Geisha Performance=video we made

This demonstration of Geisha music and dance is rarely seen in public. On a Sunday afternoon, this group of Geisha (these are genuine, not "dress-up" copies ) performed near Mt. Takao, a scenic Tokyo attraction. Geisha numbers have drastically declined,and our hiking group was thrilled to catch this show--so was the audience and the television media. Video is only 30 seconds long, but does have sound.

Miscellaneous

Some people ask me what I do all day while Al is at work. Everyday is different from the last. I enjoy my spa-like gym for yoga and a variety of classes, weekly--lots of water luxuries, too. A good chance to mingle and I promise you, I wore new white socks around the class and machine areas, and the socks were just as clean when I finished as when I put them on, because no one wears their gym workout shoes outdoors.
Then weekly, also, is the Tuesday lunch group, and Friday night is the restaurant-review night. Mondays is Japanese brush-style calligraphy. Last Thursday, I went to a French cooking class. I've agreed to teach English to a friend of my yoga sensei. I admire sensei so much, and now and for a little over a year, she is in a battle with cancer. I visited her recently to drop off a toy for her granddaughter, whom she would visit in Osaka for the weekend.
We sat for awhile over a cup of tea. I asked her about the small round bandaid at the base of each thumb. Not bandaid , she said but a leaf morsel instead--round and less than a centimeter across. Why, I asked; because of acupuncture there, I wondered out loud. Not that, but instead a treatment she does herself. She uses the dried form of a plant, yomogi, which forms a tiny puffy morsel (cotton-like); when dried it's called mogusa; she used a piece about the size of the end of a Q-tip. She laid this dried morsel on top of the leaf patch on her skin. She used a butane lighter (here, lighters are like miniature blow-torches) to light a stick of incense. With the point of the glowing incense, she set the small cottony morsel on fire. It didn't flare up, but burned down quickly and went out. She flicked the ash into a nearby ashtray, and said it didn't hurt. I'm privileged she would tell me about this procedure. It is called moxibustion, and a similar explanation can be found in Wikipedia. Not to advocate this method, just intriguing to witness it, thus daily life includes the unexpected, as well.

Flying of the koi

Fish "flags" fly on flagpoles in household yards to honor family members (especially sons) in the month of April. [Little girls enjoyed the doll festival (honoring the imperial family) in March;-equalizer.] Click on photo to enlarge.

5 Acres of phlox (Ota-shi)

It was a cloudy day but the walkways were open. My friend Michiko phoned and asked if I would like to join her and her husband (he is a dentist who is off on Wednesday) and their son (who now works at his father's dentist office) to go for a walk to see some flowers. It was easy to drop the housework and say yes even though I didn't realize what a treat it would be. The four of us walked the dog to the venue and to my surprise, there were acres and acres of rolling hillsides planted full of phlox. The paths were paved and there were bamboo motifs found along the way..bamboo wind chimes, a bamboo fence on top of the hill catching the wind like a flute. The fields are planted in series so this event lasts through May 11th-so it's actually more like 10 acres of phlox. Click on the photo to enlarge it.-Mary

Sakura season

Spring has finally appeared in the Kanto region after a long, cold winter. The sakura bloomed last weekend and the blossoms are just about ready to drop now. This is the local shrine in Dainogo cho just around the corner from us.

Have Been Away

No recent news since we have both been in the US to visit with our family and to meet Hadley. From now we will be updating more often.