Some people it seems may well get decidedly fuller stockings than they could have ever dared hope for this coming Christmas.
Archives for December 2009
Frustrating Japanese food?
There’s no doubting that dango are delicious, but for people doing the preparing, they can be decidedly difficult,
as well as demanding,
to dole out.
Japanese cat coercion?
The relatively recent Japanese practice of overly pampering pets with the likes of fancy food and finery is pretty much par for the course these days, but whether the trend will also come to include the carrying of cats is currently open to question.
However, considering the ferocious looking nature of the feline in the photo, in this case at least, such indulgence may well have been due to the owner being forced, rather than something he actually felt like doing.
Bonsai banzai
The patience and perseverance required to produce, and more specifically maintain, a bonsai must be absolutely phenomenal — regardless of whether the tree in question is a genuine work of wonder or a rather more modest midget.
And yet for all their unquestionable beauty, perhaps most fascinating of all is that despite a lifetime’s work, it’s more than likely that the person who initially set out with a mere specimen won’t be around to see their creation bear fruit.
Quite literally.
Abandoned volcano museum #2: Colour
The highlights of haikyo/urban exploration seem to vary depending on the person, meaning that for some it’s purely for the pleasure of exploration and the buildings themselves, whereas others are far more interested in the detritus and the details left behind. And for me at least, it’s definitely the latter that is key — little pieces of information that give hints about the lives of the people who once worked, or better still lived, there. Items that offer the briefest snippet of the past — a moment captured in time almost.
And yet that said, the Mt. Asama Volcano Museum is the first haikyo I’ve visited that was actually more interesting on the outside; its shape and precarious position on the side of a mountain making it a sight that is simultaneously both sad and stunning.
More pictures of which — in black and white — can be seen here in Part 1.
But that’s not to say there were no signs of past life in the place, it’s just that on the whole they weren’t especially personal that’s all. Except this perhaps somewhat tellingly full box of business cards — still patiently waiting for a taker since the museum closed its doors sometime in 1993.
Otherwise it was mostly indicators of the work that went on there, whether it was science-based study,
or catering to the customers culinary needs.
And maybe also their health, should they have been struck down with a bug.
Possibly even a bird.
Plus, as it was open back in the day when smoking was practically a prerequisite rather than something to be merely put up with, there were signs of where some people smoked their last cigarette on the premises.
Or off the premises, in more of a nod towards the ‘manners’ that pervade today.
And yet just like almost all haikyo, the museum conjured up a few mysteries, this time due to its unfathomable possession of a diverse array of dead animals. Some of which were stuffed.
Whereas others were simply stuffed into jars.
Which are now left alone with nobody to look at them.
Should they have ever wanted to in the first place.