2017.2.28

It was fine .

The last day of February. Are there something new this month? I started using the new Noni Products Te Mana which are really good.
I went to Hokuriku and saw the beautiful snow landscape.

I took Ginza line from Shimbashi this morning. It was so crowded that I could not come down to the platform soon. I thought there might be accident or something. But there was not.

In the afternoon there was a big event and it went well.

On my way to the station I visited the Fuji Film Square. The partation was different from usual.

On my way home I attended the monthly meeting at my leader's house. We laughed and laughed and gad a good time.

2017.2.27

It was cloudy.

I left home earlier than usual this morning, and overworked till 9:30 because there was a reception at night.

I heard about the results of the 89th Academy Awards by the TV News at night. I was surprised at the accident and felt sorry for those who thought they won but did not.

There were some movies I wanted to see, but it seems they are already finished.

I hope to see the movies which got Oscars near future.

2017.2.26

It was fine in the morning but became rain after lunch, and it became fine again..

We had a big breakfast again.

Then we headed for Tojinbo where is very famous for the place to commit suicide, diving from the steep cliff into water.
But the landscape is beautiful.

After that we went to Eiheiji temple where I came about three years and a half ago and bought the red stamp book called goshuincho (御朱印帳) and started to get red stamps whenever I visit shrines and temples.

We had tofu lunch. There were vaiety of tofu there including dessert.

Then we headed for Nagoya by stopping two service areas. We got on 16:32 Shinkansen to Shin-Yokohama, and came home around 19:30.

I enjoyed this three nights four days trip very much. The weather was fine, foods were delicious, visited sites were very nice.
Thank you for your invitation, Kimono-Style Miya!

2017.2.25

When I got up, it was snowing and very beautiful.

We ate big breakfast and left Gokayama at 8:30 and headed for Kanazawa. It took about one hour. I walked around Higashi chaya gai, then had dressed and hairset. And we got on a jinrikisha (人力車) and looked around the city. Then we visited Omi market where I bought something I wanted to taste.
After that we had a bigger lunch, and visited Kenrokuen where is one of the three most beautiful gardens in Japan.

And we headed for Yamanaka onsen hotspring.  After arriving at the hotel, I visited Hattori Shrine. I felt destiny because my mother's maiden name is Hattori. We had the biggest dinner party with songs and dances and lots of entertainment.

It was a nice day.

2017.2.24

I took a day off to attend the trip to Gokayama & Kanazawa sponsored by Kimono-style Miya.

I have been to most places we will visit this time. But it was summer time when I went before, so that I am looking forward to seeing them with snow.

Nine of us left Yokohama around 9 am to Nagoya by Shinkansen. There 12 people joined and we got on a bus.
First we went to eat lunch and walked around Takayama,Gifu.
Then we headed for Gokayama,Toyama where is one of the UNESCO's World Heritage sites.
There are lots of snow piled, but weather was fine all day long.

How lucky we are!

2017.2.23

It was rainy in the morning but became fine in the afternoon.

There happened something in the morning and inspection of the car was done and my train was delayed for more than 30 minutes.
I was supposed to arrive around 9:30 but actually arrived about one hour later.
There was an important program I am in charge this morning and I needed to get to the office earlier but could not. Fortunately I could use email to let my colleagues know about my situation and they could help me. Thanks to them, the program went well.

Since I will take a day off tomorrow, I needed to overwork tonight to prepare for the big event next week and to finish the paperwork and follow up of the program which ended today.
 

I am still on my way home. I have just seen the Keikyu Love Train which decorated cute heart marks on the train at the Shinagawa station.

2017.2.22

It was cloudy and very cold.

In the morning we had a lecture, and in the afternoon we visited the construction site to build an express roadway tunnel to understand better. The office was newly opened and very beautiful. They say these days there are many women engaged in construction work and they try to provide clean toilets for them.
I found an interesting sign board of doing  guu paa movement. Do you know janken(じゃんけん), paper, stone, and scissors? In that game stone is guu and paper is paa. In this guu paa movement, guu means OK, and paa means stop. At the construction site, it is so noisy that they use sign language for safety. Isn't it good?

2017.2.21

It was fine but very cold.

Last night I tried to import the data of the old smart phone to the new one.Some went well, but I might have lost other data.

I was shocked to know that the wedding gift for my colleague which I arranged to deliver yesterday has not been delivered to him yet.
I contacted the shop and knew it was suspeded. So I arranged it again.
At our bimonthly meeting we presented the other present and card, and took pictures. It was a surprise. These presents were what they wanted. So he looked pleased.

2017.2.20

It was fine in the morning, and started raining in the evening.

 

I started the day earlier than usual to go to Koshigaya Lake Town in Saitama for the first time. It is a huge shopping area with outlet mall too.

After the lecture we ate the Vietnamese lunch, and had another lecture and walked around the site. I was very suprised to see many facilities such as kid's toilet, many play spaces, car exhibition of all Toyota group, Kagoshima tea event and so on.
At free time I enjoyed Kagoshima tea and sweets just for yen 100.
There was a huge decoration for doll's festival.

 

At night there was a reunion of JOI program coordinators and related staff at the Laurasian Institution in Megro.  It's been 11  years since I visited there first and last time.
It was a potluck party and about 13 people got together. We ate variety of foods, and enjoyed talking common memories.

Thank you everyone for delicious foods and sharing time.

2017.2.19

It was fine.

I went to a kimono shop in the morning to learn about aizome (藍染), indigo color dying.  The decorated kimono was so expensive that I only enjoyed putting on.

Then I went to Softbank to buy a new smart phone finally.  Since I have not imported every application or address book yet, it is very inconvenient now.

In the afternoon I went to get hairset, makeup, and dressed up the kimono to attend a wedding party of my colleague in Yokohama.  It was very impressive.  Their hobby seems music and the wedding cake was like a sheet music.  I did not know how romantic he is.  They said today last year he proposed and tomorrow is her big birthday, so they decided to get married today. He has prepared a handmade jigsaw puzzle of their picture of engagement, in which each piece has a message for her from her friends as a birthday present for three months or so.  He looked quite different from what I know at the office.  There were many colleagues attended the party today, and it was nice to see them dressed up too. 

Congratulations!!  Be happy forever.

2017.2.18

It was cloudy.

Today is usui (雨水), one of nijyushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one is risshin (立春) on February 4 and the next one is keichitsu (啓蟄) on March 5.
Usui literally means rain water which means snow becomes rain and snow and ice melt to water.

In the morning I went to massage after two months or so. My body has become stiff. I need stretching to make it softer.

Then I went to Shinjuku to attend a seminar and company visit tour.

2017.2.17

It was fine and rather warm.

They say we had haru ichiban(春一番), the first spring gale today in wide area in both east and west parts of Japan. It is the first strong southern wind after risshun (立春), the first spring day.
It seems the wind was so strong that some flights were forced to change the destinations.
Since I was inside all day long for many meetings, I did not notice at all.
However when I got home, my mails were very dusty.

They say it will be cold again tomorrow.

2017.2.16

It was fine.

I went to the Forestry Agency in the morning. I liked their entrance showing their welcome attitude by decorating  Japanese culture. Their floor was used woods a lot.

At lunch time I ate sushi at the sushi restaurant in the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. I chose Meibutsu  Hokkaidon (名物 北海丼) which includes salmon, salmon roe, squid, scallop, deep water shrimp (甘エビ: amaebi), crab and egg. See the picture. They only open at lunch time and in the evening and start serving sake only after 6:15 pm or so.

In the afternoon I went to the Ministry of Environment to learn about Environment Impact Assessment, Biodiversity, and National Parks.

At night I went to Asakusa to attend another seminar.
I saw the beautiful Tokyo Sky Tree.

2017.2.15

It was fine.

I went to the nearby shrine before going to work.

At the station I met my teacher of junior high school. It's been a year since I met him at the station. Today there must be entering examination for high school.

At lunch time five of us went to have Shabu shabu (しゃぶしゃぶ), which is my favorite winter pot food. It was the second time four us to go there. There are mainly two choices, either beef or pork. There are four sauces and you can choose two of them. You can choose either rice or Kishimen noodle. Last time I chose beef with tomate and soy milk and noodle. This time I chose pork with soy sauce with citrus and sesami and Kishimen noodle. I exchanged one piece of meat. They were delicious.
We visited the Izumotaisha Tokyo branch after lunch. This was also the second time to visit there.

At night I went to Shinagawa to attend a seminar. This was the third time for me to attend this one. I happened to see a Facebook friend after a year or so.

It was busy but rather a nice day.

2017.2.14

Happy Valentine's Day!

How do you spend this day in your country?

In Japan only women and girls used to give chocolate to those whom they love.
However as a recent trend it seems many women and girls buy expensive chocolates for themselves too and exchange among girl friends.
Today at the office I got some chocolates from women colleagues.

It was very cold this morning and even snowed when I got to the station but became fine.

I was very busy today at the office without having enough lunch time and overworked later than last night.

I hope I can finish working earlier tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to attend seminars after work.

2017.2.13

It was fine but cold.

I will be busy for the next three weeks for two programs in charge.

Today was the first day.

Five of us went out for lunch at a Japanese style restaurant. Their speciality is grilled fish, but I ordered the salmon and salmon roe bowl. There were two interesting things there. One is they collected money soon after we ordered. The other is raw eggs offered on the table at free of charge. Second helping  of rice and miso soup are also free. We were very lucky to go there a little bit earlier than noon and got the table. Soon after we entered, it became full.

We went to Harumi Triton Square to visit a company.
The meeting finished earlier so I went back to the office and overworked up to neary 8 pm.

2017.2.12

It was fine.

In the morning I washed my car and painted the scratch, then went shopping and filled up my car.

In the afternoon I went to Misaki to attend the gathering to think about the terminal care at home which consisted of a lecture and panel discussion. The lecturer was a famoous sociologist, Professor Chizuko Ueno (上野千鶴子). This was the second time for me to attended her lecture. Last time was at Rikkyo University about a year and two months ago. Her way of talk is very soft but witty. I asked her autograph and picture at that time and she was very playful wearing Alice band of reindeer.
Today's theme was "Is it possble to die at home even not having family?"
After the lecture there was a panel discussion by 5 home medical care related panelists.
There were an interpreter of sign language and some summary writer.
After that I asked her autograph and picture again.
At the venue I happened to see my high school classmate, my student, and my other student's mother.

After that I went to Jogashima to see the last day of narcissus festival. I saw the beautiful sunset there.

2017.2.11

It is a national holiday called Kenkoku kinen no hi (建国記念の日), national foundation day.
It falls on Saturday, so we are not so glad this year.

It was very fine and Mt. Fuji looked very beautiful.

I walked along the railway to take beautiful pictures of Kawazuzakura (河津桜), bright pink cherry blossoms. The cherry blossom festival has just begun and many people were walking and taking pictures.
Here are some pictures for you.

After that I took a train from Miurakaigan to Daimon and visited the Atagojinja (愛宕神社), where Ms. Utako Shiratori recommended to visit. Since today is one of the very lucky days in a year to do something related money, I visited Benzaiten (弁財天) there. There are shrines on the top of the hill and to get there you need to clime steep stone steps called "Shusse no ishidan (出世の石段). " I got a red stamp called goshuin (御朱印). There was no date by number so I asked why. They said instead of number they wrote "Kigensetu(紀元節)" because today is the day of national foundation.

After that I went to the talk event of Mr. Koichi Hagiwara who is my teacher from the Ability Garden. We watched the movie "Ikitai (いきたひ)" directed by Ms. Hiroko Hasegawa who lost her husband by cancer and took care of him at home until he died. They have four children.
The movie dealt with death and life. So before watching it I did not expect too much. After the movie she talked about many episodes which were touching. I bought her book and asked her autograph and pictures.
I recommend you to attend this talk event with movie because they say everytime she talks something new.

It was a nice day.

Thank you very much.

2017.2.10

It was fine in the morning but snowed again in the afternoon unexpectedly. Fortunately it did not pile.

Last night my colleague's train delayed because of snow, but my train delayed not because of snow but because of accident.
Tonight again my train delayed because of accident.

Today was the last day of my director. Many staff came to listen to his final speech which was witty. He will be missed.

2017.2.9

It was cloudy in the morning but snowed in the afternoon.

There was a farewell luncheon today. Our director will be transferred next Monday. Usually personnel changes happen on April 1 or July 1 or October 1 or December 1 something like that. Therefore all of us were so surprised.
Usually at our monthly department luncheon there are about 10 staff or so but since today's luncheon will be the last one, there came more than double.
After eating we talked about memories and gave presents and took pictures.
We will miss him.

In the afternoon I attended the English workshop to improve telephone skills.

It was a fruitful day.

2017.2.8

It was fine but very cold.

There was a delivery notice yesterday, and I ordered to deliver at the latest spot  tonight.
I came home earlier than usual, so I expected to receive the goods. However when I got home, I found the notice again. I called soon and asked if they can deliver tonight again. The driver said no. So I asked him to drliver tomorrow at the lastest period. He said he would try.
About 20 minutes or so, there was a chime. He came to deliver the goods after all. How kind he was!
Than you so much.

2017.2.7

It was fine but very cold.

In the morning on my way to the office I went to the post office to send back the goods to the catalog gift shop by cash on delivery. I thought I could send it back soon but there was a special label for cash on delivery.
I did two other things there.

There were two meetings today.

There was a sudden announcement of my boss' tranfer, so we will have a farewell lunch and party this week.
I don't understand why it happened this timing. 

2017.2.6

It was fine.

Yesterday I went to see the 38th Yokohama Film Festival. Today there was an article about the event on the newspaper.
The interesting thing is everyone there heard the same thing but what left to one's heart is different.

The movie "Kimi no na wa (君の名は: Your Name)"was the best hit movie last year which gained more than yen 20,000,000,000 after 15 years. More than 15,390,000 people watched it as of Dec. 5 last year. And it has been decided to be shown in 92 countries.
Despite this big hit, the best movie prize was given to another animation movie "Kono sekai no katasumi ni (この世界の片隅に: At the corner of this world). "

There are some movies I want to see in February.

If you see any good one, please let me know.

2017.2.5

It was fine in the morning but rained in the afternoon. Fortunately I did not have to use the umbrella.

Today I went to the 38th Yokohama Film Festival in Kannai for the first time.
I have known about the festivals for some years, but I have never attended before.
When I knew about it, I felt like attending this year but missed buying the advanced ticket. There were only 50 tickets left for today.  I was not sure if I could get it or not.  When I arrived there, there were four lines for a block. I was lucky enough to get the ticket. It cost yen3000. The top three Japanese movies of 2016 were shown. There were awards ceremony. More than twelve people got the prizes, made speeches, and fans were able to congratulate them by giving bouquet or present.

I like movies and often go to see them at the theater, but there were only two out of ten of the list for this festival, which I saw last year.

No. 3 was Distruction Babies which is a violence movie and it got six prizes. The main character did not say almost anything but he got the best actor prize. 14 years ago he got the new star prize.

No.2 was Yu wo wakasu hodo no atsui ai (湯を沸かすほどの熱い愛), meaning "Passionate love which boils water. " It was a very nice movie.

No.1 was Kono sekai no katasumini (この世界の片隅に), meaning "At the corner of this small world. " This is an animation movie made by the cloud funding. It is a war time movie in Hiroshima.

Besides these award-getting movies, and there were two short movies of Life Works and interview too.

It started 11:00 and ended 21:20 or so. It was a long day. I was afraid of getting the eonomic syndrome.

What Japanese movies did you like the best last year?

2017.2.4

It was fine.

Today is risshun (立春), one of nijyushisekki(二十四節気), 24 solar terms. The last one was daikan (大寒), big cold on January 21 and the next one is usui (雨水), rain water on February 18.
Risshun literally means stand spring. It is the first day of spring.

I went to Shinjuku to attend Morinda's monthly meeting and got many useful information. For example we usually care about how long we walked, but what matters is not a distance but the speed to reduce AGE. There will be special offer sales near future.

On my way to Shinjuku I happened to see my ex-colleague of teaching career of  many years ago. We have been recently connected by Facebook and I knew the reason why it happened. We have some mutual students, friends and acquaintances, and we have had many common  experiences. So we enjoyed talking up to Kamioooka where he got off.

For lunch my friend and I were going to eat out but she invited me to her house. It is near Musashikosugi where I found very convenient. She cooked curry with cutlet and salad for me.
Her son's friend's mother joined later and we enjoyed talking.
I met her family and had a good time.

Thank you.

2017.2.3

It was fine but very cold.

February 3 is known as setsubun (節分), which literally means to divide seasons. In Japan there are four seasons. Therefore we have four setsubun in a year.
However if we say setsubun, it means the day before the first spring day called Risshun (立春).
On this day we eat a rolled sushi called ehomaki (恵方巻), good luck direction roll. This year's good luck direction is North northwest. The rule of eating ehomaki is to face the good luck direction and eat ehomaki at a time without saying anything. I ate it at lunch and dinner.

Another custom is to scatter the roast beans to devils saying "Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi (鬼は外、福は内)" which means the devils out, good luck in. Then we eat the beans. If you eat the same numbers of beans as your age, it is said you would not get sick.

2017.2.2

It was fine.

There was a workshop of improving pronunciation skill of English in the morning.

After work I attended the explanation meeting of REIKI. This was the second time for me to attend this, but there were something new and I had chances to get to know new people and it was interesting.
I felt like learning more.

2017.2.1

It was fine.

A new month has started.
February is nigatsu (二月), the second month, its another name is kisaragi (如月).

Every first day and 15th day of the month I make it a rule to visit my nearby shrine in the morning to thank.

In addition to that I went to the nearby shrine of my office at lunch time for the first time. The name of the shrine is Izumotaisha Tokyo bunshi (出雲大社東京分祠). Izumo taisha located in Shimane is one of the most famous shrines in Japan, and it is known to give us good connections.
Since I found it there, I wished to visit, but I have not had a chance to do so until today.
But first day of the month is a very good timing, so I visited there finally and got a red stamp called goshuin (御朱印).

On the first day of the month, I feel like starting something new. I started writing email  newsletter to my friends three years ago on this day and today I issued No. 40.

Today I started using the Morinda's new skincare goods named "Te Mana" which is not sold to the public yet. The products are really nice and I am very looking forward to seeing myself after a month or so.
If you are intetested in Te Mana, please let me know.