このお花見のとき限定のお土産はおいしいでしょうか？ パッケージはきれいだけれど、工場で作った味しかしないかもしれません。
An explosion of pink packaging envelopes these factory-produced cakes, available only during cherry blossom season. I would not classify this as a natural food.
四月は外国人がたくさん日本に旅行しにきます。「なぜ日本人はマスクを使いますか。放射能が怖いのですか」とみんな私に聞きます。他の国では、病院で働く人たちしか使いません。
April is a month that attracts many foreign visitors. Again, I am asked in hushed tones, are Japanese wearing masks because of Fukushima and fears of nuclear fallout? Anyone who lives here knows it’s allergy season, and many people wear them out of a combination self-treatment and courtesy to others. Masks, normal and even polite in Japan, are perhaps the most common form of exotic costume when seen by foreigners.
In a pond at Shinjuku Gyoen.
東京の路上の庭についての記事と写真が『Ikebana International』（国際生け花）という雑誌に載りました。英語だけで申し訳ありませんが、是非、記事のコピーをご覧になってください (PDF, 1.4 MB)。
Ikebana International asked me to write about Tokyo street gardens and share my photos for their member-supported publication that dates back to 1956. Thanks to the editor Kim Schuefftan for allowing me to reach a very different garden audience. I am curious what Ikebana International and Tokyo Green Space readers think about the article, Tokyo Street Gardens: Unrecognized Beauty (7 page PDF, 1.4 MB). Volume 58, Issue 2, pp 24-30. 2014.
夕焼けが桜を背後から照らしています。杉並区の善福寺川で。
At Zenpukuji river, in Suginami-ku.
新宿二丁目のお寺に、細い６階のビルを建てています。お墓の前には、大きな窓が一つしかありません。使い道は、お葬式かゲイバーではないだろうか。
I am confused by this new 6 story tower at the corner of a cemetery in Nichome. There are few windows, except for this giant floor to ceiling view of the graves on the first floor. Will this become 6 stories of micro-bars? Or is it a new vertical space to perform funerals and ceremonies for the dead?
この剪定した松のために、屋根を作り替えたようです。以前、コンクリート製の似たものを見たことがあります。
This is the domestic version of what I saw at a Waseda cafe: poured concrete roof with cut-outs for trunks.
