2017.3.31

It was cloudy and cold in the morning, and started raining in the afternoon.
The view from the hotel in the morning was nice with garden.

The last day of March. How was your one quarter of 2017?
Mine is so far so good.

This morning I had a big breakfast with my friend. Then I went to work.
After work I went to Rikugien (六義園) where is famous for Shidarezakura (しだれ桜),Cerasus spachiana.  Last year there were so many people, and it took longer even just to enter the garden. Tonight since it was raining, there were not so many people.
Cherry blossoms were not full in bloom yet beause of this coldness.

After that we tried some restaurants but all was full and gave up to have dinner there. Instead we went to Shinagawa. There was the same.  Because of Premium Friday most restaurants were full. We should have booked the place on Fridays.
Finally we got the seats at Maimon where is one of very popular places according to the internet searching site.

I had too much foods today.

2017.3.30

It was fine.

I walked to the station to drink at night.

The cherry blossoms of our institute have started to bloom. 

In the morning I attended English seminar of "Implied message."
It was very interesting.
From the eyes of foreingers, Japanese people easily appologize which is not necessary for foreigners. We should learn other ways to express our feelings such as appreciation rather than apology saying "I'm sorry."

After work I went to a Spanish restaurant to have dinner with my friend from teacher's age. We enjoyed eating, drinking, and talking about many things, especially our mutual hobby, world travel and mutual friends.
She invited me to stay at her hotel together. It's been a long time since we traveled together. Even if we do not go far, to stay together is nice to share our experience. Moreover there is everything we need at the good hotels, so we can travel light.
One of my dreams is to travel abroad without bringing suitcases.

2017.3.29

It was fine and cold.

I got up early and took 6:01 train because there was a program I am in charge from 9 am. I arrived before 8 am for the first time. The front gate was closed and I used my ID card to open. The program finished today and I had many paperwork in the afternoon.

After work I visited the Fuji Film Square after a while. We can see the history of camera and pictures there.

I tried to book a restaurant with coupon for tomorrow, but it was from April 1. So I booked my favorite Spanish restaurant instead because I got a postcard offering a bottle of wine.

At night I watched a two hours drama because I saw the advertisement at Roppongi station.

2017.3.28

It was fine and cold. It seemed to have rained during the daytime at my home town.

I took earlier train than usual and stayed at the office almost 11 hours.

My peaceboat friend informed me that there was an article in today's local paper to recruit eight beautiful spots or historical remains in my hometown.
Miura city consists of three districts, Minami Shitaura, Hasse, and Misaki. They say from each district they choose eight spots, then among them they will choose eight spots for Miura Hakkei (三浦八景).
The eight beautiful spots of Minami Shitaura district has been decided this January.
Misaki district recruits near future.
There are five area (Koenbo, Wada, Irie, Shimomiyada, Mito) in Hasse. One person can choose up to eight spots and apply for Hasse Hakkei (初声八景) by either postcard or email by the end of this month.

Let's think of eight beautiful spots in my town for the next few days!

2017.3.27

It was a cold rainy morning but stopped rainig later.

They say today is Day of Cherry Blossoms, sakura no hi (さくらの日) because of two reasons.  One is from the sound and date : 3(さ: sa) x 9(くら: ku)=27.  The other is from seventy two pentads, 桜始開 (sakura hajimete hiraku).
There was the announcement of blooming cherry blossom in Tokyo last week but there are only a few of them blooming under this cold weather.
We can expect longer cherry blissom viewing season this year.

2017.3.26

It was a cold rainy day.

I stayed at home all day long after a long time.

I ate sweets which I bought yesterday at Iida with powdered green tea. It's been a long time to have time like that.

At night I got the two re-delivered goods.

I could keep household accounting, write missing diary, watch the special TV program, and so on.

It was a nice day off.

2017.3.25

It was fine.

There was the 10th anniversary event of Kawamoto Kihachiro Pappet Museum in Iida today. We were very lucky to observe the once in seven years daimyo's procession performance and museum itself for free of charge. I could take pictures with Komei (孔明) pappet which seemed to be appeared  only once in 10 years.

After that we visited the Mizuhiki Museum which were really amazing. Moreover it was free of charge again. If you have a chance I recommend to visit there.

We moved to Chino by jumbo taxi and came back to Tokyo by train Azusa No.20.

I went back to the office to leave a luggage.

2017.3.24

It was fine in the morning and I took a very nice picture of the sun over the mountain.

We visited two places today.

We arrived earlier for both places and we could meet the mayor and visit extra places.

On our way to the second place, we ate lunch at Tenryukyo (天龍峡) where is a very beautiful gorge.

In the afternoon we had dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant.

2017.3.23

It was cloudy.

I had a big breakfast. My favorite here is apple juice which is very sweet compared to other sour juice.

We visited the three places today.

Iida is very famous for mizuhiki (水引), beautiful colored strings made of plants. These are used for decoration of congratulatory envelop and its production occupies 70% share of all of Japan.

For lunch and dinner I ate local foods which were very tasty.

2017.3.22

It was fine and cold.

In the morning I went to Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.

At lunch time I attended the seminar, and listened to the career building story of our president who will leave at the end of this month. I sat at the front seat and enjoyed his story.

In the evening I came to Shinjuku to get a long distance bus to Iida, Nagano. I used to ride on the long distance buses from Shinjuku.
Last year they opened the new bus terminal at the south exit of JR Shinjuku station. I have come to see the terminal once but this is the first time for me to ride from there. We left Shinjuku at 19:25.  On our way we stopped at Futaba service area.
My seat was the front and it was a super seat which cost yen1000 more. But it is worth choosing because of wider space, reclining, outlet, table, disposable slippers, and so on.

We arrived at Iida around 23:30.

I came to the hotel where I have stayed before.

2017.3.21

It was a cold rainy day. I heard it snowed in Nagano where I will go tomorrow. In spite of this coldness, there was an announcement of blooming cherry blossoms in Tokyo which is five days earlier than last year. It will be still cold for the next five days or so, therefore it will take time to be in full bloom. We will be able to enjoy cherry blossoms longer this year which is good.

At lunch time there was a Brown Bag Lunch Session. A student talked about his home town Nagasaki where I went to May last year using some pictures and movies. There are attractive places and festivals there which I hope to visit someday.

In the afternoon I attended the English pronunciation training where I could practice speaking English.

On my way back home on train I attended the online seminar using Zoom. I could see and hear but could not speak so I attended by chatting.

All of them were interesting.

2017.3.20

It is a national holiday called shubun no hi (春分の日), vernal equinox day.

It was fine.

I went to my parents' graveyard in the morning.

After that I went to massage to my friend's placeafter a month.  My body was stiff again. I brought souvenir sweets from the trip to Hokuriku and we ate together.  It was very delicious. We had lunch at a Chinese restaurant where is very reasonable.

After lunch I went to Kimono-style Miya to pick up the carry case I left there the day before yesterday.

I went to a beauty salon to have my hair cut and perm, and went shopping at Sugita.

I am glad to have a fruitful three day weekend with lots of activities.

2017.3.19

It was fine.

I went to Sakuragi jinja (櫻木神社) shrine in Noda city today as a special fortune tour conducted by Ms. Utako Shiratori (白鳥詩子) whom I happened to know from our mutual friend's art exhibition on November 26 last year.

Today was a double lucky day of taian (大安) day of good luck, and day of snake which leads to the fortune.
There are special red stamps called goshuin (御朱印) which are only distributed three days in a year, on sakura no hi mairi (さくらの日まいり) visit on day of cherry blossoms, that is March 9,19, and 29.
In addtion to that since today was Sunday there were so many people there and to get the red stamps it took more than 5 hours!
One of the interesting things there was there is a shrine inside the restroom and there were messages in each room. They used the old Japanese style toilet as a planter pot.

While my waiting for the stamps, we went to Nagareyama Otaka no mori to have late  lunch. There I asked Ms Shiratori for autograph.

I went back to the shrine to get a set of three stamps which cost yen 1500. There were still lots of people waiting. I believe there were more than 2000 people who bought stamps and/or stamp book.

After that I went to Kashiwa to see my friend from graduate school. We went to a popular Spanish restaurant Festa Mario and enjoyed eating, drinking, and talking.
It has been 11 years since we met last.

2017.3.18

It was fiine.

In the morning I went to Kimono-style Miya to have got hairset, make-up, dressed, and taken pictures.
To my surprise they gave me a piece of shawl which perfectly coordinated to today's kimono.

I went to Tasaki at Kioicho, next to the Hotel New Otani to attend the Tasaki tour.

First we had a lecture about pearl and diamond and looked around the showroom. They changed their name from Tasaki shinju to Tasaki in 2009. They are very famous for pearl, but their top sales is diamond. I was surprised to hear that the technician who cuts and grinds diamonds retire at their early 20s because they need good eye sight. They cultivate the pearls in Nagasaki. Goods pearls need to hibernate.

After that we ate lunch at Nadaman, which is a very famous Japanese restaurant.The view was nice and we walked the garden later.

Then we went to see the Great March Kabuki. Before starting we walked around the Kobikicho-hiroba, shopping mall which was interesting.
The seat was the third floor and cost yen 6000, but the tour cost yen 6800 with delicious lunch and tea at Tasaki.

There were three stages. After the first one, there was 15 minutes break, after the second one, there was 30 minutes break.
It started at 4:30 pm and ended at 8:50 pm.

It was a long day, but I enjoyed a lot with my kimono friend.

2017.3.17

It was fine in the morning but became cloudy and cold in the evening.

I took a day off to attend Morinda's Japan Business Summit at Maihama Amphitheater.
This is two days event which cost yen 3000.
I got up early and walked to the station to drink tonight.

I arrived at the venue around 9 am.  There was a present of a pack of Maxidoid which is yen 4100. It was the first come first served gift. I felt lucky and thought "The early bird catches the worm." In Japanese, "Hayaoki wa sanmon no toku(早起きは三文の徳)."

At lunch time  we enjoyed the group lunch.

I bought some Morinda products which were only available there at the special price.

At night I went to Asagaya, maybe for the first time, to see my ex-boss' live concert. I arrived early and joind dinner with the band members at a Thai restaurant nearby. I could taste five dishes. Some were very spicy but delicious.
I watched two sessions with my ex-colleague whom I met after a long time.

It was a nice day.

2017.3.16

It was fine.

I took a half day off to attend the big two days event in Maihama where there is Tokyo Disney Resort. Since for those who graduated from junior high school and high school it is already spring vacation, there were many people.

At the convention we learned the power of brand and technology accelerators.There was recogition and some of acquaintances were awarded.

On my way back at the Tokyo station, when I was clumbing up the stairs, I saw interesting signs. It showed how much calorie it takes if you use the stairs.

2017.3.15

It was cloudy, rainy, and very cold. It was supposed to snow but as far as I know it didn't.

In the morning I visited the nearby shrine before getting on the train, and after arriving at RoppongiI I went to Izumotaisha Tokyo branch before going to the office.

After work I visited the Fuji Film Square. There were some new photo exhibitions.

I am very glad to have received the re-delivered mail tonight because I will be very busy for the next few weeks.

At night I prepared for the kimono I will wear on Saturday. It is said three obi for one kimono. By changing the accessories even the same kimono looks different.

2017.3.14

It was raining and cold this morning but stopped raining later.

In the morning there was a trouble between passengers in Yokohama, and my train delayed again.

March 14 is known as White Day in Japan.  On this day men who got chocolates on St.Valentine's Day return something sweet to women.
This must be only custom in Japan.

Tonight I tried to transfer Bitcoin for the first time. It was too easy. So we need to be very careful.

2017.3.13

It was fine but cold.

There happened something and my morning train delayed.

At lunch time I went to a bank to transfer the money to American Express. Though I made a new Amex card I have not got the registration form of the bank account yet therefore I needed to send money.
How inconvenient!
First I tried to transfer from ATM, but they don't accept more than yen 100000. The bank brunch was Roppongi, so I went there to send from the window. Handling charge was yen 432 even if it is that bank that I was going to transfer. However sending from ATM would cost more because I needed to do a few times.
Handling charge for less than 30000 is yen 108 but more than yen 30000 is yen 324.
So it might have been cheaper to send from my bank account to American Express Bank Account directly using a cash card.
That was the bank lesson I learned today.

2017.3.12

It was fine.

I slept long after a long time.

I stayed home in the morning and tried to buy bitcoin by credit cards for the first time.
It seems they do not accept Ameican Express Card. The maximum amount you can buy is yen 1000000 per day.

After receiving the re-delivered goods, I went shopping in the afternoon.

After coming back I cleared some leaves outside and packed them into three bags.

In the evening I cooked after a long time.

I talked with my friend over the phone after a long time. We will travel together next month.
I  looking forward to the trip.

2017.3.11

It was fine.

It has been 6 years since the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami happened.
I still remember the many things happened to me on that day.
In the morning I needed to go to the conference room to arrange for the next program I was in charge.
In the afternoon I went to the office and was at the desk.
At 2:46 pm the first earthquake happened. It was very big and lasted long, and we hid under the desk. At that time we did not imagine it would be so big. After a while we started evacuating to the nearby shrine where we saw the tall buildings were shaking. If they fell down, I thought we would not survive. I had a portable radio and we listened to the news. We felt like going to rest rooms. The Japanese restaurant we often used let us use their rest rooms. I appreciated their kindness.
Our colleagues tried to call by cellphones but they could not reach their family and we stood in line in front of the public phone.
After a few hours later those live close started going home. I live in a country where it took about two hours and a half.
Most of trains were stopped. So I gave up going home because there was no train.  We went out for dinner at Ramen shop. We were glad to have something to eat.
Since we were wearing helmet on our way, somebody intereviewed how we got it. We said the company provided.
Some colleagues went home by walking. Since I could not, I went back to the office. There were electricity, water, blanket there. I stayed up all day long at the office though some colleagues slept for a while.
Usually I do not use the company PC for the personal use, but that was emergency. So I posted my situation to my Facebook.

Early next morning, the director-general went to the convenience store to buy breakfast for us.
He had a power to use the taxi ticket, my colleague and I joined him, and I dropped at Kamioooka to get a train. And I could go home finally.

I appreciated that I stayed at the office safely, and my family and house were OK.

Today I went to see La La Land at Yokohama.

Then I went to attend a seminar at Shinagawa.

I visited the Softbank to ask some questions about the new smartphone.

After that I went to Shinagawa Aqua Park after a long time. I saw many beautiful fish.

Then I met my friend and made a big decision.

Today is ichiryumanbaibi(一粒万倍日) when one grain will grow into 10000 times.
I hope this decision will bring me much happiness.

2017.3.10

It was fine.

Today is my dead mother's 81st birthday.

After work I went to Kawasaki to see a movie "Allied" directed by Robert Zemeckis.
Its Japnese title is "Maryanne."
It stared on Feb.10 and only a few theaters are still showing.
I have wanted to see this movie  because of Brad Pitt who is my favorite actor.
It was a war time movie and a spy movie.

Japanese title and English title are quite different, but if it is translated directly, I may not be imagined the story.

3017.3.9

It was fine.

I left the office a little bit earlier than usual using flex time to go to Yokohama to see a movie "Silence"  which I have wanted to see since I knew the movie.
When I was young, I read the original book written by Shusaku Endo who was a Christian. He was one of my favorite authors because he could write both interesting stories and serious stories. This is the latter and dealt with Christianity banning era of Japan around mid 17th century. There was a persecution and the movie started from the cruel torture scene.
We knew about it as a part of the history, and we can imagine from the book, but until I saw the movie I could not visualize.

They say the director Martin Scorsese decided to make a movie in 1988. It took 28 years to complete.

While watching, I was wondering if they really speak English that much....
I felt lucky to have been born in the freedom of religion country and time.

Religion is very difficult to talk about. We, most of Japanese people are both Buddhist and Shintoist at the same time. In the New Year we visit shrines and temples. At the age of three, five,seven on November 15, we visit the shrine. At wedding many people get married at shrines. But when we die, funerals are done at the temples.

They say there are about 1.04 million of Christians in Japan in 2014 which is 0.82% of the total population.

It must be tough to continue believing what is banned.

2017.3.8

It was fine.

After work I attended a seminar of Mr. Toshitaka Mochizuki in Shinagawa.

There was an accident on the Keikyu line. When I got to the Daimon station, trains were stopped for a while. Fortunately I arrived in time for the seminar.

I have attended this seminar before but every time there is something new.

Today there were three guest speakers who made their dreams come true by taking the course of Dream Map. One of them was the person whose email magazine I subscibe but have never met. I don't know why I am subscribing, but I thought it must be from Mr.Mochizuki's relationships.
The other is Mr.Hayato Koshizuka(腰塚勇人) who is a famous lecturer of Lesson of Life. He used to be a physical education teacher at a junior high school in Kanagawa prefecture but had a ski accident and became very sick. I have met him once in June 2009 at the joint seminar of Mr.Ken Honda and Mr. Mochizuki. At that time if my memory is correct, he was there on his wheel chair. Today he was walking! The short movie he made was so moving. I recommend you to watch if you have a chance. I was very glad to see his recovery and activity.
We became Facebook friends tonight.

2017.3.7

It was cloudy and cold.

I have been sick since yesterday afternoon but there were two meetings and I did not take a day off. I was supposed to come home soon after the work but after the meeting I found something to do and overworked for a while after all. Symptom is feeing chilly and dull, slight fever, and something wrong with stomach.

I hope to be fine soon.

2017. 3. 6

It was cloudy in the morning but seemed to have rained in the afternoon.

After work I visited the Fuji Film Square after a week or so. There were four new exhibitions. One of them was very interesting and it seems anybody can apply. Picures were not big but I enjoyed reading messages from the photo takers.

There were pictures of World most beautiful cats, so if you like them, I recommend you to visit.

2017.3.5

It was fine.

Today is keichitsu (啓蟄), one of nijyushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was usui (雨水) on February 18, and the next one is shunbun (春分) on March 20. Keichitsu is a day when worms in the earth come out.

Today I went to Oimachi to attend No.1 World Business Summit 2017.  There were three main speakers. One is Mr. Robert Allen. I was surprised to see my friend as interpreter. He taught us the ways billionaires think.

The first part started at 11 am  and lasted until 2 pm. There is a supermarket at the first floor of the building and I experienced the self-checking out for the first time.

The second part started at 3:30 pm. The other speaker was  Mr. Cayden Chang. He taught us the proven A-B-C Investing System.

The third part started after 6 pm.  Another speaker was Mr. Tetsuya Inamura. This was the second time for me to listen to his seminar. He was once homeless but now is a successful business owner and a writer of Billionaires' Mind.

After that there was a photo session and Q&A session, and the event finished around 8:20 pm.

After that I had chances to talk with Mr. Inamura and Mr.Chang.

I happened to see some acquaintances there  today.

I am glad to have attended this one day event.

2017.3.4

It was cloudy but became fine.

I walked to the station again to have dinner out at night.

In the morning I attended a monthly meeting in Shinjuku. It usually lasts until 1:30 pm, but it lasted until 2 pm.
After eating lunch, I tried to see a movie but it was full and I could not.
So I changed the schedule and went to Kimono-Style Miya to say thank you for the trip last week.

I went back to see a movie again. But it was full again.

So I gave up and went to eat dinner where I had a coupon and wanted to go before it expires.  I had a good time there.

2017.3.3

It was fine.

March 3 is hina matsuri (雛祭り), Doll's festival.

This morning I walked to the station to drink tonight beause of a farewell party of my colleague.

We had a luncheon and dinner party for her because some of them cannot attend at night.

For lunch we went to a French restaurant. I ordered the daily special which was really reasonble. There were antipasto, main dish, and tea or coffee for  yen 1000. The regularl lunch course costs yen 1500.

At night we went to a Japanese restaurant with horigotatsu (掘炬燵), a table with heating and we can sit on tatami like a chair. There were about 14 people and four of them were very famous professors in their academic world. It was fun.

2017.3.2

It was cloudy and became rainy and cold  today.

I took about 30 minutes later train than usual today.

Today was the only day I did not have any appointment at night this week. So I wanted to go to see a movie, but since I started the day later which means to work later, so  I gave up.

Instead I went to post office to transfer money from ATM.  If you both have accounts at the post office, handling charge is free which is very nice, isn't it?
It seems we can send money by free of charge up to for three times per month.

2017.3.1

A new month has started.
March is sangatsu (三月), its old name is yayoi (弥生).

It was fine in the daytime but became rain at night.

In the early morning I went to the nearby shrine because today is the first day of the month. It is called  o tsuitachi mairi (お一日参り).

Then I came home once to leave a car to drink because tonight I have a farewell & welcome party of the directors of my department.

In the afternoon I took a few hours off to attend a seminar.

At night we had a party at an Italian restaurant where we could drink and order pizza and pasta as much as we want.
It lasted for more than three hours and I missed the last train.