I have a lot of ornaments and Christmas stitching, but not so much for the other holidays. I have two items for Halloween, and even though Halloween is an American holiday, I pull out these two things every October. I do it because I like the stitching, not so much because I like Halloween. Do you decorate with Halloween stitched items?
Yesterday I went to a Halloween Party Lunch. My friend prepared many delicious Japanese autumn dishes.
This is Oden and it is a very popular dish. I’m not sure what all is in it.
This is how Wikipedia describes it:
Oden is a type of nabemono consisting of several ingredients such as boiled eggs, daikon or konjac, and processed fishcakes stewed in a light, soy-flavored dashi broth. Oden was originally what is now commonly called miso dengaku or simply dengaku; konjac or tofu was boiled and eaten with miso.
Japanese sweet potatoes are in the foil. The rice dish has chestnuts in it. The blue and red and yellow cups have pumpkin soup in them.
This is my plate.
We ate and talked and I had a very good time!
The upcoming November 5th election in the US has been crazy chaos for ages. I feel like the country is on the edge of a cliff and it is frightening. Contrast that with the quiet orderly election being held today in Japan.
Between 1885 and 1947, the prime minister was chosen by the Emperor. Since 1947, the prime minister has been chosen in the “designation election of the prime minister” in the National Diet (legislature). The voters don’t choose the prime minister directly.
Prime Minister Ishiba
Previous Prime Minister Kishida recently resigned and Shigeru Ishiba was chosen to take over the beginning of October. Eight days later, he called for a snap election of the lower house, which is being held today. Candidates have about two weeks to campaign. They put their pictures on giant boards in every neighborhood and have loud speakers on vans that drive around making announcements. This lasts two weeks vs. about two years and millions of dollars for campaigning in the US.
I read in the Yomouri Shinbun online news that only about 60% of eligible voters have voted in the last three national elections in Japan. The article didn’t say if that included during the pandemic. That seems like a low voter turn out, but I don’t know how that compares with other countries. I’ve been told by my students that elections are always held on Sundays and that voters hand write the name of the candidate in Kanji on special paper. No matter who wins today's election, I feel sure there will not be a January 6th type insurrection in Japan.
Our usual stitching day is Sunday, but sometimes we also meet on weekday afternoons. They call these smaller weekday get togethers “private lessons”. This week, we worked on our current project, trying out ideas and getting opinions from the other stitchers, and practicing stitches for clouds.
The hostess served some delicious Swedish Tea.
Worm, a 21 year old German University student, who came to Japan for sightseeing during his school vacation on September 21st, has been missing since October 10th or 11th. He was in Tokyo for the first part of his trip, then had hotel reservations in Wakayama from September 30th to October 10th. He last contacted family on October 10th. His passport and wrist watch were found in a public restroom near Wakayamashi Station on October 11th and security camera footage appears to show him in that area around 8 pm on the same date. The Mainichi News reports that 40 items, including a smartphone, belonging to Worm were found near a river in Wakayama City.
His University classes started on October 12th and when he didn’t attend classes, he was reported missing on October 16th.
He is 173 cm tall with blond hair and has a medium build. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Wakayama Prefectural Police Headquarters at 070-423-0110.
This is quite a mystery. I wonder if something bad happened or if he voluntarily went missing. Japan is very safe and I often travel alone, but I have heard about tourists going missing from time to time. Being without a passport makes me think he didn’t voluntarily go missing. I will continue to search the news to try to find out what happened.
What do you think?
Last week I pulled out the Rapunzel project that I reported on yesterday. It made me remember how much I like blackwork.
Here are some of my other blackwork pieces.
Checkerboard by designer Marion Scoular
Ojimi by designer Carolyn Standing Webb
Blackwork Alphabet by designer Lorraine Banniskis.
Queen Elizabeth I by designer Gaye Ann Rogers (sleeves are blackwork)
Blackwork fish
Blackwork Rose by designer Carol Algie Higginbotham
Blackwork pheasant, peacock, and kingfisher by designer Tanja Berlin
Box of Delights by designer Elizabeth Almond
Daffodil ornament by Marion Scoular
Ornaments
Miniature pillows
Blackwork Sampler (sorry, I didn’t record the designer)
Blackwork sampler from a magazine (again, I didn’t record the designer)
Acorn design
Ornaments
Lavender Sachet
Four Seasons Kogin Progress - continuing with summer.
Toki, who blogs at 私がめがねをかけるとき, and I are both stitching this kogin piece. (She blogs in Japanese, but there is a translation button on the top left under the title, if you don’t read Japanese.) Check out her progress!
Rapunzel Blackwork Progress (Marion Scoular)
I’ve worked on this one a lot this week, after not working on it at all in 13 years!
Summertime Mt. Fuji Progress - pine needles
Are the leaves changing color where you live? I’ve noticed some leaves falling, but no beautiful colors here, yet.
The Stitchers met yesterday. We were talking a lot and I didn’t remember to take many pictures. One of the topics was Pandas.
Here is the progress they made.
We will meet on Wednesday afternoon this week because we like this project so much!
Tea time. (You probably wish you could join us).
Everyone knows the yakuza don’t take any crap. You can’t make this stuff up.
A 57 year old man, who is a member of the Yamaguchi-gumi yakuza family (Japanese mafia family), was arrested in Asahikawa City Hokkaido. My first thought was - a member of a crime family getting arrested is not unusual news. But wait, he was arrested for violation of the waste management law. So what did he do, you ask? The police say that on at least two occasions, he failed to clean up his dog’s poop while out for a walk. The man denies the poop came from his dog, but with surveillance cameras and DNA results from the poop and the dog, the police think they have a strong case.
I have never heard of anyone being charged with this crime before, but the people I see walking their pets always carry a clean up kit. Is it possible that this is more about getting a yakuza member than arresting someone for a nuisance crime? What do you think?
