First Autumn Leaf Maps for 2026

(I’m having problems posting pictures on my blog and have read others are too. If you have a solution, please let me know. Thanks!)

Every year, the Japan Meteorological Corporation prepares maps with dates for the best color show. This will get updated as the season progresses. Here are the first maps. For my area, it looks like 12/2 for maple leaves, and 11/17 for ginko leaves.

(These maps are also prepared in the spring for cherry blossom viewing.)

Summer 2026 Mt. Fuji Stories

(photo from my 2019 Mt. Fuji climb)

Today the 2026 climbing season ends for this year. There have been some sad and strange stories in the news this year.

1) 99-year-old woman rescued while attempting to climb Mt. Fuji

A 99 year old woman from Iwate, Fukushima began climbing the Fujinomiya Trail on July 15th with friends. She stumbled and hurt herself that day, then spent two nights in a mountain hut near the 7th of the 10 stations.  At 7 am on July 17th, her friend called emergency services and rescue workers evacuated her from the mountain to a nearby hospital. She received medical treatment for back pain and her life was not in danger.  

2) First death of the season  

On July 17th, a 65 year old man from Nara fell and hit his head on a hard surface on the Fujinomiya Trail. Emergency rescue and medical services were called but the man died from his injuries. 

3) Foreign hiker becomes the second fatality  

On July 21st, a 58 year old man from Switzerland was hiking on the Fujinomiya Trail with his son. They stopped for a rest at a mountain hut near the 7th station when the father fell unconscious. The son alerted the hut staff, who called Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s mountain rescue team. They were able to resuscitate the man and take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The medical investigation is ongoing.

4) German woman rescued, then went on to climb again

On August 19th, a 33 year old German woman began hiking with a companion, beginning at the fifth station on the Fujinomiya Trail. By the time she reached the eighth station, she was suffering from altitude sickness, including dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. After a medical examination at the eighth station medical center, the woman was able to secure an overnight space at a mountain hut where she slept overnight.  Before dawn the next morning, she was back on the trail and continued on to reach the top. Unfortunately, she was not able to make it down on her own and had to be rescued and taken down by Shizuoka Prefectural Police’s mountain rescue team, then taken to the hospital for treatment.

5) Father leaves 7 year old son alone on mountain

On August 20th, a 48 year old father and his two sons, age 7 and 12, started climbing the Fujinomiya Trail at the fifth station.  Around the sixth station, the 7 year old became fussy and began complaining he was tired. The father told the 7 year old to “wait here”, and continued climbing to the top with the older child. At 7:40 the next morning, when it was raining and fog was forming, a worker at a mountain hut invited the young boy inside, and contacted the police. The police learned the father’s name and were able to call him and tell him to come down now and get his 7 year old. The dad and the older child were at the eighth station. Thankfully, the 7 year old was not physically harmed.  

6) Two unconscious climbers

Two climbers were found unconscious in separate incidents at different places on the mountain on September 9th. One climber was found collapsed near the summit about 5:40 am.  The other was found at 7:00 am at the New 7th Station on the Fujinomiya Trail.

7) Landslide at Mt, Fuji Fujinomiya 5th station

Finally, yesterday, September 9th, just after midnight, a landslide occurred at the Fujinomiya 5th Station parking lot, which buried three cars. No drivers, passengers, or climbers were in or near the cars and there were no injuries. Debris blocked the roadway and heavy machinery was dispatched but continuing bad weather makes the recovery and reopening time unknown. 

And so the 2026 climbing season will end.

Work In Progress Wednesday

Sneek Sampler (small) progress

The Great Wave progress - I finished the upper right quarter and have been working on the upper left quarter.

Mechanical Pencil Museum

I love this story.  This university student has turned his passion since childhood into a museum so he can share this interest with others.

Since he was a young elementary school student, Kengo Hirose asked his father to take him to stationery stores. Kengo was fascinated by mechanical pencils. He is now 20 years old and a university student, majoring in architecture.  And, he still loves mechanical pencils. 

In June, he opened the Museum of Mechanical Pencils in Kyoto’s Nakagyo Ward. He has thousands mechanical pencils from Japan and abroad, many of them from the 1980’s, and no longer being made. Visitors are allowed to try out many of the pencils and he also has some pencils for sale. The museum is open from 1 pm to 7 pm on Sundays, with reservations in advance. Visit https://hiroseteppitudo.stores.jp/reserve/kyoto-512 

(Text in Japanese only) for reservations.

National Parks Quilt-a-Long - Block 1 Nine Patch

I read about this interesting quilt-a-long on this Piecework magazine website. This article directs participants to the Park’s website for instructions for blocks 1-6. The first block is the nine patch. There are step by step instructions, as well as diagrams, photographs, and stories. I plan to use small scrappy pieces of fabric I have to hand sew the blocks. Will you join me with this Quilt-a-Long? 

Nine Patch 12 inch block, plus quarter inch seams.

Disposing of Family Homes - Jikka-Jimai

Internet photo, not actual Jikka-jimai photo

Jikka-jimai is the process of disposing of the family home. This is a topic I read and hear about more and more often. Japan has an aging population, with elderly home owners moving to care homes or dying. Middle aged children of elderly parents are anxious about what to do about their parents’ home when the time comes.

In recent times, it is more common for children to move away and establish homes in other places. There are fewer young people in Japan, and most of those looking for a place to establish themselves, want new, energy efficient homes.

Managing an empty house from afar is difficult, but neglecting an empty home causes problems with neighbors and can become a fire hazard. Demolition is expensive. If there are several children or relatives, it can be difficult for all to agree on what to do and how to cover costs.  

Experts agree that planning ahead is the ideal situation. It would be best for the elderly parents to be involved in the decision, but many do not want to talk about death. This is a difficult problem.

The Great Wave

I went to this exhibit at the Atami Museum of Art - “Hokusai Manga, The Great Wave and the Digital”. The museum building is built into the side of the mountain, so you have to go up multiple escalators. Midway up is a ceiling with constantly changing colors and a hexagon floor.

The exhibit was very large. Here are some of my favorites.

This is one of my current cross stitch projects - The Great Wave.

One room had two walls with changing projection pictures. It was really well done.

The next area had huge wall size pictures.

This was a fantastic exhibition. I’m so glad I was able to see it!

I am really fortunate to have so many great museums nearby.

Friday Small Finishes

 

This beaded edge is very easy. I posted a tutorial here.

Japan’s Oldest Person Dies

Sad News - The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare announced 115 year Shigeko Kagawa died late last week. She was an amazing woman who graduated from medical school in 1934 and practiced medicine into her 80’s, and was the oldest torch bearer in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. She attributed her long life to her habit of walking so much for so many years.    

Fuyo Kishimoto, 114 year old woman living in Kyoto is now Japan’s oldest person.

Work In Progress Wednesday

The Great Wave progress - upper right quarter of the total picture

The Sneek Sampler progress

Museum Exhibits for Visually Impaired

I have been impressed by accommodations for visually impaired people in Japan. The yellow tactile blocks, or Tenji Blocks, make it more easy to safely move around.

I see Braille signage at many places in Japan.

Now, museums in Japan starting to cater to the needs of visually impaired visitors.

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo has started offering tours that allow visually impaired visitors to touch scale models and replicas of the original exhibits. A “Science Communicator” takes the tour participants around the museum for about two hours. 

According to the Japanese Association of Museums, exhibits at museums that cater to the visually impaired have increased in the last two or three decades, but experts say museums abroad do more. Today, more and more people are thinking of creative ways for museums to be more inclusive. Good news, in my opinion!

Monday Morning Star Count

I continued making more hexagons (in the box lid on the right). Making random hexagons, with no idea what they will become, is relaxing.  Maybe I will have more next week.

1000 People Tow Castle Closer to Original Position

I am fascinated by Japanese history and especially castles. The keep of Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture was moved in 2015 to repair the stone walls that supported it. After the repairs were made, the castle needed to go back to its original place.  Last Sunday, about 1,000 people towed the 400 ton keep, 109 centimeters closer to its original position. In two weekends, the aim is to move the castle about 5 meters. By end of this year, it will be moved about 78 meters to its former/original site.  How incredible it would be to help move your local castle!

This is the history of Hirosaki Castle, from the Japan Castle website:

Ooura Tamenobu was awarded the area around Hirosaki for his loyalty to Hideyoshi during the Battle of Odawara. He changed his name to to Tsugaru and started work on Hirosaki Castle in 1603. He died in 1607 and work on the castle was put on hold until his son Tsugaru Nobuhira restarted it in 1610. He finished the castle in just one year by cannibalizing materials from Horikoshi Castle and Daikoji Castle. The 3 level main keep of Hirosaki Castle seems disproportionately small when compared to the huge estate encompassed by the castle today. Hirosaki Castle was originally built with a 5 level keep which was struck by lightning and burned to the ground in 1627. The new 3 level keep is actually just the renovated Ninomaru tasumi yagura watchtower. The Tsugaru clan held the castle until the Meiji Restoration when it was taken over by the government.

Hirosaki Castle has the only extant main keep to the east of Matsumoto Castle (Nagano Pref.) making it a historical treasure of the Tohoku region. Hirosaki Castle is also famous throughout Japan for the more than 2600 cherry trees that fill its grounds today. Every spring when the trees are in bloom thousands of visitors flock to the grounds for one of Japan's finest Cherry Blossom Festivals.

All’s Well That Ends Well

 

Last week, a 1.2 meter long pet monitor lizard was reported missing in Yokohama City. The owner, a man in his 60’s, returned home and the reptile was not in its cage. 

The owner searched on his own for five days before he called the police, which prompted a police search with ten officers for days. After the pet lizard had been missing for a week, the owner called the police at 1:15 am, notifying the authorities that he had discovered the large lizard hiding in the bottom of a closet in his own apartment.  This ended the long search and public alert. 

I have heard of missing snakes or lizards several times since I’ve been in Japan. I don’t know if there are any rules about these pets. I live in a small apartment and I’d hate to think one of my neighbors’ pets escaped and could be hiding in mine.

Instant Houses

A month ago, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit Kumamoto Prefecture. Unfortunately, many people are still sleeping in cars and staying in evacuation centers. 

“Instant Houses” are an idea led by Keisuke Kitagawa, School of Social Engineering professor at the Nagoya Institute of Technology. By early next month, he plans to have 120 of the houses installed for disaster victims so they can begin to rebuild their lives. 

The structures take an hour or two to complete. Urethane foam, which is a heat-insulating material, is sprayed onto the inside of an inflated fire-resistant sheet, which hardens into shape. The houses are secured to the ground and can withstand winds up to 130 meters per second. They are about 4.3 meters high, and have floor space of approximately 20 square meters.

The houses are available free of charge to disaster victims, due to donated funds collected. Air conditioners are also being installed at no cost. They are built near people’s homes, so residents can maintain connections to their communities.

Japan is prone to earthquakes and other disasters. This can help people survive and rebuild for many years to come.

Don’t Text and Walk

Work In Progress Wednesday

Sneek Sampler progress

Great Wave progress

New Start - I think this will be an ornament.

Frequent Flyer Account Gets Alleged Yakuza Member Arrested

If you travel by plane a lot, it seems like a good idea to have a frequent flyer account and let the miles add up. That is, unless you are a member of the mafia crime organization known as the Yakuza in Japan. In that case, you can get arrested. 

In May of this year, the Fukuoka Prefectural Police arrested Yuta Hirayama, a 42 year old man from Onojo, Fukuoka Prefecture. His arrest document states he has no officially designated job. Police claim he is a registered member of an organized crime syndicate that is a subordinate group to the Kudo-kai, which is a Japanese mafia group based in Fukuoka. 

Here are the facts, according to the police. Between June and November of 2023, Hirayama took nine flights with a major Japanese airline (including flights between Fukuoka and Tokyo Haneda for the purpose of visiting someone in prison in east Japan). He accrued 4,224 frequent flyer miles to an account registered to his name. The problem is that the terms of service for the frequent flyer program includes a clause that says by using the program, the users profess they are not members of a criminal organization. Police claim that Hirayama, as a member of a criminal group, committed fraud by using his account to accrue miles. 

I’ve posted before about Yakuza members and mobile phone contracts and Yakuza using point cards . Any program that offers some kind of customer credit is illegal for members of crime organizations.  The “exclusion of anti-social organizations clause” is also known as the “yakuza members not allowed” rule. It is unknown if prosecutors will seek jail time, but at the very least Hirayama will forfeit his frequent flyer miles.

Monday Morning Star Count

This week’s newly made hexagons. I don’t yet have a project for them, but I am getting a good number ready for when I do.