This is Yokohama taken from a night cruise that we did of Yokohama Bay. The ferris wheel is at the centre of Yokohama Cosmo World amusement park. The lights change colour constantly, like a kaleidoscope, and it looks really spectacular!
A Tanuki Family
You see ceramic tanuki (raccoon dog) statues everywhere in Japan, especially outside inns and guesthouses and in people’s gardens. But it’s quite rare to see a whole family like this one!
Dad has got a big sun hat and his saké bottle. Mum has a saké bottle too and a hair ribbon. I guess the little tanuki are a girl and a boy (the boy is wearing a hat like his dad).
These ones were in a restaurant window in Jujo in Tokyo.
The Golden Inventor
This amazing statue is of Momofuku Ando the one and only inventor of instant noodles and Cup Noodle!
You can see this statue at the Cup Noodle Museums (there are two – one in Yokohama and one in Osaka), and you can also learn about the whole history of instant noodles and make your own Cup Noodle to take home. It’s good fun!
The Emperor’s Music Room
This very unusual building is called the Tokagakudo (peach blossom music hall) and it is the music headquarters for the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. Probably most of the music played here is for the Shinto rituals and festivals that the Imperial family have to take part in. You can see it if you visit the Imperial Palace’s East Gardens. It was built in the 1960s for the former Empress and is 8-sided and covered in mosaics which are supposed to show flowers and stars, but look more like Tokyo Sky Tree to me!
Keeping Pine Trees in Shape
The beautiful pine trees in Japanese gardens don’t stay in those special shapes all by themselves. They have to be carefully pruned! The people who do the pruning are experts and I’ve heard that they earn quite a lot of money.
Tanuki Crossing
This sign is warning drivers that tanuki (raccoon dogs) may cross the road. You probably only see them if you’re going somewhere at night though, because they are nocturnal and very secretive.
An Impressive Sight
This is Kyoto Station taken from high up on the steps. Don’t come up here if you don’t like heights!
Welcome to 2017!
明けましておめでとうございます！
Akemashite omedetou gozaimasu!
Happy New Year!
Kids’ Cigarettes
You probably won’t find these cigarettes anywhere else but in Japan these days! Because in most countries it’s completely illegal to sell cigarettes to kids even if they are fake candy cigarettes! You can normally find these amazing cigarette sweets in dagashiya (Japanese sweets shops). The two flavours I’ve seen so far are orange and chocolate, but there might be more out there!
Sword Master
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This is a Japanese Tengu, which is a mythical creature that lives in the mountains of Japan. It is said that Tengus have incredible sword fighting skills and if you’re lucky and they think you are worthy then they might take you on as an apprentice so you can learn how to be a master sword fighter. There are quite a lot of these statues of Tengus in Buddhist temples in Japan and supposedly if you rub the foot of the statue of a Tengu it gives you good luck and good health (see how shiny his feet are!)