Monday Manholes 7 - Flowers and Birds and the Olympics

A final gallery of some Japanese manhole covers.  Floral themes and a bird (egret) on a manhole on a culverted pathway over what was a waterway leading to the Tamagawa River.

 Lilies at Toyama

 Sakura in Sakurashinmachi

An egret  and a floral theme along  a canal in Komae - the next ward to Setagaya.

Marking the Olympics at Ueno Park 

A floral theme in Takayama

Another flower - this in Kawasaki - across the Tamagawa River from Setagaya-ku.

Sakura - The Transience of Life

Fallen Sakura, natural confetti, is my natural obsession at the end of the Sakura season, the ultimate symbol of the fleeting nature of life and the significance of Sakura within Buddhism.

The Japanese have an expression for this:

Mikkaminumanosakura (三日見ぬ間の桜) - this is a highly descriptive and evocative word in Japanese that means change happens very suddenly and intensely, much like the cherry blossoms that go from full bloom to being scattered in just a short space of time.

Fluffy Sakura

Close up of the extra fluffy Sakura in Sakurashinmachi.

Fluffy Sakura in Sakurashinmachi

The Sakura in my neighbourhood is extra fluffy.  Sakurashinmachi means sakura new town and the main street is lined with these fluffy sakura in white and pink. I love that there are Sakura flowers and sakura symbols and signage all together.  I like the one below at the Good Ageing Sakura Acupuncture and Physical Therapy Clinic.

The Neighbourhood - Lien de Sazaesan

Another link to Sazaesan in Sakurashinmachi.  This cafe specializes in small pancakes decorated with images from Sazaesan manga.

Winter Ginkgo

My obsession with ginkos continues into the winter.  No bright yellow but still majestic trees.  These are at the shrine where I took yesterday's wedding kimono photos.

These photos show  the trees back in autumn.

Added in a video to show the snow/sleet on Saturday afternoon.

The Neighbourhood - Narrow Streets

The narrow streets of Sakurashinmachi and similar Tokyo neighbourhoods are quaint and cute, as are the small trucks and vans that are also cute.  The drivers are incredibly polite and patient, waiting for you as a pedestrian or cyclist and bowing to you when you step aside to give way and let them have the road.

The Neighbourhood - A Eucalypt

The juxtaposition of old and new in one block always amazes me as I wander the neighbourhood streets.  This is a typical street scene - look closely for an Australian surprise in the middle of the photo.

Australian plants are popular at the local nursery too and in some other neighbourhood gardens.

Hardenbergia - commonly known as sarsaopilla seems to be a popular climber and wattles known here as mimosa are also a common garden plant.

The neighbourhood - Sazasen

Sazae-san is a character in a Japanese manga series by   Machiko Hasegawa from the post war era.  While Astro Boy became famous in the west Sazaesan and her family remain unknown.  However they are celebrated in Sakurashinmachi, the neighbourhood where the author lived.  The characters greet you at the train station and on a mural at the main intersection and cartoon images decorate the power boxes in the street and other places.

The Neighbourhood - Queens English

Every neighbourhood has cram schools and English language schools.  Love that the one in Sakurashinmachi is called "The Queens English School".

The Neighbourhood - Round windows

An architect friend of mine worked with someone who said round windows indicated boring design and lack of creativity.  I am not sure about that.  Two interesting buildings modern and traditional, in Sazaesan-dori in Sakurashin machi with round, but very different, windows.

The Neighbourhood - Sakura in Sakurashinmachi

I live in Sakurashinmachi - which translates to Sakura new town.  This is taking literally on the facades of many of the buildings in the main street Sazaesan-dori - even the medical clinic.  The pink adds colour to the street and there is cherry blossom year round!

Sunday Kimono 11 - Supermarket

Love the colours in this lady's haori - kimoni jacket.  You know you are in Japan when the locals are wearing kimonos at the supermarket - mini mart.

Happy New Year for 2020

Happy New Year - the Blog ReturnsJapanese welcome the New Year with a big clean out and with New Year ornaments or charms -  shimekazari and kadomatsu - on their doors.  They usually have straw rope, oranges and some fern or greeney.  Here is one on my neighbour's door and one at a nearby hair salon.

Lone Gingko Leaf

The Gingko season is coming to an end, but they are still beautiful, even when fallen.  

Stone lantern at Jissoin Shrine in my neighbourhood.

Neat trash

  More photos of neat trash.  This was on my walk to work this morning.  Neat and tidy small piles of separated rubbish.

The Walk to School

The street is busy with primary school students walking to school.  They stop and chat and play and race one another, but get to school safely - on their own.  There are specific routes to follow, so they are on one street and the bus is on another street, and little through traffic on this one way street - well foot traffic.

The Lolilpop Man

The walk - or cycle- to school is often the highlight of my day.  The kids walking to school are always so cute and the fact that they walk and walk alone still amazes me, especially in comparison to the "car drop off" culture of Australia.  

How great is it that the lollipop man is wearing a suit?!

How gorgeous are these two girls with their pink randoseru, and yellow caps as they stop to play on the subway grate?!

KFC

Kaarage Fried Chicken
Kaarage is the term for Fried chicken in Japanese - think Chicken Nuggets - but tastier and juicer.

An easy and yummmmy take away dinner after a late night at work, and you don't even need to go inside.  Park the bike on the footpath and order at the window. Loving life in Tokyo.

Family cycling

I love the cycling culture of Tokyo.  How relaxed is this young girl reading her book as her father rides through Sakurashinmachi.