On Sunday, the stitchers (and two husbands) did some flea market shopping and went out for lunch.
First Flea Market
This flea market is held the 28th of every month and we had been there together about a year and a half ago (read about it here). We had planned to go one time last summer when the 28th fell on a weekend, but a typhoon came through and changed our plans.
Happy basket purchases
Door decoration purchase
Many people were interested in a couple of standard poodles. This is the first time I have seen the large poodles in Japan. Miniature poodles are more popular here.
Shiba dogs are my favorite.
The Shrine
Moss Head has found some friends.
Lunch
I had cool soba and it was only 400 yen!
After lunch, we had more shopping to do!
Second Flea Market
This one was at Gokoku Shrine. I had been here before for a festival (read about it here). This flea market had a lot of interesting "fleas". Some of these sellers seem to be professional flea market vendors.
My Purchases
At the first flea market I bought these five bundles of Japanese fabric for 150 yen each - 750 yen total.
At the second flea market, I bought ten fabrics at 100 yen each - 1000 yen total.
I also bought two kimonos at 200 each - 400 yen total.
When I was a child, I loved these animal cookies. I saved the empty boxes and had a whole circus. I wondered if I should eat the head first or the body first or put the whole cookie in my mouth at once.
Since 1902, the African animals on the boxes of the Barnum's Animal Crackers have been in circus cages in a red and yellow wagon. In 2016, the animal rights organization PETA asked Nabisco, the cookie manufacturer, to change the box design because circus animals are often kept in cruel conditions.
One hundred and sixteen years after the original box was designed, Nabisco has changed the design to show animals roaming free. While PETA claimed the change as a victory, it may also have to do with the declining popularity of circuses.
Over the years more than 50 different animals have been inside the boxes, although some were rejected because of their unusual shape. Alligators, for example were rejected because of their shape. The tails were too fragile and would break.
Do you have childhood memories of these cookies? Do you still buy and eat them today? What were/are your favorite cookie animals? Have you seen the new boxes on the store shelves yet?
If you are in Nagoya, I highly recommend visiting this museum! It's walking distance from the station, or you can take a bus.
It has two parts - the textile pavilion and the automotive pavilion. There are tours in Japanese throughout the day and one English tour in each area a day. I registered for both English tours, then wandered around on my own before the first tour began.
My favorite thing was this big circular loom.
This section is called various textiles
The first tour was the textile tour. The guide was very young and cute, but she also knew everything about the place. She was an excellent tour guide.
There was a short break between tours, and I again wandered around a bit.
To tell the truth, I really didn't think I would be as interested in the automotive tour, but I was wrong! It was very interesting.
The name Toyoda was changed to Toyota. One of the reasons was because "Toyoda" takes ten strokes, "Toyota" takes eight and eight is a lucky number.
These are just a few of the many photos I took. It was a great museum and I really enjoyed the tours.
