First week in Shibaura

First week in Shibaura

Chocolate tales

My purchase of what I thought was bran flakes turned out to be chocolate flavour cornflakes. Yuk. I like chocolate but not chocolate flavoured cereal. I treated myself to a bag of chocolate & now I realise why most Japanese are slim! The bars are tiny, with 18 – 23 calories per ‘bar’

These stairs at our local railway station put those tiny bars into perspective; according to this walking up 54 steps uses up just 5.4 calories. So that is walking up this flight 4 times to counteract one miniscule bar!

Seijin Shiki (Coming of Age Day)

We had a public holiday on Monday to celebrate all those who have become aged 20 years old and thus reached adulthood. This means that they can now drink, smoke, visit hostess bars, gamble and drive; the voting age was reduced to 18 a few years ago.

We only became aware of the significance of the day when we saw some small groups of women wearing some fabulous kimonos, but the day starts off with ceremonies in city ward offices. The girls wear traditional Japanese dress but the lads usually wear a regular suit. I will aim to stand outside a ward office next year so that I can enjoy the spectacle.

We came across these young ladies when we were out shopping

Meeting Up

Today was amazing …. I met up with Jeremy, a family friend, whom we first met when we lived across the road from his family in Poulton-le-Fylde 30 years ago and he was a teenager. He has lived in Tokyo for many years so is a wonderful source of information.

It made me realise that apart from business dealings (relocator, sellers of furniture & the guy who moved the furniture), Jeremy is the only person other than Geoff with whom I have been able to have a face to face conversation. It was so lovely to be able to talk about families as well as someone to ask lots of questions about life in Japan.

I dragged the poor guy into a chemists to help me find contact lens solution and some tablets for joint care.

Yanaka Cemetery

Jeremy & I walked around Yanaka Cemetery, one of the oldest in Tokyo, and one that survived intact during the war. It covers 25 acres and is famous for having its own koban (police station). I loved the way new graves are squeezed between the ancient so that it evolves with time.

  • A war memorial
  • The grave of a Sumo wrestler
  • traditional graves
  • a modern solution to limited space

Amusing photos ..

  • Not a great product name
  • …. but I like this!

I saw this aisle sign in a local supermarket …. a wizened Welsh farmer? A farmer with a dry sense of humour? Or maybe a bale of hay. Disappointedly this aisle contained dried pulses and dried fish!

6 thoughts on “First week in Shibaura”

  1. Love the Creap and the dry agricultural matter Avril. That would get some laughs back here I suspect! Thanks for all the stories and the pictures of life in Japan you’re painting. Oh, to be able to wear a beautiful kimono like those.! Xx

    1. Looking at Creap brought out the 14 year old in me … and the agricultural dry matter made me think of various farmers I know! xx

    1. I agree … chick peas etc were a let down! I love cemeteries too plus temples and shrines; enough here to keep me occupied for a whole.

  3. Love the kimonos! Avril it’s lovely to read about your adventures. So glad you got to meet up with a fellow human being.💕 Still researching for you and found this: https://cwaj.org/ – they have hiking, crafting groups etc! Maybe check them out?

    1. Thanks for the link – it looks interesting. I’m sure that I will be able to meet people as soon as Covid fears reduce; we are currently in a state of emergency. In the meanwhile I am lucky that I can get get out and about. Fabulous walking weather too. xx

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