Whoops. Again. （しまった。また。）

It appears that I have gone and left you all without a post.

For more than a week.

Which is very, very cruel of me, I know.

... suffice it to say that I'm very busy with all of this moving and grooving and bustling around?

A poor excuse, I know, but better than none at all!

... or is that not how the saying goes.

Oh well.

Have some pictures of springtime rice fields. I think they look cool, although when they really look cool is at night, when it seems as though there are endless lakes stretching away into the darkness, broken only by a dim imagination as they softly reflect the lights of the city and the dim pricks of starlight far above...

... Yeah. They're nice.

Admittedly, they looked a bit cooler before the rice sprouts started coming up, but those were literally nonexistent one day and at the point you see them the next. Fast growing little buggers.

Regardless, still pretty cool, especially when it's everywhere you look.

This is Edo, signing off with a full agenda and a sleepy brain.

Tradition amidst the chaos. (混乱の中で、伝統。)

Really, the title of this post refers to the content in relation to the rest of my blog, and not the content itself. I know, I know, I apologize--you went in to this with such high hopes, didn't you?

Anyway. Chaos, of course, means my regularly scheduled random wanderings among topics. Tradition, of course, can only mean 花見 (hanami, flower viewing), as of course it is that time again.

And because I'm so very busy lately, honestly I wanted to take a break with a bit of picture spam attempt to make up for my neglect with pictures of Kyoto nature at its finest.

Oh, dear. These are in complete backwards order. Curse you, blogger.

Anyway. This is a lovely bamboo-covered path up near 北山 (Kitayama) on the 鴨川 (Kamo river). I basically walked up the 鴨川 from 今出川 (Imadegawa), just pretend I walked the other way and he pictures will seem, for all intents and purposes, in order.

Or. Well. They're in order except for that first one.

... admittedly, the first one is quite nice. A good lead-in, you might say.

Well played, blogger.

Anyway, this is the true beginning of my journey--just after walking down onto the river pathway at Imadegawa. Ah, the sakura-lined 鴨川. Lovely.

I particularly like these willowy ones.

I was trying to get the 大文字 (daimoji, big character) in the background there, but I guess it didn't turn out so well.

Looking down the river towards  三条 (Sanjou...)

Still down, with the lovely lining effect.

And turtles! You can cross the river every now and again on stone paths, occasionally dotted with adorable turtles. Or boats, even. I like the turtles. These guys are at the crossing just north of Imadegawa.

What, non-sakura flowers? Blasphemy!

Ok, ok, that's better.

Ooo, aaah.

(Again, those white flowers. I thought they were nice, ok?)

Aaah, surrounded by blooms.

And then we get Edo's foray into the world of artsy shots.

This one is technically blurry because of a breeze, but I actually really like it.

I for some reason associate "close-up" with "artsy."

Ah, bad lighting. Also "artsy" in my brain.

Some college kids doing the same thing I was, just with better cameras.

At least I didn't have a backpack, so ha.

The falling blossoms. This one actually turned out better than I expected.

A lone tree on the opposite bank. I guess that guy liked it, though.

Nice stone stairway in the background there.

I particularly liked the reflection of these pink sakura in the river, so I had to get a shot.

Ah, there's that bridge again. Lovely.

A better view of the tunnel. Unfortunately, none of my wide views are very pretty.

And another nice close-up to round things off. Ah, sakura in Kyoto. I'm just too good to you readers.

This is Edo, signing off with cleaning to do and professors to e-mail.

If wishes were horses... (願いが馬だったなら。。。)

...then we'd all be eating steak.*

(And if you know where that particular quote is from, you get an automatic, all-expenses-paid trip to a prime location in Edo's Awesome Book.)

*This blog does not condone the eating of horses. The author is in fact quite fond of horses, in a vague and distant sort of way, not to mention all the grief she would get from her grandmother should she in any way suggest cruelty towards our hoofed brethren. 


I'm not really sure how widely known (or used, or even understood) that Japanese translation I used is... Space ALC offered another, but I didn't think it had the same feeling, so I went with direct translation, which we all know is ultimately the doom of translators.

Regardless, what the title of this post should really  be is: "Things Japan Sells as compared to Things Edo Wishes Japan Sold."

Explanatory, but not nearly so pithy. And we all know what's important around here.

What they sell: 1) Masks

You know 'em, you love 'em, you marvel at those wacky Japanese for wearing them every time a bug comes their way. And in a country full of public transportation and close quarters, yea, they're probably a good idea if you're hacking and sneezing a lot.

What I want them to sell: 1) Masks that aren't torturous devices of continuous discomfort

Sure, theoretically these masks are to help you keep your germs to yourself by keeping all those nasty germ-filled liquid droplets you spew from travelling the distance to that innocent bystander with the newspaper. (It doesn't keep you from wiping your nose and touching them, but hey.)

What they really do is force you to cough your sick, fiery dragon-breath directly up into your already sweating eyeballs, creating the most exquisitely irritating self-torture device recently designed by man.

I say recently because I'm sure the corset was pretty bad. But at least you weren't, theoretically, already sick when you were wearing the damn corset.

What they sell: 2) Anti-Pollen Goggles

Supposedly, these fancy things keep the pollen out of your eyes, thus making your allergy-ridden life much less miserable.

Supposedly. I have seen a number of students wearing them, anyway. Only children, oddly enough... hm.

What I wish they sold: 2) Sick-Spotting Goggles

Because try as I might, sometimes I do forget to scrub my hands vigorously after touching something... and hence the predicament of becoming ill myself. Were I to be in possession of a magical pair of goggles such as these, the bright red flashing lights that went off every time I went near someone or something sporting the tiniest bit of sick anywhere upon its surface, I feel my memory would serve me a bit better.

... I would hope, anyway.

...

I will be the first to admit that I intended for this post to be a much longer foray into things that I wish were available here in the wonderful land of Japan, but I admit, I'm feeling a little dry of ideas at the moment, and far be it from me to deprive you all of what hilarity (limited though it may be) I have already committed to the blog page any longer.

... ah ha! Perhaps it shall become a series. There we go.

Just wait kids, part 2 is coming up!

... yea, I saved that nicely.

This is Edo, signing off with a stuffy nose and a cough that just doesn't know when to quit.