The Rainy Season Has Begun

 

Chiaki Matsuse Exhibition at Miho no Matsubara

One of my stitching friends told me about this exhibit at Miho no Matsubara. I had seen this artist's work in 2016 at another museum and liked it, so I was happy to be able to go to this exhibit. A lot of the work involves colorful interpretations of Mt. Fuji. Photos were not allowed in the exhibit, but I did buy a post card.

I walked to Miho, and took a walk around the pine trees.

This is the museum at Miho, where the exhibition was held.

Between Miho no Matsubara and Miho Shrine is this wood walkway.

It was a good day - a long walk, a great exhibition, the ancient pine trees, and kaiten sushi for lunch on my way home.

Friday Finish - Ballet Bag

I made a bag with the little ballet cross stitch I showed on Wednesday.  This will be a gift for a young ballerina, who invited me to her July ballet recital.

The lining is a cat fabric.

Japan to Replace Cedars

 

Many people I know have hay fever caused by the pollen of cedars. I read in the news that this allergy is believed to affect about 40 percent of Japan's current population, causing symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing, and itchy eyes, mainly in the spring. Apparently, these allergies only affected about 23 percent of the population in 1998, but has been steadily increasing since 1970, according to a nationwide survey of Ear, Nose, and Throat doctors.

A large number of cedar trees were planted after World War II in order to meet the demand for more housing. Now, without the great demand for houses made of wood, Japan wants to speed up replacing cedar forests with trees that produce less pollen, in order to tackle the hay fever problem. The goal is to reduce the cedar tree areas by about 20 percent by fiscal 2033. To achieve this goal, the government needs to secure a labor force for logging work, create a demand for cedar lumber, and increase the production of low-pollen seedlings. Sounds like a big job!  

Work In Progress Wednesday

Japanese Pattern 11

New start - some small dancers

Christmas Treasures afghan progress

Emperor and Empress Leave for Weeklong Visit to Britain

 

Saturday the Emperor and Empress left Japan for Britain, on the first state visit to the country by a sitting emperor since his father Akihito's visit in 1998. The couple left Tokyo's Haneda Airport on a government plane. 

During the weeklong visit, they will attend a luncheon with the royal family and a state banquet hosted by King Charles and Queen Camilla at Buckingham Palace. In addition, other scheduled events include a visit to the grave of the Unknown Warrior in Westminister Abbey and a formal dinner at the Guildhall in London.  They also expect to visit Windsor Castle to lay flowers at the tomb of Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip. Outside of official events, the couple plan to travel to University Oxford, where they both studied. 

Their original plan for an official visit to Britain in 2020 had to be canceled due to the corona virus outbreak.  They both attended the funeral of Queen Elizabeth in September 2022.

Monday Morning Star Count

I'm continuing to make progress on both the quilting and the flip edge.

I have about half of one side of the flip edge connected but not yet attached. (See bottom of picture below.)

Slow but steady progress.

Mizu Shrine

Yesterday, I was walking on a street I hadn't walked on before, and I saw this tiny shrine on the tiniest corner bit of ground, next to the stream. "Mizu" means water, so being next to the stream is probably where the shrine got its name.

I love finding these neighborhood treasures when I'm out walking.

Japanese Domestic Postage Rates Going Up

Starting October 1st, the price of a standard size letter stamp (up to 25 grams) will go up from 84 yen to 110 yen, letters between 25 and 50 will increase from 94 yen to 110 yen, and post cards will rise from 63 yen to 85 yen, in addition to other postage rate hikes. Except for adjustments related to consumption tax increases, this will be the first rate hike for letters in 30 years.

Japan Post reports this rate hike is due to fewer deliveries. Mail deliveries have decreased since their peak in 2001, and, in addition to fewer deliveries, Japan post needs to secure funds to cover rising labor costs and fuel.  

I wonder what this will do to the tradition of sending new year post cards (nengajo) in Japan. Many people have already stopped doing it, due to the cost of sending them or the ease of sending electronic mail. 

While I hate to pay more to send things, I understand the cost of everything is going up.

What do domestic stamps cost where you live? Do you send many letters or post cards?

Friday Finish

I don't know what to call this. It's a little carrier for things you might need - like tissues, toothbrush, Q-tips, bandaids, headache medicine, etc. There are six narrow pockets on the first row and three wider pockets in the second row. It rolls up and stays closed with elastic.  The elastic goes around twice if it's not very full or once if there is a lot of stuff in it.

Hamamatsu Castle

I visited this castle in December 2017, (and I took better pictures that time). The admission fee is 200 yen.

Historical information from J-Castle:

Hikuma Castle was first built on this site around 1514 by a vassal of the Imagawa clan, Inoo Noritsura. In 1568, Tokugawa Ieyasu attacked Sakai Tadatsugu and took control of the castle. Ieyasu started construction of Hamamatsu Castle in 1570 and Hikuma Castle became a minor extension of its vast territory. In 1577 Ieyasu renamed his new castle Hamamatsu Castle. Legend says, the name was changed from "Hikuma" because the characters give the impression of "pulling a horse along" which you might do after losing a battle. Ieyasu spent 17 years here and engaged in some of his most well known battles from this castle before moving to Sunpu Castle in 1586.

There were many helpful signs with English translation.

The inside of the castle is a museum, with some English.

View from the top.

A small shrine -

(If you are interested in Japanese Castles, check out my Castle Page to see the castles I've visited.)