Spring sprung today

After yesterday’s quiet day, we began today in reflective mood.  Seeing the blossom whilst shopping in Bath brought a haiku to mind:

Snipped, I see, from the Japan Times in April 1994 and interpreted in a melancholic way, I must say that our spirits were rather more lifted by those blossoms set against that bright blue sky and we spent a happy morning in the sunshine.

Yesterday’s post brought two good things.  Firstly, a box of bits and pieces for the Mouse Paper Scissors class I’m taking which should have arrived weeks ago but seems to have been held to ransom by the UK Customs.  Oh well, better late than never (and yes, I had to pay…)

Then, this dear little packet flew from Australia in extra quick time and landed on my mat shortly afterwards.  Justine, of Once Upon a Fold is donating the proceeds from this little pack of Tokyo cards to the Japan Appeal and I couldn’t resist supporting her by buying a pack.  The package, beautifully wrapped (easy to tell that this was from someone who enjoys paper!) came with a  little extra card to create a Thank You card and was wrapped in gorgeous Japanese woodblock print paper too.

Delightful.

Oh, I didn’t mention the yummy lunch we enjoyed at Jamies in Bath, did I?  Antipasti with posh chips (parmesan and truffle oil), delicious bread and the softest mozzarella cheese. 

What a lovely day.

Tomorrow

I will be quiet.

It’s not much, but every little helps.

For Japan With Love has a direct link on the website to the US fundraising page for ShelterBox.  (The UK page may be found here)  ShelterBox was one of THE first organizations asked by Japan to help and were on hand on the Saturday after the quake.  Each large, green ShelterBox is tailored to a disaster but typically contains a disaster relief tent for an extended family, blankets, water storage and purification equipment, cooking utensils, a stove, a basic tool kit, a children’s activity pack and other vital items.

Please check it out and whatever you can contribute will be so appreciated.  UK taxpayers can giftaid their donation too.

The Thought

We’ve always credited Edward with the original Thought, though last weekend in Japan, he denied all claims to it.  Regardless of who was the first one of us to think it and to express it out loud, at some point during one of our trips, one or other of us will undoubtedly come up with it.

The Thought.

We think that the first time it was expressed, was on a Star Ferry in Hong Kong, sometime in the early 1990s (when the above photo was taken). 

What is The Thought, then?

It’s the momentary realisation that, wherever we are in the world, whatever is happening goes on day in day out, regardless of our presence.

Well, of course it does.  But somehow, sitting on a small green and white ferry all those miles away from home, it becomes quite a significant moment.

Think of it this way.  Right now, at this moment, at Zurich Hauptbahnhof, a train will just be leaving, right on time and with a complement of passengers going about their business like any other late winter Sunday.

At the same time, people will be riding their motorbikes along the busy road in Hanoi, unaware that someone thousands of miles away is thinking of them right now.

And that’s the power of The Thought.  At all times of day and night, someone, somewhere is riding a subway, following the routine of their daily lives. 

Of course, we don’t have to be thousands of miles away from home to think it.

This morning, in the shower, I had The Thought.  It began with thinking that it’s Sunday and the youngsters will be gathering in Harajuku, getting dressed up and posing for their photographs.

But it soon moved on to thinking about those people in Christchurch, just going to bed after another heartbreaking day, trying to get their lives back together after the dreadful events of last week.  I looked out my photo album from our visit to Christchurch in 1991 because we’ve been trying to remember the name of the hotel in which we stayed – Noahs .  I read the story of the day we spent driving out to Lyttleton and Scarborough and recalled what a beautiful part of the world it is.

And then, of course, I thought about last February and our fantastic trip to Libya.  Throughout the last week, we’ve thought about Mohammed, our charming guide, wondering how he and his family are faring.  I thought about the delightful people we met, the warm welcomes and the kindnesses shown to us and hope all will be well.

So that’s The Thought.  A powerful reminder of what a small and insignificant role we each play in the Grand Scheme of Things and yet, who knows?  Someone, somewhere could well be thinking of you at this very minute.  Not only that, but whatever today might bring, we are not alone.

Far from it.

Furoshiki

Last time we were in Japan, I blogged about the over use of wrapping.  Every shop I visited wrapped things several times, often first in paper and then  into a plastic bag.  this time, we noticed a real change in this respect.  Not only were most bags made of paper rather than heavy duty plastic, existing bags were reopened to accommodate further purchases – something I tried hard to encourage on our last visit, with little success.

Of course, the Japanese have long made use of furoshiki, or wrapping cloths, and we have seen many of these on sale too.  But in the Edo-Tokyo Museum, I spotted these rings for the first time.

Used as handles when tied into a furoshiki, a very pleasing bag was created and two such bags were hanging on display there.

I took a long hard look to work out how it had been done.  As far as I could see, the corners were tied into each ring with a knot.  I made a quick sketch as an aide memoire before buying a pair of rings and a furoshiki for m-i-l’s birthday and just the rings for myself (having bought a few pieces of eminently suitable fabric the previous day)

But simple is deceptive and fearful that I’d forget how it was done, I called my hero over to work it out too, thinking that two brains are better than one when it comes to remembering details.

I took photographs and thought it was clearer with the brighter, lighter fabric than that dark navy blue.

For heavens sake, this was a simple process.

Until this afternoon, when I unpacked the rings and gave it a try.  Could I remember how it was done?  did those photographs make it any easier?

What a good job the method of tying it up was printed on the reverse side of the ring package!

So clever, so stylish, so practical.  One square of fabric, at least 70cm wide and two five inch rings and Bob’s your Uncle.

I didn’t even have to trouble my Hero, who was rather impressed, I think.

Ask nicely…

When I was small, a phrase often to be heard coming from my Mum’s lips was “Ask nicely, then”.  Sure enough, I soon discovered that a polite request usually leads to a more successful outcome than a more outspoken demand.  Good life lesson learned, I think.

The Japanese have their own way of interpreting this and since we can’t read the words, we rely all the more on the pictures.

Characterisation is key and one of my “collections” this trip, was of hazard notices and warning signs on building sites and places where some kind of instruction was needed.

People we’ve come across in Japan have a gentle way of slightly bending forward with an open arm like this, to convey a “watch your step” warning.  I’ve not been aware of it in other parts of the world but I think it’s a really effective gesture and somehow conveys a welcome and a “be careful” at the same time.

Even the most officious certificate includes friendly cartoon characters.  I love to work out the visual clues which create the cute and friendly – placement of the eyes and body proportions is often key.  I find myself referring to this when I’m judging soft toys in village shows – all too often, the bear’s eyes are too high, too far apart and/or too small and for the sake of a half inch, the personality is lost.

This notice is clearly a straightforward “no” to something or other, but the slight smile gets the message across in a pleasant manner, don’t you think?

In the Edo Museum, a place full of school parties and families, the cute cat character was used to convey information and instruction. 

“Thank you for waiting here”.  We notice plenty of positive reinforcement for good behaviour!

This way please!

On this visit, we all felt that the traditional bow is on the decline and generally speaking, the people we came across were more casual in their welcome.  However, there are still formal situations where a courteous bow was the greeting, an example being on a station sign like this.

Finally, apologies for this terrible photograph of the only one of this sign I saw.  It’s on the train and the two warnings shown made me smile, even though there are no cute characters to be seen.  The left hand side issues a warning about running for the train, because “it’s embarrassing to get caught in the doors”.  My favourite is the right hand side, though.

A charming way of saying “no smoking” don’t you think?