!Special Lecture「Japanese Culture」In Three Case Studies… Or, “So, what`s it like to live in Japan?”

Student and faculty guests from the College of Charleston are visiting our university this week. We have a very long, close and important reltionship with this college, so the Center for International Education is rolling out the red carpet and pulling out the top guns for a sample Japanese class, lecture on Japanese business and lecture on Japnese culture. I have been tasked with the last. So how am I supposed to explain the complexities of Japanese culture in 90 minutes? To be honest, the longer I have been in Japan, the less I seem to understand.

Around the time I was conscripted for this lecture, I had the pleasure of meeting my cousin's daughter's husband (or first cousin once removed-in-law), Preston. After talking for a while, Preston asked me, "so, what's it like to live in Japan?" I was taken back by this question, no one has asked me this in a long time. I tried to briefly explain my family, neighborhood, job and research. Then it dawned on me, why not organize my lecture in a similar way and call them case studies. So I will be talking about my neighborhood (with a focus on my research of its fall festival), my major research subject (Deaf communities and sign language) and my passion (the Hanshin Tigers).

Thanks, Preston!

I am providing some resources below for my lecture audience (and others who might be interested) with more details about the case studies.

1) My Neighborhood (in Kadoma-shi): Focus on the Fall Festival

Sources:

祭り Matsuri Photo Exhibition 写真展: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/01/matsuri-photo-exhibition.html

Japanese Anthropology Workshop (JAWS) Newsletter No. 53: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/04/announcement-new-jaws-newsletter.html

Distributed Multimodalities: Ethnographic Experiments in Memory and Performance: https://distributedmultimodalities.carrd.co/

Distributed Multimodalities on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=Distributed+Multimodalities%3A+Ethnographic+Experiments+in+Memory+and+Performance

Fall Festival on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=fall+festival

2) My Primary Research: Deaf Communities and Sign Language

Sources:

「A Primer on Deaf Communities in Japan: Identity, Sign Language and Diversity」@YCAPS, Getting to Know Japan Webinar (2024): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/06/announcementa-primer-on-deaf.html

The Embodiment of the Deaf in Japan: A Set of Heuristic Models for Identity, Belonging and Sign Language Use (2023): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2024/01/theres-nothing-like-holding-real-book.html

Sign language, what is it? An ESCAP guide towards legal recognition of sign languages in Asia and the Pacific (2022): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2023/05/new-publication-from-united-nations.html

Representations of Deaf People in Japan: Inspiration, Outrage and Real Life (2021): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2021/05/representations-of-deaf-people-in-japan.html

Barrier-Free Communication for the Deaf in Japan: A Local Initiative for Medical Interpretation Services in Japanese Sign Language (2021): https://kansaigaidai.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=8036&file_id=19&file_no=1

Performance, Sign Language, and Deaf Identity in Japan (2019): https://www.anthropology-news.org/articles/performance-sign-language-and-deaf-identity-in-japan/

Living Partial Truths: HIV/AIDS in the Japanese Deaf World (2006): https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2007/08/hivaids-in-japan.html

Deaf and Sign Language on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=deaf+sign+language

3) My Passion: Hanshin Tigers

Sources:

Hanshin Tigers Webpage (in Japanese): https://hanshintigers.jp/

Food Terrorism and Japanese Baseball: A Hanshin Tigers Case Study@SWCAS 11/4/23: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2023/11/food-terrorism-and-japanese-baseball.html

Hanshin Tigers on VAoJ: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=hanshin+tigers

"Japan’s izakaya pubs closing at record pace, failing to attract foreign tourists"

Photo and text from SoraNews24 via Japan Today, 5/24/26.

Izakaya are a unique part of Japanese food culture. Their closest analogy would be pubs, since izakaya serve a wide variety of alcoholic drinks and food meant to be paired with such beverages. Their menus are much more extensive than just basic bar munchies, though, with things such as yakitori chicken skewers, grilled onigiri rice balls, and plates of sliced sashimi being long-standing favorites. As a matter of fact, unlike with a pub, the expectation is that izakaya customers will always order some kind of food too, though there’s still a greater focus on drinks than at a regular restaurant.

However, izakaya are in a tough spot in Japan these days, and since the start of the year have been going bankrupt at a faster rate than at any time in nearly the past 40 years, according to a new study.

Data from Tokyo Shoko Research, a commerce and industry research organization, shows that between January and April of 2026, 88 izakaya have declared bankruptcy with debts of 10 million yen or more. That’s 54.3 percent more than for the same period last year, and the highest number Tokyo Shoko Research has observed for the first quarter of the year since it began tracking such statistics in 1989, significantly more than the previous high of 59 in 2024.

So what’s causing the closures? A mix of factors, but one of the biggest is rising prices. Japan is experiencing by far its worst inflation in a generation, and costs for not just ingredients, but also for utilities, are hitting izakaya hard. Many are responding by reducing portion sizes, reworking recipes to make use of cheaper ingredients, or raising the prices they charge their own customers to make up the increased expenses. There are limits to how much of those tactics diners will put up with, though.

Facing rising costs for their own necessities such as rent, groceries, transportation, and home utilities, many consumers are becoming much more sensitive to the value they’re getting with the reduced amount of money they have left over for discretionary spending, and izakaya are looking a lot less appealing to many people than they used to. In particular, Tokyo Shoko Research points out that izakaya offers that include a full meal’s worth of food plus unlimited drinks for a period of time (usually 90 or 120 minutes), traditionally some of their most attractive deals, have gotten more expensive and now often cost more than 5,000 yen, a price point that many diners are balking at.

The study also highlights recent changes in dining/drinking patterns in Japan. Traditionally, izakaya have gotten much of their business from groups of coworkers coming in together, either as part of a pre-planned event such as a welcome party for new employees or an end-of-the-year celebration, or as spontaneous excursions to grab a drink after clocking out, sometimes after doing overtime and being too hungry/thirsty to wait until they can commute back home. However, those gatherings largely went away during the pandemic, and while many izakaya weathered that economic storm due to financial support from the government, the custom of coworkers going to drink together hasn’t rebounded to its previous level.

Part of that is due to more people working from home, something that was extremely rare in Japan prior to the pandemic. Many jobs now offer at least some telecommuting flexibility, meaning fewer people in the office, and so fewer people to go grab a cold Asahi with on the way to the station at the end of the day. There’s also been a gradual increase in desire for a more even work/life balance in Japanese society. Even many in management positions are now more aware that constant overtime chips away at morale and the company’s ability to retain workers, and have come to accept that many employees feel that, when overtime does have to be done, having to go drinking with your boss afterward doesn’t make up for it, but actually makes the situation even worse.

So when you combine higher prices, freedom from the obligation to go to izakaya with coworkers, and the possibility of already being at home when you clock out from work, having a drink in the comfort of your living room, and one you purchased at the supermarket for half of what an izakaya would have charged you, becomes a very compelling alternative.

Ah, but what about inbound foreign tourists? Japanese cuisine is one of the top reasons travelers from overseas come to Japan, and with the yen remaining so weak, many visitors still feel like dining out here is a bargain compared to their home countries. Tokyo Shoko Research, though, says that izakaya aren’t drawing in foreign tourists to the same extent that other restaurants in Japan are.

The report doesn’t offer any theories as to why this is, but it likely has something to do with international foodies’ passion for Japanese food being strongly focused on specific dishes, such as ramen, sushi, or curry rice. While many izakaya do have tasty food, their broader menu makes them a little less likely to hook a traveler’s attention than, for instance, a restaurant whose storefront is plastered with signage featuring photo after photo of steaming hot bowls of ramen. Ordering at izakaya is also a little trickier to navigate. There aren’t any vending machines at the entrance to purchase a meal ticket from, and it can be hard for newbies to estimate how many plates of food to order for a filling spread. There’s also the whole otoshi custom of unasked-for appetizers that you still have to pay for, but aren’t told the price of in advance, which can be an unpleasant bit of culinary culture shock.

Izakaya, like all pubs, are about more than just base sustenance. In a sense, they’re a form of entertainment, and much like certain genres of music or movies fluctuate in popularity, there’s a chance that izakaya will bounce back. For now, though, the situation isn’t very rosy, so if you see one that looks intriguing, they’d probably really appreciate it if you came in for a drink and a bite to eat.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/business/japan%E2%80%99s-izakaya-pubs-closing-at-record-pace-failing-to-attract-foreign-tourists

Be sure to checkout the reader comments as well.

The Department of East Asian Studies - Japanese Studies at the University of Vienna - u:japan lectures - Greg Poole: "In the Shadow of a Mountain: A Community School Coordinator and the Politics of Survival in Rural Japan"

I am very happy to pass on this announcement about a lecture by my friend and colleague, Greg Poole, from Doshisha University:

CLICK on the photos to get a clear image to read.

| Date & Time |

u:japan lecture | s12e08
Thursday 2026-05-28, 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)
***This is 1:00 - 2:30 AM on Friday, 2026-05-29 in Japan***

| Place |

LIVE @ Campus of the University of Vienna 18:00~19:30 (CET, UTC +1h)
Department of East Asian Studies, Japanese Studies
Seminarraum JAP 1, 2K-EG-21, Ground floor to the left
Spitalgasse 2, Hof 2.4 (Campus), 1090 Vienna, Austria

| Platform & Link |

https://univienna.zoom.us/j/65583867108?pwd=rydxHuWoGcGIV6FFJdrLghDwpucRHd.1
Meeting-ID: 655 8386 7108 | Passcode: 794196
This lecture will not be recorded.

For more information: https://japanologie.univie.ac.at/startseite/einzelnews/news/in-the-shadow-of-a-mountain-a-community-school-coordinator-and-the-politics-of-survival-in-rural-ja/

"The Iran War Is Taking the Color Out of Japan’s Best-Known Snack Bags"

Text and photo from The New York Times online, 5/13/26.

The food giant Calbee said shortages of naphtha, a crude-oil derivative used in inks, were forcing it to switch to black-and-white packaging for its salty products.

The Iran war has wreaked havoc on global supply chains, caused a spike in oil prices and scrambled international trade.

Now it is coming for potato chips.

The Japanese food giant Calbee said on Tuesday that it would temporarily abandon its brightly colored plastic snack bags in favor of black-and-white wrapping because of “instability affecting certain raw materials amid ongoing tensions in the Middle East.”

The company said in a statement that the measure was meant to “help maintain a stable supply of products,” adding that it would not affect the quality of the snacks.

Read the whole story: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/12/world/asia/calbee-japan-bags-iran-war.html

(Mother's Day) Jalan Jalan (108)

Critical Sociolinguistics in a Modern World: Proceedings of the 1st Kansai Sociolinguistics Colloquium (update!)

I participated as a mentor in this great colloquium. Lots of great people, great research, great presentations, great discussions...

Here was the original call: https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/05/announcement-call-for-participation-1st.html

Download the newly released proceedings here: https://media.suub.uni-bremen.de/entities/publication/dbe455f1-88fc-4999-bdbe-204b7d3e0550

Sometimes it seems that fb really does have a sense of humor (it's all in the timing...)

A post about sumo rankings and a fashion advertisement come together in a funny way on my fb, 4/29/26

"Kyotographie's Daido Moriyama retrospective resonates in an age of endless images"

Caption: A sprawling retrospective on Moriyama, a giant of Japanese street photography, is on view at the Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, as part of annual international photo festival Kyotographie.

Daido Moriyama is one of my favorite photographers. You can check out his work in Kyoto now.

Selected text (Thu-Huong Ha) and photos (JOHAN BROOKS) from The Japan Times, April 23, 2026.

Daido Moriyama isn’t precious with his photos; he shoots endlessly, automatically. As a new exhibition suggests, we shouldn’t be precious either.

A large-scale retrospective of the giant of Japanese street photography opened April 18 at Kyoto City Kyocera Museum of Art, as part of annual international photo festival Kyotographie. After premiering in 2023 at Instituto Moreira Salles in Sao Paulo and making its way across Europe, the exhibit is showing in Japan for the first time.

“Daido Moriyama: A Retrospective” is massive in scale as well as in scope, covering decades of Moriyama’s work from the 1960s to the present. A discerning viewer will need hours of energy and focused attention to take everything in, not only on the walls, which feature nearly 200 images and 250 printed pages, but on tables that stretch along the galleries. There are another 150 magazines collected, with around 40 books for people to browse, from Moriyama’s acclaimed 2002 photobook “Shinjuku” to his recent “Pretty Woman,” and even a guidebook to Tokyo. The effect is a dizzying, at times overwhelming tunnel of blurred faces and body parts in black and white.

Moriyama, 87, born in 1938 in Osaka Prefecture, is often praised for the way he captured postwar Japan reeling from defeat and pushing quickly toward Westernization. But this characterization only captures a relatively small and early portion of Moriyama’s work, which began in 1965 with his first important series, “Pantomime,” set in an obstetrics and gynecology hospital in Kanagawa Prefecture. Though he initially followed rules of classical photography with sharp and focused composition lines, by the late 1960s Moriyama had already begun to break away, capturing subcultures, experimental theater performers and working class life in Japan.

“He shifted to build a less pretentious look at society,” says exhibition curator Thyago Nogueira, head of the contemporary art department at Instituto Moreira Salles Brazil, during a media preview. “He started to document that expression of culture in society, and to build a different eye that was formulating a certain kind of photography that was more introspective and more subjective, a little tilted, dark.”

Moriyama was focused on examining how photos were used by mass media to mediate reality. He photographed images of major events, like the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy as shown on TV and in newspapers, as a commentary on visual culture at the time.

“It was important to me to show how Moriyama was part of a generation of people working in an industry of image-making,” Nogueira tells The Japan Times. “They were not only changing the industry, but also changing the vocabulary and the language of photography in a very clever and self-conscious way.”

Moriyama was anti-elite and favored printed materials that could be cheaply produced and circulated easily. (Although decades later production and distribution would become essentially free, and paper would start to seem like a luxury.)

“He was always saying, ‘I'm not interested in dogmatism, I'm not interested in the fetishization of photography. I'm interested in shared conversations,’” Nogueira says. “The deep, philosophical questions he’s asking about photography were being asked in fanzines, in a very cheap Xerox.”

Moriyama, who is still actively working, is ultimately interested in what a photo is for; but throughout his career he has maintained a skeptical stance not just toward the value of photos as art, but the promise of photojournalism.

“That naivety to think you could try and create masterpieces, that naive humanism to try and help people through your art — that is just too optimistic for me,” Moriyama said in 1971. “I am already struggling just to keep grasp of my own existence.”

Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/04/23/art/daido-moriyama-retrospective-kyotographie/

There's a whole lot going on at the annual international photo festival Kyotographie. Check out thier website.

https://www.kyotographie.jp/en/programs/2026/

59

「The Tachinomi Project」Lecture Set-up

Post on FB, 4/16/26

VAoJ Promo Poster

Since 2006...

Visual Anthropology in Japan:「The Tachinomi Project」 日本に映像人類学: 「立ち呑みプロジェクト」 @ Salon KGU

Visual Anthropology in Japan:

「The Tachinomi Project」

A chance to share my research with colleagues at work...

Abstract:

「The Tachinomi Project」is a visual ethnography based upon the intersections of social science research and contemporary art. The project began with long-term participant-observation and a photographic exhibition featuring a 40-year-old tachinomiya (standing drink bar) in Osaka called Tenbun. The study sought to explore photography in public spaces, privacy and image ethics while showcasing a “grimy” (Farrer 2019) and stimulating atmosphere with colorful characters including the shop owner, employees and regular customers. The interactions with Tenbun collaborators and gallery audience at the exhibition became the first of several post-fieldwork encounters, leading to the re-positioning of the research into wider social and academic contexts during and after the COVID 19 pandemic. This present account utilizes reflexivity, autoethnographic vignettes (Stevens 2013) and photography to explore the intersections of the sensory (Pink 2013 [2009]), multimodal (Collins et al. 2017), and ba (Kajimaru et al. 2021) of Tenbun and other eating and drinking establishments.

Thursday, April 16, 2026

18:30 ~ 20:00

CIE 3rd Floor Seminar Room

日本に映像人類学:

「立ち呑みプロジェクト」

職場の同僚と自分の研究成果を共有する機会…

要旨:

「立ち呑みプロジェクト」は、社会科学的調査と現代美術の交差領域に立脚したビジュアル・エスノグラフィーである。本プロジェクトは、大阪の創業40年の立ち呑み屋「天文」における長期的参与観察、ならびに同店を主題とした写真展を起点に始まった。本研究は、公共空間における写真撮影、プライバシー、および映像倫理を検討することを目的とし、店主や従業員、常連客といった多様な人々が織りなす、「猥雑（grimy）」（Farrer 2019）かつ刺激的な空間の様相を詳らかにするものである。 フィールドワーク後、写真展における「天文」協力者と観覧者とのインターアクションを皮切りに、コロナ禍中またそれ以降のより広範な社会的・学術的文脈で捉え直すこととなった。 本研究では、再帰性、オートエスノグラフィー的ヴィニエット（Stevens 2013）、写真を通し、「天文」をはじめとする飲食施設における感覚（Pink 2013 [2009]）、マルチモーダル（Collins et al. 2017）、場（Kajimaru et al. 2021）の交差について論じる。

2026年4月16日（木）

18:30～20:00

CIE 3階 セミナー室

春から初夏にかけてのサロンKGUの全スケジュールはこちらです。

Here is the complete Salon KGU schedule for the spring and early summer:

BONUS!

かたの桜 純米吟醸酒 雪の香(ゆきのか) 17度
Katano Sakura Junmai Ginjo Sake Yukinoka (Scent of Snow) 17%

片野桜大吟醸袋吊りしずく(令和7酒造年度) 17度
Katano Sakura Daiginjo Undiluted Brew Genshu (2025) 17%

山野酒造 大阪府交野市
Yamano Sake Brewery Katano City, Osaka Prefecture

URL: https://www.katanosakura.com/

「From Hawai‘i to Japan: Community Networks and the Development of Autism Support around “Team Lenny”」

Annoucement forwarded from H-Japan in the H-Net Commons:

The final talk in the CIEE Kyoto Seminar Series this Spring, on Friday, April 3, 2026 by Benjamin Dorman (Senior Research Fellow, Nanzan University Anthropological Institute):

From Hawai‘i to Japan: Community Networks and the Development of Autism Support around “Team Lenny”

Abstract:

This talk examines the development of a community-based network around an autistic child in Japan and the forms of practical knowledge that emerged through that process. When our son began to show early signs associated with autism, we sought advice from specialists in Japan but were largely encouraged to “wait and see.” In contrast, time spent in Hawai‘i exposed us to a different environment of diagnosis, family services, and parent support networks. After returning to Japan, we gathered a small group of volunteers around our son in our home, forming what we called Team Lenny. Over several years, volunteers met regularly in a playroom environment shaped largely by what we learned through online communities andfrom teachers we later engaged directly. Through ongoing interaction and reflection, the group developed shared forms of practical knowledge about engaging with an autistic child. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some interactions later continued online before the network gradually wound down as our son grew older.

Although centered on one child, the experience later intersected with institutional settings. In 2016, a crowdfunding campaign connected us with the director of the NPO Tokotoko, who invited us to share our experience with teachers at the Hidamari no Ie center. Elements of the approach were later incorporated into Tokotoko’s "To Heart" program. The talk reflects on how knowledge about autism support can emerge through collaboration between families, volunteers, and childcare professionals.

Please note this talk begins at 18:00 and will be run in hybrid format from CIEE Kyoto (6th Floor, Gion Classroom) with Zoom access available.

Format & Venue

Time: 18:00–19:30 (JST), unless stated differently
Location: CIEE Kyoto, 6th Floor, Gion Classroom and Zoom (hybrid)

Registration

Please register in advance for either in-person or online participation:

In-person (CIEE Kyoto): [On-Site Registration] CIEE Kyoto Seminar Series - Benjamin Dorman – Fill in form

Zoom (online): https://ciee.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gMMpzz0VSJW08y-hDSr7WQ#/registration

The drama "Midnight Diner" is getting a new season after 7 years!

It was announced on the 17th that a new series of the drama " Midnight Diner," starring actor Kaoru Kobayashi, is in production. This will be the first new series in seven years, and it has been decided that it will be broadcast in the fall of 2026 in the "Dramaism" slot on MBS and TBS... "Midnight Diner" is based on the comic of the same name by Yaro Abe, which is known as one of Japan's leading national "food" comics, with the series selling over 9 million copies worldwide . It was first adapted into a drama in 2009 with Kobayashi in the lead role. The story is set in a diner in a corner of a bustling city, and depicts the small stories that unfold at the counter as various customers of different genders, ages, and backgrounds visit the shop.

See the full story at Yahoo News: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/ce9cae89a414dc176a596eb8c41ced767b5d7867

"Mari Katayama wins inaugural Mori Art Prize"

Photo source: https://www.akionagasawa.com/en/artist/mari-katayama/GINZA/

Mari Katayama received the inaugural Mori Art Award grand prize at a ceremony at the Roppongi Hills Club in Tokyo on Feb. 26. This biennial award for Japan-based, mid-career artists comes with a ¥10 million monetary prize and the opportunity to hold an exhibition at the Mori Art Museum. It is among the largest payouts for a single contemporary artist in Japan, surpassing the Tokyo Contemporary Art Award, which distributes ¥3 million each to two artists.
...
Katayama, 39, works with analog photography and handicraft practices such as embroidery and needlework, designing and handsewing objects she attaches to her body that she then captures in self-portraits. Her creations challenge preconceptions about the human body, disability, gender, nature, beauty and fashion. She was born with tibial hemimelia, a congenital condition affecting limb development, which resulted in a cleft hand and the amputation of both her legs at age 9. On her website, she describes the core of her artistic practice as “living every day within her own body, which she uses as a living sculpture, mannequin and lens through which to reflect society.”

Read the whole story at The Japan Times: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2026/03/02/art/mori-art-museum-prize/

Mari Katayama | 片山真理 on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katayamari/

Cover your mouth please (Japan Today Picture of the Day)

Caption: A manners poster on the wall of a Tokyo subway station reminds passengers to cover their mouth when they sneeze or cough.

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/picture-of-the-day/cover-your-mouth-please

"Osaka police arrest man in his 90s for alleged graffiti"

Japanese police arrested a man in his 90s Thursday for allegedly defacing a sign at a prosecutor's office in the city of Osaka, a local officer said. A security guard at the government building in the city made an emergency call saying "graffiti had been scrawled on a sign with red lacquer paint," according to the senior Osaka police officer.

Following the emergency call at around 9:45 a.m. that day, officers rushed to the scene to "arrest the man, who had already been held by the security guard, on suspicion of property damage," he said.

The stone sign at the front of the building bearing the words "Public Prosecutor's Office" had been defaced, the officer added.

The man — who the officer said was in his 90s but declined to specify his exact age — later admitted to investigators that he had "dirtied" the sign.

The man did not appear to be politically motivated, according to the officer.

Source (photo and text): https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/02/27/japan/crime-legal/elderly-osaka-graffiti-arrest

Jesse Jackson (October 8, 1941 – February 17, 2026): "Keep Hope Alive"

Jesse Jackson surrounded by marchers carrying signs advocating support for the Hawkins-Humphrey Bill for full employment, near the White House, Washington, D.C.

Photo Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jesse_Jackson_participating_in_a_rally,_January_15,_1975.jpg

Jalan Jalan (107) pt.2: the challenges and charms of the neighborhood...

Jalan Jalan (107) pt.1: sunny and warm; almost feels like spring is coming; taking in the ume (plum) blossoms at the local shrine...

The last day of the holidays; classes begin tomorrow... Aside from preparing for classes, these are some of the things I did today - in two-frame style...

We received a box of daikon (大根) from my wife's brother in rural Aichi Prefecture...

I documented the worn handicapped parking spot at our locl convenience store...

I encountered a black cat, but she didn't cross my path. Still, I went to our local shrine (scroll VAoJ for the many photos of the shrine) to pray for a successful semester, good health for family and friends and world peace...

I bought some pineapple candy (パインアメ) to ring in the new semester and spring training for the Hanshin Tigers...