Mystery object from my previous post: I’m giving it a trial as a knife holder.

The next oddities were at my favorite charity shop in Kyoto, in a bin marked "FREE." They look like something I would have crafted from popsicle sticks as a child, but they're solidly made from bamboo fastened with metal attachments. What the hell are they? Does anyone have any idea?

Random oddities! I found this necklace at a Tokyo flea market. It appears to be made of olive pits. The seller was offering it for 500 yen, but she cut it to 300. (She seemed eager to get rid of it. Maybe it's haunted by the ghost of someone who loved eating olives?) I wish I knew their story.

Praying for friends — and for everyone — in and around Kumamoto. Preliminary magnitude 7.1. (We didn’t feel it in Tokyo. We’re fine. But it looks bad down there….)

I finally achieved the required length to donate my hair to a charity that makes wigs for cancer patients -- so it was time to CHOP THE MOP. Thanks as always to Osaka-san at Sakasita Weed, for another amazing cut!

As Japan now bakes under a heat wave, I'm enjoying looking back to just a few weeks, when the temperatures were much lower and the hydrangeas were still in bloom. An old friend of mine and I spent the day in Uji. We checked out Mimurotoji (三室戸寺), which supposedly has over 20,000 hydrangea bushes.

Someone lost their head.

Today I learned that *sparkling* Cloudy Bay exists. Imagine not knowing!

This old house next to Yoyogi-Uehara station is still there! I took a photo of it — because the next time I head out that way, it might not be.

Yeah…

It works extremely well. But I need to do a complete water change soon, because she just laid some eggs (and ate them) and not even a powerful filter can handle that. I’m waiting a few days in case she releases some more, but I will thoroughly clean the murky water before it starts to smell.

Someone asked me in message about my turtle’s filter arrangement. When she grew to the size of a Kaiju, I upgraded to a large canister filter:

Two weeks ago today, we began a trial adoption with this goofy little floof. We wanted to make he sure that he wouldn’t give our senior dog too much stress. Fortunately, she’s decided to completely ignore him, probably hoping he’ll just go away. He won’t, though — we’re smitten.

Kameko, our turtle, somehow moved a very heavy BRICK across her tank. How?!?! And WHY?!?! This month marks 15 years since I found her in the street. She will probably outlive us all.

I did go back. But I was too late.

In an old Tokyo house shrouded for demolition, some incredibly beautiful ranma (wooden panels) that once graced a doorway are now suspended over a hollow void.

This scraggly hydrangea bush growing next to Gaien-Higashidori appears half-dead most of the year — except for a few weeks when it looks amazing.

Tokyo’s hydrangeas have burst into bloom everywhere, heralding the transition from late spring to early summer.

Every once in a while, I’m walking through Kyoto and I suddenly feel as if I’m in a Ghibli movie.

Some dust in the stairwell... ...wasn't actually dust.

I love old objects from flea markets -- especially dishes. What kind of meals were once served in them? Who ate the food? And who washed the dishes afterward? Every old dish has a story I will never know. I don’t have space for more dishes, but Jewelry Opera in Jingumae has pieces made from shards.

I didn't even feel the 6.3 quake that struck off Miyagi about half an hour ago (and good news, there is NO tsunami warning). While I have everyone's attention, please enjoy these photos of our old dog enjoying a doggie cake.

It was both an honor and a delight to work with her, on such a fascinating and globally significant topic. I got my copy in the mail today...and she thanked me in her preface for my help. This made my day! (Honestly, it made my whole YEAR.)

Happy Mother's Day to all who observe it in any way. Here's a flower for everyone: an amaryllis growing in an old oil can, outside of an empty house in Higashi Azabu. I am tempted to "rescue" it, but I think it should stay where everyone walking by can enjoy it.

Here’s the reason we needed a new lamp.

Our bird ate the old one.

I have some exciting news! I bought a NEW LAMP!!! (For me, this truly counts as exciting.)

Tokyo Tower was illuminated in a lovely blue tonight to mark World Autism Awareness Day.

Cherry blossom season has arrived in Tokyo…but I was more impressed by this single clump of violets blooming amid the roots of a tree flare.

I’m in Kyoto for a quick trip…and it must be graduation day for at least one department of Kyoto University — I was walking around Hyakumanben today and I saw lots of young women wearing hakama over beautiful kimono.