For a week in February, the northernmost island in Japan hosts a fantastic snow festival. The sculptures made of snow are a highlight. Some are enormous — even larger than this one. I haven't been to the festival yet myself, but Mr. Field Notes' dad has been a number of times. He shared this photo and I thought it was so neat I had to share it too. The detail in the leopard's spots and the orangutan's cheek pouches is awesome. It's estimated that 2 million people visit the festival. Here's a little insight into how the massive sculptures are constructed: how to make a giant snow statue.
In Japan, as here too, it won't be much longer before festivities culminate around a different occasion — the appearance of the spring blossoms — something that is an even bigger event in Japan than this snow festival. I haven't been to Japan yet for the plum and cherry blossoms, but I think this year, Mr. Field Notes and I might have to break out the sake boxes and furoshiki we got in Japan and make our own mini party under our plum tree.
In anticipation of the spring, I've started farting around with a new spring line up for my etsy store. There are a lot more plantable paper offerers on etsy and the competition has had an effect on my sales. It's mostly fine, because I would rather hang out with my gorgeous daughter, but I do need to keep creating or I won't be able to keep buying nifty things on etsy! To that end, I recently received some new paper punches, an ume (plum) flower shape and a sakura (cherry) flower shape. This is what I've decided to do with them (the first one is an old hydrangea shape):
I need better photos and a prettier assortment of colors, but it's a start. I'm not sure, but I think I will offer them as a DIY wedding package, one that is very affordable (under $25). What do you think? I'd love some feedback...!
When we visited the Jigokudani Monkey Park in Japan last January I never gave a second thought to whether or how the hot springs the Japanese macaques bathed in got clean. I just figured it was a natural feature of their environment and one that was left to 'nature' to deal with.
However, after regularly clicking in to view the monkey park's web cam, I've learned that their hot springs pool does get cleaned — regularly. Every week, if not every other day. When I check in during the morning hours, Japan time, I frequently see the pool drained and workers mopping up.
That surprised me. The other thing that surprised me is that there are large rocks inside the pool that come nearly to the waters surface. So, the monkeys I saw hanging around in the center of the hot springs while I was there were not treading water, they were lounging on rocks!
The other thing that surprised me, after watching the monkeys via web cam off and on for the last 8 months, is that they still go down to the hot springs during the summer. I wouldn't have guessed that. The water is rather warm and Japan is a hot, muggy place during the summer. But these highlander monkeys do live in the mountains where it is always cooler.
Even if the monkeys can be seen there year round, I still think it is far superior to see them in the winter with snow all around. After all, they are nicknamed Snow Monkeys.
When Mr. Field Notes and I visited Japan in January, one of the more unconventional things we did was go to a quilt festival.
Although we saw quite a few traditional patchwork quilts, it was the unconventional quilts that caught my eye.
This cow themed quilt continues to be one of my favorites. It had upwards of 40 different cloth cows of various sizes, shapes and expressions. At the time I walked away from the quilt, I thought it would be wonderful to have one like it but with monkeys. I could adapt the OrnaMonkeys I've made for the purpose. That was the idea, anyway. My travel companions were enthusiastic about the idea, I think because they thought this whimsical cow quilt was fantastic too! They thought I should make the monkey quilt and enter it into the 2010 quilt show. I could compete for the prizes too and maybe win some big bucks... to pay for another trip to Japan?? Maybe I will make that quilt one day.
Until then I wanted to share the crazy clever cow quilt. Here are some close-ups.
Button Nose & Eyes
Rope Tail
Ring Nose & Alphabet Body (I like the one to his right too!)
Metallic Mama & Baby Moo Moos
As you can see, the quilt is three-dimensional in a way most quilts aren't. I really like that aspect of this one.
When you share your life with even one Newfoundland you get used to slime, spit, slobber, drool — and all the places it lands. It starts with your lap. The cute puppies get a drink of water then head straight for you to show off how smart they are, having found the local watering hole. Then they move on to the couches. They make convenient napkins, just like pant legs. Eventually you notice the floors get their share of the drool too. More than their share. Soon you notice slime streaks on the walls. And every once in a while, you spot it practically on the ceiling.
That's where I found some today — a nice, big long streak of dried slobber complete with fur (a lot of it) stuck high up on the wall nearly at the ceiling above the bathroom door. Ew. Gross. Thanks guys. Did you have to put it so high up?
You can sort of make it out under the words in that photo. That grayish smudge is a ball of slimed, matted newfie hair the size of a quarter. A streak of dried slobber 8 inches long hangs down from it. Ew.
Who the culprit is I'll never know. Just a little present from one of them, thought I'd share. It's all part of the charm of having newfies. Since I had the camera out, I thought I'd take the opportunity to show off the other things now hanging on the walls. No, not cobwebs and more goofy newfie goobers, just good old-fashioned art. We finally hung our art, well, most of it.
Here's a little tour.
Some Japanese fabric (the so-called lucky cat you see everywhere in Japan). If you look closely in the background you can spot Yuki hanging out on the 'big comfy chair' watching traffic. I'm convinced she's got her own version of a trainspotting game going on given how much time she spends gazing out the window from that spot.
Of course, most days the window in front of her is so covered with her own nose print slime I doubt she sees much! I'd have to clean that window every day to keep it looking nice. Vacuuming once — sometimes twice and even up to four times a day — is about as much dog-inspired cleaning as I am comfortable 'scheduling' so the vast majority of the time, that window is ... dirty. But who cares. You make a lot of 'adjustments' to standards of cleanliness when you invite a big, black shagorrific dog (or two) into your home.
Moving on... on the wall in the living room containing Dirty Window we've now got some handy dandy shelves with real, handmade art on them!
The art is a series of three 14x14 inch custom pieces on canvas I commissioned from an artist on etsy.com. She did a wonderful job with minimal instructions to make a crow, bluebird and a green egret. The shelves are from Pottery Barn. I bought them, no kidding, in 2007 as a reward to myself for finally finishing some horrendous piece of statistical analysis for my dissertation. It took until now to finally deploy them. Delayed gratification.
More framed Japanese fabric from my favorite store in Kyoto: RAAK. They specialize in material for furoshiki - the cloth used in traditional wrapping of packages, gifts and lunches. RAAK is operated by a Kyoto-based textile company called Eirakuya, which was founded 390 years ago. A trip to RAAK is a must if you find yourself in Kyoto. They make just about everything out of their fabric — furoshiki, hats, wallets, purses, teddy bears and more. It's not cheap either (nothing in Japan is) so be prepared for a big bill if you go hog wild like I did.
I bought a TON (almost literally) of furoshiki cloth. I think it was my single biggest expense from Japan, but I knew I wouldn't be back for quite a long time so I allowed myself the splurge. The framed stuff isn't furoshiki, but I saw panels like this hung all over RAAK stores in Kyoto and thought a set of three would be perfect for the dining room. The choices were immense, and difficult, but in the end I chose these three for being iconic of Japanese culture and because they fit the color scheme of the dining room (red and black). All I had to do was find three that looked good together. Michaels craft store did the custom framing. They do a great job, but definitely wait until they have a good coupon. I used one that got me 60% off the entire framing order!
Why is it that in America high speed 'bullet' trains evoke Jetson's style futuristic transport? Japan has had the trains operational for 40 years. They are hardly new, nor are they exactly nouveau in places like France either. It's high time the U.S. had a system of bullet trains connecting major cities up and down both coasts. Boston - NYC - Wash. DC would be a good first place followed by San Francisco - LA and maybe on to San Diego and then Seattle - Portland.
My attitude about bullet trains definitely comes from having traveled on them in both France and Japan. They are safe, clean, comfortable and smooth and way better than driving or riding in a car.
For one, you get there at least twice as fast which means you have more time to enjoy the place you're going or conduct whatever business you're going to conduct there. And, your attention is not focused on driving. You can have real conversations face to face, read the newspaper, get work done on your laptop, play games, eat and no doubt many, many other things not the least of which is being able to use the bathroom without having to stop somewhere. It is also less expensive than flying and reduces the amount of gasoline used. In some cases, it may even cost less than driving. And, depending on where you're going and why, it can turn an overnight trip (with the added cost of a hotel room) into a day trip. High speed trains are what enabled me to make a day trip from London to Paris and from Tokyo to the Japanese Alps to hang out with snow monkeys.
So, I think it is about damned time that high speed trains be built in America and that is just what Obama wants to do. Last week, he made a last-minute allocation of $8 billion for high-speed rail in his mammoth stimulus plan. Unfortunately, some think he has not allocated enough 'stimulus money' to build even one system and others think it's stupid anyway and all that will happen is the money will be wasted on projects to make some Amtrak trains arrive 20 mins sooner and for double the price. I wish they weren't right.
Nevertheless, the proposed routes include parts of Texas, Florida, the Chicago region, and southeast routes through North Carolina and Louisiana.
I don't think those are necessarily the best places to start out with, but whatever. I'm not the country's new transportation secretary. He, Ray LaHood, by the way, says that developing high-speed rail is the country’s No. 1 transportation priority. Hmmm. Yeah, right. If that was the case, the millions dumped into the failing auto industry would have been invested in bullet trains instead.
“Anybody who has ever traveled in Europe or Japan knows that high-speed rail works and that it’s very effective,” LaHood said in an interview with The Associated Press. Yeah, but unfortunately if that's what it takes to get people to back spending on high speed trains instead of the auto industry, it'll never take off. Not everyone is fortunate (or has made international travel a priority) enough to go there and actually ride them.
So, what exactly is “high-speed” anyway? It depends on the location. The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration says the term applies to trains traveling more than 90 mph, a laughable speed given those in other countries. In France, for example, the Train à Grande Vitesse (aka: train of great speed), or TGV, travels an average speed of about 133 mph. And a train in development whips along at 357 mph! I would much rather ride and get where I'm going 6 times as fast as driving my car. And the trains are much, much safer. The Shinkansen trains in Japan have never had even a single death from an accident in their 40 year history. They travel an average of about 180 mph and Japan’s magnetically levitated train holds the overall world speed record at 361 mph. So, clearly, super high speed trains are definitely in the works. Why should the US let the efficiency and convenience pass us by?
Part of the problem, critics say, is that populated areas here are more densely packed than in other countries so building such systems here face major hurdles because people don't want them whizzing by their neighborhoods. And the Amtrak clunking along is better? A train that travels as fast as the bullet trains do is here and gone faster than you can blink an eye. Well, not literally, but pretty damned close. There's also the problem of losing your home or land to eminent domain when the tracks need to be laid down. Perhaps then, what is also needed, is an expansion of rights and compensations to owners.
I think our insistence on clinging to the automobile for transport is akin to continuing to buy lunches at McDonald's because it's cheap and tastes good even though you know damned well you are far better off for the long term going home to make turkey sandwiches and salads. But that takes time and effort, and alas, more money up front.
One of things we love to do when we go to Japan is collect 'ema' from Shinto shrines we visit. Ema are small wooden plaques upon which people write prayers or wishes they want the gods, or kami, to grant: getting good exam scores, having a safe and easy delivery, finding love, winning a sporting event, etc.
People hang them up at the shrine in a dedicated place, and each shrine has its own unique ema imagery — sometimes more than one.
Animal themes are common: cows and oxen, horses, fox, pigs and boars, rabbits, and birds (often crows and cranes) are easy to find on ema as are the 12 animals associated with the Chinese zodiac. Much to my great disappointment, however, monkey-themed ema are incredibly hard to come by, unless I would guess, you happen to be in Japan during the Year of the Monkey, then I would imagine they are all over the place. Next time I go to Japan, I would really love for it to be in the year of the monkey!
Most ema are painted, some by hand, while others appear to be silk screened. Some shrines sell ema that are blank on both sides so you can paint your own. And some ema, like the fox-faced ema pictured above, seem to be made so that people can embellish them. Ema range in price from 300-1500 yen or about $4-20. The one above is one of the more expensive ones. I think it cost 1200 yen ($15).
Ema tend to be fairly uniform in size and shape, typically about 3 x 5 inches in the shape of well, a house. But every once in a while we came across ones that were pentagonal, square, round, covered in fabric/paper, burned, 3-dimensional and faces with jaws that clack.
Some shrines have larger than life ema — 18 feet across and 10 feet tall. While others have ema of various sizes tucked into unusual places like eaves and at the writing desks.
I love looking at the inscriptions people leave on them, as well as the variety of ema hanging at each individual shrine. They range from brand spanking new to well-weathered and apparently old ones. These Navy-themed ones were unusual. There were no other ema like them at the shrine where we saw them and looked entirely handpainted in the DIY tradition, which is pretty uncommon itself, so these modernish, yet obviously weathered military-themed ones really stood out.
When you buy an ema that you aren't going to write on and hang up, the proprietor, who is I think some sort of religious functionary-in-training, carefully places it in a white paper bag and hands it to you with both hands and a bow of the head. Very, very rarely — the priestly guy blesses it. And also very rarely, they assume you are actually going to write on it and hang it up even though you are obviously a really big strange white person who isn't there to worship.
I'm not sure exactly how many ema Mr. Field Notes and I have collectively acquired during our trips to Japan, but they could easily fill a wall of our house. One of the 'home improvements' on our agenda this spring is to hang them all. Finding the right place is a bit of a challenge because they have to be kept out of dog reach, being that they are wood and one little vandal, Yuki, still has a penchant for gnawing on wood. The other challenge is how to hang them in such a way that we don't end up putting 200 holes in the wall.
Baby monkeys, to me, are some of the cutest critters on the planet so I was really excited when I got to see them at the hot springs in Japan. The one to the left and on the left in the above pic was having fun soaking in the water until her little friend left. I caught her mid-holler when she was crying out. She carried on crying for quite a while until deciding her friend wasn't coming back. Then she just got out of the pool and ran off. That was just one of many instances of vocalizations I heard at the monkey park. It was raucous at one point during food distribution - monkeys chasing each other, fighting, shrieking, biting, wrestling, mounting — you name it.
Wild monkeys are provisioned in Japan. Provisioning, or giving the monkeys food, is a technique for getting monkeys to stick around close for closer, and longer, periods of observation. It's a much criticized technique in primatology because it distorts natural monkey behavior, i.e. creating situations that would otherwise not occur. Nevertheless, it is used because sometimes it is the only way to actually observe monkeys in the wild. Jane Goodall used the technique during her early observations of chimpanzees and was criticized for it, but it did help her gain the trust of the chimps and allowed her to accumulate a wealth of previously unknown knowledge of their behavior. Her observations are now widely accepted. Also, zoo and laboratory observations and studies continue to make up a good deal of research in primatology and they are surely a lot less ecologically valid. Anyways, enough primatology methodology talk - back to the monkeys!
During the winter in Japan, food is scarce for the snow monkeys. But, provisioning is not something done to keep the monkeys alive and fed during this time. They eat mostly bark and whatever leaves or winter shoots they scrounge up. Monkeys also bulk up in the months prior to winter and babies are born in advance enough to make it through the rough winter. Together, it's enough to get them through the lean months.
As I learned at the park, snow monkeys are provisioned with less desirable food than is available in the wild. So, sometimes during the fat months, monkeys don't even bother to come down for the easily available barley when the have berries in the forest.
A relatively young, probably female, snow monkey relaxes in the sulfurous natural hot springs in January at Jigokudani, Japan. The mountainous valley is part of the Joshin-Etsu Kogen National Park and is near Nagano, site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. The area gets plenty of snow during the winter and is quite cold, but the monkeys have adapted to the environment, growing thick coats during the harsh winter. They are the northernmost dwelling monkeys in the world and are native to Japan.
The area was difficult to get to. However, that did not stop throngs of tourists from being there. I think the vast majority of them arrived on tour buses. We took the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Tokyo to Nagano and then hitched a ride on a series of much, much slower trains to the town of Yudanaka. There, we caught a bus up to Kanbayashi Onsen after which we walked the 30 minutes to the entrance to the monkey park. It took 4 hours all told.
There was apparently a direct train we could have been on that goes more or less straight to Yudanaka, but we unfortunately ended up on about 4 different trains, having transfered from one train to another repeatedly — and spent about 45 minutes standing around for a train in the middle of nowhere at one point. It was super cold. And, the path to the monkey park began with a very steep slope that, being winter, was icy and very difficult to safely negotiate, especially coming down. So, if you plan to visit this monkey park at the best time of year (when the snow is falling) be prepared and carry a walking stick or crampons or something. And, be sure to catch the speedier, direct train to Yudanaka!
After all was said and done, the monkey park experience was well worth the effort. Once there, we got to watch monkeys swim, dive in, fight, groom and play until we just got too cold to stand it any longer. Standing near the hot spring kept me warmer, but it smelled strongly of sulfur and the rocky rim was covered with monkey poo. That didn't stop me from getting in close to snap some photos though!
Instead of elbowing my way into the crowd of photographers with huge camera lenses and expensive looking cameras, I bided my time and figured out the rhythm of the place. Once feeding time came, the monkeys cleared out of their swimming hole and so did all of the people. When I sensed that the monkeys were just about done eating, I headed for the poop-coated rocky edge of the hot springs and staked out a spot. Soon I was joined by the throng of cameras. You'd think Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were there skinny dipping!
The monkeys didn't mind the paparazzi presence at all.
Signs in Japan are nothing short of spectacular. Sometimes spectacularly bad. I think a good sign communicates an unambiguous message. The truly awful ones in Japan, and there are an impressive number and variety of them, all leave much room for interpretation. Here are two of the truly great signs followed by the most spectacularly awful sign I may have ever seen.
The Inscrutable Sign
Its meaning was the subject of much conversation. If you can provide a convincing interpretation of what the sign means, I have a green tea KitKat candy bar I'll send to you as a reward. We are still puzzling it out ourselves.
In case you have difficulty reading the sign as an image, here's the text: Please do not see it while drinking drink.The PET bottle caps it and put it in a bag, and please carry it.Please see the thing which the chief does not have after finishing drinking.
And here is the sign in context, on a vending machine near a rest area on the grounds of Nijo castle in Kyoto. And, just in case you come away thinking that only the dog-related signs in Japan are clear, here's one to dispel that notion:
To me, it looks like a dog giving a pair of cats a lecture about garbage, but really, your guess is as good as mine!
For the last 2-plus weeks I've been in Japan! And, for the last 4 months I've been... pregnant!
See here for why that is actually a very, very big surprise. I am not a believer in miracles in the religious sense at all, but as far as miracles might represent statistically improbable events, me being pregnant is very much a miracle. Now that I'm out of the first trimester, I finally feel comfortable talking about it with others. Sometime around the end of July/beginning of August we'll have our lives rocked. I know what to expect, but also have a healthy (?) amount of anxiety over what I am sure is totally normal stuff.
Over the next few weeks and months, I'll share plenty of stories and photos from my travels in Japan and no doubt news and articles about pregnancy and parenting. It's a subject matter perfect for an evolutionary lens. Not that knowing the evolutionary underpinnings of morning sickness makes it at all easier!
And, for those of you dying to know whether I saw any of Japan's famous snow monkeys — the answer is YES! And I have photos and video clips too. Here's one of my favorites.
Only in Japan could you expect to order a piece of meat that costs that much.
When I was there a little over a year ago we went to a marvelous department store, Takashimaya, the store selling poultry gold. Think Harrods, but more extravagant. Saks Fifth Avenue on steroids.
The super upscale department store in Tokyo made headlines today for taking advance orders for chickens stuffed with foie gras, black truffles, sausage and chestnuts.
They are asking 84,000 yen for them (around $850).
Japanese companies — like those in the US and every other first world economy hit hard by the worldwide financial crisis — expect a recession and have turned away from appealing to middle class buyers to instead grab those who still have loads of cash.
This is definitely one way to go about that!
It took a little searching around, but I found Takashimaya's online page where the $850 chicken is being sold. You can see it here. You can get a taste of the flavor of an extravagant Japanese Christmas here. Japanese go gaga over Christmas. It's clearly not a Christian tradition anymore. It is a worldwide commercial phenom.
Takashimaya has numerous floors. The bottom floor is a food court full of the most expensive food imaginable, much of it packaged to be given as a gift. To show your admiration for someone, you go out of your way to get them a really, really splashy gift — like a melon. I remember seeing huge melons there, all exquisitely displayed to showcase their perfection.
Costly, especially useless, gifts are the epitome of something evolutionary types call costly signaling.
The higher the cost and the more difficult it is to fake, the more likely the effort is an honest one. Nearly anyone can buy a fake Rolex or fake Fendi purse at a place like Times Square or Shibuya, but few can give a Kobe beef steak or $180 cantaloupes from Takashiyama.
I blew some money on fancy toothpicks for my dad while I was there. I couldn't afford anything else!
Japanese scientists want to launch paper airplanes from space. Scientists from Tokyo University’s Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics have been collaborating with origami masters to fold airplanes that can be launch from space to float back to earth. I kid you not.
This has to be the most odd story I have come across in along while. I am still in disbelief that paper airplanes could survive re-entry, but apparently a prototype passed wind tunnel durability tests in February.
The prototype was about 3 inches long and 2 inches wide. It survived Mach 7 speeds and 446 degree heat — conditions that were meant to replicate conditions during re-entry. Apparently the little paper plane suffered no major damage or burns.
A successful flight from space by an origami plane could have far-reaching implications for the design of re-entry vehicles or space probes for upper atmospheric exploration, says project leader Shinji Suzuki.
“It sounded like a simply impossible, crazy idea,” Suzuki said.
I have to agree. Paper? A paper plane wouldn't bust apart or be instantly incinerated? The freakin' Space Shuttle has blown up twice and PAPER is supposed to work?
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency thinks so. They are spending $300,000 in funding per year for the project.
The origami airplane can survive these harsh conditions because it's made from sugar cane fibers that happen to make the paper resistant to heat, wind and water. The plane is also sprayed with a special coating, of exactly what they don't say.
Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata has apparently expressed a personal interest in the project and has offered to throw several origami shuttles into the wake of the international space station.
The Tokyo University scientists hope lessons from the paper planes could lead to the development of new lightweight space probes or help to design a full size paper space shuttle.
The biggest hurdle? They have no way to track or predict where the paper plane will land.
But Suzuki says he has a solution — a message of peace in several languages, along with a request for anyone who finds them to notify the team.
“Just imagine, children around the world would be anxiously waiting for the return of our origami shuttle, perhaps looking up into the sky from time to time,” Suzuki said. “That would be great fun.”
The last few days have brought an explosion of blossoms on the two plum trees in our backyard. I absolutely love the plums. The tiny white blossoms are gorgeous and some of the very first flowers to appear in the spring. The last few weeks have also brought noticeably more precipitation, just enough to start germinating seeds. The cosmos I started as paper cards are coming up, along with the holly hocks. I really love spring here.
To me, the plum blossoms plus the rains have made me remember traveling in Japan last year. We went during the "Plum Rains" which occur there for about 3 weeks in June. They are called the plum rains because they happen when the plums are ripe.
When the rain falls on the ripe plums, there follows 40 rainy days. ~ an old Japanese saying
The plum rains are caused by the "meiyu front," a meeting of warm moist air and cooler air over China. The front creates rain and really humid air in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and eastern China. The humidity can stay around 80 and 90 per cent at the same time the temperature is in the upper 80s. To say the least, the air is stuffy an uncomfortable. I am so glad I had years of New Hampshire humidity to prepare me. In truth, it wasn't that bad!
Although I would love to be in Japan during the spring for the sakura and ume blossoms, which are major cultural events, I'll just have to settle for the glorious 'plum rains' of Walla Walla. After the plums go crazy here, the cherries follow - along with the magnolias, rhododenderons, dogwoods and more. The plentiful flowering trees are definitely a great part of living where I do.
I couldn't resist using them as a backdrop for some snapshots of the thank you cards I custom created for a fellow etsy seller. They are the sprouting variety I make and are in stock in my store now.
When I visited Japan and went to shrines, gardens, and other 'tourist' sites, I was always given a pretty entrance stub with Japanese kanji, photography, or artwork on them. I saved the neat ones and brought them home with me where they have been sitting inside a box, virtually untouched for the last 10 months.
I have dozens of these, but they're not materials I use in my own art. I don't really need to keep them, and I am not about to just chuck them in the recycling bin or put them in the blender to make into handmade paper. They are far too gorgeous for that.
So I jumped on the etsy business techniques and materials forum and explained briefly what I had then asked the question, "Do you think there's a market for them here or should I just recycle them?"
Who knew that when I decided to virtually liquidate my collection of what on etsy falls into the category of "ephemera," that I actually could! I put two sets up for sale and within minutes - minutes - they sold.
I started the thread and it was still going 7 hours later, even after the collection was sold out.
Multiple people commented and said don't recycle them! Post a picture! I am very interested in them! List them!
So, I did. They flew off the shelf, leaving me wishing I had more.
I don't know why I thought of it, maybe because Mr. Field Notes and I went on a cleaning jag in the office recently, or because I realized I was never going to use them and collage artists might.
I had to share the experience with Mr. Field Notes' dad, who took us to Japan. He told me Japanese tourists just throw the stubs on the ground, littering the exits of the shrines. He plans to collect as many as he can find on his next visit there. I am so fortunate.
Believe me, I am even more excited to go back to Japan now that I know how valuable the garbage is!
I'm finding my groove with the paper making enterprise now so I have developed a little routine. I make 8 sheets before 10 am, then watch The View. While watching, I do a blog post, then hit etsy. Mr. Field Notes comes home for lunch, then I referee Fight Club and make another set of 8 sheets in the afternoon. Somewhere in there I prep photos in Photoshop for adding items to my store. Now I've joined Facebook at the request of my sorority sisters. Yes, I'm a sorority girl! Anyhow, yet another thing that takes up time GAH!!!!
So the hot topic conversation I walked in on after cleaning up my paper making area this morning was TOILETS - and specifically Toto brand toilets. I have watched The View in the mornings off and on for years. I really like the hot topic bickering and even though I liked Rosie as the host the best, Whoopie is growing on me. "Toto is known for toilets," she asserted this morning. Damn right they are. And I know this brand! They are all over Japan. I never saw another brand there.
So what's so special about Toto toilets? First, you have to understand that Japanese toilets are just different. And, we have to distinguish between the squat toilets and the "western" ones. Toto makes both, but Whoopie & Co. were not talking up the squat ones. Although they can be messier, they do have merits. You'd just never see one in an American house. Wow that would be a real shocker! Anyhow, if you've never used a squat toilet before, you haven't lived.
Squat toilets are actually pretty cool, and if you are going to have to hover over a toilet seat anyway because it's "dirty" then I can tell you from personal experience that hovering over a squat toilet is much, much more comfortable. You have to pay attention though, because if you don't direct your stream just right, you'll pee on your shoes. There's a technique to aiming too - otherwise you'll splatter your shoes, ankles, legs - all over. Aiming is something all Japanese women and men around the world have learned, but we western women just have no clue how to pee properly.
That's a lesson I learned the hard way when I had to pee in the Sahara desert by the side of the road in southern Tunisia. No rest areas, and no cover. That wasn't the worst part. Only after I succeeded in making a mess of myself did Mr. Field Notes point out I should have peed on one of the scroungy looking "bushes." I don't know if I would have believed him though. Afterall, he was the one who tricked me into thinking the gizmo for keeping sand off the road was a freaking camel parking lot! GAH! I grew up seeing the snow versions of them! He had me; he really had me. He is a major tricky head. You have to watch out.
If you're in the desert, pee on a bush. But, if you're in Japan, pee on a Toto.
Platform shoes are a must in Japan. I think they were invented there.
This is the prettiest bathroom I saw in Japan. It was at a Buddhist temple; I forget the name. All I remember is that it's the one with the perfect bell. I love the green slippers lined up. They're there so that you can cover your feet when you use the bathroom. In temples, you have to remove your shoes so it's really handy they set these out for visitors. I made sure the ones I used were lined up again when I was done.
In temples, gardens, and any place frequented by tourists, there is a ratio of about 8 Japanese squat toilets to 1 western style one. If you insist on sitting down, you might have to wait. Oh, and another great thing about the squat toilets is that the flush lever is at the floor so you can flush easily with your foot and be out of there without touching anything gross.
Western style Toto toilets made in Japan are fancy. They make American toilets look like we take craps in the Stone Age. Heated seats. Built in bidet, with customizable spray intensity and water temperature settings. Sanitizing seat dryer. Full flush and half flush. The price tag? $3,369.00 (and that's on sale) See more here. These toilets are standard in Japanese hotels. Most people in Japan, however, have squat toilets at home. As far as I can tell, having one of these Toto "washlets" at home is a real status symbol. By the way, some of the Toto Washlets will raise and lower the seat for you.
Here's a *very typical* cartoonish Japanese TV commercial for the Toto Washlet. You gotta see it.
The Toto Washlets make my Australian toilet (at right) look like something from Roman times. The only special thing about it is it's full/half flush - and it's unfortunate brand name: Caroma. Seriously, they named their toilet c-aroma. It is a wonderful, environmentally responsible toilet. Even my dad is envious, and if you knew him, that says a lot!
One of my missions while in Japan was to find (and purchase) a pair of high heeled strappy black shoes. I wanted something fancy to wear to my SIL's wedding that would match my bridesmaid's dress. I never found the right shoes, but the experience of shopping for shoes in Japan is worth telling.
I had no idea what I was in for.
First of all, I was warned that gaijin feet are way too big to fit into shoes sold in Japan, so perhaps shopping seriously would be a lost cause. I wasn't concerned with size issues because I have tiny hands and feet for my size.
Most of the shoes sold in Japan are labeled S, M, L and LL. There's no messing around with half sizes.
Naturally, I saw plenty of women walking around in shoes that didn't fit.
In some cases, they really didn't fit - as in toes hanging way out of the shoes or an inch of slip at the heel.
As it turns out, my feet are a perfect size L. This may have been the only occasion I would ever require a size large.
I was really determined to find the right shoe.
After looking in several different stores of varying price point, I learned that I was really looking for the wrong shoe. See, there is an absolutely bewildering variety of heeled shoes available in Japan.
Here are some representative examples of shoes you can easily find in Japan > > >
As I found out, if you only want a plain black strappy heel you must have a serious lack of imagination.
Women don't do basic black in Japan, and, they don't do pantsuits either. So what you end up with is a fantastic place to shop for beautiful skirts and shoes. What you see here in terms of shoes is equally matched in skirts. Had I had a suitcase full of money to spend in Japan, I would have loved to trade it for a suitcase full of skirts and shoes.
Aside from fatigue, the other things you have to watch out for while shopping for shoes in Japan are price and quality. It is actually quite difficult to find a shoe priced at less than $100 that doesn't look gaudy or cheap, and believe me these photos mask the cheap materials used in most of the shoes. If you want quality shoes, you can find them in Japan, but it will cost you a pretty penny which is to say about 25,000 of them. I won't buy shoes that cost more than $100. In fact, the most I'd pay for shoes is probably closer to $75 and if I'm only going to wear the shoes once as I would have with the elusive black strappy heels, I'd prefer to pay about $25-30 at the most. It is possible to find shoes at that price in Japan, but they are invariably made not from leather but rather that terrible vinyl plastic that looks dreadful.
If you want to spend the big bucks to get the great shoes, you've got to bring cash. Visa, MC, Discover, AmEx - they are no good in Japan. Hardly any retailer accepts non-Japanese credit cards. When I say I could trade a suitcase full of money for shoes and skirts in Japan, I mean it literally!
I'm a papermaker, a newspaper editor, and have a PhD in primate social psychology — I guess you could say I am a paper expert! Toddler Field Notes and her two canine companions — both Newfoundlands — make frequent appearances here.
For a week in February, the northernmost island in Japan hosts a fantastic snow festival. The sculptures made of snow are a highlight. Some are enormous — even larger than this one. I haven't been to the festival yet myself, but Mr. Field Notes' dad has been a number of times. He shared this photo and I thought it was so neat I had to share it too. The detail in the leopard's spots and the orangutan's cheek pouches is awesome. It's estimated that 2 million people visit the festival. Here's a little insight into how the massive sculptures are constructed: how to make
.JPG)
