Rising food prices!

Today I had Beans on Toast for tea and it was delicious. The last time I'd had baked beans was probably back in October, after a friend had bought me two tins as a present. Baked beans are very very difficult to get over here! I've scoured foreign food stores many a time to look for a tin of Heinz Baked Beans and have never been successful. However, I found some in Tokyo. I paid ￥400 (about £2) for one tin of beans! No man should ever have to pay that much for a tin of beans, and no man should ever have to wait so many months for his next installment of beans on toast!

桜 (Cherry Blossoms)

I was in such a busy state entertaining my visitors (plus my camera was still broken :-( ) that I kind of missed the best chances to capture the amazing Cherry Blossom that erupted out of the harsh Japanese winter. Mind you, maybe photos never do the real thing justice, I just felt I could have taken a few better shots.

I am most disappointed at not being able to show off my town's park, Eboshiyama Koen which people often talk about as having 'sen bon', or '1000 trees'. This might be quite an exaggeration - but for just under a week the park, which is elevated in the background of my town, proudly stood like a pink cloud full of cherry blossoms. Residents said it was the best bloom for about 10 years and at night the park would be illuminated with soft red Japanese style lanterns. It was so beautiful and such an amazing thing to see. The park was naturally packed both day and night with everyone wanting to admire the tremendous amount of pink petals that floated delicately above everyone!

The view of my town Akayu's park from the main street at sunset, a long cloud of pink! Lush!

Boys festival is around the same time as the Cherry Blossom blooming. In Japan, these kite-style carp (koinobori) are hung up all around Japan as a symbol of luck and prosperity to family's male children (They have a Girl's festival a bit earlier in the year). The carp is considered the most spirited of fish, full of energy and power and can fight its way up swift-running streams and cascades. Because of its strength and determination to overcome all obstacles, it stands for courage and the ability to attain high goals. They look nice swimming in the air too!