Kicks

So I've been pretty down on Japan lately (it's winter, I miss America, etc.) but I went out shopping the other day and realized I have to give credit for one thing.

This country has amazing shoes.

I really put some effort into identifying exactly what it is about Japanese shoes that are different from American shoes.  I came up with the following:

1. More and better detailing.
2. More colorful.
3. Better variety specifically within one style instead of just a few color variations you will see at least a half dozen different variations in color, detailing, texture, fabric etc.
4. The selection is consistently good, not just at certain times of the year.

The first time I was ever awed by a Japanese shoe display it was this one.....

this photo is over a year old

On my most recent shopping trip I took these photos:

And you'll notice these are just casual shoes.  That's what I look at because it's what I'm most likely to buy.  I appreciate heels (and goodness knows the Japanese girls do) but tend to not just wear them around for funsies.  The dress shoe selection is equally, if not more, impressive.

So when we leave (what, you thought I was going to stay forever for the shoes? don't think so....even I don't love them that much.) I will probably be buying up a lot of these pretties and bringing them home with me.  Because while I've bought shoes here they've mostly been kinda plain and functional---I haven't gotten any of these fancy ones yet.  I honestly don't know how you would pick.  I could spend weeks planning outfits for these shoes.  And these days my outfit planning time is lean and would be largely a waste.

But when we come back to the US and you see me.....be sure and check out my feet. :D

The Trip That Wasn't

This is a long holiday weekend here so we decided to take the bullet train to Osaka.  But first we planned to spend the night in the Tokyo Station Hotel, which I first mentioned here.

They've finished the construction on the hotel and it is rather swanky.  We had wanted to order Domino's Pizza delivery for dinner (we can only get it in Tokyo and it's the only real American pizza we can get over here period) but once we got there we decided we would feel like a couple of teenage rednecks having a pizza delivery.  Plus it was one of those places where they would've left it at the front desk and I already felt like the front desk staff was giving us the stink-eye.

At any rate, here are some more photos (courtesy Chad).  No, I didn't get any of our room.

completed station & hotel

very incongruous to the left

the dome in the main part of the station

more dome

So...how was Osaka, you ask?  Well, I don't know.  We never made it that far.  Chad and I smacked head-long into the realization that we can no longer travel as we used to when we were awake between 11pm and 3am trying to convince Cora-chan that she could sleep in a strange place. 

Yes, I know we're fools.

For the record, after we returned from the US holiday trip, I launched a sleep-training regimen with her that has been wonderfully successful.  She now naps and sleeps exclusively in her crib (in her room) and is capable of both putting herself to sleep and keeping herself that way throughout the night (with one scheduled feeding -- for the moment).  It's freed up a lot of my time that previously was spent rocking and soothing and keeps us from tiptoeing around the house trying not to make any noise while she naps.  I consider it one of my greatest achievements.

Or rather I considered it a great achievement until I realized that she can't keep herself asleep anywhere else yet.  Add that to the fact that we took a late train and didn't get to the hotel until just after bedtime.  At which point Cora was absolutely wild-eyed with all the disruption to our normal routine.

I wish I had gotten some photos of our room.  It had lovely high ceilings that echoed nicely when she let loose her newly acquired banshee shriek.  And there was a beautiful chandelier over our bed that I'm sure she would've been swinging from were she able.

So by 4am we were discussing packing it in and heading home which while boring, is a place where everyone is guaranteed to be well-rested.  Also, for the record, I would've been willing to stick it out and go on to Osaka and be sleep-deprived and potentially miserable for three days but Chad was a little more gobsmacked than I was and wanted to beat a hasty retreat and regroup.

Next time (oh yes, there will be a next time --we're beaten but not broken) we are going to try just staying in a Tokyo hotel for a night with some better scheduling and a new plan.  (In case you're wondering I did have sense enough to take as many "sleep association" things as possible and try to implement the same routine as at home.....it did not help at all whatsoever).

But we will not be staying at the Tokyo Station Hotel.  It was beautiful and I would recommend it.....just not if you are traveling with kids.

Yes, I know we're fools. 

May They Rest In Peace

So here's a post I've wanted to do for a while, but I shied away from it because it seems a little....morbid.  Also, I hesitated to get the photos necessary because it seemed....disrespectful and....morbid.  But as I'm struggling for topics these days I decided to go ahead.  Also I read this very interesting article that cleared up a lot of the questions I had about the topic.

So please excuse any of this post that may be in poor taste because I think many of you will find it very interesting.

So what am I talking about? 

Cemeteries. 

There are a lot of cemeteries around and about, including several in our neighborhood.  They are different from American cemeteries, namely in that no one is actually buried in them.  Here, almost everyone is cremated.  But relatives will put up little shrines that look similar to headstones.  I believe most of these are neighborhood, or possibly family cemeteries.  As with many American cemeteries, some stones are new, and some are very old.

a cemetery near our house

You often see flowers around the stones and sometimes you even see drinks, or in the case of the one below, a little tray of food bowls.  And a tray to burn incense.


see the bowls on the ground, bottom right

One of the most interesting things (to me, at least) is how often you see beer cans placed at the stones.  I can only presume it's put there because the dearly departed really enjoyed a good brewski.  I really don't think it's vandalism.  It seems very deliberate. 




note the beer cans

 As I said, some of the stones are very old and little more than rocks but the newer, elaborate graves actually have a compartment underneath to store the ashes.  I also noticed wooden boards (they look like skis with writing on them) at a lot of the graves but I have no idea what those are.  My theory is, that they serve as family information for a collection of graves that may not have inscriptions in the stones, as you see in the photo below.

skis are down at the end

old stones collected by themselves

my assistant photographer and some old statuary

I'm almost positive this is a headstone store close to our house. 
it has the stones inside.  and no, I can't read it.

You will (unfortunately) often see little statues with red cloth caps on them, as in the photo below.  It's my understanding that these are memorials to children who have passed away.

this is a rather large cemetery not too far away
(it's next to the gravestone store)

And (even more unfortunately) you will often see rows of the red-capped statues together.  Like the photo below, except that these don't have the red caps so I'm not sure they are child memorials.

same large cemetery

And lastly, some of the inscribed stones have kanji (writing) that is colored red.  When a family has a stone inscribed they will often put every ones name on there, even those who are still living.  It's less expensive to have it all done at once.  Then they'll color the names of the living red, as you see in the photo below.

same cemetery

So, there you go.  I was a little concerned that I (and my stroller) would be run out of one of these cemeteries but the few people who saw me didn't seem to mind that I was there taking photos.