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Anthurium, Light and Shadow

I bought a pot of anthurium about one month ago.
It has been showing beautiful flowers since then. I like seeing it at the time of sunset.
Isn't is beautiful?

Utsunomiya Castle Park / Castle Ruins Park

Leaves are turning red or yellow at Utsunomiya Castle Park.
I went to the park to take some snapshots today.
No doubt, we are in the middle of autumn season.

What Does the Number 753 Stand for in Japan?

The number 753, seven five three, has a special meaning in Japan.

Three and seven year-old girls and three and five year-old boys get a celebration on the nearest weekend around November 15.
We call the day 753, Shichi-Go-San in Japanese.

Children were dressed up in their best clothes and held a ceremony of purification at a local shrine.

Lion dance known as Shishi-Mai in Japanese is performed at the Futarasan shirne.

Kikusui-sai Autumn Festival

Kikusui-sai autumn festival was held in the city center last Saturday and Sunday.

I took these pictures on Saturday.

They must have had a traditional Japanese Yabusame or a horseback mounted archery on Sunday.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to see them yesterday.



Day by day, it becomes cooler in Utsunomiya.

Rina, my younger daughter, is preparing for her college exams which are scheduled to be held in coming February.

She still has more three to four months. In another words, we have only several months to live together.

Definitely, she'll leave us and go to Tokyo for her college.
To think about it makes me more cooler.

Far East Kitchen

The other day, I went to a cafe 'Far East Kitchen' with my wife.
It took about fifteen minutes from home on foot.

 I ordered an omurice or a rice omelet with curry sauce.

The food, ketchup-seasoned fried rice wrapped in a thin sheet of fried egg,  is very famous in Japan.

My wife  ordered a chestnut spaghetti and  sweets.
Each food looked nice, so was the taste.

Cosmos Flower Field

 I went to a cosmos flower field in Kinu Green Park to take pictures yesterday.

Hot summer days have gone behind Utsunomiya city now.
It was a very pleasant Saturday afternoon.

World Cup Soccer Asian Preliminary League: Japan vs. Iraq

   

Nearby shopping mall provided a public viewing area of the soccer match with a big screen  last month. 

They also prepared beer stands and invited light meal vendors. 

I went to the viewing space expecting that there would be lots of people drinking, shouting, yelling at the screen. 

But, actually not many people gathering there. I watched the screen for about an hour then walked back home alone. 

On my way back home, I took a look at a screen in a pub where I used to go for chats with friends several years ago. It was also not crowded at all. 

Hibiscus Flowers Are Blooming at Home.

I bought a small hibiscus tree last year.
Even all flowers and leaves had gone away in winter, the tree showed us big flowers this summer again.

To my regret, it bloomed a bit fewer flowers this year than the last.

It brightens not only our living room but also whole our family and visitors.

NIKKO COFFEE

‘NIKKO COFFEE’ is the name of a café in neighboring city Nikko, about 45 minute-drive from home.

The mountains west of the city are part of Nikko National Park.

The area has some of the country's most spectacular waterfalls, scenic trails and a beautiful lake.

It’s said that the owner who is also the owner of Kyo-Cha-An in Kanuma city renovated a 100-year-old Taisho era house into the modern café spending three years.

My wife and I had lunch and coffee at the café/cafe.

Reve Continuer

 My wife’s friend Ogiwara-san recently opened a restaurant called “Reve Continuer” in the suburb of Utsunomiya city. We were invited to the restaurant the other day.

 She is practicing classical ballet as my wife does in the same ballet class together.

Before opening the restaurant, Ogiwara-san gave us sample foods that she would serve there at every occasion and we gave her frank comments.

 Since she has been learning cooking in Tokyo for years, tastes of dishes were wonderful even she opened it a few weeks ago.

We enjoyed about an hour of small talk and nice meals in a cozy atmosphere.

"Red Bird" Is the Name of a Restaurant

Akai Tori, Red bird in English, is the name of a restaurant.

It stands just across the street from home.

We can’t go out or come back home without seeing it. But it’s our first time to get in the restaurant.

My wife, daughter Emi and I went there a couple weeks ago, had bowls of ice shavings with syrup and an ice cream with sweet boiled beans and fruits.

They kept hundreds of strange dolls, figures, accessories, and so forth in the shop.

Café NIEF

corridor on the second floor

 My wife and I went to café NIEF the other day.

We went up to the second floor using a narrow stairway equipped outside the building. 

The owner of the café must have refurbished an old Japanese style apartment house.

We ate noodles with a bowl of soup and salad.

A customer is taking a look at the menu and the other is looking around the decorations in the room. 

The second floor was divided several small rooms.

They decorated the walls and its corridor with old black and white photographs.

Those photographs gave the café a modern atmosphere.

Emi comes back home.

My elder daughter Emi had come back home last Friday for the first time since January this year. She is a sophomore at her college and is now on her summer vacation.

She stayed just three nights and has gone back her college dormitory today.

The main purpose she came back home was to get a new cell phone because her current one is half broken.

Emi and I went to a local electronics retail store to buy a new phone by bike yesterday. She was very glad to have gotten a brand new smartphone.

On our way back home, we found a cute baby puppy in front of a flower shop.

Nikko Water Wheel Park

We had an Obon holiday or a Buddhist festival holiday last week. 

My company CANON offers us one week paid holiday from August 13 to 17. 

Many people visit their ancestral graves and make offerings of flowers and incense. During this holiday, I went to Nikko Water Wheel park to enjoy a cooler atmosphere.

What's the Best Food on a Super Hot Summer Day in Japan?

 It's been very hot since the beginning of August in Japan.

On a day like these, the best choice to go is, I guess, an ice shavings shop.

I went to a restaurant called Miyoshi that is famous for its sweets in Utsunomiya, ordered a bowl of "ujikintoki" or shaved ice topped with green tea syrup and sweet bean paste.

I think it's too sweet for me but for people who have a sweet tooth will enjoy the taste very much.

Miya Matsuri Summer Festival, 2012

Kindergarten pupils dance with their nursery teacher.

Men carry a portable-shine or mikoshi wildly.

School girls wear yukata or summer cotton kimono talking at the corner of a street.

Utsunomiya Municipal Tennis Tournament

It’s not a top level tennis tournament, but I became a runner-up of the men’s rank-B singles yesterday. 

Fifty-nine tennis players took part in the tournament on a scorching hot day.

The winner must have been in his 20s. To become a winner, I have to practice more.

Café ZIG

These days, I’m sometimes confused of which Café is which and which Café is where.

Today I show you the Café ZIG.