Fushunin Temple

In Shizuoka City

Luggage on the Train

 

Johoku Park

Monday, I was in Shizuoka City, walking on a street I hadn’t walked down before. I saw a park to my right and decided to take a look around. It was such a pretty place.

I might visit this place again.

Work In Progress Wednesday

Hawaiian quilt table cover progress

New Start - Bristol Bag Etui from Willing Hands 2, Betsy Morgan 

I started basting the shapes on the linen.

Japanese Pattern 45

Stitch Group Sunday

We met on Sunday and worked on our Hawaiian projects. I haven’t worked on mine much, while everyone else made a lot of progress. I plan to work on mine more before we meet again. I’m not very happy with my appliqué technique, but I will try harder.

I didn’t take many pictures because I was so caught up with trying to understand what was being talked about. One topic was thimbles and how to use them. I don’t use a thimble when quilting, so I was no help. We viewed a YouTube video, but I don’t know if it helped anyone. That led to pronouncing thimble.“TH” is a difficult sound for many Japanese speakers. (I often hear Sank you, for Thank you.) I tried to give other examples of words with TH, and a new word for everyone was Thumb, which turned out to be funny.

This stitcher(above) has finished her appliqué and is preparing to sandwich hers to make it into a wall hanging.

The other three stitchers are making cushions. The stitcher on the left is making a two color, two sided cushion.  I will try to remember to take a picture next time.

Tea time was delicious, with souvenirs from various Golden Week travels. If you are wondering if we ate all of this in one sitting, we didn’t. We all had some for later or for breakfast.

I’m already looking forward to our next get together.

Monday Morning Star Count

This is Year 5 of the temperature quilts. I added pink side panels, and it now measures about 62”x58”, which is smaller than the other temperature quilts. I’ll think about it a few days, but I’m leaning toward leaving it this size.

The Fabric Store Near the Train Station

Yesterday, before lunch, I went out for a walk. I like to go to the train stations and walk up and down the stairs a couple of times. Although I’ve been to this station hundreds of times, I never noticed there was a fabric store near it. 

The store is fairly large, on the first floor of a taller building. It’s primarily a fabric store, but it also sells DMC floss and other embroidery supplies. After looking around the store, I stopped at the rolls of quilt batting. The only store clerk came over to see if I needed help, and he spoke English! 

I hadn’t planned on buying batting, but the man helped me figure out how much I needed, then measured and cut it generously. I am very pleased I found the store and now have the batting to quilt the year 5 quilt. I’m sure I will be visiting this store again!

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Mt. Fuji Climbers Must Wear Proper Clothing

 

There are four climbing routes up the 3,776 meter Mt. Fuji. Three routes are in Shizuoka Prefecture, and one, Yoshida Trail, in Yamanashi Prefecture. Beginning this year, climbers wanting to climb Mt. Fuji via the Yoshida Trail must agree to terms, including wearing  warm clothing and proper footwear. Access to the trail will be denied for noncompliance. This new rule and others come due to an increase in foreign visitors and overcrowding. Local governments are trying to address issues ahead of the summer climbing season, which begins in early July and ends September 10th.

I’m sad that there are more and more rules, but it seems they are needed. On April 22nd, a climber called police and was airlifted from the peak of Mt. Fuji after he lost some of his climbing equipment while climbing the Fujinomiya Trail in Shizuoka Prefecture and fell sick with nausea. (Note: the mountain was closed to climbers at that time, being open from July 10th to September 10th.) Five days later, he had to be rescued from the mountain AGAIN when he returned to find his cell phone and succumbed to altitude sickness again. The man, who has not been publicly identified, is a 27 year old university student and Chinese national who lives in Tokyo, according to police. It is unknown whether he was able to find his phone.

Friday Finish - Autumn Ornament

Lizzie Kate autumn ornament

Here is the December ornament in this Lizzie Kate series, that I stitched a few years ago.

Emperor Emeritus to Undergo Heart Tests

The Imperial Household Agency Reported the Emperor Emeritus has been admitted to the University of Tokyo Hospital for a heart examination. A regular checkup in April revealed a possible myocardial ischemia, a condition in which blood flow from the coronary arteries to the heart muscle is insufficient. The 91 year old Emperor Emeritus has had no symptoms. 

I will watch for additional information on his condition.

Work In Progress Wednesday

Lizzie Kate Ornament - the stitching is finished, now it needs to be made into an ornament.  I changed “November” to “autumn”. The squirrel charm came with the pattern.

Scarf progress - filling in some of the open spaces

Japanese Pattern 44

Don’t Run

 

Monday Morning Star Count

After finishing Year Four of the Temperature Quilts last week, I pulled out the unfinished top of number five. The weeks are finished, but there are no borders. Maybe I will add one thin border to the sides and finish it as a lap quilt, or maybe I will make it the size of the other four temperature quilts. I’ll pull out some fabrics and see what I can do for backing and binding. I want to work with what I have and not buy more fabric.

I am also cutting small bits of fabric and making them into hexagons for some future project.

Another Crazy Crime Story

Internet image - NOT ACTUAL FINGER

Osaka Police have arrested a 23 year old unemployed woman with three counts of assault after she allegedly cut off her 21 year old boyfriend’s ring finger with a hatchet and one nipple with scissors. Yikes! 

The victim told police that Saki Sato attacked him because she suspected him of cheating, and cut off his ring finger so he can’t marry another woman! Sato has denied the charges and said the man cut off his own finger. The police found the finger in a bottle of liquid in the refrigerator. The man’s bankbook and phone were found locked in Sato’s safe.

The two met on social media two years ago and have been living together since last July. The police have been called four times due to relationship troubles since then. 

This is really crazy. If she doesn’t go to jail, he needs to move out!

New Department At University Of Tokyo To Open in 2027

Beginning in September 2027, University of Tokyo will open its first new undergraduate department in about 70 years. In order to empower students to take on global challenges, all classes will be taught in English. The new department, named “UTokyo College of Design”, will be a five year combined bachelor’s and master’s degree program. 

Half of the 100 student capacity will be for international enrollees, which means only 50 seats for Japanese students. The Japanese school year normally begins in April, but this program will begin in the fall to follow the school year in the US and Europe. All first year students  will live in a university dormitory in order to foster cross-cultural exchange by daily interaction.

The university’s president, Teruo Fujii, is quoted as saying “We will create a new place of learning where students can realize their respective visions by fully utilizing the potential of the University of Tokyo.

Friday Finish - Small Things

 A Flock of Felt Bird Pins

Felt Heart Pin

Drawstring bag

Four Pandas in Japan Moving to China

Currently there are six giant pandas in Japan - two in Ueno Zoo in Tokyo and four in Adventure World in Wakayama Prefecture. The four in Wakayama, 24 year old Rauhin and her children: Yuihin, 8, Saihin, 6, and Fuhin, 4, will leave their current home in Wakayama in June for their new home at the Chengdu Research Base in Sichuan Province, China.

After these four move to China, there will be only two Giant Pandas left in Japan, the twins Xiao (male) and Lei Lei (female) at Ueno Zoo.  See them while you can.