This picture is that of the name of the new Japanese era, Reiwa. Each time there is a new emperor in Japan, the name of the era changes. This photo was taken at one of the festivals in my town. As you can see, the lanterns are extravagant and large. What do you think of them?
xoxo.e
This was my little kei-car while I was in Japan. Actually, now that I think of it, this was my second car while living in Japan. It is called a Subaru Pleo. For many people who are not familiar with cars in Japan, there is something called a kei- car. This means the engine is a little smaller than that of a “normal” car. They also have a yellow license plate. For what I needed it for, it did the trick. I lived five minutes from school, so it was very convenient to take on the super hot, or rainy days. Otherwise, I tried to walk when I had time to do so. I do have to say one thing though; I would not trust this car for long distance, strenuous trips. Though it would be able to, I would probably compare it to an American Mini Cooper, or maybe even a Scion xB. Nevertheless, it was interesting to learn to drive on the opposite side of the road.
xoxo,e
This picture was taken in a friends garden. I met this friend while I was living in Japan. She was a well known high school English teacher who loved to cook. This woman gave up her job as being a teacher to pursue her dream of teaching people how to cook. She invited me to her house to pick vegetables and bamboo, then she taught me how to cook one of Miyazaki’s famous dishes, chicken namban (fried chicken with a tartar like sauce). This picture is of me its the bamboo shoot I picked from her garden. Tens of mosquito bites later, i’d say it was a great experience.
xoxo,e
What do you think this is? This picture is a bunch of small wooden dragonfly carvings. I went to pick blueberries near my house, and the blueberry farm owner also had a wood carving hobby. There were tons of wooden sculptures around his workshop. He told me that each dragonfly takes a few hours to make. There was also a bunch of dragonflies he arranged to look like a symphony. Each dragonfly was playing a musical instrument. It’s always nice to be a jack of all trades, isn’t it?
xoxo,e
By far one of my favorite things about living in Japan. This is a picture of Japanese matcha (green tea) and wagashi (sweets). There’s something about the bitterness of the matcha and the sweetness of the sweets that I love, love, love! If you can see in the photo, the cup isn’t filled very much. I suppose there is suppose to be a balance between between the two being served and enjoyed together. Thankfully, I can enjoy matcha at home still!
xoxo,e
One of my favorite things about this country is the fact that the culture is so rich. There are so many aspects of Japanese culture that are still so prevalent in people’s daily lives. This picture was taken at my school’s club activity, tea ceremony club. As you can see here the girls are wearing yukatas (summer time kimono) and seated on their knees. All yukatas have a lot of vibrant colors, perfect for summer time. I really enjoyed going to tea ceremony club because it taught me a lot about the meaning behind the ceremony, and because I looooove matcha!!
xoxo,e
This photo was taken at a fish market in Hokkaido, Japan. The northern most prefecture in Japan. Something that amazed me about this fish market was all of the amazing crab they had. Hokkaido is known for crab, and as you can clearly see, it looks delicious. Hokkaido is another one of my favorite places to visit in Japan. It has a very different “feel” than other cities. Due to Hokkaido being such an ample place for fishing, this prefecture is able to catch a lot of seafood.
xoxo,e
