Hokusai Katsushika Museum

After the Edo Tokyo Museum, I went to the Hokusai Katsushika Art Museum. It is just down the road. I walked there and actually missed it. I went too far and had to return. There is a park in front of the museum. The building is silver. I got my discount ticket and went in. I put my jacket and bag in a locker. Pictures are not allowed so I left my camera there, too. I only took my glasses. And I was impressed immediately. Mr Hokusai lived to be 90 years old. His most famous works are the "Thirty-six views of Mt Fuji". These works made him world renown. (That means famous all over the world.) I have seen them a long time ago. I have since forgotten about them. But now, I am in this museum with many of his works. Why is the museum here? Because he lived most of his life in this area, near the Sumida river. Again, I learned some of the history of Tokyo as well as about the life of Mr. H. But his work! His paintings and drawings were amazing! Fantastic! Unbelievable! I was especially amazed by the detail of his works. So many lines; so many curls; so many waves. The faces and bodies of animals and people were incredible. There were many of his notebooks on display. I thought think: How did he find so much time to create all these pictures and paintings? I suppose he loved what he was doing so very much. I also realized how much time I waste in my own life. 

Edo Tokyo Museum

I went to Tokyo February 17th. I wanted to explore the RyouGoku district. I had an ambitious plan. I wanted to visit two museums several parks, a spa and have a Chanko Nabe lunch. My first stop was the Edo Tokyo Museum right next to the Ryou Koku Gi Kan. I wnet in. After buying my senior discount ticket (Yeah) I went up to the second floor. And, lo and behold, There were guides. Thye spoke English and guided for free. Mayumi-san was my guide. She spoke very good English. She took me around the museum telling me the stories and history of Edo/Tokyo. She also gave me great tips on where and when to stand for special events. That was cool. The museum is huge. Visitors were there but not too many. The tour took 90 minutes and I must say that my legs were getting weak. I was happy when it was over and I did learn a lot. The displays are interesting and beautiful. There are bridges and buildings and high tech displays. My guide was fantastic. They also have guided tours for free in Japanese, if you are interested. 

The Noyaki Event by Sadako

 

On February 2^nd, I burnt the dead grass in my rice fields with farmers in my neighborhood. We call this event “Noyaki”. There are 15 ha of rice fields and the area of rice fields are about 6a.

    My fields have been cultivated by my ancestors through the ages. Twenty years ago, both my grandfather and grandmother passed away. After their death, my family had to cultivate the fields. But my father and my husband were car engineers, so the fields were cultivated by my kind neighbors for a long time.

  By the way, Noyaki is a big and dangerous event for us, because the dead grass  

is burnt with huge flames. 

So we have to inform the fire station before the event and prepare water.

Also Japanese agriculture is looked after by the elderly. My neighboring farmers are old, too.

  On that day, 21 members joined the event including my husband and me. The

average age of the members is about 75 years old. So my husband and I decided to join in past several years. (We are the youngest members in the event. My husband is 65 years old and while I’m not.) What will become of Japanese agriculture in the future?

  The event started at 7 am and finished 1 pm. During the event we talked about daily news, the memories of childhood and the future. It was a relaxing time. I could forget my busy schedule.

During the lunch time, we ate rice balls together on the bank of Motoarakawa river.

We bought rice balls at the convenience store near the riverside. While eating, sometimes I thought that these rice balls contradict the purpose of Noyaki.

We had pain in our lower backs for 3 days after Noyaki. But from the spring the rice plants will start to grow. In fall, after the harvest, I’ll make rice balls by myself. Surely it will be delicious.                            

  

  

Puzzler Answers

And now, it's back to Monday. I had a good weekend. How about you? Puzzler: Answers: CLICK HERE.

以下はスーパースクラブルパズルです。よく見ると、4つの空白のタイルが見つかります。 空白のタイルとは、何も書かれていないタイルのことです。それら空白のタイルは、ある単語の一部です。空白のタイルに、どの文字があてはまるかを考えてください。おわかりですか？答えは、ページを下にスクロールして下さい。GOOD LUCK。

Below is a Super Scrabble Puzzle. If you search carefully you will find four blank tiles on it. BLANK means that nothing is written on it. But, they are part of the word. Try to determine what letter the BLANK tiles are. After you have your guess you can scroll down the page to find the answers. As always, GOOD LUCK.

DEFACE            OATHES             COUNTRY/SWUNG             ORNARY

Puzzler Hints

Of course I will go to Tokyo today. But...where? Puzzler Hints: CLICK HERE.

February Home Project
今月のHPは、Color です。会話や文章、トピックにcolor （色）の単語を使ってみましょう。例えば、

 My son, who has red hair, is a singer. OR Some black crows flew in the blue sky.

OR these expressions: 

green with envy,      as black as coal,       once in a blue moon 

I was  blue. (=sad)       He is yellow. (=He is a coward.)

この場合、どちらの意味も彼は臆病です。という意味です。

Try your best and watch for COLORs in my BLOGs.

Lots of flowers and buds in our school plant. I'm looking forward to a prosperous year.

Puzzler

Welp, this is the last Saturday of the month. I didn't drink at all. Maybe I can continue though next weekend. Hmmmmm. Puzzler: CLICK HERE.

February HP Colorful

今月のHPは、Color です。会話や文章、トピックにcolor （色）の単語を使ってみましょう。例えば、

 My son, who has red hair, is a singer. OR Some black crows flew in the blue sky.

OR these expressions: 

green with envy,      as black as coal,       once in a blue moon 

I was  blue. (=sad)       He is yellow. (=He is a coward.)

この場合、どちらの意味も彼は臆病です。という意味です。

Try your best and watch for COLORs in my BLOGs.

Teein Museum from the garden

Lunch at Angelas

I went to the gym last Thursday at 9AM. Then Miwako and I went out to lunch. There is a nice restaurant in Kitamoto City called Angelo's. Do you know it? It is on NakaSenDou very near where the KenOuDou passes underneath. I teach at a Kindergarten very near there every week. The building is white with a brown coned roof. I always see many cars there and sometimes people lined up to get in. So, we went there just at noon. We didn't have to wait. There were many people there enjoying lunch. On our way to our seats I saw a case full of desserts. WOW! They all looked so delicious! When we were ready to order lunch, we were told that the special was Ikura pasta. It looked good, so M ordered it. I got a carbornara pasta lunch. Both included salad (very good) and dessert. I had a choice, so I went to look at that glass case. Then we ate. Everything was delicious. It was a bit expensive, but definitely worth it. BTW I don't drink coffee so I ordered a Maccha Lotte. And I got a tart with chocolate ice cream. YUMMY!