Tanabata

July 7th was Tanabata which is a famous Japanese summer festival. When Takumi was little we lived in Sendai, a northern city of Japan and it had a huge Tanabata festival. I remember dressing Takumi up in a little cotton kimono and wandering around the decorated streets and eating cotton candy and roasted squid. I think the tradition comes from the legend that two star gods fell in love on separate sides of the universe and they were only able to meet on this night when the Milky Way made a bridge across the sky. Of course this makes the festival popular with young couples and lovers. Very romantic to go out walking under the stars during Tanabata, even if the stars are colorful paper streamers. The beautiful paper decorations are supposed to represent shooting stars in the galaxy.

Families with children in Japan will cut a bamboo shoot from the forest and place it where it can be easily decorated with paper rings and streamers and prayers that are often written in the form of poetry. I remember buying my kids Tanabata kits in the store and all we had to do was write our messages, cut out the paper, do a little origami and tie the decorations to the plastic sprig of bamboo provided.

Tanabata unfortunately went by our family with hardly a thought this year. Hmmm. No little kids in the house and somehow Tetsu and I forgot to take the romantic walk under the stars... (pictures off the Internet again.)

Fruit

Look at the jewels in this box! And at first glance can you tell what they are? (besides the fact that it's written on the side). Aren't these gorgeous cherries?! And look at that packing! This is quite an expensive gift from a friend and since taking the picture we've been enjoying the wonderful sweet fruit! Just the careful way that the cherries are packed, with their stems hidden in a line beneath and their rosy faces shining up at you, you know these cherries have been cultivated and tended with loving care and that the farmer is proud of the results of his labor! And they are expensive! Suffice it to say that I wouldn't be buying our family these cherries for a snack!

Japanese produce is always gorgeous. The fruit and vegetables in the supermarket have no blemishes or bruises or dents and there isn't such a thing as a misshapen piece of fruit. Everything looks like it has been polished and is displayed with care. In the department stores you can see a perfect melon displayed in a velvet lined box ready to purchase as a gift for someone special. I've never bought one but I have been amazed that people will pay the equivalent to $100 dollars for a single melon! Of course, the everyday housewife will pick up fruit at "normal" prices that are packed in plastic boxes or bags, but in general the odd shaped fruit and vegetables aren't readily sold.

I found these pictures on the Japanese Internet. Anyone want to buy a bunch of grapes for $50?

Summer quilts

I've gotten so far away from sewing recently, everyone probably has forgotten that I once was a quilter... I'm still plodding away on the Wonky Word Quilt and am seriously worried that I won't get it done in the next 4 days. When I sit down I really do get a lot done, but I rarely am sitting down, instead wandering around with Leiya in stores or visiting people.

So, I'm showing you a couple quilts that I have up on my walls now that I consider my summer quilts. The two were originally planned to be one quilt but as I got to putting the blocks together I decided the colors didn't work so I ended up making two separate quilts. I'm so glad! The first is a Hawaiian quilt (obviously) and one summer I found some hand dyed fabrics at a small quilt show and just had to have them so I bought 9 fat quarters and started making blocks from a couple of books. This was amazing to my friends as well as to me since up until then I had sworn that I disliked applique. I spent nearly a year making the 9 blocks and I really enjoyed the process! Then I started on the sunflowers that are in the second quilt. I had planned to put these in the block corners of the Hawaiian quilt but it just didn't go together. So the Hawaiian got put in the closet for a year and in the meantime I made up the sunflower quilt. I must say that I am very proud of my hand quilting on this one, but horrors after I first washed it and found that the red backing I had used bled through to the front around the quilting! I don't know how or why since I'd washed the backing first and hadn't noticed bleeding then. (It could have been the red quilting thread but I don't think so.) After the initial despair I decided that the "bled" part wasn't so far off color wise and it gave it an extra dyed effect (positive thinking works wonders) and I have accepted the imperfections.

A year or more passes and again I'm in the States and I find this great rainbow fake batik-like print with a miniature Hawaiian pattern. I've found the fabric to use for putting the Hawaiian blocks together! Back home and I strip pieced and roller cut and made the grid to fit between the blocks. Quilting came next and why, oh why, I don't know but I hand shadow quilted in 1/4 inch increments around each applique design! I look at it now and wonder if I was going through some psychologically distressful period at the time and was trying to shut the world away by concentrating on the quilting! It took at least another year to quilt the thing!

I'm very happy with these quilts and love it when summer rolls around and they are up on the walls!

Mourning

This is not a very cheerful post today.

Yesterday I had to attend the wake of the son of one of my friends. He was only 23 years old.

You may think I'm not very sympathetic but I found myself thinking a lot about funerals and what they mean to people. Maybe I shouldn't have been analyzing the situation at a time like this but I was.

Of course since I am an American living in Japan there are a lot of cultural differences and when it comes to funerals this is always quite obvious. On top of that, being Christian in a Buddhist culture brings out many more differences and this is true for even Japanese Christians.

There are the petty differences that Christians can get hung up on. Do we burn incense for the departed or don't we? Some churches will tell you that you shouldn't. Others will say it doesn't matter, there is no need to flaunt your faith. I have done it both ways though usually people assume that since I'm American that it is not my custom and I'm not insulting anyone if I don't offer it. Tetsu gets involved with a lot of funerals since he works at a convalescent home and he just assumes the custom of the funeral service.

I've been to Buddhist funerals when the person who has passed has actually been Christian but the family isn't and so they wouldn't know what to do in a church setting anyway. This seems a shame to me. The person I know would have wanted to have a Christian service, but then I get to thinking, well, isn't the funeral for the people who are left behind anyway? It's supposed to comfort them and at least for the Christian it doesn't matter what kind of send off he gets.

The wake that I went to yesterday was held in a memorial hall and was attended by close to 500 people. Formal black wear is required and if you live in Japan one of the first things you buy is a black ensemble or suit. Actually all the formal mourning wear looks alike though there are differences in lace and style. Basically the women wear black stockings, black shoes, carry black purses and wear a simple strand of pearls. Depending on the season there is a black matching jacket that can be worn.

Yesterday's Buddhist service was a little over an hour long and the priest, dressed in robes, entered and knelt before the very elaborate altar with a picture of the boy and began chanting and hitting a drum. The chant is incomprehensible to me of course but I have asked Japanese friends and they too say that nothing that is chanted can be understood. Only the priest seems to know what he is saying but the chant opens the road for the person who has died to enter heaven so it has to be long and no one is expected to understand it. Part way during the chant the people attending were asked to line up and offer incense that was provided and in some cases I've seen incense sticks, at other services it is powdered incense. Since there were so many people this took a long time yesterday and the priest chanted throughout. No words of comfort were spoken nor any eulogy. In some cases the priest may say something at the actual funeral but often not. Yesterday, the boy's parents and brother stood at the exit to say thank you to the guests for coming, but very few words were passed between the family and those attending.

Is this comforting to the family? Maybe it is. Maybe the endless chant numbs the pain and grief. I think everyone felt the service was exhausting and wanted it to be over. Maybe the number of people attending gave the family comfort to know their son was in so many people's hearts. Maybe words of comfort and relating details of the boy's life would have made the situation more unbearable. I don't know. It is not how I would like to say my farewells...

I remember the boy from Sunday School and kindergarten. I pray his childlike faith from then will open the gates of heaven for him now.

"The Lord is near the brokenhearted,
And saves those who are crushed in spirit."
Psalms 34:18

A day in Nikko

Yesterday Leiya and I went with my Tuesday morning English class to upper Nikko which is home to some famous shrines and temples. For the past couple years we five ladies (sometimes with Leiya, sometimes without) go for a day or weekend trip to somewhere not too far away. Yesterday we spent about an hour walking along the moss covered cobblestone paths til we got to the uppermost shrine. I had given Leiya the camera and I find she took over 200 pictures on our hike! So here are a couple to give you a feel of the day.

The weather was cool and drizzled a couple times during our walk but no out and out rain. Even though, the cobblestones were damp and slippery, probably like that all year round. The forest was thick and smelled wonderful and we met very few people along the way. It was a beautiful, peaceful walk and I can see how hundreds and hundreds of years ago people would feel that God lived nearby and would build a shrine.

After our walk we had lunch at a very fancy Japanese restaurant that specialized in yuba which is made from soy milk and is similar to tofu but has a completely different texture. It was delicious and I wish I could explain all the different forms of yuba used in this meal. (Too hard to explain and you really have to taste it to understand!)

Then we went to a wood carving studio and tried our hand at wood carving. Nikko is very famous for the gorgeous wood carving works that traditionally developed here (probably an off shoot of the carvings done on the Toshogu Shrine) and along with Mashiko pottery, this is another handcraft that has made our area famous. I have a couple of Nikko carved trays that I use daily to serve tea or cakes. Well, yesterday we tried carving ourselves and it was a lot of fun, very difficult to do and gave me a better appreciation of the work involved. Leiya and I had a great time and came away thinking we'd like to try it again someday! Here are our meager attempts at carving. They look pretty good if I do say so myself! The design was stenciled onto the wood piece and we used an interesting shaped knife to carve away the stencil lines.

Another great day planned by my good friends. Thank you very much!

The surprise

Well, I blew the surprise. But what a surprise!!! Yesterday I wandered into Leiya's bedroom asking her to help me look for something and my eye caught a jumble of a patchwork block stuffed under some clothes. Did the cat drag out one of my blocks again.? But I've never made a block in those colors... And I pulled it out. Leiya let out a groan!!

"You found it! You weren't supposed to find it until it was done!"

"Done? Done with what? Where did you get this?"

"I'm making it."

"Who? You? You're making a patchwork block?! How?"

How is right! How can my daughter who has never sewn anything be making a patchwork block? And look at this block! This is advanced stuff!

"How did you do this? With a book? Did someone teach you?"

"No. I just remembered you cutting pieces out of cardboard and tracing around them so I tried it myself."

"Where did you get the pattern? This is really difficult!"

"I just made up a design in my head. It's a lot harder than it looks. I was going to give it to you for your birthday but I didn't finish it in time."

Spoken like a true quilter!!!

You can imagine that by then my eyes were welling up with tears. Look at this labor of love with no help from anyone or anything. Pure effort and love.

It's not perfect. Look at that block with all the seams meeting in the middle. That is enough to drive an experienced quilter to frustration. I've been known to reject a block with too many interlocking seams. Look at the inset pieces at the corners. She was sewing and turning at the corners to get them to fit. Can you tell how small the pieces are? Do you realize how many different sizes of crazy shaped pieces she made?

It is absolutely perfect! She was also making another one in pink and the end is far from sight on this one too. How was she planning to put these blocks together? All the jags and corners and impossibly unmatching seam lines! It boggles my mind!

I don't know when Leiya will finish her blocks or if they will ever get finished. She wants to put on borders but isn't quite sure how. I'm not sure if I should advise and help or not. I want these up on my wall or on a table or something but I don't want to take over her project. Mom, the family professional quilter takes over! That's not right. Even undone they are beautiful and a work of art to me.

Anyway, I just wanted to share Leiya's step into her mother's world.

So, how old are you?

Yesterday was a lovely day of doing what I liked, when I liked and how I liked. Tetsu and Leiya pampered me in honor of my birthday!

After church we went to my favorite restaurant for lunch, a fantastic Indian restaurant where we stuffed ourselves with good food and atmosphere. I could go here every week if someone asked me!

After lunch we did a bit of shopping but I couldn't find anything I absolutely needed or wanted. Guess what I asked for but couldn't find... A standing ironing board! I decided I don't want to iron on the dinky Japanese board and I wanted to stand tall and iron my patchwork! Since I never iron clothes, you could see the big question mark over Tetsu's head when I asked for an ironing board but alas none to be found. I've got permission to buy one if I find one or order one if need be.

So... I spent most of the afternoon quilting and got quite a bit done! Leiya napped, Tetsu got a haircut and came back with a couple presents for me after all. A beautiful handbag and pajamas. No, I'm not modelling the pajamas for you! Mrs. Yano brought me a beautiful hibiscus plant too!

And I started the 365 Challenge so I've completed one goal. (That was easy!) I'm praying that year 52 will be a good one!