Japanese traditional clothes

Now that many Japanese, especially the adult, don’t have chances to put on yukata, which is one of kimono, in their ordinary life so much. On the contrary, the young often prefer to put on yukata when they have a date, such as the one at the displays of fireworks.

Me, I don’t have any yukata, I mean I used to, but as I wrote before, I need the one. My mother told me that I could put on my father’s one and she brought several yukata from the drawer. Ummm…I can smell something mingled clothes itself and insect repellents. The father’s yukata had kept in the drawer for over twenty years without being used. That’s the secret of the smell. lol

Actually, we have proper and traditional ways to put on kimono and many Japanese these days don’t know how to put it on. There are many classes to teach how to put on kimono in Japan. We call such classes kitsuke kyoushitu. kitsuke means “how to put on kimono” and kyoushitu does “class.”

I have a student who wants to learn English from me and she is a beautician. She also teaches how to put on kimono. I just asked her to help me with kimono.

“Ummm… We have a problem.” said she, looking over the kimono my mother brought. It was old that something yellow stained around the neck. “I think you should go to the cleaners. And…I wonder if it would fit you. Just try it on.” said she.

Oh…I have longer legs than my father’s. I should thank my parents for my figure. lol The length of father’s yukata was quite short that I definitely looked like the famous character of the Japanese legendary comedy manga, BAKABON.

It’s him.

I just imagined myself like this. Ummm…Idealism and realism are never the same. I think I must know myself. lol

Ummm… I think I should buy the new one.

Every little thing in my ordinary life 25

Long time no see
I’m sooooooooooo sorryyyyyyyyyyy. It’s been a long time to write an article in this blog. I had tough days, actually. Now the rain has stopped, the sun is rising. I guess the disaster has passed by.

Missing dreams
You know I often describe my dreams in this blog like a novel. I just want to be able to write as many articles as I can. Besides, it tends to be an absolute diary when I adopt “I… I… I…” By standing on the side of the third person and writing, I hope I can acquire another way to express in English. That’s why I have been describing my dreams.

I had a few funny and interesting dreams for the last two weeks. But sadly, I just forgot them. Ummm…where are my missing dreams? I have only a few pieces of them. I just stood at the top floor and was holding a machine gun in my hand. Screams are getting closer from the lower floor. They are zombies’. That was what I dreamed while sleeping. But I forgot the story in detail!

I just want to tell, but I can’t do it for now
I joined one workshop two weeks ago, in which I could learn something in English. It was so fantastic and amazing. I just want to tell you what happened in the workshop and what I learned there. However, I can’t tell it for now. I’m going to introduce it to you in the middle of August. Please don’t miss it.

The teacher at the workshop, who is Canadian, advised us that we had to focus on intonations(or stress), not pronuciations. Now that people all over the world speak English in many different ways to pronounce. You can show your feelings by stressing your intonations clearly. And the contents of the workshop could help me understand them very much.

Besides, I can let you know the punch line unless I emphasize my intonations. That’s just what I can tell you right now. lol

The nest is a lucky charm

There are a lot of convenience stores in Japan and you can live comfortably due to them. I’ve recently fed up with their awful taste of bentou, though.

I saw something cute when I dropped by a convenience store. I’ll introduce it to you.

I found several traffic cones right in front of the store. I saw why they were placed. A couple of swallows nested under the eaves and were growing thier young.

It’s been a long time for me to see such a nest. In my region, it is said that nests of swallows are lucky. Swallows eat a lot of kinds of insects which are harmful to human, especially farmers. It is also said that no swallows nest in house which is likely to fire. It means, they say swallows tend to nest on houses which the residents keep tidy. The owner of the store know such superstitions enough and believe in them.

They also say that it is going to rain when swallows fly lower. I don’t know why, but I guess insects are prone to fly lower on the ground when it is going to rain, and swallows fly either in order to catch them.

“It’s quite nostalgic but… they must carpet-bomb their shits on the ground…that’s why the owner isolated the space with traffic cones.” thinking like that, I looked down at the ground…I was right. lol

The owner of the store must clean up the ground with a mop or something frequently, hoping his/her success on business.

Two celebrities exuded an aura

I had a happy time in Tokyo last weekend. Let me show you a topic when I met two celebrities.

I’ve wanted to visit one cafe in Akihabara. Akihabara is the place where many foreigners and Japanese who love animations gather. Akihabara Gundam Cafe&Bar is where I went.

Did you remember the article I wrote about GUNDAM whose life sized figure used to be built in Tokyo? Here, it is. Even now people love, ofcourse including me, this old animation, GUNDAM.

This time, finally, I had a chance to drop by the cafe.

The appearance is white, which reminds you of GUNDAM.

GUNDAM welcomes you from above when you enter the cafe.

You can see a lot of figures of Gundam in the cafe, and enjoy watching films and autographs of people related to Gundam, such as animaters.

I chose this dish named “the white one of Federation.”

Actually, I didn’t want to drink any of alcohol, however, there were no alcohol-free beverages named after something about GUNDAM. This was what I selected. “Red Comet,” is the nickname characters gave Char Aznable in the animation. A hamburger from the Earth Federation and a drink from Zeon.

One of my subordinates is so hooked on GUMDAM. Every time I get on his car, he lets me hear many songs of GUNDAM. Incidentally, his car is red. lol I bought these souvenirs for him. You can see something round at the top. It’s Haro, a famous character in GUNDAM. I couldn’t help laughing the souvenir on the right side. It is “nanjakumono senbei.” senbei is one of traditional snacks which is baked and has hard texture. But this nanjakumono senbei has soft texture because it is nanjakumono. nanjakumono literally means “coward” and was used in the film of “the first GUNDAM.” In the film, Sayla Mass, Char’s younger sister, slapped Kay Shiden on his face and scoled him with her word; “nanjakumono!” These senbei are so soft like nanjakumono. However, it’s quite delicious.

Take a look at this photo. I saw two celebrities of GUNDAM. Char Aznable and Lalah Sune!

Char Aznable is, as I wrote above, one of the most famous and attractive characters of GUNDAM. His nickname, “Red Comet,” is originated from his mobile suits whose colors are red(except a few mobile suits). Lalah Sune is also one of important characters of GUNDAM. She had a gift and Char knew she could become a great pirot called “NewType.” He took her the theater and had her abitities waken up. Ironically, Lalah grew to be a newtype and met Amuro Ray, the pirot of GUNDAM. Lalah and Amuro, even though they were each enemy, started communicating with each other while fighting. At the right moment Amuro almost killed Char, Lalah intervened between Amuro and Char. Amuro’s beam saber penetrated the mobile armor she got on. Her existence had chained two heros and had had them struggled since she died.

You can see something gold on the table. They are gold blocks, which Char in the film sent Sayla so that she stepped down from the crews of White Base and lived peacefully. I said to Char, “Hey, that is…” Char smiled and said to me, “You know what? Great.” The toy of a white swan she is holding is the symbol of Lalah.

I asked two celebrities to introduce them in this blog. They gave me a permission to take a photo and upload it on this blog. Thank you so much, Char and Lalah.

One of clerks gave a salute to Char when he got out of the cafe; “Thank you for coming, colonel!” Ummm…that’s the celebrity! They seem to frequent the cafe. Oops, ofcourse they do because they are Char and Lalah.

I’ll introduce several films about Char, Lalah and Amuro.

It features a series of fights between Char and Amuro under the first war. You can see Lalah is dead.

Several years later, Char and Amuro fought again. They are rivals forever.

Around 1:50, you can see Char saying his famous phrase.

Thank you so much again, Char and Lalah. I had a special time because of you two.

Every little thing in my ordinary life 24

Tokyo again
I’m writing this journal on the way to Tokyo (I will update this when I arrive at the hotel). I don’t know what will happen in this trip. I’m so thrilled.

It’s quite laborious to write a long topic in English with my cellphone, by the way.

No chance to watch?
Now you can watch the latest zombie movie, “The Survival of The Dead” at theater.(Maybe I have a mistake for the title)

I’m dying to watch it, but unfortunately there’s no time. One of my friends refused my asking because the movie looks so scary. Ummm, I should go to the theater alone? I don’t know if I’ll be able to get such time.

kimono has a lot of types
One of my friends, who makes up her clients and gets them to dress kimono.

She has recieved one of clients’ request, which is to go to N.Y. and make up. At her previous task in America, she was in trouble at the airport and has wanted to speak English more smoothly since she was. In addition, she thinks it would be great to explain a lot of things about kimono to her foreign clients. We’re now preparing for those explanations.

I know I don’t have such knowledge on kimono. Before I translate technical words on kimono, I must learn what exactly they are from her. Who is a teacher?

By the way, I’ll reply to your comments when I’m back home. Sorry about that.