2014.1.15

It was cold and it even snowed in the morning.  It was the first snow, hatsuyuki (初雪) around here.

January 15 is used to be a national holiday called seijin no hi (成人の日), Coming-of-Age Day, but it has become on the second Monday of January since 2000.  So it was not a holiday but a regular day.

There was an annual event called utakai hajime (歌会始) , the first poem gathering,  at the Imperial Palace.  This year's theme was sei (静), quietness or serenity.  21680 poems were submitted and some of the poems were chosen and presented.  Next year's theme is hon (本), book.  How about making the one?

It is my father's birthday.   So I gave him a present and celebrated in the evening.

2013.8.13

It was another hot day.  In Shimanto, Kochi it went up to 40 degrees centigrade again.  They say it's been four days in straight that exceeds 40 degrees centigrade.

From tomorrow I have 5 days summer vacation.

 It is a time of obon (お盆) when the spirits of ancestors come back home to stay for a few days.  We usually go to graveyard.  And we decorate a cow made of eggplant and a horse made of cucumber and some treat in front of butsudan (仏壇),  family Buddhist altar.