Perigee Moon in Utsunomiya, Japan

 According to CNN news, the moon was said about 14% bigger and 30% brighter one week ago. Having read the news, I looked up at the sky from my room, found a slightly bigger moon and took a couple of pictures of it.

It’s very beautiful, isn’t it?

I’m wondering how long it will take my office to recover? My boss sends emails regularly about how operations to restore the office rooms were going on. He said the day before yesterday that part of electricity supply was back but water was not back yet .

Sigh.

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(CNN) -- If the moon looks a little bit bigger and brighter this weekend, there's a reason for that. It is.
Saturday's full moon will be a super "perigee moon" -- the biggest in almost 20 years. This celestial event is far rarer than the famed blue moon, which happens once about every two-and-a-half years.
"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1993," said Geoff Chester with the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington. "I'd say it's worth a look."
Full moons look different because of the elliptical shape of the moon's orbit. When it's at perigee, the moon is about 31,000 miles (50,000 km) closer to Earth than when it's at the farthest point of its orbit, also known as apogee.
"Nearby perigee moons are about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than lesser moons that occur on the apogee side of the moon's orbit," the NASA website says.
This full moon will rise in the east at sunset and should look especially big at that time because of what's known as the "moon illusion."
"For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects," according to NASA.
Even though it may look close enough to touch, Saturday's full moon will still be at a healthy distance -- some 211,600 miles (356,577 km) away.
As rare as it is, it may be worth a look. Miss it and you'll have to wait until 2029 to see it again.

Utsunomiya Central Park

All employees in my office including myself have been told to stay home till repairing our office damaged by the quake should complete. We don't have to work.

More than a week has passed since the earthquake on March 11.
Yes, I know: the damage is too severe to repair it within a week.
I got an email from my boss last Friday, saying that it might take another one week to repair the office at a usable level.

I recently feel tired of staying home and watching TV news about the quake or firefighters’ work against the nuclear power plants.
I think it’s true that not a little Japanese want to look brighter side of things as well as understanding current situations.
So, I went to Utsunomiya Central Park to see flowers today and yesterday.

Plants and flowers, of course, didn’t care about the quake or N-plants at all. They were just blooming as beautiful as they had been one year ago.

Damages Done by The Earthquake in Utsunomiya

Thank you for kind messages. We are receiving messages, encouragements, offers and supports from many countries. These kindness will help us and our lives. I never forget you guys.

The sign says, "DANGER: Do not come close." in Futara-yama shrine.↓

The wall of a parking lot has fallen and hit the car.↓

Gravestones have fallen over in a cemetery.↓

A Powerful Earthquake Hits My Town, Utsunomiya.

When I was working, suddenly a strong quake hit my office. My colleagues and I hid ourselves under each one’s desk.
In the meanwhile, not part but the whole ceiling in my office room collapsed and fell from the above.

White dust smoke covered our room. I heard one of women in the office was crying. After the big trembler ceased, I heard a voice asking me help. I removed a big fragment of ceiling covering his desk and rescued him who was trapped.
Then, I saw that some PC monitors fell but still kept emitting lights between broken ceiling boards on desks in the dark.
My boss, my department manager, a division manager who was holding hands of crying woman, colleagues and I barely escaped from the 4th floor of the building in a heavy white dust smoke and various piles of rubble.

On hearing a big sound of falling the ceiling and having kept my body in a small space beneath my desk, I thought a death myself as reality for the first time in my life.

I was very scared at the time but all my family members are safe.

Emi Passes College Entrance Exam.

Congrats to Emi on passing the exam!

  Emi holds certificates of passing exams.

Emi has successfully passed her college entrance exam; Sophia University is the name of the college in Tokyo. The college is her most favorite one and she was studying to target the college for a whole year.

To celebrate the outcome, we, my family members went to an Indian restaurant named ‘Gitanjali Mahal’ where she requested for lunch last Saturday.

 We also had a lunch party in an Indian restaurant named ‘Taj Mahal’ when Rina, my younger daughter, had passed a high school entrance exam exactly one year ago.


To be honest, I prefer ‘Taj Mahal’ to ‘Gitanjali Mahal’ in terms of its food taste, furniture in it, its music and an overall atmosphere.

But, anyway we were all happy to have been able to have the occasion together.

Flowers of Cineraria Are In Full Bloom

It's sunny and warm day again in Utsunomiya today.
Thanks to the warm weather these days, flowers of cineraria in my room are in full bloom right now.

I walked to a shine next to my condominium. Not only cineraria but a couple of cherry trees were in full bloom.

The building behind the flowers is the condominium in which we are living.

Flower Buds of Cineraria

I went to a flower shop just in front of my condo to buy some flowers the other day. I found a grass pot that was full of flower buds. I didn’t know the name of the grass at that time, but without hesitation I bought it back. Then I put it on a same size empty glass pot and put it on a window frame at home. It seemed that the grass pot was floating in the air.

After that, I found its name, ‘cineraria’ on the web.

I’m looking forward to its flowers blooming.

It’s A Sunny Winter Day.

Last Friday, February 11th is the National Foundation Day of Japan. It was a national holiday in Japan. So, today is the final day of three-day weekends.

I wanted to do a lot of things but did little for three days. It snowed both yesterday and the day before yesterday. I just got relaxed at home for two days.

It’s a fine day today; I headed to tennis courts by car, but snow still covered the courts.
I couldn’t play tennis but trees and park fields covered with snow near the courts were beautifully shinning in the morning sun light.

It was worth visiting for me even without playing tennis.

Pigs In A Car

When I was driving on my way home from tennis courts, I happened to be behind a two-story-truck which carried lots of pigs today.
One of them was seriously staring at me for several minutes, so I was obliged to take his pictures when I stopped for traffic signals.
Of course, I didn’t know what was in his mind.
But, I felt a lot of things in my mind.

The signs behind the truck say “From Our Green Stock Farm To Your Dining Table.”

A Party with My Colleagues

I had a party for welcoming a new comer to our department in my office last Friday. The restaurant just one minute from JR Utsunomiya station is famous for serving chicken dishes from Miyazaki prefecture. We had the party there. Miyazaki is now getting attentions for its bird flu infected chickens. The farmers there are unwillingly killing tens of thousands of chickens to prevent from spreading the disease across Japan, according to news reports.

The first dish they served was raw chicken meet. The colleagues seemed to enjoy eating the food, but I did not.
The guy who planed the party told me that he had decided the restaurant before the news of the bird flue were reported.
I thought he could have ample chances to change the place after hearing the news.

I didn’t enjoy the food but had a nice time talking and drinking with my colleagues.

A New Pair of Sneakers

I bought Rina a new pair of sneakers a couple weeks ago. She was very delighted to have them. I’ve always bought her new shoes for jogging when her old ones had worn out. I thought jogging shoes were the best choice for her. Because she is a member of an athletic club in her high school and likes running very much.

But, recently, the idea seemed not always true to her. She said that she sometimes wanted to wear cute casual shoes like her classmates were wearing at school.

I realized she has become matured a bit.
The shoes she is holding are the ones she really wanted to wear.

Snow Covered Utsunomiya

It had snowed in my town last night. Even on Saturday, I worked till midnight yesterday and barely came back home by bicycle in the snow.

On the contrary, it’s sunny day today.

The town is covered with a one-inch-thick snow blanket and is shimmering in the morning sunshine.
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Mt. Fuji Viewed from My Balcony

On sunny days, especially in the morning or in the evening, I can enjoy viewing Mt. Fuji from my new condo. Mt Fuji is the highest mountain in Japan.

Although it’s located about 200 km away from Utsunomiya, I can take full size pictures of Mt. Fuji using a camera with x20 lens.

Before moving in current condo, even I’ve been living in the same city for almost 15 years, I can’t remember I’ve ever seen Mt. Fuji.

Viewing Mt. Fuji has become one of my favorite pleasures at home.
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I Wish You Have a Wonderful Happy New Year.

We moved in here on December 26th last year.
I was so busy preparing to move that I even couldn’t find a minute to do my weekly blog update on last Sunday.
Finally, a super hectic week for putting tons of chaotic cardboard-boxes in order has almost ended
I’m planning to be relaxed and enjoy new year holidays from tomorrow till my office starts an operation on January 5th.

I wish all visitors to my blog enjoy new year holidays and have a wonderful happy new year.
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Moving to a New Condo

We are going to move to a new condominium in Utsunomiya next week. It’s located just twenty minutes from here on foot. We have been living in our current condominium since March in 1996 when we moved in from Tokyo.

Since several new higher buildings were constructed in front of our residence, the daytime when we can get sunlight in our rooms decreased a lot and the view from its balcony became far worse than before.

Those triggered me to buy a new one.
Empty rooms get a lot of sunshine and the view from the rooms is excellent.
We can’t wait for the day of moving.

A view from the balcony of the new condo.

Emi And Her Close Friend At Their High School

My wife Kiyono, my daughter Emi and her close friend went to Emi’s high school to feed fish which were kept at her high school.
I didn’t go with them, but Kiyono took a video for me so I could see the scene of their feeding.
I trimmed a few pictures out of the video.

Emi is recently very busy studying for her college entrance exams scheduled in the coming January. So, it’s hard for her to find an ample fun time with her friends. Nor can she find a fun time at home.

Since I rarely see Emi’s big laughing recently at home, somehow I was relieved by seeing such a loud laughing and the scene they enjoyed feeding fish.
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The Site Of A Traffic Accident

I happened to come across the site of a traffic accident on my way to Futara-yama shrine yesterday. When I passed-by there, several firefighters and police were checking the car and asking people involved in the accident.
Apparently, the car had caught fire and firefighters had put it out before I saw them.

After coming back home, I checked the web site of a local news paper about the accident. It said that luckily nobody were seriously injured.

I firmly decided I would never do speeding, though this feeling would disappear in several weeks. lol

The Season For Autumn Leaves

I played tennis today with Rina and some of my friends in Kiyohara Industrial Park.

The leaves there were at their peak color.
I enjoyed the changing colors of autumn leaves and, of course, playing tennis.

To tell you the truth, I've had a shoulder pain since early September this year.
I usually play tennis three to four times a week, but now I do only once a week.

I'm happy to think that even only once a week to play tennis is far far better than never.

Hot Air Balloon Competition in Utsunomiya

When I played tennis at Shirasawa Green Park today, I happened to see many hot air balloons in the sky. They were flying so far away that I could barely see them like dots in the sky.

I remembered “Tochigi Hot Air Balloon International Championship” held in my city three years ago. That had been a wonderful experience to me.

I upload two pictures I took today and a video I made three years ago.

The Town I lived For 10 Years

Picture #1

Picture #2

Picture #3

I went to Omori, Tokyo at the end of October. Omori is the place I had lived for ten years before I got married. There are a lot of memories at the town.

Picture #1
Sanno elementary school has buildings and a hard surface athletics track field. An athletic meeting was held on the day.

Picture #2
The tree at the flower shop grew faaaaar bigger than before. I think they could not cut the tree down, instead they caved their shop wall. lol.

Picture #3
There were quite a few public bath houses in Tokyo long ago. The bath house I visited several times was still standing there.
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