Japanory

From Sashimi to Jimmy Choo

Tuesday 23^rd September – Friday 3^rd October 2008

My fabulous friend, Naz, arrives for a holiday. We met many moons ago when we both worked at the BBC, hit it off straightaway as we both have the same work ethic and outlook on life, and have thankfully stayed friends ever since. She is bubbly, confident, attractive and completely bonkers with a heart of gold! It's brilliant to finally have a visitor I love coming to stay.

We do the usual trips: Mount Takao, Hakone for the black eggs, Yoyogi park and Shinjuku Gyoen where we fed the turtles and giant koi in the lakes.

I also introduced Naz to the coffee morning girls and Yoko joins us for a walk around Omotesando.

Yoko reserved us a seat at a rather special sushi restaurant, a 'proper' one – not a tourist one. You can tell it's a good restaurant because they don't have the disposable cheap pale wood chopsticks that you have to snap apart before using. The chopsticks were smart, made from mid-coloured smooth wood and when we had finished our meal, they were cleaned and handed to us as a gift.

It never fails to amaze me how much food Naz can put away yet still remain willowy slim. Yoko and Naz order a set dish of sushi with rice, but I can't eat 12 pieces of sushi as well as a huge bowl of rice so I chose a small set menu of sashimi with rice. We sit at the counter in front of the display cabinet. Right in from of me is an enormous sea snail thing, still alive, on its 'back' – not sliding around the cabinet. I'm not squeamish, but certainly didn't want to eat it! The fish was the most delicious, melt-in-the-mouth sashimi I have ever had – before or since. (The restaurant is no longer there, sadly.)

There was an intriguing slab of a very dark meat that I thought may be horse. So Yoko (being the only Japanese speaker) asked what it was. The chef looked rather anxious for a moment before replying, "Whale".

Oh!

From the chef's expression I presumed he was expecting uproar from the two gaijins in his restaurant. Now, I do not condone the killing of whales, but I am certainly not about to kick up a fuss about another culture's cuisine – there are far more animal-killing problems in the world. The sickening dolphin slaughter here for one, the killing and torturing of numerous endangered species for so-called medical purposes, and many, many more. Check out Whales, Whaling, Dolphin Hunts and Japan for more information on the industry here.

Anyway, I ordered a few slices of whale. I didn't kill the animal, it was already done. And I wanted to try it because I'm like that – a bit of bravado. I've eaten all kinds of weird things – guinea pig in Peru, llama in Bolivia, bug stew in Venezuela, and besides, many people think eating raw fish is disgusting… And yes, I would have eaten it if it was horse, too.

It wasn't nice, to be honest. Partly knowing I was eating whale and partly because the texture was rather heavy I found it quite unpleasant. It was very rich and afterwards I felt a little queasy.

But a new experience as often as possible is my motto.

After our interesting lunch we wandered down Omotesando looking in the shops. While I'm a handbag and jewellery addict, Naz is a shoe addict. And Jimmy Choo's shop was right there. It's quite daunting to enter designer shops in the UK - not sure why, but it is. Over here, it's absolutely fine. So Yoko and I forced Naz inside. I drooled over shoes I could never possess - they're too small and narrow for a start, and I can't wear heels.

But we 'forced' Naz to buy a pair! Well, we persuaded her to hand over her credit card after she found the most delicious pair of super-sexy shoes with vertiginous heels, in her size and actually cheaper than she would find in the UK.

What a souvenir!

Seoul Survivor

Friday 29^th August 2008

Tim's only in work for the morning so I took Rhiannon swimming, then headed back into the tunnel nearest the hotel to buy her a souvenir costume doll. I wasn't going to venture far today after yesterday's panic. Then we came up for air and went to Starbucks where we were to meet Tim at lunchtime.

Rhiannon's tooth fell out. Oh the drama! It wasn't quite ready but she bit down on it while eating a bun and there was blood everywhere. Flimsy paper napkins were pulled out en masse to plug the hole and stem the bleeding. Once that was over she was pleased as punch.

Tim took us to another shopping area. Namdaemun market. It was full of crappy stuff really and I wasn't interested.

So then we went to another place which boasted numerous jewellery shops – much nicer for me, but sadly we're not there to purchase jewellery. I need a new suitcase and the other side of the street is lined with bag shops. We choose a big red, semi-hard sided case and then have to wheel it around for a while until we can get a cab back to the hotel.

In the evening we went out with a load of people. I've been feeling a bit queasy ever since the rocky flight over, made worse by a possibly out of date prawn at dinner last night. I managed to survive the evening by drinking a little too much alcohol. But back at the hotel I spent the night with my head down the toilet. Tim gleefully explained to Rhiannon that this was the effect of me drinking too much but it wasn't. Honestly!

Back home tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to the flight. But I am looking forward to school starting next week. Two months is a very long time for a school holiday.

But boy, have we managed to have some fabulous times this year!

Lost Seoul

28^th August 2008

Rhiannon and I are on our own in a confusing new city. If I was travelling solo, I would be so nervous about it, but with the distraction of having a child in tow I fear getting completely lost. So we don't venture very far at all as it's a complicated city to navigate. I have maps and suggestions on where to go.

Tim told us about the "tunnel shops" that radiate under the streets and are close to the hotel. So we head there first. All the shops were closed but the windows were full of interesting little knick-knacks and jade. Also, many ginseng shops displaying intriguing concoctions of the root – and often the whole roots too. It seems that Asian countries open their stores late and then remain open late into the evening. There's little point heading out to shop before 11am.

These tunnels opened out into a shopping mall which contained lots of closed shops – we had set out too early in the day, so to stop Rhiannon Shopaholic whinging we went for a drink in a little café to kill some time before exploring further.

Later we found a massive department store called Lotte DFS (Duty Free Shopping). Most of it is a normal store, but the DFS bit has, of course, cheaper prices. Having shopped in a DFS before in Hawaii I thought it would just be a case of showing my passport and tootling off with my goodies. Not here though. I bought a Swatch for Rhiannon and a bag and wallet from Chanel but to my immense disappointment was told I had to collect my items from the airport when we left the country! So we went a little crazy in the rest of the non-duty free part of the shop so we could at least go back to the hotel with some presents to ourselves.

(I duly collected everything from the airport but didn't get chance to look at the things until we got home. Most unimpressed. Rhiannon's watch didn't work, and I'm damn sure my wallet was not the one I had chosen but couldn't prove it. My bag had a slightly dodgy twisted chain too. We sent Rhiannon's watch back and got a replacement some months later, but I was unable to get satisfaction from Chanel – I didn't want to send such an expensive bag by mail so learned to live with it. A warning to others buying from Lotte DFS in Seoul – caveat emptor – you have no way of knowing what they've given you until you are well away from the country.)

Time to return to the hotel to meet Tim. So it's back into the tunnels again, but I went in the wrong entrance and got lost. Rhiannon panics like hell over this kind of thing so I had to pretend I knew where I was going. After many random turns I finally found a tunnel I recognised from the shops we'd seen in the morning. Everything looked different as they were all now open with displays on the path outside.

To my great relief we found the hotel again.

Seoul Searching

Wednesday 27^th August– Saturday 30^th August 2008

And now we're off to Seoul!

Tim has to go to South Korea on business every few months, and this time his trip has coincided with the summer holidays so we've decided to all go together.

Luckily the flight goes from Haneda airport which is much closer to home than Narita, so it's not a mega trip to the airport. The flight was awful! I've never been on a plane flying through so much turbulence as that (the return flight was the same too). It was not fun but rather scary. Tim said it's usually like that!

We arrived at the hotel just as an enormous crowd of people began gathering in the massive square outside our window. Unsure what this was all about, prudence kept us inside while Tim went to work. A closer look at the crowd revealed them all to be monks, robed in all colours.

I found out later that 200,000 Buddhist monks gathered in protest. "The monks denounce episodes of discrimination and violation of religious freedom on the part of state officials and leaders. They are calling for an official apology from the Korean president and equal treatment, denouncing "inhospitable" attitudes toward them."

 

As Tim was only expected to be in work for a couple of hours, I took Rhiannon swimming in the hotel pool until his return. Then we went out for dinner with some friends and later we went to a huge computer complex so I could buy a new laptop. It's easier and cheaper to buy electronics here as they are more English compatible. Japan keeps their electronics purely Japanese. And very expensive. To get something that will work overseas or at least with an English operating system, you have to go to Akihabara and pay double.

I searched for ages in this hangar-sized store. For once I didn't know quite what I wanted and kept getting distracted by fascinating new gadgets unavailable elsewhere.

South Korean currency is amusing – UK£1 is the equivalent to about 1800 won, so we have huge piles of notes to lug around with us. I can't recall how much the laptop cost, but I do remember the pile of money I had to pay for it with was nearly a foot high! The shop owners have automatic counting machines to speed the payment process.

And now I have a dinky shiny new HP laptop which is far more portable and warp-speeds faster than my brick of a 10 year old Dell. And now I don't have to borrow Tim's laptop any more.

Home to Tokyo

Tuesday 12^th August 2008

I now call Tokyo "home", not the UK. Whereas Tim still refers to going to the UK as "going home". Not sure whether this has any bearing on anything, just something I've noticed.

So now it's time for Rhiannon and I to get ourselves back home where Tim will meet us at the airport.

Ignoring the horror that is Heathrow airport, I made a quick trip to the Chanel store and bought a pair of shoes. There's no way I can find my size in Japan; my feet aren't huge at size 41-42 but over here that's a man's size – so I was thrilled to find a pair in Heathrow that fitted me. I paid and off we went. Unfortunately, I discovered later that I'd used the joint account card instead of my own so had a bit of a moment when Tim found out the price. Oops! He was actually very cool about it, thankfully!

The flight was pretty uneventful and, thanks to the Nintendo I got some peace and even managed to sleep for a few hours. However, I did panic a little when I woke up to find Rhiannon had disappeared. It turned out she was at the bar (I love Virgin Atlantic. Bars on planes, perfect!) chatting to the crew and random people as if she was princess of the air.

Landing at the slick, empty and hassle-free Narita airport we shot through in about 30 minutes; from plane to outside to meet Tim. In all the excitement of meeting up with Jane and Eve, we'd neglected to tell him about Rhiannon's radical haircut and he didn't recognise her, much to her delight!

Tim wasn't the only one to get a surprise. I got two.

Firstly, it seems that Tim has promised Rhiannon she can have a hamster. I don't like hamsters – I'll explain why later.

Secondly, something far more pleasing; Tim has booked us a couple of trips. Next week we will be visiting a place in the Japanese mountains called Hakuba and the week after that Rhiannon and I will join Tim on his regular business trip to Seoul, South Korea. How exciting!

But now it's time to recover from jetlag.

And see if I can stop the sneaky hamster promise from taking place.

All Change!

Saturday 2^nd August 2008

The time has come for Tim to leave us. Rather than drive all the way back to Mum's and endure the drive back down to Devon again – which wiped me out last year – he has decided to take the train to visit his best friends in Milton Keynes then travel to Heathrow via Mum's. He has to get back to Hampshire to collect the luggage we left there and will also take the bulk of our shopping with him.

So I get to keep the car, which is essential in Devon. It also means I will have to deal with handing it back to the hire firm. But I'll cross that bridge later.

Anticipating a major meltdown from Rhiannon I have a Cunning Plan (yes, another one – I'm still not entirely convinced the Very Special Sneaky Surprise will happen for reasons that will become clear tomorrow…!)

For a while now, Rhiannon has been saying for quite some time she wants her hair cut. At first I was sceptical as she's always wanted "Princess Hair", but she kept going on about it so she obviously meant it. Her hair is extremely fine and wispy and will never be the long, golden curls she dreams of. Also, I think a shorter cut will suit her immensely. I heartily agree with her decision, but have been pretending I don't want her to have it cut, as I think this will be the perfect distraction to Daddy's leaving. Clever huh?!

We drop Tim off at Exeter St David's station in the morning and just as Rhiannon's tantrums and tears start, I said "So, shall we go and get your hair cut then?"

Instant success! Off to Toni and Guys we go and Rhiannon ended up with an absolutely gorgeous chin-length bob. She looked stunning and so grown up.

But I completely forgot to take a picture of her on the day it was done I was so busy trying to keep her mind off Daddy not being there. This one is after about a month of growth.

We did a bit of shopping. I caved and bought her a Nintendo DS - purely with an ulterior motive; the thought of having a super-hyper child on the 12 hour flight back to Tokyo is daunting to say the least. So I hope this gadget will alleviate her constant chatter. Then went out for a girly dinner and home to watch a movie.

BIG surprise for her tomorrow – I hope.

Serious Shopping

April 2008

I've just been reminded of what I did this month – by looking at old bank statements… oops!

I didn't actually own a handbag until I was in my mid-twenties and working in the City of London. I just hated them. But necessity demanded I have one to carry all the crap a city job required. Since then, I've always just had one bag on the go at any one time and used it until it fell to pieces.

Since I've been here though, I've noticed a change in me. It may be the expat company I keep, or the proliferation of fabulous shops in the vicinity, or the countless stunning bags carried by the lovely Japanese ladies. I feel the need to upgrade my image a little. I can't carry on with the aging rocker/hippy look much longer and need to smarten up. I can't do this with clothes, but I can with accessories…

Unfortunately, I can never find the Perfect Bag for all my needs; easy to carry over my shoulder, quick to get in and out of, right size and shape, secure from thieves, enough pockets/space for everything… I'm fussy.

I start by buying a fairly standard-for-me black, leather messenger bag from a local, high class department store. The assistant tells me, I think, that it's made from lizard skin and only has one tassel as opposed to the many I tended to go for (see above re heavy rock-roots).

Still not quite smart enough though. 

So I try Prada where I bought a purse and a card holder, but really didn't fancy any of the bags as they were made from nylon. Now what?

Gucci. Again, I'm back to the tassels but the bag was very heavy and damn awkward to get into. So I sold that on later.

However, one of my Tuesday Coffee Girls is into handbags in a big way.

Her choice is Louis Vuitton. And her husband is adorable. When she goes into her local shop the sales assistants take note of what she's been admiring. When she leaves they call her husband to tell him… and he buys one for her! This is something beyond my wildest dreams. So I have to buy my own goodies.

Now, Louis Vuitton doesn't do it for me. But one day we were passing Chanel on Omotesando and I spotted THE most gorgeous bag in the window. The girls forced me into the shop. I tried the bag on and was totally smitten.

It was SO "me" – but the "me" I was trying to get away from. It was a long knitted, fringed messenger bag covered in little brooches and other decorations. We tentatively asked the price. It cost more than we'd just spent on my car!!!

Rather than run away screaming, we casually browsed through the shop and I discovered my downfall. The Perfect Bag at long last.

After pondering a few days, I went back on my own and got my first Chanel bag – a large black lambskin classic flap with silver hardware. It's everything I want in a bag. The leather is buttery soft; the signature leather interwoven chain is to die for and the burgundy interior spot-on perfect.

It is the start of an intense addiction.

Shopping, Cocktail Parties and Credit Card Fraud

Wednesday 12^th March 2008

Why does everything happen when Tim is away? He's off on business again.

I have to go to a cocktail party at the Embassy tonight on my own. Merle, my helper, is to babysit Rhiannon, but I have no intention of being late so she shouldn't be too troubled by Rhiannon playing up.

I fancied a shopping day so went to "my" antique store and bought a lovely granite frog for my garden. As you do!

Real frogs always return to spawn in the pond from which they hatched. So the frog is a symbol to ensure your family always come home to you. I couldn't resist this! 

I'd also paid a visit to Tiffanys and treated myself to some silver trinkets. Can't resist those turquoise boxes either.

A very nice day by my standards!

In the evening I spent a couple of hours self-consciously standing around at the cocktail party before making my escape and got home in time to put Rhiannon to bed, albeit a bit later than she'd normally go.

Did some work on the PC to get a head start on the dreadlines before the Easter Holidays begin.

Then the phone rang. At 1am. Luckily I was still up. I panicked when it rang - it being so late here. Amazing how many dreadful thoughts can run through your mind in a few seconds.

It was my bank.

"Did you make these payments to xxx and xxx for £360 and £750?"

"NO!!!"

Some bastards have taken my credit card details off the internet for the 2nd time in a year. But well done to my fabulous bank for noticing the fraud so quickly. Luckily my bank is run by human beings who are on the ball and they know where I am (apart from thinking about the time difference) and recognise my spending habits… hmm!
 
So, all is well. But for now, I now have no credit card as I had to cut it up, but that's OK considering the past couple of days spending spree!

Kappabashi Shopping Trip

9^th March 2008

Yeah, another one!

I just love this area and the prices are so reasonable compared to the heart of Tokyo. Peggy and I tend to go together as we have almost identical tastes.

We both went for the same bowl (the one Raymi is sleeping in here) but there was only one left in the shop. I deferred to her as she was the one who found it first – just! But she asked the shopkeeper if he had another one in stock.

"Oh yes. of course".

But 'in stock' meant he had to send a runner to his store room several streets away. We waited nearly half an hour – I was going to have to buy it now, wasn't I?

When he returned the two bowls were different blues – one was darker than the other. Secretly I hoped that Peggy would want the darker one so I could have the one she'd found in the shop. She did! So we were both very happy.

We also found a lacquer store where we'd heard the owner didn't like serving gaijin. But we were determined to visit. The reason being we had seen some very cute bento boxes and wanted to get our daughters one each. These aren't small enough for packed-lunch-bento-boxes, but more suited to general meals.

Obviously the person who told us about the grumpy shopkeeper was an awkward gaijin customer (plenty of those around…) as we had absolutely no problems with her at all and came away with one of these gorgeous creations.

As you can see it separates into compartments – rice or soup in the bottom and other foods in the upper layers.

Rhiannon loved it.

A Busy Friday for a Mum

Friday 1^st February

Today was a busy one!

It started off with getting Rhiannon to her stupid o'clock gymnastics class. We will never, ever do morning classes again. It's hard enough to get Rhiannon out of the house on a normal day, but to get her to school for 7.40 in the morning is horrendous. Actually, she loves the class, it's me that loathes mornings.

After this, her class group is holding one of their assemblies, so I go to have a much-needed coffee before it starts. All the children did extremely well, showing no signs of nervousness at all when they have to stand up in front of the entire school and the mums and dads. Unfortunately, my camera isn't good at taking photos in the big hall. Once the assembly is over, and all the other attendees has left, the parents of the class involved get to take photos of their kids and have a little cuddle. Rhiannon is a bit weepy, for some reason, but trots off like a good girl when it's time to say goodbye.

Then we had a Class Mum Coffee Morning – so over to another Starbucks for a get-to-know-you chat and more latte for me.

While I'm in that area – Shibuya – I went for a wander around Tokyu Hands after coffee. Well, I had to get rid of the caffeine buzz somehow! And Tokyu Hands is the best place for that. Such a fascinating, yet confusing store.

I got home just after lunch time and had settled down to work when I had a call from school to say that Rhiannon was unwell and with the nurse. So another drive back to school – if I'd gone to another shop, I'd have saved myself a double trip. I even remembered to send a text message to her violin teacher to let him know she wouldn't be coming to her lesson after school.

Rhiannon's running a bit of a temperature and is very quiet, which would explain the weepiness after assembly, but she didn't say she felt ill then. I tucked her up on the sofa, dosed with the ever-useful Calpol (imported from the UK – medicines are pretty much impossible to get here) and she had an early night.

She was much better the next day. Of course.

One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish...

While we were buying new goldfish...Tim decided that he really wanted to keep tropical fish!

So we ended up coming home with yet another fish tank, complete with heater and everything. This is now getting out of hand. Luckily my upbringing means I am not fazed by this at all - Dad kept fish so I know what to do with them.

A few guppies, a pair of Honey Gouramis, a couple of Corydoras and, of course, the compulsory Neon Tetras.

I think that was it at this particular time. There were more to come... especially as the guppies had babies within a day or two of getting them in the tank!

 

Japanese Symbols and a Brilliantly Timed Flashback

November 2007

I went to a little antique shop in Azabu Juban for a look-see.

They had a lot of very reasonably priced articles as well as some completely incredible and very old antiques – some dating as far back as the very early Edo era 1615-1868, possibly even the Azuchi-Momoyama period 1568-1615. With prices that had too many 0's to count. These were museum quality and therefore behind glass.

The cheaper items were obviously meant for daily use and many had a little damage or could be considered "seconds" with kiln marks or mis-painted patterns.

A couple of elderly ladies were in the shop and were happy to show me around, but spoke no English. I was in a phase of trying to identify certain extremely stylised symbols incorporated into the porcelain. We got on well with items such as "sakura" – cherry blossom, "ume" – plum blossom, "tsuru" – crane and "koi"… well, I think you know that one!

With some hysterical sign language they explained a pattern based on octopus tentacles, "tako-karakusa". (Further research tells me this is actually now considered to be a plant called the Octopus Vine). And taught me a load of Japanese names for other common symbols too.

We had a great time, and they wanted to learn the English for these words, so we went around the shop with me doing the teaching – as far as I could recognise the pictures. "This is a crane, this one is a plover, here's bamboo and pine. Oh, this is a cloud." When we came to koi, they were surprised and delighted that we use that word in English too. They diligently made notes and we had a wonderful time.

Then we came a bit unstuck. The symbol on a pretty plate was quite clearly a chrysanthemum. As Japan's national flower this appears regularly and is very recognisable.

"Aha", said I, "This is a chrysanthemum"… producing very blank looks and a lot of discussion between them. They obviously had never heard the word before in their lives. I recalled Mum mentioning a confusion when discussing the national flower with some Japanese people at an art exhibition. Again, the word was unrecognisable to them.

Suddenly from the depths of my mind came a vision of a bilious yellow perfume set from the 1970's (my parents owned a pharmacy where I spent a lot of time as a child). It had the same symbol on it. What was it called?? I wracked my distant memory and somehow it popped back.

Oh yes… "Kiku!" I exclaimed rather triumphantly.

"Ahhhh, Kiku!" they said, somewhat relieved. Then one of them trotted behind the counter, returning with an electronic translating machine commonly used here (see my previous post about how many kanji they have to learn!)

They typed in "kiku" and jumped back in horror at the word in English. Valiantly they tried to pronounce it, but all those consonants together proved too much for them.

 

You see, the Japanese language, whether written or spoken, has a vowel between each consonant. My last name is pronounced "Harretto Mobb-us".

You can understand why chrysanthemum was a little too much for them with five consonants in a row!

Picking Pearls at the Polynesian Cultural Centre

After dinner, we had to do some shopping of course!

Something that really caught my eye was a stall near the exit where you could choose an oyster for a few dollars, have it opened with due ceremony, and keep the pearl guaranteed to be inside. This turned out to be horribly addictive! I can highly recommend it – but do exercise restraint – having the pearls set can turn out to be rather expensive… It's called Maui Divers Pick a Pearl.

As the blurb from the website says – "the excitement starts when you select an oyster from an assortment presented to you. Anticipation builds during the ritual Aloha blessing of the chosen oyster. Then, the magical moment: a luminescent jewel emerges when the oyster is opened before you." Even though I knew it to be a given that there would be a pearl inside, Rhiannon was completely entranced.

The sales people were extremely skilled too – when you get your first pearl, you're offered a draw ticket, which amazingly enough entitles you to another FREE oyster. YIPPEEEE!! Only this next oyster contains TWO pearls ('coincidentally' in matching colours to the first pearl) and obviously intended for earrings.

And so it continued… we ended up having to set 11 pearls. No, I don't know when to stop! All my pearls were black and Rhiannon's were peachy pink.

As Rhiannon doesn't have her ears pierced, I pocketed the twin peach pearls with the intention of having them set in a necklace for her as a surprise. I knew that the shopping mall in town had a stall which did this so managed to set them before the holiday finished. When I presented the necklace to her at Christmas she was so thrilled she actually cried! Awww!

Apart from Work, Work, Work…

October 2007

Although I am incredibly busy with work, I do manage to make time to attend a couple of classes. Not language training, sadly – this requires too many hours for me to commit to.

Of course I continue with my Ikebana. I've got the bit between my teeth now and am really enjoying myself. Finally, I can make flowers look pretty in the vase!

Also, I went to a Cloisonné enamelling class which was rather fun and left me with a very amateur pendant and a small, rather attractive but ultimately useless pill box; and a yearning to get my own kiln!

Another "class" I went on was a field trip to an antique Imari porcelain shop. Well, I say "shop" but after meeting the group at Shibuya station (a miracle in itself!) several changes of Metro followed by a bus journey and a long walk, we ended up climbing a couple of flights of stairs in an anonymous tower block to a room containing a fine selection of small items.

The other members of the small group were all American and snapped up some interesting (to them) cups. They were made for the export market and if you held the cup to the light, the gently carved face of a geisha shone through the translucent china. They were marked "Made in Occupied Japan". Ouch!

The others pretty much swept the shelves clear, grabbing everything they could – especially the most expensive stuff. But for relatively little outlay, I managed to snag a nice little cup with paintings of Susuki - Japanese pampas grass - which is a favourite theme of mine, a nice rice bowl with circular emblems and a dinky little plate with unusual markings.

I am pleased with my little collection and even more so when the owner of the shop told the leader that out of all the buys, mine were the best and classiest choices.

Me smug? Yeah, a little bit!

Shopping – Antiques and Japanese Screens

2^nd October – 3^rd October 2007

After our regular Tuesday coffee morning we all take a trip in Peggy's large car to a shop she's found called Yamamoto Antiques. This is not just a shop; this is an emporium of wondrous items from true antique tansus to modern replicas via second hand relatively modern chairs, clocks, coffee tables and beautiful porcelain hibachi. Items are piled on top of each other from floor to ceiling and sometimes it's hard to actually find a way through this large store. I can highly recommend a visit! One of the stranger items I discovered in this maze-like shop was an old British telephone – one of the dial ones just like we used to have in the "olden days".

On this occasion I didn't purchase anything but I went back on another occasion with Tim and we bought a small modern tansu which ended up being commandeered for Rhiannon's extensive art materials.

Then on Wednesday, Peggy and I make a trip to a very special shop on Omotesando, Fuji Tori. I was on a mission. For many years I have wanted to own a screen. And Fuji Tori sells screens – amongst many other beautiful Japanese items. I love this shop. One of the reasons we made our regular coffee mornings on a Tuesday was that Fuji Tori is not open on Tuesdays therefore saving me a weekly spending spree!

As I have visited this shop many times, the owner, Naohiro Kurihara, treats me as a valued customer and seems to admire my appreciation of Japanese art. He flatters me, telling me I have "black eyes" meaning I see the art as a Japanese person, not a gaijin. It's a fantastic ploy to encourage sales! He writes a column in one of the English language papers here and showed me some of them, including a picture of how Omotesando used to look – no shops!

Here is an excerpt from an article written about him:

Mr. Naohiro Kurihara is the proprietor of Fuji-Torii, a Japanese artworks and antiques shop located next to Kiddy Land, Omotesando. The shop was established in 1949, some 60 years ago. He has long watched the changes taking place in Omotesando. We interviewed him.

Before World War II, my father had a store in Ginza. After the war, he moved and started his business here. Harajuku was originally a "temple town" in front of the shrine. But the town burned to the ground during the war.

The area of Yoyogi Park, the south side of Meiji Shrine, was once a parade ground for the Japanese Imperial Army. After the war, the place was requisitioned by the occupation GHQ, and they built the Washington Heights housing area for the Occupation forces. Each residence was for a high-ranking officer and it had a broad lawn and a nice house, and this brought many customers to our store, so we often visited the place by delivery truck. I was only a child at that time.

Kiddy Land, next to us, was a foreign bookstore, but the store also started to carry quite sophisticated toys as foreign customers had often asked them if they dealt with toys, which they wanted to buy for their children. The place where the GAP store is now located used to be Central Apartments. There were many restaurants such as Italian, steak house, Chinese, Philippine. These restaurants also catered to Americans living in Washington Heights.

In 1964, when the Tokyo Olympics were held, the Washington Heights site was returned to Japan. Later, the media started reporting about small apparel makers in the area. Gradually, Harajuku began to draw attention as the city's latest fashion center. Beams, one of the well-known apparel makers, was there at that time. Takeshita-dori Street used to have many shops carrying reasonably-priced clothes for import and export. Years ago shops owned by TV "talents" were popular. Harajuku is a popular tourist spot for school trips from all over Japan. In the 1990s, after the so-called "bubble economy" burst, the number of shops managed by foreign-affiliated companies began to increase. "Ura-Hara" ? the small alleys that comprise "backstreet Harajuku" ? attracts fashion-conscious young people these days. Harajuku has been continually and dramatically changing for the past 60 years. Maybe, only our shop still exists among those shops which were open 60 years ago.

In the winter of 1971, I remember we enjoyed skiing the next day after a big snowfall. I guess people hearing this today would think it was unbelievable.

Omotesando in the early 1970's

Omotesando today

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my head, I have an idea of the type of screen I want – something gold with possibly bamboo on it. I love bamboo. I don't want people or scenery.

Peggy and I take a seat, accept the offer of green tea and watch while screens are displayed in front of us. Screens of all sizes and colours soon surround us but still nothing shouts "take ME home". Incredible paintings of branches of plum or cherry blossom stretch across the panels; the bamboo doesn't seem quite right somehow and gaudy flower carts don't appeal to me at all. The gold seems too… gold, too over-the-top, too bright. We are there for a good couple of hours looking, discussing and dismissing. The screens are all hand-painted by professional artists so each one is different.

Then, ever patient, the assistant brought out one I had specifically said I didn't want – scenery. Instantly I fell in love. The gold is a soft colour – not as garish as some of the others. The painting is exquisite, subtle yet strong and compelling. I feel I can look at it for hours. This information is copied from a similar screen on the Fuji Tori website:

"A four-panel folding screen made of multi-layered Washi paper pasted onto a wooden frame.  The background is finished with square gold leaves put on to the Washi, over which beautiful silk is stretched. Tranquillity is expressed in this waterside landscape depicting a pagoda and pine trees, painted in Sumi-ink and light coloured paint.Borders of silk brocade and a black lacquered frame tone up the entire work.  The artist's signature is on the bottom right." The artist is a woman called Sazanami Suzuki.

Entirely happy, I bought it. It was packed in a wooden box with special hangers if I want to hang it on the wall, and then gift-wrapped as is normal here in Japan.

I have enjoyed gazing at the beautifully peaceful scene every day since. The perfect choice!

Imari Porcelain and Kyodai… aka SHOPPING!

Tuesday 25^th September 2007

After our regular "girls coffee morning" - enormous Latte, breakfast and a gossip at Starbucks, Peggy and I take a trip to a wonderful little antique shop I've discovered. Okura Oriental Art is a tiny little room situated just off a main road near Roppongi. I can't emphasise just how tiny the shop is (the pictures on the website are of a mysterious display building somewhere or taken with a very wide-angle lens). You have to be very careful just moving around in there in case you knock something ancient and beautiful off of a cabinet.

Antique tansus (chest of drawers and cupboards) are display cabinets for porcelain and storage for miscellany. These stunning tansu are also for sale. I wish I could get one, but sadly the terms of our stay here mean we are not allowed to ship any furniture. All our furniture in the house is rented and we gave away most of our furniture in the UK.

But there are many, small items I covet.

My soft spot is, and always has been, blue and white ceramics, pottery, porcelain - call it what you will - but here is the home of the best blue and white in the world. Imari.

The owner speaks English to a certain degree, and I have been doing my research, so we get along very well.

I am entranced by the numerous symbols of Japan. Stylised and zen-like brushstrokes take the painting of these icons to a subtle, yet strong level.

We spent a happy hour or so exploring this fascinating shop and I made my first foray into what would come a bit of an obsession. I bought the soba choku pictured above. This is a small cup that's filled with sauce to dip soba noodles in. It's about 6cm high. To my amazement I'm told that this delicate piece of porcelain is over 200 years old! In a land regularly shaken by so many earthquakes, how can something like this survive so long?

Periods of Japan are named depending upon the Emperor or Emperors ruling at the time. Most antiques here are from the following dates:

1603 - 1867 is the Edo era, generally sorted into 'early', 'mid' or 'late', without a particular date to these names. Tokyo used to be called Edo. For much of this period, Japan was completely closed to the rest of the world, allowing the arts and crafts to evolve in their own special and particular way. In 1854 the Japanese government was forced to open some port in order to trade with the world.
1868 - 1912 - the Meiji era.
1912 - 1926 - the Taisho era.
1926 - 1989 - the Showa era.
And, for reference, from 1989 to now, the Heisei era. But of course, no antiques from this one - yet!

So I guess my little cup is from the late Edo period - around 1807. Wow!

I also like boxes. Not sure why, but as the saying goes - what do you give someone who has everything? A box to put it all in! By no stretch of the imagination do I have "everything", but perhaps I am saving these boxes for when I do? I'm working on it!

Numerous little boxes exist in this shop. Suzuribako - inkstone boxes for storing calligraphy equipment, inbako - stamp boxes. I don't know what sort of stamps, but they have little compartments inside. Haribako are sewing boxes with an upright fixture. The small box at the top housed a pincushion and is thought to have acted as an extra 'hand' when sewing kimono.

It's hard to decide what to treat myself too. But then I spied the cutest little box with a hidden secret. 

When closed, it looks like a plain box, but lift up the front and there's a mirror! It's called a kyodai and is a dressing table box. At just 22cm high, this is the perfect size.

 

 

"Kore kudasai" ("I'll take this, please" - one of the first phrases I learned…!)

More than pleased with my visit and purchases, I head home happy and educated. Retail therapy is the best! It is, unfortunately, more expensive than a regular therapist, but it works for me! And you don't need to do it regularly. Allegedly.

This shop becomes "my" personal heaven over the next few years, so look out for more shopping posts to come!

Another one of those quick round ups…

First three of weeks of September 2007.

After surviving the Typhoon, it was time to get on with the minutiae of everyday life.

I registered for some classes again at the TUCWS, managed to get Rhiannon to her gymnastics classes at stupid o'clock each Friday and had lovely coffee mornings on Tuesdays with my friends. Rhiannon's still really enjoying Aikido and has signed up for more extra classes on Saturday mornings. 

Tuesday has been marked as my "day off". My helper comes on Tuesdays and I find it hard to work while someone's around. It's also a day when one of my favourite shops is closed, so I won't be tempted to end our coffee morning with a shopping spree! This shop is full of stunning Japanese arts and crafts. Some are antiques which are way out my price range, but the modern articles are gorgeous. I've already bought a number of tea cups, sake sets and other bits and pieces and am eyeing up a real Japanese screen. One day…

Tim and I have an evening out - to a school-organised "meet the parents and teachers" do. It was memorable for the dreadful food and the fact that we swore never to attend another one.

Rhiannon's class are holding an assembly which we are expected to attend, and do so willingly, of course...!

Coming so soon after starting back at school, the children  must have worked very hard to learn their parts. Parents sit on miniature chairs at one end of the hall; the teachers sit around the sides and all the other classes troop in and sit on the floor. As you can see, Rhiannon was pretty nervous, although in my opinion she did extremely well. How scary is it to stand up in front of loads of people and say your piece? Many adults couldn't handle this, but Rhiannon's voice was clear, unwavering and easily heard.

A couple of playdates, a couple of birthday parties for Rhiannon to attend and that's about it for the day to day life in September.

Some more interesting things coming up in later posts though!

Summer Holidays 2007

School finished at midday on Friday 29^th June and Rhiannon isn't due back until Tuesday 28^th August. Good grief! That's far too long!

A couple of playdates have been arranged for the first couple of weeks. I have a class booked (although I have no recollection of what subject this was) and then we are flying back to the UK for a month, leaving on 11^th July 2007. Well, Rhiannon and I will stay a month or so, Tim has to return before us for work.

We'll stay with my Mum in Hampshire for some of the time, with the rest of our holiday spent in Devon. We'll arrive in time for her birthday and have a small family get together planned.

I have a very long shopping list. I need to buy clothes and shoes, neither of which I can possibly find over here - I have enough difficulty finding things to fit in the UK. I stocked up on "fancy" clothes before we left but have put on weight so they don't fit. Also, I haven't been to that many glam do's so I need more everyday clothes. Rhiannon also needs new clothes - she does keep doing this growing thing! Children's clothes here are outrageously expensive. And there seems to be nothing apart from designer togs.

We also plan to stock up on good old British tea, which is impossible to find here (for a reasonable quantity and price). We need loads as we drink loads.

Other things we are dreaming about are: real bread, cereals, a bacon sarnie, fish and chips and decent apples. Well, the latter is just me - the apples here are revolting - tasteless fluff. I want a Cox's Orange Pippin and a Bramley Apple Pie. (Forgetting that neither is in season during the summer, but Mum has several apple trees, one of which is an ancient Bramley and she's promised me she has frozen some for me).

 

Oh, and I am planning on bringing back a suitcase full of Green & Black's chocolate!

It's a 12 hour flight: arrive 2 hours before, 1 hour to get to the airport, gawd knows how long to get through the imbecilic Heathrow terminal 3 immigration system ( 2 desks for UK Nationals, 18 for "Foreigners") and an hour to get to Mum's.

It turned out to be 19 hours door to door, so that's 3 hours just to get OUT of Heathrow airport. Ridiculous.

Jetlag wasn't too bad. We arrived at Mum's in time for tea (!) and managed to stay awake until 9pm. But I did wake at 5am. This went on for a couple of days then I was fine.

Round-up of a Week or Thereabouts

Saturday 16^th June to Monday 25^th June 2007

Certain people (Nickie at http://typecast2000.blogspot.com/ for one!) have impressed upon me the need to get this darn TravelBlog up to date as soon as possible… I'm doing my best! But I do have several projects on the go all the time)

 

Anyway, I thought I'd just do a quick round-up for this week to clear some general bits and pieces and get a couple of rants out the way.

Saturdays: Rhiannon does her extra Aikido lessons while Tim and I enjoy our Starbucks coffee and a proper grown up chat about life, the universe and everything. Then we do something else in the afternoon - either together or Tim may take Rhiannon off on her own to allow me to work.

On the second Saturday Rhiannon went to a birthday party with a lovely girl whom we met on the bus to school. It was held at a kindergarten some distance away and lots of craft activities were arranged for them. She had a wonderful time while Tim and I wandered around a nearby shopping mall. Tim's pretty good at shopping, unlike many men. I don't ever force him to come shopping with me, but once in a while it's nice to be accompanied. I think it helps him that I don't shop for clothes or shoes - especially not here! It's hard enough for me to find things that fit in the UK (I'm 6' tall) so there is absolutely no point in browsing here. However, Tim copes OK with interior design shops and kitchen departments, so we enjoy that together.

Father's Day: I'm sure we did something nice for this, but I have no recollection of precisely what! Give me some credit - remember, I am writing these posts 3 years on and I can barely remember what I did last week!

Monday: My Ikebana classes have finished for the summer so instead, I treat myself to a pampering session at Boudoir. It's lovely there and it's not sometime I indulge in as often as I should. For the second Monday I get myself to the hairdressers - Sinden - Time for an extremely long - 4 hours - appointment to get my colours redone. This involves copious applications of bleach over my fringe and this time around the back too. Once that's finally taken (my fine hair is remarkably resistant to bleaching) I am then slathered with cerise pink dye. The rest of my hair is dyed black. No, there is no photo, sorry! Later, as I pass some extremely cool Japanese teens, I overheard them say "Excellent hair!" and am ridiculously pleased.

Work: At this point I am doing a heap of work for the independent publishers in the UK. As well as writing the Tokyo Tales articles each month, I do a load of web mastering stuff for them - editing, proof reading, formatting and uploading the various formats onto the server. This takes AGES due to the clunky software. All the uploads arrive within a day or two of having to be on site, so I often work deep into the early hours to ensure they are online by the dreadline. (No, that's not a typo - I prefer dreadline to deadline; it speaks volumes.)

I'm also now writing a monthly travel article for them, so that's another project to add to my monthly work. I've always wanted to be a travel writer, so thought this would be a fabulous opportunity. Unfortunately, it ended up being the least exciting of the articles I wrote. For a start, it's really hard to encompass the essence of a place into 500 words. I've travelled a LOT, so use my experiences in these articles, so for once, there's not a lot of research that needs to be done. However, I am not allowed to have a by-line, which is pretty unfair in my opinion. Apart from getting no recognition for my freelance writing, it doesn't really allow me to add these to my portfolio. Also, it gives the impression the site owner writes them herself…

Playdate: I am firmly of the belief that children should have as many playdates as often as possible. It helps them build friendships and enforces certain socialisation rules that only children often lack. However, when my daughter arrived home from this particular playdate in tears, one has to rethink who they should have playdates with. This one was with a woman I've mentioned before in this blog but I shan't reference back. I've learned from others that she is unstable and should be avoided at all costs. Now I make Tim go and collect Rhiannon from her house as I have had enough of her.

Apparently she turned on Rhiannon saying she was bossy, selfish and spoiled. To say I am outraged is an understatement. I am astounded that any mother would say something as cruel as this to a five year old. Rhiannon will not be going there again. However, I resisted the urge to stoop to her level at the time (and Rhiannon isn't beyond elaborating stories), but wish to note that while her two girls were here they stole items from Rhiannon's room and deliberately broke a number of her precious ornaments… I could rant for quite a while on this person, but I refuse to waste brainspace on her any longer. Besides, she will continue to crop up from time to time in future posts, unfortunately.

And finally: On Sunday 24^th June Tim has to fly away on business. Again. This time it's to Singapore for a conference that will take him away from us for the whole of next week. Once again, we have insisted on compensatory presents and he's promised to buy me a new PDA as my old Ipaq has given up the ghost. I do love new gadgets…

So that's that week covered. More singular posts to come in due course…!

Rainy Season in Japan

Sunday 3^rd June 2007

Japan has several extra seasons than the four we are used to. As well as Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, there is also the rainy season and the typhoon season. I think you can also count Hanami (Cherry Blossom time) as a 'season' as well as many other festivals too.

The rainy season has an actual, set start and end date! 8^th June to 20^th July.

Tsuyu is the Japanese name for the rainy season. It doesn't exactly rain every single day, but compared to the rest of the year, it is noticeable. The weather forecasting here is incredibly accurate - which is amazing compared to our hit or miss system in the UK. This is the site we use to work out what to wear each day and whether an umbrella is required and what time it is likely to rain http://www.jma.go.jp/en/yoho/319.html ! Impressive!!

If, by some chance, you forget your umbrella on the day it rains, almost every shop sells cheap transparent plastic ones. Outside every shop or office there is either an umbrella rack for you to leave it before entering the store - it will not be stolen! Or a dispenser that you pop your brollie into where it will be automatically inserted into a plastic bag to save it dripping all over the floor.

It's little things like this that make Japan the special and wonderful place it is.

Of course, the start and end dates of the rainy season are predictions by the Japan Meteorological Agency and Mother Nature doesn't necessarily conform to these. But it's a good way for the shops to predict when to stock umbrellas and wellies.

I took a little trip to explore Ginza. This is an area with three large department stores and every designer store you can name. There aren't any shopping malls in Tokyo, but the few department stores there are provide everything one could possibly need. Other shops are mostly independents and this is one particular aspect of Japan that I truly adore. I loathe the cloned High Streets in the UK and the fact that every town centre is made up of identical shops; chain stores that have shoved the independents away forever.

One store's display of umbrellas was particularly breathtaking. The ground floor ("First Floor" in Japan) reaches right up through all the other five or six floors and the brollies cascaded all the way down from the ceiling. Unfortunately my camera didn't do a great job of showing this.

I spotted an umbrella made in the shape of a red paper parasol - but a proper rainproof one. I must try and get one of these before I leave Japan.

Sogetsu Ikebana

Monday 14^th May 2007

Today is a ME day. Well, I deserve it after last week…

Unfortunately it is also half term. For some ridiculous reason, this half term is only two days long, when the children are exhausted and could really do with a week off.

Tim's taken the day off work so Rhiannon will be spoiled rotten and will have a lovely day with Dad - at Disneyland again... while I spoil me.

It's my first Ikebana lesson today and I'm very nervous. It's held at the Tokyo Union Church Women's Society in Omotesando and starts at 10am. Tim needs the car so I catch the bus and hop off at Harajuku to walk down the road to Omotesando.

The church room the class is held in is obviously a children's classroom too, and the walls are decorated with painted stained glass windows and quotes from the bible. I felt very out of place. Until a wonderfully outgoing, warm and friendly Texan lady called Maria walked in and made me feel very welcome. Over the next couple of years, she became a very good friend and always brightened up the lessons with her repartee. The other members of the class were very genteel Japanese ladies so Maria and I often reduced ourselves to giggles with muffled swearing when branches fell out of the vase and so on.

Our Sensei appeared. Yoka Hosono is a Master Instructor of the Sogetsu Headquarters and a very famous lady in the Ikebana world. She travels the globe giving talks and demonstrations, even though she isn't very young. She will not reveal her age; she looks about fifty but is actually rather older than that - apparently.

I am told to buy a text book and a pair of snippers. For today, she lends me hers, but has come prepared with a new text book.

Although she teaches me and Maria in heavily accented English, there are times when she lapses into Japanese, especially when there is no readily available English alternative. It's terribly confusing.

She hands me a newspaper wrap of branches and three flowers and points to page one of the book. Page one is at the back of the book - because this is japan and everything is back to front.

There's another American woman student who demands Sensei's attention for every cut of a plant. Which means Sensei leaves me to make my first attempt with minimal assistance! EEEK!! I have NO idea what I'm doing at all. Maria points me in the direction of the vase cupboard, kenzan (needlepoint holders) and water and gives me a few hints and tips.

After an hour or so, I have a pretty passable copy of the picture in the book although I feel there are far too many flowers stuffed in there for Ikebana. I'd always pictured this discipline as minimalist.

(Apologies for the photo - I haven't got to grips with fading out the background. But this was my first Ikebana arrangement so it needed a prosperity picture)

 
Sensei is delighted with it! Apparently I have "a gift and an eye". I am absolutely amazed and rather pleased with myself. She also said it "looks like an English country garden". Oh. Not quite my intention, but she meant it as a compliment. So if she's happy, then so am I.

She's also rather taken with my looks as I'm not a "normal Sogestu student". At this point, my hair was pink, by the way, so I can see her point! Another source of fun for her is to compare her diminutive stature to my six foot frame…

Class over, it's time to reluctantly dismantle my arrangement and plod back up the road to catch the bus. But on the way, I visit a nearby Ikebana shop for a suiban - flat basin for flower arrangements, snippers and a kenzan, so I can attempt to redo the flowers at home. It's a gorgeous shop so I also bought a few more vases and a special bag to carry my flowers in.

On the return bus journey an elderly gentleman struck up a conversation with me and explained that Sogetsu means Sun, Moon and Earth. He congratulated me on starting this course and urged me to continue. I certainly intend to!

My "Me" afternoon continued with a rather fabulous facial treatment at Boudoir where I was treated by the beautiful Australian boss.

A lovely day :-D

Golden Week 2007

May 2007

Golden Week is a week of public holidays in Japan. This is a very busy time and one does not want to travel anywhere unless absolutely necessary. Unless you are a hard-working Japanese person who has no other holidays to look forward to. The public holidays making up Golden Week are; Showa Day on the 29th of April, Constitution Day on the 3rd May, Greenery Day on 4th May and Children's Day on the 5th. Or something like that - as far as I can tell, public holidays here are pretty flexible and can take in extra days to make this week easier to manage.

The British School in Tokyo don't recognise it as a holiday, so it's school run as usual - apart from the lack of traffic. And the British Embassy only closes for a couple of days, so Tim has a bit of work before some time off.

I'm getting into a nice little routine now. Each Tuesday, after the kids have been dropped off at school, Peggy, Yoko, Deborah and I meet for coffee and chat at Starbucks near Omotesando. It's a lovely custom and I really enjoy the opportunity to chat to adults and learn about the different cultures and interest of Peggy (Indonesian) and Yoko (Japanese). Deb is a Brit, like me. Our kids have regular playdates too. We've chosen Tuesdays for our regular meet because one of my favourite shops is closed on that day, therefore saving me a lot of money!

Sometimes we wander around Omotesando after coffee. This is a particularly upmarket shopping street in Tokyo with all the designer shops lined up one after the other: Chanel, Gucci, Celine, Chopard, Louis Vuitton, Missoni, et al. As well as Kiddyland - a cornucopia of mayhem. It's a children's toy store and is always heaving with teens looking for the latest kawaii trend. The other main attraction here is Oriental Bazaar - a Mecca for all tourists to Japan. Once you've been here a while, you realise it's pretty much all overpriced tat but for now, it's a fascinating place full of typical Japanese gifts. I've bought a couple of antique obi from there which hang on my walls and it's an ideal place to find English books about Japanese culture.

The shop I love best is FujiTori which is the one that's closed on Tuesdays… I've spent quite a few hours in there chatting to the charming owner who seems impressed with my choices and recently acquired knowledge (through avid reading) on all kinds of Japanese arts and crafts. He compliments me on my "black eyes", meaning I see beauty in the Japanese way and understand the culture. No wonder I spend so much in there!

Cycling in Tokyo

End of April 2007

Once 'T' left for her trip to Australia we finally had some time to ourselves.

Rhiannon has been riding her bicycle up and down the cul-de-sac with stabilisers for some time now. It's very safe in this immediate area with little or no traffic, so - unlike in the UK - I'm happy for her to play outside on her own. She wants a new bike, which she does need as this one is getting too small for her now. But the prerequisite for this new bike is that she must learn to ride without stabilisers.

Good friends, and experts in this small but vital piece of education, recommended that the only and best way to do this is to remove the pedals as well as the stabilisers. Their son has been riding without stabilisers since he was about two, so they do know about it! Well, he never actually had a bike with stabilisers anyway, just two wheels and the handlebars.

Of course, Tim thought his method was better and just removed the training wheels. Over a period of 2 or 3 days, a panicky Rhiannon wobbled a lot, fell off and cried amid Tim railing against her. I had to put a quick stop to this before her nerve left her altogether and so I insisted the pedals should come off too.

Brave child got back on, with plasters on her scraped knees, wobbled a lot but this time she was able to put her feet down on the ground to prevent further crashes. It's all to do with balance, obviously.

Within half an hour she was ready for the pedals to go back on and we proudly cheered as she confidently rode her bike for the first time, without stabilisers!

I should add at this point that I cannot ride a bike. But Rhiannon has said I can have her old stabilisers if I want to get one! I do fancy a bike, just because I am acquisitive and I've seen some lovely ones around. I'm sure it can't be that hard to learn… even at my age.

Apparently there are over 86 million bicycles in Japan. I should think most of them are in Tokyo. It's most definitely the favoured form of transport.

There are so many different kinds from standard city bikes to peculiar 'lie-down and pedal' contraptions with a roof. We laugh to see a fully grown man in his business suit pedalling furiously on a kids' sized Raleigh Chopper style bike.

By far the most common sight is the mama-charis, literally "mother's bike". These very basic shopping bikes have a basket on the front and a child's seat on the back. Sometimes there will be a child's seat on the front as well! Actually, most bikes have a large metal basket on the front, even the toughest -looking mountain bike. Sometimes the basket contains a small dog, enjoying the ride with ears blown back in the wind. Occasionally the dog is a little bigger...

Mama-charis bomb along the pavements with the mother pedalling, sometimes with a baby strapped across her chest in a sling and a toddler sitting or sleeping on the back seat. There are special holders for umbrellas too. But when it's raining it's not uncommon for the cyclist to be holding the brolly over their head and cycling one-handed. It's terrifying. And nobody wears helmets either.

Other bikes that intrigue me are the electric powered ones. For ages I wondered how these women managed to cycle up hills with two kids and bags of shopping until someone pointed out to me that the pack near the pedals gave a little extra power to their efforts. There are also plenty of adult sized tricycles, some with two wheels on the rear, others with double wheels at the front.

But almost all cyclists ride on the pavements! And they don't cycle slowly, either.

With a small child in tow, it's frankly terrifying to see the speed they reach and they barely slow down to weave between the pedestrians. Although they don't' annoy me as much as mountain bikers in the UK, tearing up the countryside and feeling they are entitled to make up rules up as they go along, it's still tempting to carry a sturdy stick to shove in the wheel spokes.

Some politely ring their bell just before they are about to hit you. Which is nice. Unless you are deaf…

Apparently there ARE cycling rules, but they are rarely enforced. Unless you are a gaijin, when (allegedly) the police often take the opportunity to stop and fine you. Bikes have to be registered and display a little yellow sticker on the frame.

Official rules are (as far as I can tell):

• Ride on the road - unless you prefer to ride on the pavement
• If you ride on the pavement, do so slowly and with care
• Pedestrians have right of way on the pavement.
• Cyclists bear full responsibility for accidents with pedestrians
• All traffic signs and traffic lights apply to cyclists as well a motor vehicles
• Keep left
• Don't ride on the wrong side of the road - riding the wrong way is prohibited
• Drunk riding is illegal
• Lights are mandatory for night riding
• Park in designated areas. If you fail to do so your bike will be taken away by the Bike Police and you will incur a fine in order to retrieve it.
• Carrying passengers over the age of six is prohibited.
• Don't ride carrying an open umbrella or talking on your mobile phone

It's also very common to see "no bicycle parking areas" full of parked bikes.

So, if you want to be a true cycling Tokyoite, ignore all the above rules.

It seems the law turns a blind eye to all these rules until someone other than yourself gets hurt.

Perhaps I will stick to my trusty car instead.

Fairy Letters

While I'm composing the next post (and digging around in my diary for notes!) please take a moment to visit my website http://www.dearfairies.com where you can order unique and personalised letters from the Fairies. An ideal gift for any believer of Fairies! These letters are highly personalised to suit the recipient and come with free postage and a free gift.

Please spread the word! Thank you!!

Business Plug...

While I'm composing the next post (and digging around in my diary for notes!) please take a moment to visit my website http://www.dearfairies.com where you can order unique and personalised letters from the Fairies. An ideal gift for any believer of Fairies! These letters are highly personalised to suit the recipient and come with free postage and a free gift.

Please spread the word! Thank you!!

Aikido and Ceramics… NOT at the same time!

Monday 16^th April 2007

Rhiannon goes back to school today (yay!) and is due to have her very first Aikido lesson after school.

There are loads of extra-curricular activities at the British School in Tokyo and Rhiannon is eager to try as many as possible. I'm very happy for her to give everything a go if she wants because I never had the chance to try anything due to where I grew up (deepest, darkest Devon in England) where there were no opportunities at all. And besides, I have a lot more work coming in and could really use the child-free extra hour or so at the end of a school day… Rhiannon is a rather demanding child and is, quite frankly, exhausting. (Understatement!)

Although there are lots of activities, sadly none are available for five year old reception year kids. Apart from Aikido. So I signed her up last term and today will be her first lesson. The Dojo is at school so I have no need to ferry her around and just have to pick her up at 4.30pm.

Once the school run is completed, Mum and I catch the metro to Kappabashi. I love Kappabashi where there are numerous kitchenware shops and, my favourite, ceramic shops. Although I've been there a few times already, this is Mum's first visit.

I should have realised. If I like something it will be the complete opposite to Mum's taste and vice versa.The pottery here is, to me, beautiful, edgy, rustic at times, decorated in a quirky manner and fairly modern. I swiftly realised Mum was not impressed at all. So I abandoned my plan of visiting all the "plate" shops and looked at some of the others in the area.

We discovered a shop selling many styles of glass bottles and jars ready for personalisation. Shops selling signs and others selling uniforms. There were also lots of personal shrine shops which were rather incredible if a little mystifying. I didn't feel too comfortable taking photos of those.

 

There was also a tiny shop selling all kinds of coffee making equipment. Not just pots and filters, but some Heath Robinson-esque contraptions too. Fascinating!

We were both intrigued by the many shops selling fake food. Outside most restaurants here are plastic replicas of the meals served inside. This is obviously where they buy their models. We wondered if the plastic foods are made to order depending on the restaurant's request or if the chef cooks to match the model.

 

Kappabashi's charms were soon over for Mum so we walked over to Asakusa so she could look around there. She loved this area when she visited at Christmas and wanted to nose around a stationery shop at the top end of the temple and to look around the many alleyways selling fabrics and kimonos.

I stayed a while until I got bored, and then left her there, confident that she was finally at home enough in Tokyo to be able to find her own way back to our house.

With just enough time for a cup of tea and a quick check of emails and so on, I relished the snatched moment of total peace before heading off to collect Rhiannon from Aikido.

As with any new activity, I was anxious as to find out whether she enjoyed it or not. She's very much a girly girl but incredibly active which needed an outlet. Hopefully, Aikido will prove to be this outlet. The Sensei assured me the mix of girls and boys was pretty even.

Nervously, I waited in the school's lobby for her to come up the stairs from the gym. Other children dressed in their white kit were coming up but Rhiannon was last as usual. Then I heard her…

Did I mention she is loud as well as over-active? There is no off-switch on her. And no volume control.

Anyway, she obviously saw me before I noticed her and she yelled up the stairs,
"Muuu-uuum!!!! I had SUCH a wonderful time! Aikido is brilliant! I got to throw a grown-up man right across the room and he hit the wall with a big SPLAT!!!!"

Aikido was obviously a huge success. I am very happy.

But then she decided to practise her newly learned moves on me... OUCH!

 

 Be afraid!

Weddings Galore!

Sunday 15^th April 2007

Today is our very first wedding anniversary. A whole year!

A wonderful day with a rather upsetting end. Read on…

We've booked to go for a nice meal at the New Otani Hotel. Rather posh and it gives us a chance to get dressed up a little. We will have teppanyaki at the Sekishin-tei restaurant set in the beautiful grounds of this lovely hotel.

Before we head over there, we take a trip to the Meiji Jingu (shrine) over in Yoyogi Park. This is a wonderful and large Shinto shrine dedicated to the former Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken. To get to the main buildings we walked through the largest torii gates I've ever seen and continued through a forest before reaching the shrine area.

Just outside the entrance doors a huge tree is surrounded by a frame completely covered with small wooden plaques. Each of these plaques is a wish written by a visitor and hung around the tree in the hope the wish will be granted. Many are written in English.

Through the door is the vast shrine complex. To our surprise and great delight we saw a wedding ceremony is going on. It was enchanting. I think getting married at Meiji Jingu is on a par to tying the knot at St Pauls' Cathedral in London.

The bride was beautiful in her white hooded wedding kimono; a splash of colour was added by an attendant leading them on their promenade holding a giant red parasol. Guests followed in a line behind the couple. All were very smartly attired. Most of the women at the head of the line - and therefore I believe they were immediate family - wore formal black kimono. Some of the younger members of the entourage wore brightly coloured kimono and so did a little girl who looked gorgeous. I simply adore this traditional clothing; the embroidery work that goes into the design is incredible and the obi is a masterpiece of textile art. After the brief ceremony, the bride and groom emerged from the building looking very happy. A member of staff helped the bride with her ornate white robe - her hood was now down displaying striking hair ornaments.

It was time to drag ourselves away from this perfect slice of Japanese culturural tradition to get ready for our anniversary meal. We arrived at the hotel with plenty of time for us to browse around the stunning gardens. An enormous red jasper rock stands guard at the entrance and other spectacular stones are scattered throughout the garden. I like stones. I can't explain why; I just find them absolutely fascinating and grounding and always seem to find (at least) one to have as a souvenir from most places I've visited. A lot of stones reside in my home.

Massive koi swim lazily in the shallow lake. For some reason, Rhiannon has decided that fish like being sung to and that we are not allowed to watch or listen to this. Luckily my camera has a zoom to allow me to capture the scene even though I can't hear what she is singing to them. Both fish and child look like they are enjoying this moment.

Kimono adoration continues. This hotel seems to be the place to have photographs taken when fully dressed up. Lots of colourful robes are on display with young ladies posing prettily in the classic Japanese setting.

The gardens are large and we decide to leave the rest of the exploration until after our meal. Teppanyaki is a cooking method - you sit in front of a large hotplate and your food is cooked in front of you. As well as being delicious, it's a feast for the eyes too as you can watch the master at work; preparing, chopping and cooking in a slick and professional fashion.

We clambered onto the chairs around the counter and ordered the set menu. These are always recommended as the chef will choose only the best, freshest and in-season food for you. Japanese food generally has lots of courses comprising small amounts. Perfect! We had giant prawns, Kobe beef (incredible, mouth-watering, tender perfection!) lots of unusual vegetables, garlic rice and miso soup. Poor Mum struggled with her chopsticks as her hands are now twisted with arthritis but refused the offer of a fork and gamely battled ahead. One of the best meals I've ever had.

Replete and happy, we left the restaurant for a continued exploration of the grounds. Lots of lanterns are scattered throughout the garden and my little poseur of a girl insisted on having her photo taken with one. Eventually after a last song for the koi, we head into the hotel to see what's on offer inside.

And would you know it - another wedding is in progress! This time, the bride has chosen a Western style "do" complete with white meringue dress. I particularly love the circular shapes the view from above afforded us, with the seating arrangements and the little pergola.

And then Shops!

This hotel is one of those fancy ones that has shops in it. Goody! The shopping arcade is full of appealing shops but as Tim and Rhiannon aren't interested, so Mum and I restrain ourselves from visiting every single one of the hundred or so shops.

But I can't resist my newly discovered admiration of Japanese porcelain. I've always had a preference for blue and white china and the Japanese designs are so simple yet extremely artistic. Always perfectly balanced, intriguing and full of symbolism - another of my penchants. I am very close to becoming obsessed with Japanese ceramics. As it's my anniversary - and Tim never buys me presents - I rather rashly decided to treat myself to a set of five small plates. They are a wavy oval shape and handpainted with a mountain scene with houses and trees picked out in gold. They weren't cheap, but absolutely gorgeous, an unusual shape, plus a full set in perfect condition and around 200 years old. The sales assistant offered to package them up for me so they'd be safe "on the plane". By this time I was getting grumpy vibes from Tim, and Rhiannon was started to whinge, so I declined saying we didn't have far to carry them and weren't going on a plane any time soon. She wrapped them in layers of soft paper.

Very pleased with our day out and my new purchase we set off for home. Throughout the metro journeys I hugged my plates carefully and avoided anyone bumping them. Finally home, I placed the bag on the shelf inside the front door and took off my shoes.

The bag fell off the shelf and three out of the five plates smashed.

Over two hundred years they had survived, through earthquakes, wars and general life only to be destroyed by my idiotic self.

Devastated, I took myself upstairs to cry at my stupidity. I couldn't even blame anyone else for it - perhaps this was worse! I came down a bit later to find mum gamely gluing them back together with superglue!

Heartbroken.
They now live at the back of a cabinet as I am unable to look at them without feeling a pang.

Odaiba and Pet Shops

Friday 13^th April 2007

Yes, we are packing all the trips in this week! Tim has to go back to work next week and as he's the one who does the "big" driving, we're making the most of it while we can. I'm happy to drive through the centre of Tokyo but not at all interested at venturing further afield. There are far too many ways to get lost and end up in a pickle. I'll do an entire post about driving in Japan one day.

We need to get some cat food so a trip to the Pet City megastore at Odaiba is on the cards. Odaiba is an area on the edge of Tokyo Bay and is inhabited by lots of shopping malls.

To get there we cross a huge suspension bridge called Rainbow Bridge. It doesn't look like a rainbow at all. But the railings lining the road are colourfully painted so I expect that's how it acquired its name. I sincerely hope its name doesn't come from the bridge that deceased pets are said to cross… Mind you, the final couple of paragraphs of this post might indicate just that.

Upon arrival we went for a walk along the sea front because it looked like it would rain soon and we wanted to walk before it arrived. The sky was ominously dark and the sun beaming under the clouds dramatically highlighted the Rainbow Bridge. Later on, Mum painted the memorable scene and gave the result to Tim for his birthday. Engineering lovers, the both of them! We made it into the mall just as the first giant raindrops splashed down.

I warned Mum to brace herself before entering the pet shop.

I don't believe I've mentioned Japanese pet shops before. For a Brit, they are quite frankly shocking and deeply depressing. Why? Because in Britain pet shops no longer sell pets. At least, they may have a few rodents, birds in cages and fish, but no kittens and puppies. And certainly no monkeys or marmosets. For that's what are sold here.

The poor baby creatures are housed in tiny tanks. Even birds are kept small glass tanks, rather than in cages where they can spread their wings. Puppies and kittens occupy tanks which line the sides of the store. All of them are far too young to have been taken from their mothers. It's truly heartbreaking. Their desperate eyes watching you and willing you to pay them some attention moved me to tears the first time I saw them. I had to leave the shop. Even now, although I have become hardened to the sight, I still find the whole experience deeply disturbing.

What is more upsetting is knowing that ONLY tiny puppies and kittens are sold. Prices are extremely high when the animals are very young, and the price drops as they get older. Once they reach a certain age, and are - in Japanese terms - less cute and desirable, they are moved to open "sale" pens where they can be petted a little more. This is your "last chance to buy". If they still remain unsold they will be sent to be gassed. Yes, this is what happens to so many animals here. Over 300,000 animals are gassed in painful and distressing conditions every year in Japan.

I will write more on this subject at a later date.

Stone Lanterns and Other Wonderful Things

6^th February 2007

What a fabulous day! I went on a trip with a few other mums from school, organised by a fabulously capable lady called Connie.

All neatly sandwiched between school hours and very slickly organised with regards to train times and connections, about ten of us went to a place selling Japanese stone lanterns and other gorgeous items. A mega-shopping trip!

From Shibuya station, we caught two trains and after an hour ended up at a place in the country called Zushi, which was even further away than Kamakura. At Zushi station, the son of the shop owner met us with a minibus and drove us to his father's small workshop set beside a narrow road.

What heaven! Already deeply admiring Japanese culture of most kinds, I had done a little research into these special ornaments and decided to treat myself to a small lantern. It has to be small as our shipping allowance wouldn't permit transporting many extras on our next trip, either back to the UK or to another country.

But the choice was overwhelming and with more than just lanterns to choose from, we all found it very hard to make a decision.

I was astounded at all the other women being unable to make a decision without their husbands' approval. They were all taking photos of various items, then sending them via phone for hubby's opinion. Tim wouldn't have been at all impressed if I kept bugging him like this, and besides, he knows my taste is far superior to his!

It still took us all 2 hours to choose which of the beautiful, hand-carved stonework we would buy for our gardens. There were so many delightful styles to choose from, and what I really wanted wouldn't fit into my tiny garden. At one point, the son came out with cups of hot orange juice for us. Delicious and unexpected, it turns out that this is a particular type of Japanese orange called Mikan which grows in abundance here.

I chose a small dark-coloured granite lantern, and couldn't resist also purchasing a tsukubai, a little granite bowl traditionally used to rinse your hands before partaking of the tea ceremony. Eventually, we had all made our choices and arranged delivery, paid and rather dizzily drifted back onto the street.

However, the owner then kindly invited us back to his home for tea. Well, he had made rather an incredible profit that day – one lady alone had bought four huge lanterns. We were more than happy to accept, although some people made their own way back to the station rather than be sociable.

What an experience! This was my first sight of a 'real' Japanese home, both inside and out, all paper walls, tatami matting on the floors and a sunken fire pit called a hibachi. Hanging over the fire was a large iron kettle attached to a magnificent hook carved in the design of a fish. The lady of the house welcomed us with open arms and directed us to cushions placed around the hibachi. Kindly, she advised that she didn't mind if we didn't kneel as she understood it was hard for gaijin to do this! She served us delicious green tea and biscuits while her husband told us that the stone masonry is his 'side job'... his real job is moving Japanese houses. Yes, this is actually what he does - he moves the ENTIRE house, with all the contents in situ, including, (as he said) the fish in their tank. He somehow does it by piling the whole house onto pallets and moving it inch by inch. Not sure on the actual technique but apparently he is one of the last people in Japan who can do this.

They also kindly allowed us to look around their home. The windows had sliding shutters designed to present a perfectly framed view of the carefully manicured garden dependent on the time of year. Each ornament was striking in its beauty and strategically placed. Little alcoves displaying scrolls and special treasures adorned the immaculate rooms. It was an interior designer's heaven, yet normal life for these lovely people.

Sadly we didn't have much time there as we had to catch a train back to make it back to Tokyo in time to collect our children from school. And unfortunately, I hadn't thought to take my real camera with me, so these are taken with my phone and not great quality. Incidentally, those are reflections across his highly polished and gorgeous table, not smears on the lens.

Note to self - ALWAYS carry a real camera!

  

Costco and Toilet Paper

Now, why would an enormous globally present supermarket warrant a blog post of its own?
Because it was a trip away from home and because I’ve never been to one. Ever!

My lovely friend Tere, was kind enough to offer to drive me to Costco so I could to stock up on essentials such as toilet roll and Western food. Toilet roll is very thin here, and is only sold in packets of two. We have three toilets in our house so it runs out rapidly. Half a roll equals the same, erm... absorbency as a few sheets of Andrex.

OK, too much information there! On with the trip...

After we’d dropped our children off at school, I got into Tere’s car for an interesting drive. Tere is from Costa Rica and drives like a true Latino. Which means that when she found herself in the wrong lane, she thought nothing of driving over the zebra crossing in order to get into the correct lane. Numerous times she stopped to jab the GPS as it was giving conflicting information – allegedly. I must admit to closing my eyes a couple of times, but we reached Costco intact.

Then she said, “Of course, Costco only take American Express or cash, do you have AmEx?”
Uhhh, NO! And I don’t have much cash either!! Oh dear. It looks like I won’t be bulk buying after all.

Costco was as large as an aircraft hanger and spanned two floors. What an experience! Huge trays of meat, sacks of fruit and veg and a staggering number of, mostly American, foodstuffs. Crates of wine and many other enticing articles were out of my reach having no means of paying for them.

Luckily, all the items were labelled in English as well as Japanese but I nearly made a terrible mistake. Boxes of sugar were displayed alongside other white granules. I grabbed what I thought was granulated sugar, then, as an afterthought, read the label... it was Monosodium Glutamate! Eeeew!!

But I did stock up on cat food and cat litter, plus some lovely bread and a few other bits and pieces.

And I bought a giant pack of toilet paper.

Odaiba

Sunday, 14^th January 2007

Tim has an idea for a day trip today so we jump at the chance to see somewhere new.

We are off to a place called Odaiba, which is somewhere “over a river and by the sea”. Excellent! A Real Trip!

This involves countless trains, culminating in a trip on a wonderfully modern, unmanned monorail which speeds us over the roofs of Tokyo on an elevated track. We managed to get the front seats so Rhiannon pretends, as all kids do, to drive the train. We get many amused looks from the other passengers. Although this might have to do with the fact that Tim was also pretending to drive the train...

Flying over Tokyo Bay to our destination I enjoy the fabulous views of some incredible futuristic architecture.

Odaiba is a large artificial island located in Tokyo Bay. Some of the 
spectacular sights here include the graceful Rainbow Bridge, one of the world’s largest Ferris wheels and the amazing space-age Fuji TV building. The latter takes my breath away with its other-worldly design. Apparently the ball at the top weighs an incredible 1,200 tons and measures 32 metres across. Goodness knows how they got it all the way up there!

 Once there, we explore the area finding a massive shopping mall with a large restaurant hall which we earmark for lunch.

Outside, I snap away taking photos of all the wonderful buildings and views over the Bay. Then we realise we can actually get down to the sea so we make our way through the clipped trees and giant anchors placed artfully in the ground. On the way, we are amazed to see a Statue of Liberty!

Even though it is January and pretty cold, Rhiannon goes paddling in the sea chasing the small fish darting in the shallows. I didn’t expect this of Tokyo, that’s for sure! Not only can we (fairly) easily get to the sea, it’s not polluted or mucky in anyway, and there is even life in it! Ducks and cormorants bob around, doing their thing, while spaceship-like ferries carry passengers to unknown destinations.

For lunch we drag Rhiannon away from the giant beefburger and down to the restaurant hall we noticed earlier. While I ordered a steaming bowl of Japanese noodles and soup, Tim and Rhiannon let the side down and order McDonalds.

We will return to this place, it looks like there is a lot to discover here.

 

 

 

An International Supermarket!

It's amazing how something so mundane can become exciting and adventurous!

Some friends took us to an international supermarket called Nissin where we are assured we will be able to get all kinds of necessary groceries. Hooray!!

However, this involved numerous and complex changes on the Metro and a lot of walking. Not very practical.

The first floor is a general supermarket, and the top floor is just full to the brim with alcohol: I have never seen so many bottles of booze in one place - not even at the parties I used to attend in my 'youth'!

We managed to buy some recognisable items, including some small joints of meat and cereals, so we are now set for the next week or so. I have to pretend to mum that we eat properly, of course!

But the struggle to carry all the shopping bags home was totally exhausting, so I can't see us doing that very often. We literally walked miles.

Tokyu Hands

1^st December 2006

We discovered the most amazing shop today called Tokyu Hands. 

It sells everything you could ever want and a lot of things you couldn’t imagine owning, ever. From acupuncture needles to aquariums, piano wire to paper, kitchenware to kitten toys, chopsticks to chemistry equipment, it’s all here. I foresee many happy hours spent in this shop.

It also sold some Christmas trees and decorations, hurray!

So, we now have a Christmas tree (fake), but upon returning home I remembered that one of the few things I hadn’t shipped over from the UK was… Christmas decorations. Oops! The reason I hadn’t sent them was that I was bored with them and thought, incorrectly as it turned out, that I would be able to get much nicer ones here. So we will be having a minimalist Christmas this year, which pleases me after the chaos of the unpacking yesterday after the lovely empty space of the previous weeks.

We also bought a load of picture hangers so Tim was able to put up our many pictures and make the house seem more like a home. It’s amazing the difference that one job made.

The walls appear to be made of cardboard and large pictures have to be hung from wires suspended from a rail around the top of the walls. I suspect this has something to do with earthquakes, a subject I am trying hard to ignore for now. Smaller pictures go up with just a pushpin holding them.

Being British, I feel I have to mention the weather. The only grey day was the one on which we arrived, and since then the weather has been glorious. Brilliant blue sky, sunny, crisp and cold, each and every day. The trees are turning, showing brilliant reds, oranges and yellow. Ginko trees are dropping their bright yellow leaves like snow and there are many pretty little birds bouncing and chirping in the hedges outside. I need to get a bird book, but I believe they are White Eyes and a Japanese version of a Great Tit, although this one is pinker than the British yellow version.