The Rain Schedule is as Dependable as the Train Schedule

When the earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on March 11, the last four events of the Japanese and American Wives Club year were cancelled.  Now that most of the American evacuees have returned, the Japanese ladies have decided to squeeze in a Sayonara Party at Tadodai House before we break for the summer.

Shinagawa-san proposed meeting in Kurihama yesterday to review the party plans and schedule, and to see the poppies at Flower World.  Weather Explorer and I are always game for an outing, especially ones that involve gardens or fabric, but when we woke up yesterday morning and saw the rain pelting our windows we figured Kurihama was not going to happen.  But Shinagawa-san was undeterred.  She said the rain might stop by ten and would certainly stop by noon so we should proceed to the Kurihama station as previously directed.  We would conduct our business at a coffee shop adjacent to the train station and then head for Flower World when the rain stopped.

So that's what we did.  The sun appeared on schedule and the poppy field looked different than it did when Ishii-san and I were there last week.  The orange and yellow poppies had disappeared.  In their place were taller red and pink poppies.   

This is what I mean by "tall" poppies

When I opined that we were experiencing the beginning of Japan's annual rainy season, Shinagawa-san disagreed.  She reminded me that the rainy season runs from the beginning of June through the first or second week of July.  In a country where the rain arrives and departs on schedule, concessions to global warming will not be made lightly.

To Sleep, Perchance on Gel

Ishii-san and I went to Kurihama today to see what was blooming at Flower World. We caught the tail end of the tulips, glimpsed surprisingly early hydrangea, but mainly feasted our eyes on poppies, poppies, and more poppies. It was like walking through the Monet print that adorned the wall over my parents' couch.

We rode a train across the park for 200 yen and then hiked back over the hill. This turned out to be a tactical error. The 2,000 meter path is marked off in 100 meter increments and I couldn't help but notice -- wheeze, gasp -- that we walked uphill for 1,400 meters before descending 600 meters to the poppy field.

"I feel like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. I am so sleepy. Do you remember how she fell asleep in that field of poppies just as they glimpsed the Emerald City? I know just how she felt! Opium is really powerful."

You might recall that Ishii-san was a junior high science teacher before her retirement. She informed me, politely of course, that opium poppies are blue. My sleepiness had more to do with hiking uphill for 1,400 meters after gorging myself on ramen and gyoza than inhaling the nectar of red, orange, pink, and yellow poppies.

Visiting Kurihama is always a pleasure. I should do it more often since it's only a short train ride from the base and Flower World is just four or five blocks from the train station. There are hundreds of interesting shops and restaurants to explore between the train station and Flower World.

We stopped in a two-story mall to buy drinks and find out what cream puff fillings Beard Papa's is offering this month (banana, green tea, and whipped cream in addition to the traditional custard). A display of blue pads caught my eye. Ishii-san explained that these gel-filled pads will be spread on beds across Japan this summer to help people stay cool at night since energy conservation measures in the wake of the earthquake/tsunami rule out air conditioners.

Don't tell the Ancient Mariner, but I think I've found the perfect gift for Father's Day.

(Almost) Too Cute to Eat

Reiko ushered me into a wonderful bakery in Kurihama after we hiked through Flower World. I was fixing dinner that night for a family with a new baby, so I decided to get the Hello Kitty and Pikachu buns for the older siblings. Not that I ever need an excuse to buy baked goods . . .

Matt polished off Totoro before I could dream up a way to ship it to Totoro's fans in Norfolk or Peoria. The baker makes cartoon character buns in every size imaginable. I'm searching for an excuse to order a 10" x 12" Totoro. Matt doesn't seem very enthused about a Totoro graduation party so maybe we'll have to plan a special homecoming celebration for the Ancient Mariner.

Yet the bakery was not the day's culinary highlight. That prize goes to the noodle shop in the Kurihama station where Reiko treated me to slurpy ramen, the freshest gyoza that's ever danced across my taste buds before melting in the back of my mouth, and a mango dessert with a pleasant texture somewhere between jello and pudding.

Between slurps, I quizzed Reiko on gyoza sauce. This was a self-serving conversation since the three miniscule sauce packets the department store clerk tucks into my box of gyoza in the department store basement do not begin to cover my 18 dumplings.

Reiko makes her own sauce from three ingredients: soy sauce, vinegar, and rayou. Rayou is a Chinese oil infused with chili peppers. Subsequently I learned that Dr. T dips his gyoza in a homemade sauce concocted from soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil.

I'll try making my own sauce soon but not before we polish off the bottled gyoza sauce Reiko found for us in a grocery store. The bottled sauce combines Reiko's recipe with Dr. T's. Yum.

Sometimes I Can't Help Gawking . . .

Like every time I walk past a man who is wearing worker pants. And you thought I visited gardens to check out the foliage. I have yet to see a man who looks bad in a pair of these pants. At least from the waist down.

I spend an unbelievable amount of time trying to decipher ads posted in train cars. This is one of the few that made perfect sense to me.

I make it a rule not to gawk at my fellow train passengers but, as someone once said, rules are made to be broken.

That's Chip (or maybe Dale) dangling from a cell phone tucked inside a businessman's pocket. Apparently I broke my Do Not Gawk at fellow passengers rule twice this week. So far.

It was impossible to look away when Godzilla gave birth to twin girls on the top of a hill in Kurihama. It looked like a breech delivery. No wonder she was roaring.

Rubbing Statues with Reiko

Spring has been unusually cold, rainy, and howling windy. Coordinating an umbrella with my party wardrobe and eye shadow is a real pain in the patootie but what can you do? Raindrops pitterpattered in the Sumida River the day the Ikebana gals went to Asakusa by boat, the JAW party planners scrambled to find an indoor venue for pinata bashing at last Friday's Fiesta (apparently pinatas are verboten in the Officers' Club although I don't recall my officer having a say on that rule), and Reiko and I postponed our jaunt to Kurihama on account of nasty weather. The last was a good call because the weather was glorious on the following Monday when we met in front of the Keikyu Kurihama station.

Only four train stops (10-15 minutes) down the coast from the central Yokosuka train station near the base, Kurihama is home to Yokosuka's high school, Godzilla, and scores of intriguing shops and restaurants. Why haven't I spent more time there?

Reiko was studying a map inside a glossy trifold brochure when I spotted her outside the station. I love maps in general and maps with dotted lines in contrasting colors make me swoon. We chose the shorter, two and half hour hike, knowing full well it would take us longer because one of us tends to dawdle. Our route would take us past two shrines, through Flower World, and down along the beach where, on July 14, 1853, Commodore Matthew Perry came ashore, cleared his throat, and hollered, "Open your ports to the ships of other nations! We want to trade some of our stuff for some of your stuff. Your people want Krispy Kreme donuts and we want Nintendos!"

The first interesting thing we saw was this statue of Sugawara Michizane riding a bullock. Reiko is rubbing the bullock to ward off senility. I wasn't sure if the bullock preferred rubbing or petting so I did both. If I can find a place that sells those hats, we're going to have a Conehead theme party when I come back to the States.

This statue is on the grounds of a Tenjin Shrine about halfway between the train station and Flower World. There are more than 11,000 Tenjin shrines in Japan. All of them are consecrated to Sugawara Michizane, who was a prominent scholar and an important government official during the Heian Period. His jealous enemies, many of whom were members of the Fujiwara family, conspired to have him exiled to Kyushu (the southern island) where he died in 903 CE.

Here comes the good part. The weather took a turn for the worse right after Sugawara died. Torrential downpours and major lightning flashes resulted in the deaths of several members of the Fujiwara family. When people started thinking Sugawara's wronged spirit was responsible for the devastation, the emperor set his mind to assuaging the angry spirit. Soon a proclamation was passed declaring that Sugawara Michizane was henceforth to be worshipped as Tenjin, or 'Sky Deity'. Yup, he was posthumously deified.
We ambled across the yard to examine another statue, this one showing a dog and her puppies inside a circle formed by the twelve signs of the Japanese zodiac. Reiko said this is where younger-than-us women come to pray for an easy childbirth because -- learn something new every day -- dogs seldom have difficulties delivering pups. As I was digesting this tidbit, Reiko spotted a fairly new sign off to the side of the statue. The sign, I'm paraphrasing, said "News Flash! It has recently been determined that women who are not pregnant can rub this statue and pass the benefits along to their daughters and/granddaughters." Isn't that nice?

I'm hoping I didn't rub it the wrong way.