i prefer japanese plum blossoms...

...we all love cherry blossoms...of course...and they are eagerly awaited now...starbucks have even introduced 2 drinks dedicated to them!!!

but...i prefer these plum blossoms...much more minimal with no leaves interrupting the branches and blossoms

i came across these in someone's garden in shimo-ochiai...how lucky they are to have a beautiful plum tree

hotplate cooking...okonomiyaki...a savoury pancake cooked before your very eyes...

a thin crepe is cooked on a hotplate

then it is piled high with cabbage

chopped spring onion and pink ginger

and meat and fish if you eat that kind of stuff

more stuff is piled on

these are tempura bits

another crepe is cooked mixed with an egg and put on top

served with brown sauce, mayo, sprinkled seaweed
 and sesame seeds

our chef

here she is making a crepe roll filled with cheese

usually there is also fish in it

but for me it was left out

she also cooked some naga-imo

this is a kind of sticky potato

japanese believe sticky food is very good for us

i can't think of sticky food in our cuisine?

(moriyoshi...roppongi)

after the snow this morning...the sunshine

i just heard on the radio that it's snowing...and yes it is!!!

i hadn't even looked out of the window today!!!

this is...nothing...but it takes 12 strokes!!!

my freestyle of the kanji for nothing (mu)

i have broken many writing rules here...

...but my teacher said it is ok to be free!!!

taking a break...

...gardeners in the park next to me yesterday

wearing a towel on the head is very common for workmen here!!!

while japanese men are working...their wives are artists!!!

ikebana is the art of flower arranging with the emphasis on line, form and shape using branches, leaves, stems as well as the flowers themselves..the containers are also an important element

japanese women often take up ikebana before marriage and some continue afterwards to go up the ladder and become teachers and artists

you can see the beautiful lines on these

there is a kind of triangle...heaven, earth and man

stunning

 lovely use of leaves

this says spring to me

more amazing use of leaves...sigh!!!

my personal favourite

pushing all the boundaries of ikebana rules

traditionalists argue whether is this ikebana

interesting materials

a huge high-impact installation-type

technically very difficult!!!

visually breath-taking

(sogetsu school's north branch's exhibition kita-senju...
...thanks for the ticket toshiko)

when i do or see ikebana i know why i love japan!!!

note: men do ikebana too but it is unusual!!!

kanji are little pictograms essential in the japanese writing system...

...for some of them it is quite easy to see the meaning and where the original picture came from and its change into the current pictogram...

...it actually is very interesting...tho challenging!!!

this is my kanji teacher...

...souta is 6 and way ahead of me!!!

i got valentine's chocolates...

...from  a very cute little rabbit!!!

thanks rio!!!

school uniforms...

isetan dept store...shinjuku

cute (kawai) is highly desired here...

note the inward pointing feet, the cocked head, use of pink and coy expressions...of course this is just one of many looks...but it is very well acted out!!!

i know i keep going on about...

...how safe it is here...but can you imagine a shop with newspapers and umbrellas outside...and nobody takes them???

today is...

...knit day!!!

founded in 1994 by the japan knitting industry association...

the date (feb/10) was chosen because 2 (ni) and 10 (to)

make nito = knit!!!

simple really, isn't it!!!

shibuya...views from a building on dogenzaka

folded ends of toilet paper!!!

i love it when you go into a public toilet and the ends of the paper are ready for you to pull...like these..to me it is the heighth of good manners, elegance and customer service...some people also do it in their homes...it is something i am gonna do in england!!!

(roppongi hills...west walk)

calligraphy lessons = this...

and this...

and these...

convenience store entrance!!!

nice little independent coffee shop in shimokita...

very cosy

nice tiles

more nice tiles

cheese toastie and cafe au lait

do you know the difference between 

cafe au lait and caffe latte???

nice ad, right???

(shimokita)

it was raining yesterday in shibuya...

this is the crossing that features in the fab film 'lost in translation'...you know when she is looking up at all the screens all emitting different images and sounds...you can see 4 screens here