These caravans are soooo retro & cool. I`m not sure if they`re for sale or not - there is a company sign nearby (`American Trailer Develop` - you can see it in the bottom right photograph, under the horse). However, I first noticed them a few years ago, and nobody seems to have bought any. Maybe they`re a private collection? Nice hobby!
The number plates are interesting too; `South Carolina`, `California` & a frame with `Have Fun Squaredancing` on it - haha!
On Sunday there was a local election in Ichinomiya. I can`t vote in Japan, but if I could vote, I would definitely NOT vote for any candidate [kouhosha] who drove around in a small van with a big megaphone on the top. Argh - what a terrible noise!
Did you vote? Can you guess which of the above candidates is my favourite...?
The festival on Sunday was good. There were a lot of people and the weather was mostly fine.
Owen was especially interested in a stall [yatai] which had small rubber balls & toys floating around a small pool. For 400 yen, you can scoop up as many as possible, one time, with a ladle. I think Owen was happy just to watch the balls go round & round, but I paid & scooped up 4 toys for him.
LIttle by little, our bathroom is starting to look like that stall...
We had a good time.
By the way, please don`t ask me about the horses. Especially the one wearing the purple mask. I don`t know anything.
If you`re interested, this Sunday (April 24th) is our local festival here in Iwato. There will be lots of stalls [yatai], & 3 traditional wooden floats [dashi] will also be pulled down the street in front of the shrine. There will also be some decorated horses. These events happen in the afternoon.
There isn`t much parking for cars nearby, so I recommend coming by train, & walking from Iwato Meitetsu Station (between Ichinomiya & Gifu).
For more information, here is a Japanese language site:
http://www.petile.com/matsuri/iwato-c.html
If you`re free, please come!
On Sunday we visited Mihama Beach in Fukui prefecture. Like last time, I couldn`t find much beach wood, but I found some other interesting things, as you can see above.
As usual, my wife was very interested in them, & asked me lots of questions, for example:
"What`s that?!" and
"Why do you want it?!" and
"What are you going to do with it?!" and
"You`re not going to keep it in the house, are you?!"
It`s nice to have a wife who shares an interest in your hobbies.
On Saturday night we were lucky to host a live performance by the group `Wing` at our Teragoya school. They played a variety of music types, from classical to pop to Hawaiian to Irish folk. It was very entertaining!
If you want to find out more about them & their upcoming [= coming soon] performances, go to http://www.hamajima-violin.net/
By the way, after their performance, they kindly signed a CD for me. Thanks, guys! Whenever I look at it, I will remember you (but not while I`m playing it - that will make me dizzy).
I used to live in Kiyosu, not far from Kiyosu castle & its red bridge. This is a woodblock print (black ink, plus watercolor, 10 x 16cm) I did at that time (2000? this copy doesn`t have a date) of one of the bridge posts.
I sketched a couple of other bridge posts along the Gojo River, and my plan was to do a small series, but in the end [kekyoku] I only did this one.
On Sunday a friend invited us to a hanami [cherry blossom viewing] party near Kiyosu castle. The weather was great, and it was fun & relaxing to sit under the cherry blossom trees, chatting, eating & drinking.
These are some photos I took afterwards.
Have you ever been to Kiyosu castle? It`s quite small, and it`s not original (it was rebuilt in 1989) but it`s easy to get to by train or car, & you can take a nice walk beside the Gojo River. I recommend it.
Also, the Kirin brewery (where you can take a free tour) is nearby!
Near my house there is a shed full of cows. It`s kind of unusual for this area I think. Anyway, today I went there and took some photos of them. I also took some photos of some of the flowers that were around the shed.
In Australia, cow sheds are pretty smelly [kusai], but this one doesn`t smell much at all.
Are there any cows near your house? Have you ever fed grass to a cow by hand?
(Click on the picture to enlarge)
I took Owen to Iwato Shrine on Thursday morning to look at the cherry blossoms there. They were almost completely open.
There was a group of men there having a picnic under one of the cherry blossom trees. I really wanted to join them, but unfortunately I had to go to work.
The pale color of the flowers contrasts nicely with the dark wood of the shrine, doesn`t it?
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birdy 
エメラルド 
yukio 
mokomoko 
bokushi 
田仲なお美 
PSPINC JP 
KUMA 
内倉憲一