Koinobori
Drink and drive safely
Morning pollen
"Well-groomed" trees
Catch can?
"Safety First"
Reaching for the sky
Scarecrow
Here are a few photos I took around the neighborhood, with commentary about a select few. I used our Sony Cybershot 77 to take these pictures - a few are out of focus but I posted them anyway.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Japanese customs - the koinobori (pronounced koy-noh-boh-ree) is a large carp-shaped streamer that families fly in front of their homes to honor their male children on May 5th holiday, Children's Day - formerly known as Boy's Day. To learn more about the koinobori, visit this website: www.urban.ne.jp/home/higa/english/cul/carp/carp.html.
"Drink and drive safely" - the Japanese erect small shrines such as this for a variety of reasons. This one was placed near a dangerous curve to grant "safe travels" to those driving through. What caught my eye is that someone used an empty beer can as a vase for the flowers! And what Pooh has to do with safe driving escapes me...any suggestions?
Same goes for "Catch can?" I can't figure out what in the world this thing might be used for.
Over the years, I've seen some truly amazing architectural wonders here in Japan. Not only "wow, how did they do that?" things, but also a few "holy crap, are they allowed to do that?" head-scratchers as I frequently saw in Korea. This guy built his deck right to the very edge of the street, so I'm surprised that nobody has driven by at night and ripped into it. And yes, that's a two-lane road - much wider than some I've seen.
Early one Saturday morning I was out running and saw someone standing just behind a tree, with their back to me, looking over their small garden on the side of the road. Well, as I ran by I gasped a quick "good morning" and kept going. As I continued, I began to make excuses for their lack of response - maybe I didn't speak loud enough, maybe they were hard of hearing, or maybe just a little bit eccentric, what with the construction helmet and all. Well, I felt like the dummy when I was out taking pictures and saw that the "person" had never moved! The sad thing is that people really do dress like this when gardening here!!
Get bent!
Spring buds
Bamboo fence
Pot with a view
Gazebo
Marvels of home construction
Loaded
Tatami recycling