Rice: Great Kids, Cool Project, Nice Price

Bought 4kgs of rice today from students of a Niigata City primary school who live in a farming district and had planted and harvested the rice themselves. Pretty cool.

A Different Kind of Lunch

Lunch Set

Grilled saba and karage lunch plates. Simple izakaya fare to warm body and soul.

Niigata Artist Fukiya Koji

In the lobby of an historic hotel in Niigata City, I am pleased to discover an exhibit of works by local graphic artist Fukiya Koji.

玉子あんかけうどん

Most tasty, this noodle dish from udon chain 丸亀製麺.

Because Election Season

Government shifting away from inclusion of foreigners | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis https://share.google/dpsGVK9b29FshsTru Onoda Kimi heads the relevant industry, and there she is, to the left of the PM, with a smirk?, or is that her Giaconda Smile? If you suspect Kimi has immigrant heritage, noticing her coloring, perhaps, or facial structure, she does indeed: she was born in the US. Japan doesn't allow dual citizenship, but one is confident Kimi has satisfied Japanese law in that regard. (No point exploring the possibility of irony in Kimi's public service.)

Windbreak

This belt of pine forest was planted in the late Edo period as a buffer to shield Niigata from fierce winter winds barreling across the Sea of Japan.

The Kusa- Hibari

The Kusa-Hibari, or 'Grass Lark',is a species of cricket (Svistella bifasciata), of which Lafcadio Hearn keeps a lone specimen in a tiny wooden cage in his study. "By day he sleeps or meditates, except while occupied with a slice of fresh eggplant or cucumber... But always at sunset the infinitesimal soul of him awakens: then the room begins to fill with a delicate and ghostly music of indescribable sweetness..." https://youtu.be/gO-zSUmNH-8?si=Nf7Mihw-9C_lKSQt

More about Fireflies

"(T)he light of a fine Genji-firefly is so brilliant that.. at first sight the flash appears yellow as the flame of a wood-fire.." Thus the following poem: Kagaribi mo/ Hotaru mo hikaru/ Genji kana. The kagari is a brazier, torch basket, or cresset, such as were used by officers of the watch, certain fishermen, and at festivals.

A Few Words about Fireflies

In Lafcadio Hearn's miscellany titled "Kotto", there is a delightful chapter on the subject of fireflies, or hotaru (蛍- combining the characters for fire- 火- and insect- 虫). We read that two species are called Genji-botaru and Heike-botaru, folknames deriving from the famous warring clans. According to legend, the fireflies are ghosts of the Minamoto and Taira warriors, and they meet once a year in June above the waters of the river Uji to reenact the famous 12th century battle. And upon that day all caged hotaru are to be released to participate in the contest. Hearn relates that special trains took passengers from Osaka and Kyoto to Uji to view the Hotaru Gassen, or Battle of the Fireflies. Poet Chiyo was inspired by the spectacle to write: Kawa bakari/ Yami ha nagarete-?/ Hotaru kana, which Hearn translates "Is it the river only/ Or is the darkness drifting) Oh, the fireflies