Such a Perfect Day

Spring has finally sprung.

As the last of the sakura petals washed away like confetti down the Takahashi River the temperature suddenly rose, things turned green, and flowers bloomed everywhere.

As I rode my trusty chari home, I bathed in the fading light of the sun. It sets early here due to the surrounding mountains. The orange light glinted off the surface of the flooded rice fields. The elementary school children filed past me on the walking bus when I stopped to stroke a cat stretched out among a flower bed.

I turned on to the home straight, between river and rice field, and laughed as my way was blocked by a young mother waiting patiently as her small child dropped his draws and peed into the water where rice will soon be planted.

Japan strikes again!

Sickly Sweet

It's disconcerting to find something like this on the wall when you're heading to the supermarket.It makes me think of the South Park episode Cancelled, and the closeups of animals taken with a wide angle lens...

Travel Advisory

I would like to advise everyone to visit Himeji while they are in Japan.

I got up at 5am and spent over six hours on trains to go, and it was worth it.

The world heritage listed castle (ranked number 1 in Japan!!!) was built in 1580 and has been restored in its original form, so you can see where weapons were hung, where sinks, drains, wells, and toilets were, and where wall partitions were, allowing you to get a feeling for how it was way back when. The grounds are beautiful, especially the garden enclosed by "the long corridor" and "Vanity Tower". There is even a suicide pavilion, catering to all your hara-kiri needs.

What an artistic photo!

After nearly three hours there I caught a bus to Shosha, and went by cable car up the mountain.

I spent three hours getting back to nature in the temple complex called Engyou-ji. I thought I'd found shangri-la up there, it was so serene. Incense hung in the air as I approached through the forest. Time stood still. I could hear a stream, bells jangling and the flap of flags in the breeze. Shortly after, monks started to chant. Unfortunately I didn't have time to sit on the deck of the temple and ponder life.Among the 15 designated Important Cultural Properties up there, there is the famous Honda clan mausoleum, along with a 12th century carving of Buddha, and the only surviving monk dormitory in Japan.

I had just enough time to grab something to eat amongst the miles of shopping arcade before catching the 4pm train back - I got back to Niimi at 8pm.

Home Grown

Niimi's very own Jo-yama is a gorgeous park which even has real grass to sit on (no plastic sheeting here!)
Not only does it have the requisite sakura, but also a momo, or peach grove. Observe.

Hanami Take Two

What did I tell you about the blue tarpaulins???

I think the traditional idea of sitting under the blossoms of a cherry tree in a picturesque setting to contemplate the beauty of nature and wax poetical has been lost on today's Japanese.

Through the haze of "Sand from China" I saw a grey bunny on a leash, a dog with a sunflower on its head, charcoal braziers, red eyes, rubbish receptacles overflowing into the river, and more food on a stick than you could...well....shake a stick at.

Oh, and cherry blossoms.

Eclectic Erudition

This is the English Language section in the Niimi City Library.

It doesn't appear to be alphabetically arranged, either by title or author. For a while I thought it was arranged by publisher as there are a number of Readers Digest condensed versions all together, and a number of Apple Classics (the kind I used to buy using book club orders from Primary School) grouped together. I never considered they were arranged by colour. In the end, I decided they are arranged by size.

It's a bizarre collection, that at first glance appears to resemble a book shelf you might find in a salvation army store or in a holiday batch. But it's not often you see Maeve Binchy, Sidney Sheldon, John Grisham and the likes rubbing shoulders with P G Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, W Somerset Maughm, Dostoyevsky, and Shakespeare. What kind of library would have the book versions of movies such as Fletch, Back to the Future, Jurassic Park and The Secret of my Success on it's shelves?

I've resolved to read everything here, and indeed have already finished about six novels. I'm looking forward to reading the works of Agatha Cristie and Jackie Collins, because I've never had the opportunity (read inclination) before. Also some old favorites like Roddy Doyle and Marilyn French.

It's a little disheartening though, this little corner of the library. Most of the books were printed in the late 60's and early 70's and clearly have not been read. Apart from age spots, they are in perfect condition.

I'm reading a book at the moment called Groupie written by Jenny Fabian and Johnny Byrne, in 1969 (this copy printed in the same year) and based on the psychedelic underground scene of the time in London. It's fantastic! There is prolific use of words such as groovy, scene, the fuzz, tincture, drag, and plate...

Next up with be Still Life with Woodpecker written by Tom Robbins in 1980. I just have to show you what's written on the back of the book...."a sort of love story that takes place inside a pack of Camel cigarettes. It reveals the purpose of the moon, explains the difference between criminals and outlaws, examines the conflict between social activism and romantic individualism, and paints a portrait of contemporary society that includes powerful Arabs, exiled royalty and pregnant cheerleaders. It also deals with the problem of redheads."

Oh oh, spagetti-o.

Hanami

'Tis the season to sit on blue plastic tarps under cherry trees getting munted on specially brewed cloudy spring sake - I'm talking about spring of course, but I think Okayama Prefecture is a little behind the rest of Japan, and all "blooming forecasts" have been wrong so far.

I found a couple of blossoms round and about.

This is the famous sakura, or cherry blossom tree. This one is inside Korakuen (One of the TOP THREE gardens of Japan!!!) Must go there again next weekend when the party is in full swing and the river banks are rocking.This is a cherry blossom found on the banks of the canal in Bikan, the historical district of Kurashiki.

And this is an ume, or plum blossom found in a shrine in Kurashiki.

I actually prefer the plum blossoms I think, and when I asked a Japanese lady why the sakura blossom is more popular than the ume, or momo (peach) blossom, she just looked at me, blinked a few times, and said "because it is".

Stay tuned for more blossom viewing pleasure...