Iceland's volcano is spreading grey ashes all over Europe and my mother's plan about visiting me in Japan has been rescheduled. One-year prepared trip doesn't mean a lot compared to these natural powers. For her and her friend who were supposed to be by my side right now and see it by themselves, I give you some Chinese lights from Yokohama. Because it's beautiful, peaceful and definitely nicer than volcano ashes when it's floating in the air.
アイスランドの火山のせいで、母のフライトがキャンセルされました。昔から一緒にこの旅行を準備していましたので、本当に残念です。しかたがないんですが、苦い漢字があります。

So beautiful I could have cried... Flying blossoms above our heads, fresh ume-shu in our hands, barefoot on the vegetal carpet of Shinjuku-gyoen... 天国の感じでした。

昔から日本の有名な桜のことをよく考えました。本当に見たかったです。現在東京のどこでも桜が咲いていて、とうとう満足しています。私と一歩にお花見コレクションをエンジョイしましょう。

Since I moved in Nishi-Waseda, I have been expecting the riverside of the Kanda to become like this :

At Shinjuku-Gyoen :

今年も友幸と花見楽しもう！

The stay was too short and the budget too light to explore all the resources of Okinawa - especially the Sea Park of Churaumi, in the North of Okinawa Island (we were settled in the South part); but also the smaller islands you can access only by boat and all the natural areas you need to go by car... Some places to see once in yourlife, which will make me come back to Okinawa in the future !

But the few we could enjoy was already amazing...

Seashore
Farniente, farniente !








Nature
Hibiscus flowers and strange-shape trees














Naha, Kokusai-dori
a Californian/Hawaiian/Chinese/Japanese Bazaar...














Okoku-mura, former Royal Village
Traditionnal Houses, Fruits, Brown sugar and Habu-shuu (Snake alcohol) factories























Gyokusendo, impressive caves
(sorry, it was difficult to take good pics...)




Habu Snake Park
People-friendly snakes only !

Kawaii snakes (glup)


Tasty snakes (re-glup)


Snake show
(where you learnt that the cobra is not as cool as it seems to be,
because it just can't see nor feel anything behind him).


This one is pink, so it's the snake of love (obviously).



Naha, Makishi Market









Okinawa best products : tropical fruits and bitter cucumber


and also... "pork face"... yes.


Shuri-jo
The former palace of the Ryukyu














Fukushuen
Traditionnal Chinese-style garden

The most beautiful garden you could dream about...

Notes about our stay in Okinawa

Being a gaijin in Okinawa is different from being a gaijin in Tokyo. Because of the hot issue of the US military bases in the region and the memory of the war in the Pacific area, you can feel a certain tension in the air when Westerners show their faces somewhere - even when, like us, you are not American... Even if people were mostly as kind and polite you can expect from a Japanese person, here are a few differences I noticed in everyday communication with Okinawans:

- In Tokyo, one of the first question people have for you is "where are you from?", followed by exclamations of enthusiasm when they hear the magical word "France". But in Okinawa, almost nobody asked, because a Westerner in the region may be from the States. Then, when they discover that you are from Europe, they show more perplexity than curiosity - the kind of reaction of vague ignorance that people from countries like Uzbekistan may undergo in Western countries when they announce their nationality... No French prestige in Okinawa. Damned. I confess that I got used to it very quickly...

- Nevertheless, enthusiasm comes with the linguistics. Of course, in Tokyo people spend their time to say how great your level in Japanese language is, but you know that it's mostly to have something to say and to support your effort in learning the language. In Okinawa, people were really, sincerely, astonished to hear our broken Japanese, even in very touristic areas like Kokusai-dori in Naha. That let you imagine how many Westerners they met before, who didn't make the slightest effort to say something in Japanese, when it's not Okinawa local language. I could read in their eyes "So, can a Westerner really talk Japanese ??? I can't believe it !"... That's when I realized that we were far from the mainland.

- Okinawa is the last Japanese land before the "rope" of islands becomes Taiwan, and the archipelago belonged to China for centuries before that. You can feel that you made a step into deeper Asia when a group of young men from Taiwan ask the permission to take pictures with you, one after the other, while you are visiting some amazing Chinese gardens... It's very strange to realize that you are more exotic than this kind of background :

Last but not least : Okinawa daily pleasure of EATING !

More pictures, more stories, more fun to come soon on Mogusa's blog !

My nice Japanese-language-tutorate teacher offered me an inkan - a Japanese seal that you use at the bank or in any situation when you have to proove your identity. Japan is not a country where the hand-written signature is supposed to proove anything. Instead, you have to take care of this little piece of wood, metal or plastic the imprint is your identifier. Of course, you have to make the imprint register at the city yard for it to be officially yours.

As a foreigner, I don't really need an inkan in my daily life, but I was fascinated by the gift - first, this one looks like a piece of jewelry :

乃絵美

Blue sky and growing trees

Clear springs

The first flowers on the trees

Cherry blossoms in the cups

Eatable love messages

Urban flowers


Pure shores


Green beer


First-class omu-raisu : the taste of spring on my tongue

Remember : at Christmas, strawberries were everywhere thanks to the magic of the Japanese greenhouses. I had been told that this unexpected strawberry-craziness in the middle of winter was "obviously" due to the fact these red, sweet and cute fruits were perfectly matching Christmas' spirit. Well, guess what, it also works for Valentine. So I am going to be tempted by strawberries until at least mid-February - after that I guess that the right season for buying it will start quickly...

A sample of what I see everywhere around me everyday - it's a torture :

As you see, there is a "double image benefit" between strawberries and Valentine...

It's really not appealling to me, but you can also buy "white strawberries". If you had seen the price you would understand why I did not try it. But anyway the normal red ones seem really more tasty.

For a lower budge, let me introduce the top of the top of the combini store : the strawberry sandwich ! Yes, they can !

Our familiar koala has been strawberrized too. For a complete explaination about the meaning of the koala, see Mogusa's blog.

And I can't present all the ice-creams, chocolates, cookies which have fallen for the strawberry-queen...

A third episode of Ichigo Ichie in April, maybe ? With strawberries cultivated under the sun ?...

T-shirts at Harajuku

Lanterns at Waseda

Hand-made food at Hoshien Dorms

Windows at Ebisu

Pink stuff at Isetan Girl

Black suits at my team's Shinnenkai

Advertisements at Ikebukuro