Hachioji Summer Festival Part 2

Ladypower

What's the word for a portion bigger than a dollop? That's how much butter Kuniko likes on her potatoes.

Holding something in your outstretched hand for long periods of time is an ancient Japanese torture technique.

I love this couple.

I'd never seen a two seated Jazzy until now. 

As far as street food goes, this Okonomiyaki was tops. 

Illuminated parade wagons at dusk. 

Kuniko and I at the end of the night. 

Hachioji Summer Festival Part 1

Kuniko and I went to the Hachioji Summer Festival last weekend. Fantastic people watching opportunity. I took a lot of photos of other festival goers. These are my favorites.

They had a never-ending parade of shrines, dancers, musicians, etc. I really liked how enthusiastic this fellow was.

Japanese kids are adorable. 

An excellent Japanese beard.

Old Japanese men are my favorite subjects to photograph.

It's mandatory to raise the peace sign in Japan when posing for a picture. 

This picture makes me laugh.

This is the one time of year when pants are optional. 

Japanese Apartment: Part 4

I figured it was time I wrapped this series up. So without further ado, here is the rest of my tiny Japanese apartment.

Looking through my front door. I've had to devote much of the entryway to trash separation. It rules your life in Japan. This is also the area where you leave your shoes before coming inside. That's my mailbox on the left. 

In the doorway. Bathroom straight ahead. Main room around the corner to the right.

My little kitchen area to the right of the fridge and microwave. 

View from the main room 

And from the bathroom. I was fortunate to find a unit of this style with cupboard space above, in addition to below. 

My microwave buttons. I know that red means go and silver means stop. Beyond that, I'm clueless. I know it has the ability to work like a convection oven, but I'll need some help before attempting that.

My bathroom. These are installed as a complete unit: toilet, sink, bath. It's small but functional. I've definitely seen worse as far as bathrooms go.

Shower. High on my list of amenities I wanted in my apartment was the ability to stand while I shower. This is not a given in Japan. Not by a long shot. I'm very happy with my shower. As an added bonus, my heating unit has a standby feature, which means I don't have to heat up the water each time I want to use it. It's always ready to go.

A bath option that I have no interest in.

So that's the end of the tour. This is what 30,000 Yen a month gets you in the Hachioji area.

Pathway Home

There are several paths that intersect around my apartment. I'm on them almost everyday. I refer to the upper path and lower path a lot in my journal.

This is the "upper path", which I take to my grocery store, Gourmet City. It also leads to the train station. The stairs to the right lead to the "lower path" and my apartment.

Looking down the stairs to the lower path, and up from there, you can see my beige door. (top middle)

Staircase flowers

Looking right on the lower path. I go this way to reach the river trail on my runs.

My building. I'm on the second floor in the back. Cyber stalkers, come say hi!

That's my door straight ahead. My filthy smoking neighbor is to the right.

I'm obsessed with this bucket garden on the upper path.

The Imperial Mausoleum

After walking through Ryo-Nan Park, I went through the nearby Imperial Mausoleum, which houses the remains of the Taishō and Shōwa emperors.

Pretty gravel roads wind their way to the grave sites

More blossoms

In Bloom

According to an old Japanese gentleman I spoke to last night, there's about a two week window for prime blossom viewing. When they explode onto the scene, full of life and color, before falling and returning to the dust. He said the Japanese draw comparisons between the blossoms and our own lives. The brief lifespan of the floral spectacle is part of the appeal. These past two weeks are like an unspoken holiday, where it would be almost criminal not to take in their splendor at least once.

I've enjoyed them myself nearly everyday, as the Takao area is ground zero for blossom stalkers. The other day I ventured over to Ryo-Nan Park, along the river trail, where it's a virtual orgy of petal and stamen related activity. Here, let me draw you a map.

If you click on the above image, you can see a plethora of locations I have mentioned in my journal, starting with the location of my apartment at the crossroads of two paths. South of me is the train station and Gourmet City, where I do my grocery shopping. Northwest is the beguiling Tama Forest, with its fortress like walls preventing me from accessing its manicured trails. I've failed on two attempts, but I will get inside you.

Directly north is the Musashi Cemetery, where they've laid up some dead emperors. I went there after Ryo-Nan, but those pictures will be in the next post. To the northeast is the start of the rive trail and Ryo-Nan Park. That's where I took the photos contained in this post.

Blooming trees along the river path

Looking back over the bridge from the entrance to the park

I should mention that people dress up for the blossom watching occasion. Not me. Classy Japanese people.

The major thoroughfare through the park. Photos can't do it justice.

Nobody sits or lays directly on the ground. A snooze in the park requires a tarp and removal of the shoes.

A friendly game of stick ball

Japanese Picnic. Old people know how to dress here.