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...

Tondo Matsuri at Ubusuna Shrine scheduled for January 15, 2026 has been canceled. 2026年1月15日に予定されていた産土神社のとんど祭りは中止となりました。

Ubusuna Shrine, Shirogaki-cho, Kadoma-shi, Osaka-fu, Japan

One of two small hand-made signs at our neighborhood shrine.

The Tondo Festival (とんど祭り) is conducted annually on January 15 to coincide with ko-shogatsu (小正月), or "small new year." Ko-shogatsu is a holdover from the time when Japan used a lunar calendar and is acknowledges appreciation for housewives who were busy during the New Year; it also marks the "conclusion" of New Year's events. This festival has many names (Dondo yaki - どんど焼き - is a common name but there are many others) and local variations. It seems to be a large celebration in various locations across Japan. But my neighborhood version could barely be called a festival as it was practiced in a very low key manner. At the Tondo Matsuri, shimekazari (a traditional New Years decoration hanged at the entrance to a house), omamori (good luck charms), ofuda (talisman), ema (votive tablets) as well as other religious or new year's related ornaments are burned. This is in effect a sort of recycling - these various ornaments are returned after a year or so of use and new ones are purchased. This is also an important community service as many neighbors come during the morning to drop off their used New Year's or religious paraphernalia. It is actually a lot of hard work but also a chance to share New Year's greetings and scoialize with neighbors.

Tondo Matsuri at Ubusuna Shrine, January 15, 2025

But it was canceled this year, probably as fallout from the resignations of the shrine elders (as previously explained in a previous post) who conducted the Tondo Matsuri every year. I do not intend to blame the elders as many other traditional neighborhood activies have been shortened or canceled due to demographic changes and gentrification in Japanese neighborhoods like my own.

The signs at the shrine announce the cancelation and inform neighbors that a Tondo Matsuri will be conducted at the parent shrine,「島頭天満宮」Shimagashira Tenmangu Shrine, a 10-15 minute walk from「産土神社」Ubusuna Shrine, and invites people to drop off their items there (and to not bring their regular daily garbage for disposal). I usually have to work on January 15, but I was able to participate in the festival last year, not knowing that the shrine elders would resign and that it might be the last time the festival would be held. So the VAoJ post documenting the evetn becomes an important recording as salvage ethnography. View it here:

「とんど祭り @ 産土神社 2025」Tondo Matsuri @ Ubusuna Shrine 2025

https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/01/2025tondo-matsuri-ubusuna-shrine-2025.html

I also participated in 2013:

Tondo Festival - とんど祭り (2013)

https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2013/01/tondo-festival.html

It is my hope that my neighborhood can somehow reorganize to revive the shrine, its activities and other neighborhood traditions.

Bonus stuff (added 1/21/26):

January 8, 2026

Source: https://japantoday.com/category/national/elderly-woman-burned-as-clothes-catch-fire-at-new-year-bonfire-in-hokkaido

Dondo-yaki: Japan’s Fiery Farewell to the New Year (a simple explanantion found on GaijinPotBlog): https://blog.gaijinpot.com/dondo-yaki-japans-fiery-farewell-to-the-new-year/

Pre/Re/Construction...

You have seen this:

「Deconstruction: Demolishing a Showa Era House in the Neighborhood (this post is still under construction...)」

https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/2025/09/deconstruction-demolishing-showa-era.html

The next phase of neighborhood gentrification has begun... (Photos taken 12/26/25 - 12/31/25)

The plot has been divided into two.

A representative of the construction company recently made the rounds to houses in the neighborhood to inform us (verbally and in writing) about the upcoming construction of two new 3-story apartment buildings called 「フォレストグリェオーレ城垣町 I II」, or in English (?) Shirogaki-cho Grieore Forest I and II (not sure what "Grieore" is or refers to - and by the way, our neighborhood is not a forest...). Construction will begin on January 13 and continue until some time in May, daily from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM.

I can't promise to take photos everyday of the construction. But I will do my best to record substantial phases of construction and share it with a post in May.

So it seems like it will be a very noisy spring...

Kayashima Shrine 萱島神社 After the New Year's Rush

Kayashima Shrine is close to my house and famous because there is a train station right above it. The kami-deity associated with the shrine resides in a large 700 year old Camphor tree. When the train station was being built, the tree could not simply be cut down. (There were many signs and messages directing that the tree not be cut including illnesses and the sighting of an auspicious white snake.) Thus the station was built around it. The tree/kami is seen as especially powerful. Many people claim their wishes have come true after praying and giving a small cash offering. The shrine is small but contains a lot of interesting sights and has many events through the year.

I have taken a lot of photographs at this shrine over the years. You can see some of them here:
https://visualanthropologyofjapan.blogspot.com/search?q=kayashima+shrine

Special Bonus Ethno-Photo-Art