Sushi

Day 8 (-23) Today I had lunch at the Keiten Zushi in Meguro (Sushi Train). The article in the Age yesterday about the closure of the first Nori roll business in Melbourne, makes one see how far our international taste has come. I first ate Japanese food in 1968 at Sukiyaki in Melbourne and one of my favourites is Sushi. It's all stools around the counter with the food rolling by and new plates being put in at intervals by the chef. Mugs for tea roll past under the train, so you grab one, put in some tea and use the hot water tap set int0 the bench.
The coloured plates with prices on them are up on the wall, so you can keep track of the cost.

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It was another lovely day, 29 and cool air, no humidity at all. So I walked down the main road to Meguro and had lunch at the Sushi train then headed back to the local park. It was a day to be outside enjoying nature so I joined the throng in the small park near Teien garden.
It seems to be a gathering spot for local families, just near the school and child care centres.
One woman was resting while her toddler slept. She was dressed to avoid the sun's rays. Another woman I talked to, said she was waiting with her first picked-up child (2pm) and had to wait till 3pm for the other.
It seemed people did not want to head home straight away. There were lots of kids running around with butterfly nets trying to catch crickets and grasshoppers A common children's activity in japan.
One mother was having a confrontation with her child about using the net on her sister and both were sat down to read books for a while. Some boys were racing to the top of the small hill and claiming the territory for Emperor and Country,or maybe just resting from the run.

I also read my book in between watching the activity, then strolled home again.
On the wall of the building at the back of the photos is a series of photos of birds.

Kawaii - Cute

Day 4 (-27)
What could be more cute than a Japanese baby! This Is Fuki, Yoko's 6 month old daughter. She is already crawling, up on all fours and even balancing on one hand and one foot! A lovely time together. This is the best of my photos. A children's photographer has skills I never appreciated before. She never stayed still! This I know about babies but takes on new meaning when trying to catch them on film. Maybe I should have put the camera on Sports mode!
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That was actually all I did today (after the washing in the morning) I wrote to Maddy while waiting for the washing to be done; I could hear it sloshing around in the machine on the balcony. As the machine takes up 35% of the space and the Aircon unit another 15% there is just enough room to open the door so it’s not really an outdoor living space!
I travelled to Hatsudai station on the New Keio Line (Big N, not to be confused with the Keio line) and met Yoko at the Opera City Building, a space I have on my list to explore, then walked to her house through an interesting area. Yoko stayed with me when she was doing some observation with the Infant mental Health Group. I caught up with her again as she was volunteering for the Waimh Congress. She is going back to work next week to continue research she is doing for her Masters on Nutrition and starvation. But as she said depends on how Fuki manages at child care.
As we walked to her house we passed an old building that she said was a public local bath house, a Sento. It was closed as we went to her house, but was open when we walked back. She said she had not been there, as they do not encourage babies still in nappies. Would be far too anxious for the mother I thought! She reminded me that on TV tomorrow night is a program about the Conference. That will be a linguistic challenge!!

Pokemon Pilgrimage

I had been wondering what the kids at the station were doing when I met Campbell & Brigid. I must admit I did not recognise the yellow ears on the hats of hundreds of kids I saw on the trains earlier this month. Turns out it's the annual GREAT POKEMON ADVENTURE JAPAN RAILWAYS STAMP RALLY, or something similar.

Outside 95 stations in the Tokyo vicinity are Pokemon stamping stations. The point is to travel around on the trains and get stamps on your sheet at listed stations. You pick up a form at the local station, collect any 6 stamps on it and then head to a GOAL station, where the real challenge begins, For here you will be presented with a collection book for ALL 95 stamps. Wow!
To make things more difficult the stamps are only available between 9:30AM and 4PM so depending on the distance between selected station you may need several days. Part of the technique is to plan as many stops in a short distance as you can; so you travel around in these times and line up to stamp your book.
The kids at Osaki when I met Campbell were a short queue but I gather there can be up to hundreds lined up, and I am sure the kids, being Japanese, are very meticulous about stamping, getting the right amount of ink, and pressing firmly, then putting their book back in it's cover!
Parents are saints! So this time of year, the trains are swarming with kids in Pikachu visors, riding from station to station for no purpose other than to collect stamps for their booklet, which they`ll then send away for some token toy. They are escorted (often at a slower pace) by their saintly parent (usually mother and maybe Oba-san) who look as if they may collapse from heat exhaustion at any moment. I saw a few mothers stay on the seat and send the kid over to get their stamp where the JR station staff was enthusiastically calling them to come.

Unlike this guy I have never been into Pokemon, or even really know about it, but check out this blog of someone who decided to do it!! Obviously has some Japanese language skill and a good writer!!

http://goliweb.com/blog/labels/pokemon.html

A summary of his efforts
-Japan is too hot in the summer.
-Air conditioning on trains is good.
-Too many Japanese people like pokemon.
-Japanese children can't walk in straight lines but they can run into things very well.
-Japanese people are too perfectionist and take way too long to do a simple stamp.
-I probably shouldn't still like Pokemon. The target audience is clearly 10 years old.
-The Yamanote line is pretty marvelous.
-Japanese adult pokemon fans are dangerous.
-Kumagaya is a long way away.
-Urawa station is a mess.
-Teleporting would be a very useful skill.

Kids at play

I decided to go to the Japan Tourist bureau today to check out when a festival is on (next weekend) as well as collect some information re a mountain area I wanted to visit. After a successful time there I headed along the subway walk back to the Mita line, and decided to check out what was just above (avoiding a long walk in the heat; always my route strategy!) One of the exits was to Tokyo International Forum, the fabulous building by Tange Kenzo.

When I arrived there I was delighted to see it filled with kids.

As part of a promotion for Tokyo bid for the Games in 2012 and the current Games, they had a whole range of activity for the kids. Lots of promotion from companies but the main theme seemed to be kids being active. They were patiently queued for whatever had taken their fancy.
The space is huge so it didn't feel crowded and on the upper level were benches where mothers were resting and feeding the clan.
There was an exhibition of the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 and a display of 3 medals (not sure whose) but the closest I have ever got to a gold Olympic medal!
In one corner kids were busy with traditional activity: kanji writing, theatrical makeup, Kimono dressing and Noh drums, and in another the latest robot toys. Like kids the world over they seemed to want to try everything!