Home: Post-holiday

 

  Each year when we put up the Christmas tree and the holiday decorations, the house feels so cozy and warm. With parties and plenty of egg nog and cookies, as well as all the lights and busyness of December, it seems like there isn't time to notice the colder temperatures and longer nights. A few days into January though, and the tree starts to feel claustrophobic and the decorations begin to get on my nerves. Putting away Christmas certainly isn't as much fun as getting all the decor out, but the clean, open feel to the house is always welcome. With less things surrounding us the house feels lighter and airier, and much more tidy. Generally, I like to purchase white flowers in January to ease the transition. These white roses have graced our mantle this week and have definitely brightened up the mid-winter days.

Hydrangeas アジサイ

Tsuyu, or rainy season, is approaching its end (I hope!). The humidity can be unbearable, and the consecutive days of heavy rain are arduous, especially when we walk everywhere, and depend on sunny days to dry our laundry. Hydrangeas are a symbol of tsuyu, and one of the things that helps to keep spirits up in the face of difficult weather. There are seemingly endless varieties of the flowers here, and in amazingly vibrant colors. A few weeks ago we walked through the hydrangeas at Asukayama Park, taking in their beauty while a light rain fell.

Roses バラ

This week it seems that roses are blooming everywhere in Kita-ku. The streetcar even has a specially decorated rose car for the season. These are just a few of those that we pass on our way to little man's school. The scent is lovely, but in many places outdone by the concurrently blooming jasmine flowers. Mostly it is their visual qualities that make the roses so appealing, and that they are particularly abundant in the volcanic soil and humid climate of Tokyo.

Kamakura 鎌倉

My dad came to visit Japan! It's been two weeks now since he and my mom returned to the U.S., but I have a few great travel posts from the fam's visit to share. It was my father's first visit to Japan, so we hit up a bunch of the big sites, and did a bit of traveling. First up, Kamakura.

On our way to Tsurugaoka Hachiman Jingu.

The sakura were just blooming out during our visit, but a few flowers were still around on the street leading up to the Hachiman Jingu. After a quick tempura rice bowl lunch, we headed into the shrine itself. It was great to visit Kamakura after being away for four years; I have many happy memories of visiting the city when we lived in Yokohama, so a return was definitely in order.

The guys near the entrance to the shrine.

 

Candied grapes as sampled by little man.

The shrine is nearly one thousand years old, and until March of 2010 had a huge thousand year old ginkgo tree standing in front of it. We had visited the shrine only a few days before the tree fell, and I can remember the strong winds of the storm rattling our windows in Yokohama all night. I also recall how shocked I was to learn that the tree had fallen, and how glad I was that I had the chance to see it. The stump of the tree is still there, and is visible in the bottom left corner of the photo below. There are shoots growing around it, so life goes on, but it is also a potent reminder of the loss of what once was a truly magnificent tree.

 

Ema at the shrine. People write their wish on the ema and leave it at the shrine.

 

Sakura on the shrine grounds.

 

One of two weddings we saw at the shrine.

When we left the shrine, we headed back to Kamakura Station with a brief stop for ice cream along the way (sweet potato for me, vanilla for the fam). By this point the day had turned from a sunny one to a downpour, but we soldiered on. We took the Enoshima Dentetsu, an adorable little old railway, over to Hasedera to view the sites there, including Hasedera and the Daibutsu (great Buddha) at Kotokuin.

 

Enoshima dentetsu.

 

It stopped raining for long enough to take this photo.

 

Sakura daibutsu money shot!

Dating from the 13th century, the daibutsu is over 35 feet high. Visitors can go inside of it, which little dude thought was amazing. At first he asked where the bones of the Buddha were, and then moved on to comparing it to a hollow chocolate bunny. There truly is nothing quite like the art historical analysis of a four year old.

 

Our next stop was Hasedera, and it really started to rain hard on the short walk between temples. By this time we all had wet socks and were feeling a chill, but powered through for one more temple.

Rain, rain, rain.

 One of little dude's highlights from the day was the cave at Hasedera, or the Benten-kutsu Cave.

 

Entering the cave. 

 

Benzaiten and her biwa, carved into the cave walls.

 

Hundreds of tiny Benzaiten in one of the caves. Visitors can purchase the mini statues to wish for good fortune.

 

Flowers at Hasedera.

 

The Kannon hall. Inside are three 30 foot high sculptures. We spent some time lighting candles inside and "making wishes."

 

Outside the Kannon hall.

 

At this point in our rainy adventure my feet may have been damp and near frozen, but the rain did make everything look quite beautiful!

 

Jizo at Hasedera.

 

More Jizo.

 

Back in the cave for another visit. Seriously, it was the best part. This photo also shows how many of the tiny Benzaiten there were.

 

More flowers!

At this point in the afternoon the rain began to clear up. We made a brief refreshment stop and walked over to the nearby beach to gaze out at Sagami Bay.

 

Sandy.

 

Entranced by the waves.

 

The fam on the beach!

 

 

A parting shot of the Enoshima Dentetsu on our way back home.

花 Flowers

 

A home that we pass in the evening.

Being a megacity, Tokyo has a reputation for being a hyper-built environment. This is definitely true in some parts of the city- there are office complexes that seem like something out of the Jetsons, all concrete, glass, and steel, with no soil in sight- and likely it is more true for the touristed parts of the urban core (places like Shibuya or Shinjuku, for example). However, in a regular neighborhood such as the one I live in, the amount of things in bloom on a weekly basis is astounding. Sometimes it seems that every one of the hundreds of houses and business we pass are growing a multitude of potted plants on their steps. All through the winter there were pansies and camellias, and now that spring is in full bloom the flowers on my daily commute are ever more lovely. All of these photos are from the 10 minute walk that I take to get little man to school and myself to the train station. It's probably less than a half mile total, and this is just a sampling of the many botanicals that we see.

 

 

Business steps loaded with flora.

 

 

On the way to little dude's school.

 

 

All the wisteria! This house smells amazing.

 

 

A restaurant down the street from our apartment.

 

 

In front of a random house. I love that the plants are allowed to grow. Isn't a living thing better than chemical weedkiller? I think so.

 

 

Azaleas along the major street near our apartment.

 

 

Neighborhood coffee shop.

 

 

Even the bus stop has a small garden.

 

 

A home on the way to the train station.

 

 

Bushes near the train tracks.

 

 

This amazing thing!

 

 

This is about 1/4 of the pots in front of one of the houses we pass on the way to little man's school. Seriously amazing.