukuro is also written as 不苦労 which means no difficulty.
Therefore it is a lucky item.  And owl is also thought as  a god of wisdom.
In Greece it is also a god of wisdom.

After work I went shopping for friend's birthday.

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

2015.3.11

It was fine but very cold.
Last night when I got to the station,
it was hailing, then snowing.  This morning I saw some ice needles(霜柱: shimobashira) in Tokyo on my way to the office.

Today is March 11 when we cannot forget forever. It's been four years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami happened and many people's lives were lost and many places were totally devastated.
There are still many people missing and suffering.

I hope the early recovery of Tohoku area.

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

2015.3.10

It is a cold windy day.

There was a farewell party at lunch time.
About 30 faculties and staffs attended to send out two instructors. There were three tables, and we draw the number to be allocated.  I sat at the table A.  There were 6 women and 5 men, two of them were foreigners.
There were appetizers, salada, sushi, sandwiches, sweets, and drinks.
It started at noon with a greeting of the dean and a toast and ended with the speeches and flower giving ceremony  around 1:30 PM.
It was fun.

Monday, March 9, 2015

2015.3.9

It is a cold rainy day.

I went to post office on my way to the office in the morning to buy some yen 2 stamps,  check the postage of the irregular size envelope, to send some mails and change the prize for New Year's cards.

The postage for a postcard and an envelope were raised from yen 50 and yen 80 to yen 52 and yen 82 respectively last year.  However regarding the irregular size envelope,  it seems the postage was unchanged.

The prizes for New Year's Card lottery were changed from this year.  First prize is yen 10,000 and the second prize is local speciality which you can choose the one from 38 items, and the third prize is the stamp sheet for yen 82 and yen 52 which was used to be the fourth prize.
This year I only got three stamp sheets from the Japan Post.
However I got a formal kimono from the Kimono‐ style Miya. Since this is the third year for Miya to have opened the shop in Yokohama,  they dicided to present a formal kimono to those who got the 333 or 300 for the last three digit for every new year's card their valued customers received from anybody, and a small gift for 3, 5, 7 for the last digit.
Fortunately I got some of those lucky new year's cards, and they gave me a formal kimono and a kimono hanger.

2015.3.8

It was a cold rainy day.

In the morning two service persons came  to clean air conditioners and other things. One finished before lunch, but the other stayed until 3:30 or so.

After that I went to grocery shopping and fill up my car.  Today I started using the additive liquid to save gasoline so that I am looking forward to seeing how many kilomaters it will run this time.

I cooked dinner, and tried to cook new dishes.

Sunday, March 8, 2015

2015.3.7

It was a cold rainy day.

I went to Shinjuku to attend a monthly meeting.

Then I had lunch with my friend at the sushi restaurant.

After that I went to Kimono-style Miya to see the "Thank you sale. " The chair person of the board of directors of the company became 80 years old, therefore they offered special discount of 30% cash back. I have wanted to buy a summer kimono called "sha"(紗) , gauze for a long time, and I decided to buy it finally.

After that I went to buy a present for my friend who started the business. Since I wanted to present with two other friends, I took three pictures of the items I chose and asked them by sending them through Line. How convenient it is! I got a reply from one of them and decided the goods and arranged to deliver it on the next good day called "Taian (大安). "

At night I received the goods I ordered the other day.  It is additive liquid for fuel which will save gasoline. I am looking forward to using it tomorrow.

Saturday, March 7, 2015

2015.3.6

It was cloudy daytime and became rain at night.

I visited the Gallery opening of my friend's mother's art exhibition in Gaienmae after work.
It started at 18:00 and was supposed to end at 19:30.  So I thought I would be in time. But I overworked and arrived around 19:30. Fortunately it was still open.
My friend and I went to Washington State University to study together as exchange students in 1996. And we have not seen each other since then. Therefore it's been about 18 years since we saw each other last.  Since we have been connected by Facebook, I did not feel such time difference. I could happen to see one more friend from WSU there.
I was invited to the party, and enjoyed meeting many people.
I missed the last train and came to the parking lot by taxi.

I had a nice time.

Thursday, March 5, 2015

2015.3.5

It was fine.

I took a day off to take my father to hospital.

In the afternoon a care manager came to our house to check my father's status.

After that I went to pick up father's medicine and to a tea lesson after a long interval. 
The last lesson I went to was November.
Since I come home late after getting a job in Tokyo,  I can only attend the tea lesson when I take my father to hospital once a month  because it is usually Thursday.
There were many things to learn at the lesson, and I felt I like to learn it.
The plum tree was full in bloom in my master's garden.

After the lesson I went to a bank and grocery shopping.
After coming home, I cooked dinner and ate with my father after a long time.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

2015.3.4

It was fine, cool in the morning but warm in the afternoon.

After work I visited my friend's art exhibition in Omotesando. I walked from JR Harajuku station. While walking, I could see the moon and some stars. 
At the exhibition I happened to see his brother whom I have not seen since I was a high school student.
I walked back to the station taking a different street, where is very famous and popular. Its name is Takeshitadori where is also I have not visited for a long time.

2015.3.3

It was cloudy and very cold.
March 3 is known as hinamatsuri(雛祭り), girl's festival. This year I decorated paper dolls which Kimono style Miya gave me the other day.
  

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

2015.3.2

It was fine after rain.  Mt. Fuji looked beautiful.

There was a graduation ceremony (sotsugyoshiki: 卒業式) at high schools.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

2015.3.1

A new month has begun.  March is sangatsu (3月), its old name is Yayoi (弥生) in Japanese.

It has been raining and cold,

In the morning I went to shrine and grocery shopping.

In the afternoon I went to Kimono-style Miya for the walking lesson for the fashion show in Kyoto in October.
There were four sessions and in my session there were 11 people.  I knew some of them by other Miya's Kimono events, and it was nice to see them.
The lesson lasted for one hour and a half.

After that I went to see my friend.

At night there was a representative meeting. It lasted until 9:20.