This time every year you can see this flower blooming around Japan, especially beside rivers. The color is almost always bright red, but I was surprised to recently spot a yellow version, and a white version too. Have you ever seen these colors?
In the Japanese name, `higan` is a Buddhist term for the period of seven days around the Spring or Autumn equinox (bana/hana means flower).
Of course you`re thinking, "Wow - it`s pretty. But can I eat it?" Unfortunately the answer is no; they`re poisonous to eat.
This van belongs to the DJ who was at the wedding that I went to last week.
I didn`t talk to him, but I guess his name is Kei Wong (it`s written on the big yellow stickers on the side of his van). That`s interesting, because I have a friend in Nagoya whose name is Wei Kong!
I have no idea what kind of van it is. I`ve never seen one like this before.
But I think it`s interesting & pretty cool. What do you think?
A week ago I attended the wedding party of an ex-workmate, Noriko, & her husband, David. It was held at a campsite in Nagano, and went on all afternoon and into the night. They booked all the cabins at the site, so everyone could stay the night in them (or tents). What a great idea!
The releasing of Thai-style floating lanterns at sunset was also a nice idea - looks nice doesn`t it?
As you can see, I took Owen with me, & we both had a good time.
Congratulations Noriko & David, & thanks for inviting me!
Our schools were closed today due to typhoon #15, which is moving up the east coast of Japan. Though it came quite close to Nagoya & Ichinomiya, in the end there wasn`t much rain or wind around here - the conditions on the right side of the typhoon were much worse than here on the left, because typhoons turn anti-clockwise [hidari mawari].
Did you know? In Australia, typhoons are called cyclones, and they turn clockwise [migi mawari]. In the USA, they`re called hurricanes.
If you`re a Wednesday Teragoya student, we apologize for any inconvenience.
From a distance, these look like old-style American jeeps, but when you look more closely you can see the Mitsubishi logo on the front. Otherwise they`re almost the same. Mitsubishi produced them under license from American automobile manufacturer Willys from 1953 to 1998 - a long time!
Even though these ones are not original U.S. versions, they`re still pretty cool, especially the old grey one above - can you see? It has a huge shovel (scoop) attached to the front - excellent! Very handy for clearing snow, building big sandcastles, cleaning up kids` toys, re-arranging furniture... What else can you think of?
I didn`t realise I needed a car like this until I saw this one.
On Sunday I took Owen to see an F.C.Gifu game. He really enjoyed it, but I`m not sure he understands the rules properly yet:
Me: Come on... Come on...! GOAL! Gifu scored!
Owen: Yatta! (Yay!)
Later:
Me: Argh! They scored!
Owen: Yatta! (Yay!)
The final score was 1-1. This is the third time I`ve been to see F.C.Gifu play but the first time I`ve seen them score a goal. They`re not a very good team but I enjoy going; the atmosphere is pretty good & they have tasty hamburgers there.
I`m not just a teacher at Teragoya. I am also the designated `Teragoya Handyman`, which means I have to fix things which are broken or damaged. I am the natural choice for this position because I`m good at fixing things ...and I`m often the person responsible for breaking & damaging those things in the first place!
The husband of one of our staff, Yumi, knows this, so he bought this tool set for me as a gift. What a nice guy!
But what is the item I have circled? What`s it for? Challenge!
UPDATE:
Answer is in comments!
Today the women`s football teams of Japan & Australia played a 2012 London Olympics qualifier. Japan won 1-0.
Australia played well for the first 15 minutes but then seemed to run out of ideas. They were missing a good passer-playmaker like Japan`s captain, Sawa. She`s a good player!
I bought my Fuji Finepix XP camera a couple of years ago. I use it as a regular day-to-day camera, but it`s waterproof, so I can also use it underwater. I took the above photo when I went snorkelling at Mihama beach during Obon holidays. As you can see, the water was quite clear, but even when the water is clear, it`s pretty tricky (difficult) to take underwater pictures - the fish move, the water moves, you move, and you have to come up for air all the time! It`s kind of frustrating, but also fun.
My friend Christoph`s new camera is a Sony Cybershot. It has a really cool 180 degree (?) panorama shot feature. He took the above pictures using it.
Top: Mihama Beach, Fukui Prefecture
Middle: Soupon Turtle Ramen Restaurant, in front of Ichinomiya Station
Bottom: F.C.Gifu versus JEF United at Nagaragawa Stadium
Have you been to any of these places? If you like camping illegally, eating turtle, or watching your team lose, I recommend them!
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mokomoko 
yukio 
内倉憲一 
KUMA 
TERAGOYA おとな 
PSPINC JP 
birdy 
エメラルド 
bokushi 
田仲なお美