I guess this is another miscellaneous post day. That alone proves that I'm not doing much with my time...
Often along the streets of Japan we will see roadwork going on with temporary barriers to keep people out of places or to mark off the road. I'm guessing that every city or prefecture has their own barrier characters because I've seen so many "cute" barriers on our road trips. I took pictures of the few just in my neighborhood when I was out walking (the road workers must have thought I was nuts). This is Tochimaru-kun (for Tochigi prefecture).
He is rather famous around here as the prefecture mascot.
(photo from the Internet)
And here we have monkeys... I'm assuming that they must be a Nikko thing because Nikko is famous for its See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil monkeys.
And I don't know what the significance of these are but they are trying to be lions I think... I'll keep my eyes open for any more I come across...
Keeping my eyes open, head up and camera handy enabled me to take this shot of the local kindergarten bus coming down the road to deliver children to their homes in the afternoon.
This is Doraemon, one of the more famous cartoon characters in Japan.
(photo from the Internet)
Most kindergartens supply a daily bus service, picking children up and taking them home, and though many of the buses are regular small buses not too fancily decorated, occasionally one will see a locomotive shaped kindergarten bus, or a dog shaped bus. Sorry, they usually go by so quickly that I can't get my camera out. I'll keep my head up for those too in the future.
This photo wasn't taken on the street, but strawberries are another specialty of Tochigi prefecture and the last time I was at Mrs. Furui's for patchwork, one of the ladies brought in strawberries to sample. She has a part time job at a strawberry hothouse and she proudly brought us Sky-Berry strawberries. The one on the right is a regular Tochigi prefecture specialty... I think it is called Tochiotome. The one on the left is the Sky-Berry, named after Tokyo's Sky Tree the world's tallest tower at 634 meters. I haven't been to Sky Tree yet though it is hard to miss if one is in Tokyo. ANYWAY, the strawberry is named after the tower because it is so big... and by the way it was absolutely sweet and delicious. According to my friend there are only a few farmers who can grow Sky-Berries.
Let's see... I went again to the cafe near the station that offers 3D caffe lattes. My friend was visiting from another prefecture and we enjoyed lattes while waiting for her train. She had the barista make her a Shiba dog latte.
I asked him to make me a Welcoming Cat (Maneki Neko) latte.
We were enjoying our lattes at the cafe while we waited for my friend's train when she said,
"On my gosh! I was supposed to catch the 3:05 train! Is that clock right?!"
"No, it couldn't be.... My watch says it's still 2:20..."
"Hmmm. Should we tell the barista that his clock is broken?"
"..... "
Look again. That clock isn't broken. It DOES say 2:20! The clock face is backwards and the clock hands move in the opposite direction!
It seems like a confusing sort of clock to have in a cafe next to a train station... Sort of heart stopping...
Gee, all we get here in Tokyo are red cones with ringed bars over them. Designer strawberries? I miss the delicious wild ones I picked as a child. And, the clock? maybe made by a left-hander ... cool, but probably confusing near a train station.
ReplyDeleteRoad works barriers, what fun to see, and the fancy coffee again, almost too pretty to spoil.
ReplyDeleteMost readers will say Wow! when they see the road barriers, the kindergarten bus, the strawberries, the coffee drinks and the clock. Tochigi is full of Wow!
ReplyDeleteLike Queenie says, my inpression is WOW! The barriers are Very cool! Maybe to keep those stuck in traffic from getting bored or annoyed.
ReplyDeleteThe berries are amazing. Good to know the large on is still sweet. Some large ones are sort of woody inside.
and what a confusing clock! I bet they are proud of their trick, but it really could cause confusion when one is already tense about making sure they don't miss the train.
Tanya, thanks for sharing things that surround you. It's interesting to see how different parts of the world work. Now that clock, it's interesting and fun, but would drive me crazy trying to figure out the time!!
ReplyDeleteAdorable street barriers! No imagination here, just wooden orange and white, or plastic. The buses are cute too. We are surrounded by strawberry growers here and there are fruit stands on many corners. February usually sees opening day for sales. Hmm, now I want some!
ReplyDeleteyour posts are very entertaining even when you're not "doing much"!
ReplyDeleteWow! Thank you for all the cuteness! Brings a smile to me.
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