I have visited this shrine many times, but I always like to visit again. Sometimes it is crowded with many visitors, but this day there were very few people.
One evening this week, I made this little “book” to hold pins. I sewed four 2 1/2 inch strips together, the cut them into six squares. I sewed them together in a circle, added some batting in the middle (leftover from one of the temperature quilts). The binding is made from another 2 1/2 inch strip. I folded the strip in thirds and used two buttons and braided embroidery floss as a closure.
This little shrine is next to Sengen Shrine. Some of it looks very old, but there are also some wood pieces that look very new.
The small drink cans are not trash. They are full and left like an offering. I often see drinks or food or sometimes little toys at shrines and temples. I’ve never seen anyone leave them or take them away.
A while back, I noticed some of the brown thread was disintegrating on one of the cross stitch kittens. I took a picture with the scissors pointing out areas with missing thread.
Yesterday, I decided to fix it. I picked out the remaining bits of the damaged DMC 435 and replaced it with new thread.
It didn’t take very long, and it was very satisfying to fix it. I made this afghan in 1995, and it may have been the first of the many afghans I have cross stitched.
The Imperial Palace fired an employee for stealing a total of 3.6 million yen over more than a year from Emperor Naruhito and his family. The suspect is identified as an employee in his 20’s, who was one of about 80 attendants assigned to the palace or the Imperial Agency building. Officials said this has been unheard of in modern history. It is an embarrassment for the royal household.
The situation surfaced in March during an internal investigation when a discrepancy was notice between cash in the safe and the accounting book. When a loss of 30,000 yen was detected in late March, the suspect was asked about it. He admitted to stealing a total of 3,600,000 yen from November 2023 to late March 2025, because he had financial difficulties. The employee was dismissed and a criminal complaint was filed. The assistant manager, an employee in his 40’s, was punished with a one month pay cut for being lax in his accounting duties. The Imperial Household Agency chief Yauhiko Nishimura said the theft was “extremely regrettable”.
I think it is very sad that the young person, who was a trusted employee, stole money, not once but several times over the course of almost a year and a half. Now the former employee is in the criminal system, with an unknown future. What “financial difficulties” would make someone do this?
The missing money was part of the 324 million yen annual budget allocated as living expenses for the emperor and empress, their daughter Princess Aiko and the emperor’s parents.
