In The Water

For some reason I like this shot. It's a view around dusk from the bridge above Yanase River. Do you see the koi fish in the water?

See other wonderful reflections from around the world at Weekend Reflections hosted by James.

Hooter Alert

Taking a break from the autumn leaves...here is a cute little owl.

I can almost hear it saying, "HOO wants water?" Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Well Ridden

This is Higashiharai Park (東原井公園). It's a teeny weeny park with two benches, a sandbox, and two animals on springs.

When I passed by there was no one there. But, from the looks of the handles, it seems like a lot of kids have ridden on both the panda and koala.

I remember I really liked this when I was little, too. My sister and I used to bounce around like crazy. I'm surprised we didn't pull the thing out of the ground!

I imagine many kids made the same kind of memories here, too.



The Look

Is it just me or is this cat giving me the evil eye?

Ta-da!

And here you can see both of the animals from yesterday's post!

Show and Tell

Look what I found! This really cool statue was standing on the wall of one of the houses I passed by the other day.

See the elephant on the top photo?
Then look at the lion below...


What else do they have in common? Besides the fact that they're both beautifully made, of couse. Can you tell?

Reflections

This is the acquarium outside of the restaurant, Tora-fugu Tei, which specializes in Tiger Pufferfish dishes. You can see the buildings on the other side of the street reflecting off the glass!

Although the pufferfish is known to be poisonous, it can be edible when prepared properly, and is a very popular cuisine here in Japan. I don't eat fish so I just watch them swim around from the street.

Have you ever seen a pufferfish before? They actually have a very cute face!


Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

Pretty Princess

Isn't this the sweetest dog you've ever seen?

I forgot her name but she was the one who welcomed me into Chocolate Cosmos with an exuberant bark. She's definately the princess of the shop!

Colorful Carps

Another Children's Day tradition is the 'Koinobori (鯉のぼり),' which translates to carp kite.

A carp kite usually has a couple of colorful cloth carps strung onto a long bar that is decorated out a window. This is a tradition that started sometime in the Edo Era. It is based on a legend in China, where a carp swam up a river against strong currents and became a dragon. So like the carp in the legend, the people started this tradition in hopes that their children to be healthy and grow up to prosper.

The miniature Koinobori in the photos were taken at Midoricho Chuo Park in Shin Tokorozawa. There were over 300 of the little carps above the side path.


The little kids were singing a traditional Koinobori song while they walked along the path. So lyrics start out with 'Yane yori takai, Koinobori! (屋根より高い鯉のぼり)' which translates to something like, 'Carp Kites, higher than the rooftops.'

You can hear the whole song here:

I don't know if these Koinobori were higher than the rooftops, but they were great to look at, softly swimming with the wind!

My Little Love Affair

I found out this last year that I adore giraffes. With a passion. It came out of nowhere and just swept me off my feet one day. And I was hooked.

But the thing is, my apartment is in no way decorated to fit a giraffe. Not even a giraffe calendar or a small giraffe shaped candle. Believe me, I've tried!

When I spotted these two adorable giraffes at an interior shop, I couldn't help letting out a big shout and rushing over to cuddle! They were so adorable!

But alas, it wasn't meant to be. And so after the cuddling and a couple of minutes of just gazing into each others eyes, sighing over the unfairness of it all...I reluctantly walked away.


But secretly this love affair still continues...

Rudolph Lit Up

One of the decorations at Parco. A reindeer lit up to the full.

The White Fox

Another shot of the Sakainari Shrine.

There are many Inari Shrines in Japan and most of them are protected by the white fox. They are messengers for the Inari God.

This white fox has a couple of pups with her. Some of the statues at other shrines are of very fierce looking foxes, but this one seems to actually be smiling. I wonder why.

She is standing on the left side of the walkway that leads to the shrine.

Watch Cat

Tokorozawa isn't a rough neighborhood at all. But this cat seemed to be looking out for the car. Or maybe the cat was just waiting for someone.

It was definately watching out for someone or something. Sweet cat.