Boro-ichi Market and Happo-en Garden

As part of the farewell tour around Tokyo I knew I was not to buy anything because the suitcases are already full. Why then torture myself with a trip to Boro-ichi Market? I don't know, except that I'd had it in my diary for the last six months and nothing else planned for the morning.

The Market is called Boro-ichi because it used to be where the poorer people came to get clothes some 400+ years ago (boro being the type of kimono patched and sashiko'd many times to hold it together like what you can see on this Pinterest Board). It was also known for tool and agricultural sales and you still get several tool stalls as well as ones selling plants. What you also get it lots of everything else. If we hadn't sent our things away to the shipping company two days earlier I would have come home carrying more than the average Spanish grandmother does at harvest time. It was, though, a tad crowded.

Can you make out the vanishing point there? This place was huge and went off down other streets at right angles. I would guess perhaps 500 stalls? It could easily have been more though. There were many vintage kimono stalls.

Lots of scrabbling for the cheaper ones on the ground was going on. I saw some racks, like this one...

...of just one type of Kimono - in this case Hand Shibori Dyed Silk. They were about 2000Yen each - maybe £15? Beautiful. Kokeshi dolls were clearly not that popular since there were crates of old ones for sale all over the place.

My Japanese friend Noriko told me these ones were also rumoured to be used by noble women as...ahem...a sex toy, so possibly that's why they have apparently been cast out of family homes everywhere. I certainly wouldn't put a dildo over my fireplace but each to their own.

Baskets abounded.

Both conventional and the more modern.

Shinto shrines for home use.

Beautifully carved. Rice pounding sets with the huge bowl and hammer.

And then lots of other stuff too - new and old.

It is on again in January but only for two days and then that is it until next December - I would definitely recommend it. It was a Shoreditch vintage shop's idea of nirvana.

After all those crowds it was rather nice to arrive at a garden far away on the other side of Tokyo. Even nicer was this visit was at the prompting of Mr Pooch who had almost visited it on his first visit to Tokyo but had never quite got in. We were initially joined by a group of teenagers and a teacher but later they left and we had the place to ourselves.

Happo-en Gardens began life in the late 1600's and its name means "Garden of 8 Views" meaning it is beautiful from every angle.







I could have stayed on that bench watching the fishes for hours - if it hadn't been only 6 degrees outside!

The Gardens are also known for their collection of Bonsai, some of which are over 500 years old. It really staggers me everytime I hear about a plant that is that old.

They were are clearly the work of crafts people.


In the evening we headed off for dinner...but I'm going to save that for another day!

Farewell to Shinjuku Gyoen Garden

I first saw this garden on 1st December last year. This year I was 10 days later and initially I thought I'd missed all the beautiful autumn foliage.

Not that bare trees don't have their own kind of beauty, but I wasn't in the mood for a Tim Burton kind of stroll.

I consoled myself that there were still the lakes to look at and headed off for the 'Japanese Garden' (which does make sense in a Japanese park because some of it was formal french - whatever that is - and so on). It turns out they'd kept a little bit of the autumn colours for me.

There is also a huge greenhouse on site. It's so humid inside there are lots of signs about dripping condensation falling on you.

They had a special display of orchids.

These unfailingly remind me of the singing flower scene in the proper Alice in Wonderland film. I adore that film and that scene in particular.

Definitely a bossy woman in a bonnet telling someone off (probably me)!

The gardens in Japan have been such an amazing resource and I wish I'd got into exploring them earlier last Spring. I told myself in the summer that I'd be able to go back to them in 2015 but that was when we thought we'd be here til May so now I won't have that chance. Here we are just a week from leaving and there is still a fair bit to get done. But then we may come back here to live one day. Pooch loves it here and if it weren't for the language barrier I would too. I just need to start learning it now, then I'll be ready in about ten years or so!

Japanese Fauna

Over the Summer, the local birds either migrated or were not in need of additional supplies so I stopped putting food out. About a month ago the very screechy Brown Eared BulBuls returned from their summer fun and made their need for feed known in the loudest possible way. The daily bread and fruit resumed.

The Bulbuls always make me laugh because they often perch on the balcony outside and sit watching me, as if they are people'rs, in the same way that my Dad is a dedicated birder. I have tried them on various different foods but when it is orange, or a mikan/satsuma, the Japanese White Eyes come to visit. These are the beautiful green birds.

They are an even brighter and more iridescent shade of green in the spring. The little brown tree sparrows also visit and look so utterly adorable when they are all fluffed up.

Meanwhile, back at Chez Cat, the colder weather had meant a return to the heating and a number of the cats have been cuddling up together. This is Little Mum and Sonny.

Sonny, now fully grown, has a habit of seeking out his Mum and trying to join her wherever she is sleeping. Even if, as in this case, it means sitting on top of her. She lets him about 50% of the time. The rest of the time he gets a friendly cuff round the ear. Bruiser, of course, shares his bed with no one.

He has started letting me stroke his chin for 2-3 minutes before biting me - a marked improvement. There has also been a lot of resting of heads on bottoms.

This is Sonny's Uncle with Smoky Tula being used as the pillow.

I'll be so sad to leave them all - cats and birds - when we go!

Weekend in Hakone with A Finished Quilt

Pooch and I just had a lovely weekend in Hakone with our friends Noriko and Nari. They own a flat there and although Pooh and I were in the area last December we jumped at a chance to spend a weekend in such a lovely location with such lovely people. It was the perfect time of year to visit.

See the tiny island out at sea?

The yellow is mainly Ginko trees while the red is Japanese Maple. Beautiful! We also got a peek at Fuji-san (Mount Juji).

See him? Hiding behind the clouds. Let me do a little artistic rendering...

You could see his edges occasionally as the misty clouds moved across him. On the way there we stopped off at Odawara Castle.

That's Pooch there in yellow, blending. It's only a little one but it's the only Japanese Castle I've seen so I was quite excited. There was a Chrysanthemum Festival going on, as you do. Pretty amazing creations.

Crazy looking things!

While there I gave Noriko the quilt I had been making her and Nari. Pooch kindly modelled it before we left.

It is a very simple one and I hand quilted it a little bit about a cm outside the edge of the central white square in each block.

As well as seeing them both AND being in such beautiful surroundings AND being fed to the gills with amazing food by Noriko (who was simultaneously giving Pooch cooking and sashimi cutting lessons) was the Lalique Museum. I frickin love Lalique. I did a project on his jewellery at Art College and it's been love ever since. Sadly it was no photos in the Museum itself but the outside was pretty nice.

The collection included a number of items I had drooled over in books for the last 15+ years so it was thrilling to be seeing them for real. The man was a genius. 

It was a perfect weekend!