Friday Finish - House Quilt for a Doll

 

Yasukuni Shrine and Museum

After attending the Kabuki performance, I wanted to visit Yasukuni Shrine. It wasn't a long walk from the National Theater, but it was a hot day. The shrine and grounds were not crowded when I visited, probably because of the heat that day.

Yasukuni Shrine commemorates Japan's war dead.  It was founded in 1869 with the purpose of enshrining those who died in war. Since 1978 fourteen class A war criminals are among the 2.5 million enshrined at Yasukuni. Official visits by several prime ministers and cabinet members makes the shrine a political controversy. 

There is also a huge museum and cafe on the grounds.  The museum entry fee is 1000 yen, and quite a bit of the information is in English, but photos are not allowed inside.

The best thing on a hot day - - -

Work In Progress Wednesday

I started a new little holiday cross stitch.  That pattern comes from my birthday present book.

More on the Scarf

I prepared the previously made braided border to later make into some snack mats.

Dogwood Afghan - second block

Another eyelet fob start

Kabuki at the National Theater

A few weeks ago, I went to Tokyo to attend a "Kabuki for Foreigners" program. I read that this was a once a year program held by the National Theater. I have attended two other Kabuki performances, one by myself and another with two Japanese friends. Both of those performances were in Japanese, as was the one in Tokyo. 

My seat was in row nine, so I was very close to the stage.  The first part of the program was a Kabuki actor who was interviewed by a young Japanese woman who translated what he said into English for the audience. 

Kabuki started in the Edo period and both male and female parts were originally performed by an all female cast.  In 1629, women were banned from this type of performance, as the performances were deemed too suggestive, and since then has been played by an all male cast, playing both male and female roles. 

I knew a little about the Kabuki stage after visiting Kanamaru-za, the oldest surviving Kabuki theater, but I learned a lot more at this program. There is a walkway from the back of the theater to the stage called a hanamichi. It can be part of the stage, such as a path or river, and can be for dramatic entrances and exits. The stage also has tricks where the actors can be raised or lowered to the basement quickly so they appear or disapear. The costumes, wigs, and make up are all fantastic.  I learned that red lines in the white make up were for the good guys, blue or black lines for the bad guys, purple lines meant nobility, and green lines for the supernatural.  

In 2005, UNESCO recognized Kabuki as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. 

The program I saw in Tokyo was called 「紅葉狩」or Catching Colored Leaves. Here is the description: " Some noble Heike 平家 men went for catching colored leaves and they met a group of beautiful women. The women invited the men to a banquet. When the men got drunk and sleepy, the women turned into Oni, 鬼女 and attacked them."

I didn't understand what the actors were saying, but I did understand the story of what was happening. I am very thankful I was able to attend this performance and experience Japanese culture. 

Photos were not allowed inside the beautiful modern theater, but I did take a few photos outside the theater.

Monday Morning Star Count - Tablemat Progress

I have the hexagons together and they are pinned to the border of the fish sashiko. It's coming along.

Sleeping On The Street?

This is another strange crime story in Japan.  In Mombetsu, Hokkaido, police were called at 2 am last Sunday by a passerby reporting a man  "sleeping on the street". When the police officer arrived and woke the man up, the man head-butted the police officer in the face, causing an injury to the police officer's mouth.  The 37 year old drunk man was arrested for assault and obstructing a police officer in the performance of his duty. As it turned out the drunk man was sleeping on the street in front of his own residence. 

There were no photos of the man sleeping, so I wondered where he was actually sleeping. "On" indicates on top of the road to me, but some of the commenters to the story thought it could have meant in front of his house, but not out in the path of traffic. Where I lived in the US, grassy front yards were common, so it would be more believable the man could have been sleeping in the yard but not on the street itself. Where I live now, houses are often right up to the street or sidewalk. I guess the first issue was how much he had to drink in order to be sleeping on or near the street in front of his home.  

My area in Japan

Princess Kako Goes to Girl Scout Camp

I was a girl scout practically my whole life - all through grade school and high school, attending camp as a camper every summer, working at girl scout summer camps when I was in college, attending a camp event in Mexico and visiting the international center in London, volunteering as a leader after that, and later working for a Girl Scout Council. Since moving to Japan, I have become fascinated with the Imperial Family. When I read about Princess Kako going to Girl Scout camp in Japan, of course I was interested. 

Last weekend, Princess Kako, who is the younger daughter of the Crown Prince and Crown Princess and the niece of the Emperor and Emperess, attended the 100th anniversary event of the Girl Scouts of Japan. The event was held at the International Togakushi Campsite in Myoko-Togakushi renzan National Park in Nagano. 

About 90 junior high and high school students from across Japan participated in the event. Princess Kako praised the participants who gave reports on themes such as gender equality.  In the evening she lit the campfire and sang with the scouts. I think it must have been thrilling for the participants at this event.

Friday Finish - Felt Needlebook

My needlebook is finished with room for many needles! I like it.

Mountain Day

Today is the Japanese holiday, Yama no Hi or Mountain Day. It has been a national holiday since 2016 and is intended to provide opportunities to get familiar with mountains and appreciate blessings from the mountains.

My Mt. Fuji climb

Work In Progress Wednesday

I did some basic quilting on the doll quilt and will get the binding on next.

 

Another fob start with DMC 4100

This is a needlebook I started.  I cut the flower out of another piece of fabric and stitched it to the felt with invisible thread. I expect I will be able to finish it before long.

Hot Weather Words

The Japanese word for hot, as in hot weather, is atsui. The Japanese government has decided that there are other words for when it is hotter than atsui. I love learning new words!  

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency, which is part of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, if the temperature rises above 35 degrees Celsius or 95 degrees Fahrenheit, the day is a moushobi, or ferocious heat day. If the overnight low is still above 25C or 77F, it is a nettaiya, or tropical night. 

If temperatures get higher than that, the Japan Weather Association, a non-governmental meteorological association takes over with other new terms. Days with a high temperature of over 40C or 104F are kokushobi or cruel heat days. Nights that are hotter than nettaiya, where the overnight low doesn't go below 30C or 86F are known as chounettaiya or super tropical night. 

It seems to be getting hotter everywhere on earth. Take care of yourself and others! My recommendation is kakigori.

Monday Morning Star Count - Year Three Top and Table Mat Progress

Year three temperature quilt top progress 

I added a small border around the sashiko, so that the hexagons wouldn't cover the sashiko. I started putting the hexagons together.  I want it to be the size of the table when finished.  I am using hexagons leftover from other projects. No new hexagons were made for this project.

Yakuza Membership Decreasing

According to Japan's National Police Agency, the number of yakuza (Japanese mafia) members has decreased to 24,100 as of the end of 2021, which was down 1800 from the previous year. This is the lowest number since statistics began in 1958 and the seventeenth consecutive year of declining yakuza membership. 

End of 2021 membership in Japan's main gangs is shown below, with the year on year differences in number of members.

In 2021, 11,735 gang members were charged in a variety of criminal activities, down 1,454 from the previous year.  The largest number of arrests were for violations of the Stimulants Control Act (2,985), followed by fraud (1,555), assault resulting in injury (1,353), theft (1,008), violation of the Cannabis Control Act (764), in addition to 91 charges of murder.  

I wonder why membership is decreasing.  Are old members dying and not enough new members joining? Maybe police are cracking down on these criminals and they lose their membership when they go to jail. 

I've watched many programs about the American mafia families and the FBI or other agencies trying to arrest and convict them.  I did a quick google, but couldn't find the current number of members, but it does appear that their numbers are also decreasing.  Fewer criminals are a good thing, I think.

Don't Eat or Even Touch Red Fungus

 

In the month of July, more sightings of the deadly poison fire coral fungus have been reported in Kanagawa, Chiba, and Fukui prefectures. This is the second deadliest fungal species in the world and is known as Posion Fire Coral in English and Kaentake (fire mushroom) in Japanese. As interesting as it looks, don't even think about eating it. It contains several trichothecene myotoxins that are lethal to humans. In 1999 a man in Niigata Prefecture died after eating one or two grams soaked in sake and in 2000 a man in Gunma Prefecture died after eating the mushroom fried. 

If you eat it, symptoms range from stomach aches and vomiting to peeling skin, hair loss, decreases in white blood cells and platelets, organ failure, and decrease in motor functions, speech, and perceptions due to shrinking of the cerebellum.  This fungus actually shrinks your brain. Even just touching the poison fire coral causes rashes, swelling, and skin irritation. 

So, don't touch it and especially don't eat it! I hope I never see it, but if I do, I won't go near it.

Friday Finish - Button Shoe Bag

 

Crime in Tokyo

I read about this crime story that happened in Tokyo on the Japan Today website. It's hard to believe that there is no bigger crime story in Tokyo to report on, but this is Japan.  

A 51 year old unemployed man was arrested for making nine hundred eleven nuisance calls to a single police station in Tokyo. The man admitted to making the calls during a three month period from both his landline and cell phone. One day he made a total of 72 calls.  Sometimes he called and said he killed another person, other times he said he was using illegal drugs, and still other times he remained silent. The man said he made the calls because he was unhappy with how the police station had responded to an inquiry he made in the past. Maybe he should be calling for mental health services.

Work In Progress Wednesday

I had a couple of little house blocks left over from the House Quilt.  I'm using one to make a little doll quilt, which will be a birthday gift for a little girl I know.

I started another eyelet bead fob.

I worked a little on this miniature chair cushion.  I want to work on it more in better light and with the magnifier.

Finally, I made this braid border that will probably be made into coasters.