2020.9.30

It was fine and warm today.

The last day of September which means three fourths of 2020 have gone. 

About the half year we have been forcing to a quite different life style as before because of the pandemic.

From April 6 to June 14 I had to work at home, but now I go to office as usual. 

The biggest change is I cannot travel abroad as I hope.

I have been to many shrines and temples after becoming a powerspot Meister in June.

I have published 12 ebooks from May 2019 to May 2020, and two e-photobooks from August to September 2020.

Today one of my colleagues left the office because of the end of contract. She gave me a unique present. It is hand soap filled in a small 

champaign-looks bottle. How thoughtful it is!  I gave her my signed book in return.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.29

It was fine, but getting cooler.

I was busy at office today.

After coming home, I attended the zoom Reiki 2 seminar.  It was nice to have such an opportunity to review tele-healing.

I cooked oden (おでん), which is a popular pot food, for dinner.

2020.9.28

It was fine but getting cooler.

I saw the Mt. Fuji covered with snow for the first time this fall. This is rather earlier.  First snow at the mountain is called hatsukansetsu (初冠雪).

I was rather busy at office dealing with many things.

I am planning a short trip next month. I really like traveling.

2020.9.27

It was cloudy.

I started the day with Kid's yoga for adults.

I published my second e-photobook about Iguazu Falls.

I went to Shinagawa to see friends.

I had lunch with an ex-colleague when I was a teacher and his wife. 

I went to a travel agency to consult about the trip in November.

After that I met other friends.

After coming back I went.grocery shopping.

It was an eventful day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.26

It was a cold rainy day.

I stayed at home all day long.

Free promotion of my first e-photobook was over.

Thanks to my Spanish friends, my photobook was ranked No.1 in Spain as well as in Japan.

Tonight I made the second e-photobook. It will be released soon.

I hope many people will enjoy the new one too.

It was a good day from many aspects of calendars. And there were information about the trips. I applied two of them, one in October, the other in November.

I may visit my friend in Tochigi in October too.

Fall is a good season for traveling. I am looking forward to traveling.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.25

It was a rainy day and rather cool.

I left home ealier and went to post office before work. 

After work I went to Yokohama to see a movie "TENET."  Unfortunately I did not understand it well.

Today 15 years ago was the closing of the Expo 2005. I had lived in Nagoya, and worked for the Andean Amaxonian Pavilion for a half year. It was another splendid experience for me.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.24

It was cloudy, rainy and rather cool. It seems that autumn has come suddenly.

After 5 days off I was rather busy at office.

There was a flower farewell ceremony for a colleague who leaves the office today. Faculty and staff got together and even some students joined by zoom. I did not have much contact with her but we worked together for the commencement last month for the first time. I took some pictures and sent her. On the very last day we exchanged some emails though we have not done for a year. We promised to get together someday. I am looking forward to the day.

2020.9.23

It was fine in Kansai but cloudy and rainy in Tokyo.

I took a day off.

I checked out the hotel and headed for Kyoto, and took a Shinkansen at 10:30 and arrived at Shinagawa at 12:38.

At Kyoto station I bought my favorite Kaki no ha zushi for lunch. There were 7 pieces of sushi with seven different ingredients. Very delicious.

After arriving at Shinagawa, I left the carry bag at the coin locker and headed for Ueno to attend Minarukanetaisai festival at Bentendo. There was time before that and I visited three shrines nearby.

The ceremony started at 14:00 but we could not enter the hall as we used to because of COVID-19.

I bought a special red stamp and gold coin for this occssion.

After that I went to Shimbashi to visit my friend's art exhibition.

I came home around 17:30.

It was a nice vacation.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.22

It was fine.

I gou up 6 am.  I wore kimono and headed for Osaka tenmangu, where has one of the three biggest festivals in Japan.

Next I went to Horikoshi shrine, where I visited at the same time last year.

I went to Tennoden where G20 2019Japan was held to attend a special tour of visiting Shitennoji to attend Nissokan (日想観). We had really delicious lunch there.

After the lecture we visited Shitennoji and walked around inside and went back to Tennoden again to have tea.

Nissokan started at 17:20. During the ceremony it was cloudy, but we could see the beautiful sunset later.

After that eleven of us went to have dinner. We enjoyed talking and eating.

It was a very nice day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.21

It was fine. 

Today is a national holiday called keiro no hi (敬老の日), Respect for the aged day. It used to be on September 15, and later it became on the third Monday of September, but this year is exceptional because of the Olympics and Paralympics though they weren't held.

I started the day ss usual, checked out the hotel at 7 am and headed for Nagahama to take a ferry to Chikubushima island which is the second largest island in the Lake Biwa, the biggest lake in Japan.

I was going to take a 9 am ferry, but since I did not book I could not get on, and I took 10:10 ferry instead. While waiting I walked around the Nagahama castle and the Lake Biwa.

In the Chikubushina island I visited some temples and shrines. There was a long line waiting for the red stamp called goshuin (御朱印).

I enjoyed staying at the island about for two hours and took a ferry to go to Imadu at 12:30.

After that I took a train to go to Hiyoshi taisha shrine, which is the head of all Hie shrine, Hiyoshi shrine, and Sanno shrine scattered in Japan for 3,800 places. There were many shrines in the precincts.

After that I got on the longest cable in Japan up to Mt. Hiei. It's been a long time, may be when I was a junior high school student since I went there last.

I could not see many there but enjoyed the sceneries.

I came down by 5 pm cable and took Keihan line to Otsukyo and changed to JR and came back to the hotel in Kyoto to pick up the luggage.

After that I came to Osaka.

My free book campaign started. I hope many people will enjoy my photo book.

It was a fruitful day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.20

It was cloudy.

I made rice balls for lunch, left home around 8:30 am, and headed for Shinagawa to get the Shinkansen at 10:28 bound for Kyoto arriving at 12:32.

I went to the hotel first to leave a luggage, and headed for Fushimi Inari Taisha (伏見稲荷大社) shrine. This is the second time for me to go there. Last time I did not have enough time to climb up the mountain. 

Today I have spent there for more than three hours.

There were so many shrines there. They say there are about 30,000 Inari jinja in Japan, and It is the head shrine of all the Inari shrines throughout the country.

I got tired and decided to have supper at the hotel.

It was a nice day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.19

It was fine and hot.

I got up early inspite of Saturday and did TV exercise first.  From 8am I attended the laughter yoga.

I got inquiry sheets of National census which happens once in 5 years. If you want to mail back, you need to post after October 1. So I chose to do by Internet. It was easy and took only a few minutes.

I stayed at home in the morning to get something delivered.

Today is higan no iri (彼岸の入り), the first day of autumn equinox week. Therefore I went to my parents' graveyard.

In the afternoon I went to a beauty salon to have my hair cut and permed.

After that I went to a kimono shop to buy something, but unfortunately they did not have.

2020.9.18

It was cloudy.

I could get an earlier train and I went to Post Office and bought lunch before going to the office.

I felt fulfilled by completing many tasks at office today.

Next week I will take a day off, therefore I have a five-day weekend. I am very looking forward to visiting many places.

Have a nice weekend!

2020.9.17

It was cloudy.

Since today is a pay day, I went to ATM and transferred some payment during lunch time.

At the convenience store when I went to buy lunch, I happened to see a lucky coupon of Yogurt. If you buy a certain yogurt, you can get a free coupon for the new product which will be released next week.

When I was in the United States, I often saw rhe sign of "Buy one, and get one for free" at the supernarket. 

I do not know about the mechanism of discout well. Does this mean the original price is less than the half price of the fixed price?

Today is a new moon. It is a good time to wish something.

2020.9.16

It was cloudy. 

It seemed rained here in the evening.

I could get up early and decided to take an earlier train, and went shopping lunch before going to office not to get rain. But it did not rain in Tokyo.

After work I went to a travel agency in Shinagawa again and bought a tour ticket for three prefectures in Kansai for three days. This looks very reasonable.

After coming back, I bought a commuter ticket for a month at the vending machine.

At night we had a monthly zoom meeting.

Today the Suga new cabinet started.

2020.9.15

It was fine.

September 15 was used be a national holiday called keiro no hi (敬老の日), respect for the aged day.

It has become on the third Monday of September since 2003. However this year was specially arranged on the September 21.

I went to the nearby shrine before going to work as a ritual of the 15th day of the month.

After work I went to a travel agency to book for a trip to Kansai next week. Because of the "Go to travel campaign" I could book at the very reasonable price, furthermore I got some presents too.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.14

It was cloudy. It is becoming cooler in the morning and at night.

I was planning something to do after work, but suddenly I had to attend a meeting and overworked for an hour.

Today is ichiryumanbaibi (一粒万倍日) when one grain becomes 10000 times.

I applied for a seminar about instructor training for inboud tourism.

The New Liberal Democratic Party President was elected today. The new Cabinet will be organized soon.

2020.9.13

It was cloudy in the morning, but rained in the afternoon, and became fine in the evening.

In the morning I attended Kid's yoga only for a shirt time.

Before noon I have my car inspected. It happens twice a year. They said my tires were in the dangerous situation. Therefore I had to change four of them. I did it three years ago.

After that I went grocery shopping.

In the afternoon I went to Miurakaigan beach  to see my friend. There were some people enjoying kite surfing.

After that I did additional shopping.

I received two re-delivered goods.

There were two good international Japanese-related news today. 

One is women's US Open tennis tournament. Naomi Osaka became a champion again.

The other is Venice Film Festival. Director Kiyoshi Kurosawa got the Silver Lion Award for "Wife of s spy."

Congratulation!!!!!

2020.9.12

It was a rainy day.

I got up early and went to Shinagawa to attend REIKI 3 Seminar as a sub teacher. There were 12 new partucipants with 12 sub teachers.

After that I went to have dinner at a Chinese restaurant nearby with 3 friends and enjoyed eating and talking.

On my way to the station, it was slightly raining and I used an umbrella which I got from Kimono-Style Miya as a gift. The design was white dots when it is dry, but after the rain, dots became colored. I was surprised.

2020.9.11

It was fine.

I saw the beautiful Mt. Fuji and blue sky with the white moon and clouds in the morning.

Late at night it began raining.

It's been 19 years since the 9.11 happened. I still remember the TV news scene of crashing the airplane at the World Trade Center building. It was like a movie. 

In 2007 I visited the gound zero for the first time.

There was a meeting with my boss to review the year performance.

2020.9.10

It was fine.

Today is nihyakuhatsuka (二百二十日), the 220th day since the first day of spring. It is thought as one of the bad weather days as well as August 1 in lunar calendar and 210th day since the first day of spring. But it was a good weather today and the sky was so beautiful with white clouds.

After work I went to Shinagawa to see a zoom friend and had dinner. It was a very first time to see each other in a real situation but we have known each other for about three months or so. We have something in common and enjoyed talking.

2020.9.9

It was fine and nice.

September 9 is known as choyo no sekku (重陽の節句) double 9th festival or kiku no sekku (菊の節句) festival of chrysanthemum, which is one of the five annual ceremonies in Japan. Choyo literally means double positive. Odd numbers are positive and even numbers are negative. Nine is the biggest odd number, and September 9 means 9 & 9, that is double 9.

Other four festivals are jinjitsu no sekku (人日の節句) or nanakusa no sekku (七草の節句) on January 7, joshi no sekku (上巳の節句) or momo no sekku (桃の節句) on March 3, tango no sekku (端午の節句) or shobu no sekku (菖蒲の節句) on May 5, and shichiseki no sekku (七夕の節句) or sasa no sekku (笹の節句) on July 7.

There are event's foods of the day. They are kikuzake (菊酒), sake drunk with floating petal of chrysanthemum and kuri gohan (栗ご飯) chestnut rice.

Today is ichiryumanbaibi (一粒万倍日), the day one grain becomes 10000 times. It is a good day to start something. What did you start today?

2020.9.8

It was fine and hot, but the sunset is surely becoming earlier.

There was a meeting and I became busy for making some documents.

I have talked with some people by messenger. To my glad the host of B&B in Alaska found me and sent me a message through messaenger. It"s been a long time since I visited their place.

While I was communicated with a friend, we decided to go to a shrine with the members of the same group. He posted a short message about the event to our group page. I was impressed by the speedy action.

2020.9.7

It was a rainy day. But to my lucky I did not have to use the umbrella. 

The biggest typhoon No.10 passed Kyushu and Shikoku area today.

Today is hakuro (白露), one of nijushisekki (二十四節気), the 24 solar terms. The last one was shosho (処暑) on August 23  and the next one is shubun (秋分) on September 22.  Hakuro literally means white dew. It is the time when air becomes cooler and dew appears. But it is still hot.

Since it was heavily raining at lunch time, I went to the dining hall. I seldom go there and did not know they open shorter than before but to my lucky I could eat there. Moreover they added cutlet on curry because there were some leftovers and I was the last customer of the dsy.

How lucky I  am!

2020.9.6

It was fine in the morning, but rained in the evening.

During the daytime it seemed to have rained too, and there appeared the rainbow.

I went to Kimono Style Miya and met my ex-colleague and have my hair set, makeup, dressed up, and pictures taken.

After that we visited Iseyama kotai jingu shrine, and Naritasan temple together.

I went to the World Porters to see some friends from the Zoom meeting. I tried the power stone reading for the first time.

Today is ichiryumanbaibi(一粒万倍日), when one grain becomes 10000 times. I am wondering which seed will grow.

2020.9.5

It was fine and very hot most of the day, but while I was on the train it seemed heavily rained.

I slept long and prepared kimono for tomorrow in the morning.

In the afternoon I decided to visit the shrine in Kurihama to thank for the grace I got when I visited there today last year.

After that I went to Kawasaki to see a Japanese movie "Omoi Omoware Furi Furare." It is a love story of four high school students.

2020.9.4

It was fine and very hot. They say it was over 36 degrees centigrade which is about the same as body temperature. Those days are called moshobi (猛暑日), extremely hot day. The sky was very beautiful with white clouds this morning.

I took a half day off in the afternoon and attended a seminar with my friend. After that I had supper and we enjoyed talking. I was surprised to know we have many things in common.

After that I attended a monthly meeting which encouraged me and gave me energy and I felt the bright future would come.

It was a nice day.

2020.9.3

It was fine.

There were many things to do at work which is good.

After several email exchanges, a meeting was made and it facilitated the works later easier.

When there was no answer, I talked someone directly, and things concerned were settled in a minutes.

Direct communication is important, isn't it?

2020.9.2

It was a slightly rainy day in the morning, partially heavily rained, but became fine later.

Today is one of the luckiest days in a year called tenshabi (天赦日) which means the heaven forgives everything and tonight is the fullmoon. Therefore it is said that today is a good day to start something.

There were lots of works at office and I felt good to have contributed many things.

I attended some online events.

I could report about my photobook ranking to the teacher.

I could communicate with many people.

It was a nice day.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2020.9.1

A new month has started. September is kugatsu (９月、九月) , the ninth month or nagatsuki (長月), literally long month.

It was cool this morning and I feel the autumn has come.

I started the day to change the offerings at the household alter and visited the nearby shrine as a ritual of the first day of the month.

Today is ichiryumanbaibi (一粒万倍日), when one grain becomes 10000 times.

I am very looking forward to seeing the result of one grain I sowed today.

There was a very interesting thing today. I got to know a woman in April and a man in June but I did not realize they were couple until this morning.

Life is very interesting, isn't it?