Kabuki Wood Block Print

I was reading this book about kabuki and all of sudden it made me feel like collecting wood block prints.

The more I learn about kabuki, the more I want to go a theatre and actually see one.

I have been to kabuki theatre when I used to live in Japan, but back then I had no knowledge about it and was just enjoying the unique movements, beautiful kimono, and my lunch.

Now that I am in the US, I started appreciating what my home country offers.

I thought it would be nice to have some little Japanese flavor here at home.

Snowy Dream

I heard that it was snowing in Tokyo a few days ago.

It usually snows everywhere in Japan in February.

Especially in northern parts of Japan.

As a small child, I always dreamed to play in kamakura, a snow igloo.

I read and heard about it that people in north make them and have a little party inside.

I looked at photos of these snow huts with warm light inside.

I still have not experienced it.

Maybe I should try it when I visit someone in East Coast.

Mask

I was at a supermarket and saw a few people coughing.

In Japan, we wear a mask when it's really dry or you feel like you are catching cold.

I think it is because it is more condensed with population and people are so close to each other everywhere.

We not only try to avoid getting sick, but try not to spread the virus you have.

It is a courtesy and that is something everyone does there.

My mother of course was wearing one when she felt sick.

That was just a few weeks after we just moved here.

Yes, she was wearing it in California.

People were staring at her as if she was doing something weird.

She was wondering for a while why people were looking at her strangely.

Plum

In Japan, Plum trees start blooming at the beginning of February.

They decorate the cold sky with reddish pink and white flowers.

I always feel that spring is near us...

My friend from Japan has arrived here to study last week and I visited her.

She gave a piece of dried umeboshi, sour plum, to chew on while driving.

As soon as I tasted the sweet and sour juice in my mouth, I remembered the flowers of plume blooming this season.

It was a nice sense of memory I had.