Japan in May

if you say "tadaima" and no one hears . . .

things went as scheduled and Steve was waiting out front of the Tom Bradley International Terminal at LAX. the flight was just under 9 hours and smooth after leaving the Tokyo area.  along with Steve, June gloom was waiting but it seems to be burning off now in the early afternoon.  time for a nap.  more later (with photos) about the excitement and entertainment at the Narita International Airport (NRT).

Singapore Airlines new A380 arrived with 394 passengers and 28 crew members on it's inaugural flight from Singapore to Tokyo.  in a side note that i just learned, it had to divert to Nagoya briefly because of the bad weather in Tokyo.  

it was the 30 anniversary of the opening of Narita International Airport and various celebrations were going on thru out the airport (and maybe a protest or two outside).  there was a live broadcast from BayFM who had a few musical guests live from their "sky gate".  one was a singer named Hanako Oku that i like and just happened to see at a festival last year on the island of Shikoku. she performed a few songs before i had to rush off to go thru security. it is a small world. no photos allowed at the Shikoku concert and none at this airport live performance. and no, i did not take one. i was also treated to some beautiful music by these two opera singers and classical pianist after the arrival of the the world's largest commercial airplane.  i think i heard and/or read that the wingspan is the size of a football field (American football).

saying goodbye, Taifu # 4 and NH 6

it seems the rain has stopped here in Tokyo. and i was able to get an aisle seat on ANA flight 6 to Los Angeles. so all is well. now what to do for the next 6 hours before my 9 hour flight home.

if all goes as scheduled, i should be home this afternoon (tuesday the 20th). Steve may or may not pick me up. i think he said Taylor would be in some kind of after pre-school program. Chris' car may or may not be able to be borrowed. but, i will be home somehow this afternoon. i hope. i had a wonderful time in Minoo, Kyoto, Kobe for the second time this year. thanks again to the Maekawa Family. more posts with photos when i get home. . .

”また　きます”

Shoji and Kimiko Maekawa

kaeru and the flying frog

today is almost over and i think it is still raining. if all goes well, i will be on the flight to NRT from ITM and then on to LAX arriving several hours before i actually left. the word in Japanese for frog is "kaeru" and the word "to return home" is kaeru. for the last couple of days i have heard some frogs singing/croaking or in Japanese "gero gero"-ing. yesterday i finally found one as i saw it jump from the wall/fence between Noroiko`s home and the neighbors. "tobu" in Japanese means to jump but it also means to fly. perhaps because of my job, when i hear the word "tobu" or "tonde iru", i think of "flying". well, tonite Noriko screamed out from somewhere downstairs "KEVIN KAERU!". hmmm, she could either being telling me to "go home" or that there was a frog somewhere close to her. there was in fact a small frog in the "genkan" (front entrance of the house).

i saw it and i said i need to get my camera before i catch and release it. as i was running back upstairs i hear "tonde iru". so, my first thought was that is was flying. Noriko meant that it jumped. it took a few trys to catch it in a plastic bag but i finally caught it and let it go outside where it flew away into the garden.

weekend update

time for bed. but first, a quick weekend update. on saturday, Noriko and i drove
her Father to see Minoo Taki (waterfall). ok, she drove and i sat in the backseat and took some video of the winding mountain roads looking for the wild... o-saru-san (monkeys). we were lucky to see a couple of monkeys along the trail to the waterfall. Noriko's Father enjoyed the beautiful green of the mountains and the powerful waterfall. walking back up the hill and then to the parking lot took awhile but we all made it. after that we drove further up the mountain to the Minoo Nature Center. it was their first visit and my second. i walked there from Noriko`s home last October. it was a nice afternoon for a walk to a waterfall and a drive in the mountains. and today was the big Kobe Matsuri (festival). i left around 930a to get to Kobe`s Sannomiya station. i wanted to be there early and to be there when the first note of jazz music was played on the Jazz Street. there were some wonderful groups including one which featured a shakuhachi (traditional wooden flute) player who also sang a favorite song of mine, "you'd be so good to come home to".  incidentally, i first heard that song in a little cafe in Okinawa called Pianissimo. i was probably having some tea and cake, listening to jazz or classical music from their huge musical library (albums), and writing a postcards to my family and friends. and the year was...1985.

Noriko arrived around 130p and Akemi, Tsutomu, Daigo and Misa arrived around 230p. if i was in charge of this festival...more on that later. too much to see and hear in a limited amount of time. and the parade that started at 1pm wasn`t over until 5pm. more on that with photos also. the Matsushita`s left as soon as the parade was over while Noriko and i stayed in Kobe for dinner. Daigo was tired. Misa was tired. at least Daigo didn`t cry when we had to say goodbye. he did have a lot of fun riding on my shoulders. i wished i could have taught him to use my camera has he had a much better view of the Samba dancers from my shoulders.

Daigo 

  

Misa

  

after walking back thru the huge shotengai (covered shopping street) and buying a few used cds at Mickey CD and DVD shop we made it back to Sannomiya Station. we took the local train back to Osaka as we were able to get seats. that makes sense if you have ridden a crowded express train in Japan and even more sense (to me) if you are tired from a long but fun day. we had to wait about 10 minutes at Minoo station for the bus home but again, it was worth waiting and not walking home. time for bed. my last weekend in Minoo is almost over...at least until the Arashiyama Music Festival in September.

Maekawa Okasan`s Birthday

getting older is a part of life . . . getting older with someone who suffer`s from the loss of memory and with that the ability to reason should not be. today started out with "happy birthday" wishes for Noriko`s Mother. i watched a the Cubs beat the Padres on tv while checking on flights to get me back to Tokyo and then home to LA. tuesday looks the best. and then it was a little walk to the 100 yen store above the Coop grocery store. i took some photos of this funderful store and before i knew i had bought about 1900 yen worth of "stuff". i walked back to the Sakura Tunnel street which is now a tunnel of beautifully green-leafed trees. what a difference a few weeks does make. i remembered a house that i like photographing and then another. the second house i went to photograph has an incredible gardener living in it. Noriko`s Mother was waiting for me to return and then prepared lunch for me and Otosan. Noriko returned from work soon after and we all took a little nap. Noriko`s Father`s "care manager" was coming for a short visit...perhaps to talk about her Father`s recent "short stay" experiment. after a little snack, we drove to run a few errands at K`s Denki (electronics store) and then to Senri-chuo where Noriko was going to buy dinner for us so her Mother would not have to cook on her Birthday. i headed to LABI to see if Yamada Denki had a new battery for my digital camera. i was hoping for the nice and informative Casio camera representative that i met back in April as my camera is having a few "difficulties" or perhaps but probably not "operator error." i bought the new battery but the only help i received about my camera was to return it where i bought it or something like that. dinner was sushi obento from Kyoto. Noriko`s Mother opened the little presents i bought her and told me i always find nice interesting gifts. all was going well until ... Noriko`s Father kind of exploded about his having to stay at the "short stay" home. i had noticed his seemed different since returning yesterday afternoon but we just thought he was tired from his little adventure. that may be the case and we are hoping he will have forgotten about it tomorrow after a good night`s sleep. and speaking of sleep, it is time for me to say goodnite to friday. Happy Birthday, Uchi no Haha.

Umeda, Kobukuro and Aoi Matsuri

i think the title says it all.

4 days of music and counting

monday afternoon here in Minoo. i was just thinking i went to see a concert on friday, saturday and sunday night after arriving here last thursday night. but actually, Noriko`s Father is singing now so that makes the 4th day in a row of music. the big concert will be on wednesday at Osaka-jo Hall...KOBUKURO. and the good news this morning was that someone "picked up" my trip for next saturday and sunday so i do not have to return home on thursday. and as of 5pm on monday, there are 4 people trying to "pick up" my trip for next monday and tuesday which means i would be able to stay thru the weekend...and go to the Kobe Matsuri for more music and samba dancers...and that sounds like a photo or two. last saturday i went to a concert of "fushigi na" (mysterious) music at Cafe Bar Hashimototey. Cafe Bar Hashimototey is a very interesting looking 100 year old Japanese-style 3-story wooden building/home which was refurbished a couple of years ago. it is on the trail to the beautiful Minoo Waterfall. the first floor is a cafe and there are rooms on the second and third floor which can be rented out by the hour for such things as birthday parties, meetings, etc. there is also a small room you can rent for about $5 per hour just to take a rest. i think all the rooms look out on to the forrest. i am sure there is a waiting list in the autumn as the leaves begin to change colors. on saturday there were two bands. both were entertaining but the first band had an electric sitar and you gotta love a band with an electric sitar. on sunday Noriko drove me to Senri-chuo (shopping center and more). she wanted to buy a mixer/blender at the new Labi Building. one of her "seniors" recommended mixing carrots with apples for a healthy nutrious drink. and from 5pm, i sat and listened to some good "street live" music for a couple of hours. one of my favorites, the singer/songwriter Ryo was there. and a very lively "gospel" group called Brown Eyed Soul. i bought some pink carnations to take to Noriko`s Mother for HaHa no Hi.

rainy saturday

"they" said it was going to rain today and it has been raining all day. it started
last night on my walk back from Minoo station around midnite. and why was i walking "home" at midnite? i went to see Tozy and special guests in Kobe. it
was a wonderful night of music and story-telling. i cannot understand all of the stories but Tozy is a colorful story-teller. his "one-man" live at Happy Laura in the Kitano area of Kobe started at 730p and his final "domo arigato, okini" came
at 1045p. i hope to see/hear him again someday. i walked back to Sannomiya Station and was able to catch the 1103p train back to Osaka where i changed
trains at Juso and then again at Ishibashi before arriving at Minoo Station at a few minutes after midnite. i took some interesting photos of a business man on the train from Kobe...let`s just say he was very tired. i was tired too but i would never lay down on the seats. i was tired from the previous day`s long flight and from my long walk before going to Kobe. i walked to Minoo Taki (waterfall).
the forrest was go green. i took many photos of the waterfalls and the green green maple trees. and then there was the little boy and father wearing...
pajamas on the trail to the waterfalls.

only... 11 hours

well, things did go smoothly as they usually do on ANA. the flight from LAX to NRT was only...11 hours. eventhough being rushed to get thru immigration, i made my connecting flight to Osaka Itami with no problems and had the row to myself for the hour flight. Noriko arrived within a few minutes of me walking out
of the terminal and then we drove to Warai for a delicious okonomiyaki dinner.

now it is friday morning. my plan is to walk to my favorite waterfall after walking Noriko`s Father down the short lane to meet his senior Day Care helpers. tonite, i may go see Tozy live in Kobe. more later.

on my way...

if all goes well, i should be in Minoo on thursday night.

more later.

Happy Kodomo no Hi/Cinco de Mayo

i am feeling much better today, closing in on 90%.

today i ventured out to the Original Farmer's Market at Fairfax and 3rd to hear some strolling mariachi for Cinco de Mayo.  i had never heard these lyrics sung by a mariachi group but i remember there was a commercial that used these words when i was a youngster.  i wonder where all my Frito Bandito erasers are. and it was this little boy's birthday. . . now that's something to celebrate ...having your birthday on Boy's Day (Children's Day) and Cinco de Mayo.

here's a few photos from today and some from April in Japan.

Anata e

you say you want to become something

you say you want to become something

even if you are no one

i love you as you are

even if you are no one 

i love you as you are

this is my message to you

from me who is no one

19th Annual Pacific Island Festival . . . ALOHA

this is where i went to see how my cough and cold would react...in the sunshine at Ken Malloy Harbor Regional Park. i feel much better but i think it was a good idea not to try to fly all the way back to Tokyo and then Osaka and then by train to Takatsuki for the big jazz festival.  hopefully next early May i will be back in Takatsuki.  today's festival had music, dancers and food representing Hawaii, Fiji, Guam, Marshall Islands, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and Tahiti.

this festival will be going on tomorrow also but i think i may try to rollerskate to

Hermosa Beach for some jazz and brunch at The Lighthouse Cafe.  or since i hope to return to Japan this week, i will probably stay home and rest.

Japan, simply

Happy May First . . . koi (carp), usagi (rabbit) and a giant ladybug (tentomushi)

koinobori in the town of Narita, Japan.

"rabbit rabbit white rabbit" . . . heard on this morning's Tom Morton Show. . . no connection to the above photo except for the bunny rabbit in the stroller being pushed by what appears to be a leprechaun in downtown LA.

inside the Bellagio Casino's Conservatory and Botanical Garden in Las Vegas