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Fall omatsuri
This month there are many neighborhood omatsuri, festivals organized by local shrines to celebrate the harvest. Like the summer omatsuri I wrote about earlier, the festivals include carrying portable...
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Plants at Kawagoe festival
At the Kawagoe festival, or omatsuri, last weekend, there was a small street full of plant sellers, including this one focused on succulents and cactuses. Other featured plants included...
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Summer omatsuri festivals invite spirits to commercial areas
Starting in May, summer omatsuri festivals are a public celebration of the local gods that exist in even the densest, most commercial parts of Tokyo. One of my favorite festivals is at Hanazono...
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Empty lots are abundant and under-used
Tokyo is full of empty lots that mark the time between demolition and building. Sometimes they stay empty for more than a year. Most are turned into automated parking lots, some so small they only...
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Fall omatsuri in my neighborhood
The lanterns announce that the omatsuri festival will be happening Using simple plumbers’ fixtures and scaffolding, flexible and removable frames for lighted paper lanterns are erected all over the...
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Small biodiversity garden for construction workers
高速道路の工事現場のまんなかに、きれいな生物多様性の庭があります。すべての働く場所は庭になるはずです。 I saw this beautiful biodiversity mini-garden at a construction site for the combination surface and underground urban freeways along Yamate Dori...
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Traffic cone planter
賢いアイデアです。トラフィックコーンの上で、簡単な金属の仕掛けで、植木鉢を四個支えています。横に並んでいるので、スペースの効率が良いです。 高さの違いもおもしろいです。 What a clever idea! This simple metal structure places four flowerpots on a traffic cone. It’s very space efficient...
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Fall festivals along the old main roads in western Tokyo
西東京の９月の祭りは、旧街道の住民を繋げます。御神輿やお盆踊りや神社の祭りは地元の神を見えるようにします。秋の祭りも町の人々に農業の周期を思い出させます。音楽や衣装や銀賞や踊りが大好きです。特別の料理、提灯、お年寄りや高校生が集まって、普通の公共空間が生き生きとしてきます。 One of my favorite times in Tokyo are the September festivals,...
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Bonsai shedding leaves
冬の日光は、室内で植物を撮影するのにいいと思います。 ベランダの庭には、植木鉢が多いです。ですから、室内に持って来るのが簡単です。一つの植物はお客さんを接待するときに使えますし、気分を変えてくれます。盆栽は一番持ち運びがよくて、いくつかの要素が小さな世界を作ってくれます。 The winter sunlight is particularly good for indoor plant...
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Shinto prayers at nearby empty lot. Will a house replace this summer-time bat...
新しい家を建てる前に神道の儀式をするのは、日本の習慣です。夏、この空き地には、コウモリがよく来ました。 I did a double take on my bike as I passed this portable Shinto ceremony on a nearby empty lot. Ostensibly, they are praying to the local gods in...
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