Suijinja in Springtime

Don’t you love seeing cherry blossoms at the shrines? I saw this when I was out for a walk.

Stitch Group Thursday

We met Thursday afternoon and worked on our Hawaiian projects. I hadn’t worked on mine since the last time we met. We had two special guests - the hostess stitcher’s daughter and two month old grandbaby. I love getting together with my stitching friends!

Friday Finish - Little Red Riding Hood Box

This will be a gift for a young ballerina who will be dancing the part of Little Red Riding Hood next month.

In The Neighborhood

 I love where I live.

Work In Progress Wednesday

New Start - Little Red Riding Hood

The Scarf Progress - both sides, then a closer look at each side.

Dressing Gown - I cut more squares.  I now have 41.

Dogwood Afghan progress - starting square five

Japanese Pattern 40

Shizuoka Festival 2025

Saturday, I took the train to Shizuoka City to attend the Shizuoka Festival. I have attended this festival and other festivals at this venue, Sumpu Castle Park. The park is huge and is usually a nice place to visit.

Leading up to the park entrance, the parade participants were lining up.

On the far right in this picture, you can see a crowd of people entering.

After entering the park, I was shocked by how crowded it was. The park is huge, so I thought I could keep walking and the crowd would thin out. I walked all the way across and left by a different entrance/exit. It was kind of scary. I was wearing a mask as were many of the others, but everyone was so close to me. The other thing I thought of was, what if there is an earthquake. Anyway, I was glad to get out of the park and go home.

These people were trying to escape.

Monday Morning Star Count

Again this week, my year 4 quilt has been my main project. Here it is front and back, hanging from my laundry pole. It’s crooked, but you get the idea. I have a few more hexagon weeks, then I’ll move on to the borders.

I also cut up what was left from the border and backing fabrics to make a scrappy binding.

Unclaimed Bodies

I like to read news items in Japan, and often they are things I had never thought about.  I have to share them because you may not have known about them either.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare in fiscal year 2023 in Japan, there were 4200 unclaimed bodies that had to be cremated by local governments.  This is about 2.7% of deaths in 2023. 

The Ministry claims the increase in elderly people living alone and the weakening of family ties have led to an increase in solitary deaths. The number of elderly people with no relatives is expected to continue to increase, making it an issue for local governments to streamline cremation and burial procedures. 

While out walking, I have discovered the crematory on the edge of my town. It always seems to be very busy, with cars driving in and out of the lot. I think almost everyone is cremated here in Japan. 

This story has me wondering what percent of deaths are unclaimed in other countries. I turned to the internet to try to find an answer for the US.  There is no federal agency that tracks this information in the US (and if there had been, DOGE would have gotten rid of it), but it is estimated to be between 2 and 4%. Areas with higher numbers of unhoused people have higher numbers of unclaimed bodies. 

No one wants to think about dying, but I think it’s important to plan ahead. Cremation can cost between 1.2 million yen for a basic cremation to up to 3 million yen for a Buddhist service and cremation. Start saving your yennies so you won’t be a burden on your local government.

Sakura at Shimoshimizuhachiman Shrine

Yesterday I took a walk to see the sakura in bloom at this shrine.

This big old tree is a power spot for longevity.

This sign tells about the history of the shrine and lists two annual festivals, with one being April 9th and 10th! Rain is forecast for those two days next week, but I might try to walk to the shrine again next week.

This shrine cat was ignoring me.

This is the view walking back to the street.