It’s spring!  In western countries, Easter and Passover were just celebrated.  However, Japan has few Christian and Jewish people so those festivals are not celebrated as much in Japan.  Japanese people have their own holidays.

Easter is starting to creep in….a bit.  I shot these photos in Tokyo, but these sorts of chocolates are still extremely rare in Japan.  (And expensive!  Each one is approximately fifteen American dollars.)

This is more my budget!  But still gourmet.

With these chocolates, you can open the window and read the Japanese.

It says:  Usagi wa haru no shisya.

Usagi=Rabbit

Haru=spring

Shisya=messenger

Can you figure out what it says?  (scroll down for answer.)

The Japanese says:  The rabbit is spring’s messenger.

119?  Why 119?

That’s the phone number for emergency numbers in Japan.

After the earthquake of March, 2011, there was help from lots of places.  Ambulances and medical staff worked hard!  Thank you so much, medical people.  We appreciate you!

So did the fire fighters!  I didn’t see any fires, but they were still busy helping people out.  Thank you so much, fire fighters.  We appreciate you!

Oh, cool!   Japanese manhole covers are often really neat.  So look down and check out your nearest manhole cover.

The Japanese military is not supposed to be aggressive and boss people around and get into wars.  That’s because they did too much of that in the years prior to World War II and the American military came in and said, “Cut it out!”  And they did.

Japanese has a military now that is meant only for self-defense.   And it also helps Japanese citizens in time of emergency.  The Japanese military was a huge help, especially to the victims of the tsunami.  Thank you so much, Japanese military!  We appreciate you!

Thanks for all your hard work.  Arigato gozaimashita!

Hi, everybody!

I live in Fukushima City.  However, there is a larger city in Fukushima Prefecture.  It’s called Koriyama City.  Last weekend, I went there.  Let’s take a look!

Koriyama City is smack dab in the middle of Fukushima Prefecture.  That makes it a great hub for travelling to other spots in the prefecture.

Welcome to Koriyama!  This is the train station.

That bus is going down the street to the train station.

That’s the train station at the end of the street.

It’s a nice city.  Not too crowded!

It has a wonderful bookstore.  I love books so I always stop in and look at the books in English–and buy some!

Did you enjoy your visit to Koriyama City?

We’ll come back again.  See you, Koriyama!

According to the Yomiuri Junior High Newspaper:

15, 894 people were killed due to the Japanese earthquake that occured on March 11, 2011.

2,562 people’s whereabouts are still unknown.

17,4000 people are refugees who are displaced.

As far as deaths go, Miyagi Prefecture was the worst hit.  (It was also closest to the epicenter.)  Next worst hit in regards to deaths was Iwate Prefecture.   And then third was Fukushima Prefecture.

Yesterday I went to the memorial service in downtown Fukushima Prefecture, so I will show the photos from that:

They were setting up candles when I arrived in the afternoon.  That candle in the front has the Japanese flag and says “Ganbarou Nihon”

Ganbarou=”Let’s hang in there!”

Nihon=”Japan”

That’s me with the mascot of Fukushima Prefecture, a peach.

The candles say 3.11 because the earthquake occured on March 11 (five years ago.)

Such pretty candles.  I spent a long time admiring them.  The one in purple says

Ganbarou=”Let’s hang in there”

Fukushima=”Fukushima”

Faito=”Fight”

The local Catholic girls’ high school created this wooden tree.  In the background, various high school students are singing a somber, yet beautiful, song to remember the tragedy.

So cute!  I wanted to make one.  There was a table with markers, and anybody could decorate a candle holder for free.

This is mine!  At the bottom, it says “Fukushima” but I ran out of room.  I think I should have lined it with a darker marker to make it show up better.  On the other side I wrote, “PEACE.”

I spy an akabeko!  That is the red creature on the second candle from the front.

Dressed up like Fukushimers of olden times!  So pretty!

I live in downtown Fukushima City, and every year there is a memorial in the town square.  At 2:46–the exact moment of the quake itself–there is a minute of silent prayer.  These photos show the town square last year during the afternoon.

They set up many, many candles.  That red creature is an “Akabeko,” one of the symbols of Fukushima Prefecture.

It is impossible for me to get this entirely in the photo but the last photo says, “Fukushima” in Japanese.

ふくしま

ふ FU

く KU

し SHI

ま MA

We love Fukushima!

Plum Blossoms are blooming in Fukushima City!  Spring is here.

What did one plum blossom say to the other plum blossom?

I don’t know.  I plumb forgot.

Quiz time!  What is that white object in the distance?   On the right side at the bottom?  It is sort of bullet shaped.

Do you know what it is?

It’s part of life now here in Fukushima City

Can you guess?

It’s a radiation detector.

Radiation detector are located at public areas like parks and schools and let you know that day’s current radiation.

What did one radiation detector say to the other radiation detector?

Nothing.  Because they’re not funny.