Yakult Swallows beat the Lions!

We saw the Yakult Swallows beat the Lions at Jingu stadium. As the Japanball site explains, when the Swallows get a run, the fans open tiny umbrellas and sing a song so that the opposing pitcher knows it's time to hit the showers. At one point the game was tied and the Lions fans began a huge cheer and ran back and forth across their section across the stadium from us. Today's New York Times has a travel story on baseball in Japan. 

Quilted Sails in Tokyo Museum

The sails on this model ship at the Edo-Tokyo Museum would make a great quilt. They remind me of this Dolce & Gabbana bag I saw all over Tokyo and momi paper. I saw some women wearing cardigans that looked like momi paper. I still have this image of a waterproof nylon momi bag with some origami folds. My drawstring backpack made from a pair of jeans worked really well, but I had to wear it beneath my rain jacket. The next version is going to be pieced from scraps with more thought given to interior pockets.

Kawai Kanjiro's house in Kyoto

This beautiful old wooden house belonged to the potter and sculptor Kawai Kanjiro. You naturally whisper here. This is the most wonderful place that we visited in Kyoto. We bumped into the Art Deco Nintendo building on the way, and got lost in an alleyway lined with diminutive mint green washing machines. Afterwards we walked through a cemetery that quietly led to the Kiyomizu Temple side entrance and then out the back gate to hike in the hills. Even in June, there are ways to navigate the city so that you feel you are among dozens of tourists, not thousands.

Japan at my feet

We did not have enough time in Japan. We should still be in Japan. While traveling I was forced to rig up a portable runcible bin using a discarded raku cooking pot and an electronic converter I found in Akihabara. I filled it with temple stamps, moss, little music boxes that play the Yamanote station tunes, green tea caramels, incense, slippers, books and magazines. I'll post ideas as I unpack them.