This work of art also doubles as a play structure for kids. Think of a McDonald’s play structure in the states that has been fused with a giant beehive from another futuristic planet. This work is entitled しゃぼん玉のお城 or “The Soap Bubble Castle” in English.

The sign says そとがわにのぼらないでください which, as you might guess, means “please don’t climb on the outside.” The placement of the signs, on the piece itself, is unfortunate. The signs sort of defeat the purpose of the art portion of the structure by breaking up the natural lines and symmetry.

Kids are free to explore the inside, just like at McDonald’s.

Posted on July 29th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: hakone, kids, signs. Comments: 1

“The ryokan I stayed in that night was an unusual one… Before I took a bath, the very attractive twenty-three-year-old daughter of the ryokan went with me for a stroll in the elegant garden, where we watched the black carp swimming about in their pond and netted the one I was to dine on. Later on, in the bathroom, I noticed a black carp staring glumly at me from out of a glass tank set into the wall. It struck me as a perverse idea to have the dinner survey the diner like this, and although I couldn’t absolutely swear it was the same fish, I spent less time wallowing in the tub than I might have if the tank had contained a couple of tiddlers.

But there was another reason for skipping smartly back to my room: the daughter had promised to serve me dinner. We sat with the screens ajar, she in a sleek dark dress, me in the ryokan’s extra-large yukata, and talked for a long time… We drank a good few cups of sake as I nibbled my carp, and by the time the girl had cleared away the dishes, had seated herself again on the soft cushion opposite me, and resumed the story of her life in a voice that grew more melodious the more sake I sipped, I had begun to sense the possibility of a tasty sequel to the meal.

Woe to that carp (since I am convinced now it was the occupant of the bathroom tank that I had been blithely dipping in mustard sauce)! Because that half-digested creature chose this extremely critical moment–this delicate irretrievable moment of deciding how to maneuver a mattress out of a wall cupboard without appearing overly forward–to have his own back with a vengeance.

‘Isn’t it quiet,’ I murmured to the girl and farted louder than I have ever farted in my life. The girl dissolved in helpless giggles and disappeared rapidly in the direction of her sitting room. I hurled my own mattress down onto the tatami. Her brother served me breakfast.”

(Alan Booth in The Roads to Sata p. 168-169)

Posted on July 7th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: alan booth, book quotes, kids, people. Comments: 3

Although no one voted for the Pet Squirrel picture in my recent blog entry, it was the winner when I posed the same question on Facebook. Today’s photo is another angle on the pet squirrel that was roaming the grounds of Castle Himeji a couple years ago.

Posted on June 26th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, kids, people, pets. Comments: 3

I spied this little guy spying me on a bus in Kyoto. I don’t think he had ever seen a gaijin before and, from the look on his face, I’m not sure he ever wanted to see one again.

Being in Japan as a 6’4″ light-haired foreigner is a unique experience. Adults tend to ignore your presence after an ever-so-brief glimpse, and the kids can’t take their eyes off you. You’re always the elephant in the room that can’t be ignored, yet everyone over the age of about 17 tries their darnedest to.

Posted on April 24th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: japan pictures, kids, people. Comments: 4

“When I came downstairs she was feeding the carp in the pond in her old-fashioned courtyard. There were twenty or thirty carp, black and gold and mottled, and all as plump as their feeder.”

(Alan Booth in Looking for the Lost p. 337)

Posted on April 18th, 2009 under Japan. Tags: alan booth, hakone, japan pictures, kids. Comments: 1