Popping Pills

and not just any pill. I mean THE pill.

I feel like sex ed is covered a lot less than average in Japan and babies might just be found in grocery stores. It is not that every young female is pregnant like in America, but it is just that there are so many young mothers who must have been that way like 10 years back.
Recently a 2nd grader in Elementary school who is a big fan of mine was hanging around me and being the chatty little monkey he was and then eventually conversation swings around to "How old are you Lauren-sensei?"
"Oh, I am twenty-four" Saying it slowly in English and holding up my fingers of a two and a four for emphasis.
"Wow! You are almost my moms age!" he replies.
I think a moment and do the math. I was 8 in second grade right? eight minus twenty-four...sixteen?!?!!...
"Neat! How old is your mom?"
"My mom is twenty-six! My dad is thirty-nine!" he says excitedly to prove he knows his numbers. 

Oh my...

I don't see many of these pregnant ladies walking around now, but he is not alone with a mom this young. I was in Nara, pretty close to when I first came here, and there was a lady who I thought to be an older sister with her boyfriend taking her siblings to the park. NOPE. Mom of 3. Normally if you see these mothers, you will realize that they might not come from the best areas. Their hair might be dyed, they might still wear the fake lashes, and over all trying too hard if you know what I mean. They are wearing clothes I might have secretly had in my closet when I was 16. And you will come the realization they might have at some point been call girls or hostesses or just simply too desperate. But if they had had the pill and not just faulty condoms maybe they would not have gotten pregnant on an accident and then married out of guilt.

Wrapping it 

It is not like I blame the sex ed system for these young mothers, but perhaps if they even had a chance at some real contraception. Oh sure condoms are excessively available in Japan. You can find them at every convenience store or pharmacy and out in the open, not behind a counter or anything. Often they have been pretty well picked through unless it is stocking day. This rule goes doubly for convenience stores for some odd reason.
Speaking of condoms, I would like to address an issue on the matter. For all those Americans who are REALLY obnoxiously fond of making the joke 'oh I don't know if Asian condoms will fit me hurkhurkhurk' (sigh I wish I was exaggerating. Even my best male friend has been caught saying this....more than once) Did you know that nearly 90% of the condoms say large on them? 90%. If something is over 50% I would say that is about average. So if something is 90% I would even call it super average. But saying a condom size is super average doesn't sell as well right? And so the 'large' is strictly for advertising purposes. Moreover, did you know that China holds about 20% of the worlds population? So no, you can't just say 'oh, well the other 10% must be China and Asia . No you certainly cannot since China accounts for 20% alone with all of the other Asian countries adding to that percentage, so at the VERY least, more than half the people in all of Asia would have to be considered to be qualified for your super average condom size. With that being said, not they will not just accommodate half the people in Asia at the pharmacies and Trojan factories. So yes you can find your condom size over here you twat.
So yes, condoms can be found. They might be called standard or normal. Look it up if you aren't sure.

Getting the Pill in Japan 

Next is in regards to the pill in Japan. It is actually quiet widely unavailable. And not just is it excessively difficult to obtain, it turns out the be really expensive.
How you would get it, is to go to a doctor every month and get the prescription for it. Every month. This visit will cost you between 1,000 - 3,000. I would not actually know off hand. My usual visits cost about 1,500 yen, but this might be a special doctor for whom you must pay visitation rights. So they charge you out the wazoo for the visit that is between 12,000 - 36,000 yen a year in visits. And then you would have to go to the pharmacy to get the prescription which could be about the same price. Ouch. And no, insurance does not cover a penny of it.
And on top of that, you really can't tell anyone that you are on it because they might automatically think you are a call girl or extremely promiscuous. After all who doesn't want babies? They really seem to judge you for that stuff here, and quite wrongly. So this is where I blame the sex education and the minimal availability of said contraception.
Interestingly in Korea, I think a good amount of people use it, especially mothers. They have a a solid 3 kids and they are not looking to have any more and in fact would like to slim down a bit. So total opposite. In Korea the pill is readily available with or without a prescription at nearly any pharmacy. It costs about 6,000 won. Less than 5 dollars. So if you really want the pill in Japan, my advice is to take a short trip to Korea at some time, stock up, and then go back. And you don't have to really worry about it expiring since it has an expiration date 3 year in the future.
Or if you have yet to come to Japan and are planning on moving here, I would recommend you to stock up where you are from. In England and America (depending on where you go and what your preferred drug is) the pill can be free, or at least really cheap.
more specifics on the pill.

Other forms of contraception 

And for those of you who know about the ring (the little implant they do) or the injection. For the most part, they don't do those here. I don't think that the Japanese Ministry of Health has cleared these types of birth control to be practiced in Japan. Perhaps you might find someplace in Tokyo...But there is still hope for you, apparently you can get an IUD for about 40,000 yen and up. Here is more on that.

You messed up.

So what happens after the fact? You forgot everything and did it anyways. Well there is some hope for you, you can go to the aforementioned doctor and she can actually provide you with a prescription for the morning after pill. So you then go the the pharmacy that is always located near the hospitals and doctors offices and fill that little prescription. In case you need to refer to it, it is called 緊急避妊法. 緊急 (きんきゅう, kinkyuu). Or you can call it the morning after pill. Just say it all Japanese-like. No, really.

You messed up. Big time.

And if you REALLY mess up? Well yes, they do have abortions. They too, are a bit of a rare case. I know they have them because I know a couple that had one. A Japanese couple. I am not sure of the process, but it might be lengthy and you might have to come up with a better reason than 'I'm not ready for a child right now' which worked for them as they were quite young at the time. Also important is that you have to go to a government-established place to get it done. All other operations are determined to be illegal. But I mean if you threw yourself down the stairs, I don't really see how than can arrest you for such 'accident'. And no I would not condone it. Just saying that these laws are funny.

Japan Fashion: Winter '13 edition

Remember that rule about dress yourself warmly for winter and then take an article off?

In Japan's case that article is a hat...or maybe brain.
Apparently skirts and mini skirts never go out of fashion. It was snowing the other day and I just watched a couple walking at a major shopping arcade. The girls skirt was shorter than some of my panties and well she wasn't alone in her short skirt-ed-ness. There were certainly others there without half the clothing that I had on. But that shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone anymore.

I mention the hat because it is one obvious thing that all people should wear to keep their heads warm but guess who doesn't? I think I read somewhere sometime that we lose 80% of our body heat through our heads. Where that little nugget of parenting trickery is clearly not true (if it were true then we could walk around nearly naked and keep our heads warm and still not be cold because our heat is conserved), the Japanese take it to the extreme and decide not to wear hats all together! Well for the most part. Or at least the womens part. I asked why it was that they don't wear any hats to keep them warm and they patiently explained to me that they had big faces. Well I have never been concerned with the size of my face or head, and have never heard such worries over in America before, so I inquired further. They explained that if they wear a hat and they have a big face, then it will push their hair down and make their face look even bigger by comparison. I have some students so adverse to wearing hats they will literally run away from any offenders trying to place one upon their heads (often their friends) so that no one will ever know. Again it isn't something I really see or notice people for, but they seem to care a lot.
On the flip side, there are some extra chicly dressed people strutting themselves around Japan wearing some of these guys right here. Not exactly Por Pie hats, so I guess a little closer to Fedoras, but there are tons of shops all over with this kind of selection so there is clearly a good market for them. As you can guess the predominant type of person who wears this is men, but there are a good number of women stores around. You just see them wearing their hats less. I think these are slowly coming into fashion as you see more and more people wearing them on television shows and commercials.

So one thing that pretty much every normal person, and I can admit to wearing right now, will be wearing this time of year, is Heattech or Heat Fact. It is a heat conserving technology used in clothing to keep people warm without them wearing 18 layers. They sell it in a variety of different styles of shirts, leggings, socks, and scarves and such. Pretty much the idea is to look like you are still only wearing one layer of clothes. These can easily be bought at nearly any generic department store like Aeon or a bit more popular in the rankings is Uniqlo. I remember Korea also had, and I am sure still has, something like this at least in tights. They were nice and kind of fuzzy on the inside and kept you nice and warm. Though they were a bit thicker.

Another raging fashion I have been seeing all over the place, is fur scarves. And yes, I too have fallen victim to it. Don't judge. They are very warm...and soft. Anyways! These scarves have been around for quite some time actually and were used in combination with kimonos before. But this year and perhaps last year, they have been outfitted for everyday fashion. They are mostly rabbit fur with some fox tails (which are noticeably more expensive) and are colored and styled to ever style of fur scarf I could possibly imagine. I even found this crazy mustard colored one I was sorely tempted to get my mustard-loving friend. They are mostly shorter in style, as the wrap around ones are going to be more expensive and thus have a much limited market. Some are thick and will go down like a capette toward your elbows in a fancy dress me up sort of way, and other are simple around the neck and tidy claps sort of affairs that are for every day use. And I sincerely believe that nearly every woman in Kobe must own at least one. And all those women in Kyoto, especially the fancy-pants kimono ladies, they have one too.

And one last piece of winter fashion advice, peacoats. I remember when I was in college especially that they were the exact coat that everyone should own. But in Japan things were different last year. Everyone and their mother went out and all bought down jackets. Not a hard feat to accomplish when Uniqlo sells them for 2990-3990 on sale. But even more popular last year, were these puffy down coats. The sort that only a tall slim figure could pull off and not look overweight. Those coats would go in or tie or they would have some belt at the middle so as their figure would not be diminished. They were typically a bit longer sometimes even going to mid thigh or knee. So those coats are still around this year of course, but since last year when I was disappointed to see that not many were wearing peacoats, I have been doubly surprised to see their resurgence. Again I would blame idols and the television as when I think about all of the fashion conscious commercials, I remember in specifically a nice bright read peacoat and a cute navy beret. So needless to say, they are in fashion and there are more styles of them than I can count, but the odd thing I find is, is that the stores were not quite ready for this trend to take hold and a good many of them are still serving down jackets.

Also boots. Boots are always in.

center is a fur scarf. left is a peacoat. and all of them are wearing boots and no hats.

and these...I don't know why...
They are sold all over and I don't really see anyone using one.

Scardy Cat

They  believe some weird things in Japan.

Among them is that cats are afraid of these water filled plastic bottles. So they fill up the largest bottles that they can find which are typically these 1.5 liter bottles (hah! you thought they had 2 liter bottles here didn't you! don't even dream of those mega 3 liter ones!) and line the street poles and gardens or walkways with them.

One of the first times I saw this was actually around a street pole and I was wondering if it was some poor deluded fools idea for bumper protection for a car. And was like well that is a nice but unnecessary thought. Boy, was I wrong. It is even more unnecessary.

Perhaps you are wondering why they would even want to frighten away cats. Well cats are considered a kind of an unwelcome, but friendly enough nuisance. It seems there is a sufficient number of strays in Japan (only, or by far and large the majority of them being, cats to my knowledge) and they don't really do much to keep them under control. I say this because it is what the Japanese people believe, but in reality, there aren't that many, but enough to make them want to put out these water bottles. Perhaps there are more in the inaka...I do see several cats in around my Kyoto city apartment, but they seem to all belong somewhere, or are very good at pretending. Anyways, Japanese people don't want cats for the same reason that Americans don't want raccoons, which the Japanese think are cute and amusing and keep them in zoos. Don't even let the Japan talk you into believing they have wild raccoons, those are entirely different beasts. They don't want cats around because they will get into the rubbish bags and bins (on rubbish day) and knock things over and in general be the weird skittish little nuisance they are at home.

Pimp my Ride: Japan style

This is  one of the funniest things to me about their strict adhere-to-the-norm culture.

Cars and their modifications very likely started with the yakuza and somewhere along the way some more degenerates picked it up, and now it is not entirely uncommon to see a car or two all kinds of crazy looking. The primary format of disrupting the norm are the humongous decals that take up the entire body of the car. I know when I walk to work, there lives somewhere around here a giant purple dragon that come zooming right along with extra loud and noisy diesel engines. But another popular offender is that large anime character prints on the sides of cars. With these two it pretty much makes the tops of mini coopers seem normal. 

not my brothers room...

Getting to second base is like seeing the cars with the low lights, or for that matter, lights of any kind adorning their car. These are less common, but where you find one, you might just find another, it is like they travel in packs. You know those party lights that you always get for your dorm and think will be 'OMG so cool' and then kind of come to regret later and thing now what do I do with these; well the Japanese have answered your question. I feel like that is the exact kind of light they use, but then again I am no pro, or even mildly interested in the matter of adorning things with lights. More than likely they are some LED variety. 

And finally if those things just are not good enough for you, you can always go and get a foreign car (like a Chevy) and make sure its an older version, and proceed to pimp the loving exhaust functions out of that piece. I am talking rims, wheels, hydraulics and it all. And then, even then, it may not just be enough, you might not just be there yet, just you know, almost...but not. And therefore, you have no other choice, but a full body modification. I am talking about colors, and spoilers, and demon hoods with holes and horns in them, piping leading to nowhere with no function. And then, only then, might you feel some sort of small complete satisfaction that you have in fact pimped your car all that you can. 

You are now driving the oldest gold Oldsmobile your money could possibly find, it had tiger stripes down the side and the weirdest lightening spoiler that was custom made just for this piece and it is sporting some yellow lighting in strategic places along the sides of the car and the top of the spoiler or more like giant antennae, and upon you hood, you hood is on giant decal with the very face of Japans symbol, a much larger than life Pikacchu. Congratulations. You have in fact caught them all. 

That purple beast over there, she's a beaut right?

awwwa yeah nothing will score you some ladies quicker.

Special Bread

I have no idea if this is a wide spread thing throughout Japan or not, but it is something that I think is fantastic through and through.

There is a little place called Toyama, I can't personally say that I have been there myself just yet, but I do have many a friend there. And one tells me of a certain program for adult citizens of a special mind. In other words, the ones who cannot function well in normal society. Those who cannot have normal jobs and need help with their daily activities often. I feel like there are a good many of these kinds of people in Japan. Perhaps it is because in America we find a way to lock them in some care institution or hide them from the public eye, and therefore I was never formally aware of their presence, or perhaps it is just because I am more adult now and get to notice these types of things.
Either way, in Toyama these people have a unique way of fitting into society. They are breadmakers. In the traditional sense of the word where they are those who make bread, not the head male of the household in 1950's suburbia. Their job is to make bread and have it delivered to certain places throughout Toyama, one of which being the school of a dear friend of mine. Pretty awesome program right?

いらしゃいませ

which is pretty much the standard greeting upon entering any store.

These beauties are out in front of the new  (LCC) Terminal 2 of the Kansai airport. 

However they will greet you especially enthusiastically if you see several pots of these outside. You see these beauties right here signify new stores. And typically I believe they are supposed to be given but more than likely the owner just buys a bunch of them and pretends people love him and really want him to open his enormous ass pachinko parlor right there. They don't. Oh well that is only one scenario. They can actually be in the fore front of any store upon its openings. It just seems that they are exceeding standard and super standard quota when it comes to casinos.

So for those who do no know, these are orchids. They are typically a white variety with an exceedingly large flower and flowering stem. And worse, they pick the most exceedingly common, not even interesting one to display everywhere: a phalaenopsis. Orchids in Japan seems to be a pretty common sort of gift when it comes to flowers. Winning a game? Pretty sure you will have orchids on your doorstep when you come home. Sick in the hospital? Something of the same variety might appear. And for some reason...ok I write that like no one can guess it. I am pretty sure we can all guess by this point why they choose a large white flower to give...purity, good fortune, longevity, take your pick. I am sure that it will mean something of that variety. 

To me orchids are kind of a silly gift. An extremely impractical flower. First of all orchids need a tropical climate to survive. So no, they are no an outdoor plant. Maybe in Okinawa. Also they need a pretty warm environment  so that means a sunroom and maybe constantly running a heater in the winter. And most importantly, those big beautiful stems full of flowers? Yeah, those will wilt and die. Not even the stem remains. You will be left with just the leaves. It looks like this.

jesus my house is full of these...

I know all this because my parents have a nice big sunroom full of orchids that they like to grow as a hobby. And whats more? Orchids need pretty specific conditions to bloom. I mean it is not like I had a house full of flowers as a kid. I didn't. They take a long time and lots of car to grow a whole new stem to bud and bloom. And that process can take years. No really. Some of the orchids in my house I have never seen bloom. Once I saw this really beautiful peach one bloom for about a week. I have no idea which one it is now. 

Now what would be a really fantastic business in Japan, is for someone who really has a green thumb, really good at growing and nurturing orchids (in other words not my parents by the number that I have seen come to flower in my childhood), to rent these out to the sad people who try to inflate themselves by buying them in secret for their own businesses. But renting, not buying, this way, when the stems die and the leaves remain, you can just send back the plant for them to bloom again for some other store front. It is a really  was to gain and regain profits from the same plants. Brilliant if you ask me...I have changed my mind. quite reading this blog. Don't come to Japan. This is my idea!...ok, or at least name your store after me? 

Leaving on a Jet Plane

No.

I'm not.

As much as my parents wish it were true. It isn't.

This one is more about how to get to the airport.

You see there are several exceptionally cheap methods to get to the airport that people ought to be informed about. Or at least people in Kansai.

So the first and my current favorite option is the bus. The regular pay for taking the airport bus on over to Kansai International Airport, from hereon being referred to as KIX, is 2500 yen. This is a one way trip. However, the trip is a little less than an hour and a half and you don't have to worry about your baggage at all and the bus's seats will recline and there is a toilet. So when you are going home or traveling to some place with a long stay and extra baggage, probably the better option for you so you don't have to worry about transporting your baggage as much. The discount deal for this transportation method, is that if you are coming back to Kyoto (note, that price is specific to Kyoto - it is 1500 for Osaka I think and 2000 for Ibarakishi) is that the ticket will be 4000 yen. Yeah, a pretty steep price, but it is 1000 yen off. The deal is only valid for 14 days, so if your travels are more than 2 weeks, it is sort of not worth it, because you will just waste more money and have to buy a new one. Though on the other hand, the guy accepting tickets might not check the date if you are lucky...

The bus schedule and prices for anyone who is interested.

Another way to get to the airport, which I cannot actually boast to have taken though it is my vow for next time, is via train. Which will vary from 1150 to 1830 to 2390 depending on your preference. Pretty much an unreserved seat will cost you 1150 yen, which I am certain that you will be able to find, unless there is a massive hoard of people setting out on an adventure that day. The regular fare of 1830 will guarantee your seat on the train and probably even assign it to you, so when some aimless shmuck without a seat reservation sporting an unreserved seating ticket is sitting in your seat, you can have all that glory of thrusting your little numbered ticket in his unassuming face telling him to high tail it out of there and that the town aint big enough for the both of yous. Ok maybe not all that, but that can be how it might feel. And lastly, the expensive ticket is pretty much the nice car. I have no idea what makes it nicer. Perhaps cushier seats or maybe they have the capacity to lean back, or maybe they come with butlers to take your drink orders for little fruity umbrellaed drinks, nothing like a little pre-vacation wishing before your vacation eh? In any case, those tickets are said to be for green seats, which probably is meant for an entire car of green colored seats, as opposed to green and other variously colored seats intermixed throughout all cars of the train. Though personally, I am a bit lost with this payment system...I am one of those fine upstanding citizens that have the little train/metro money card where, as in most places that have excellent public transportation, I just scan it and walk on through the gates to the proper train. And then it charges me for my journey after I swipe it upon exiting the gates at my destination. However I am under the impression that this special airport train will have an attendant who will come by and make you pay for your ticket once you are seated. So my question would be do you pay twice if you are using my little transport card in addition to paying the money grubbing wench on the train? Well I suppose I shall see on my next venture. In either case, and probably the better of scenarios, you can always buy a ticket at the train station office, at least there, you can buy a unreserved seat if you so desired where I am sure the train wench would charge you for whatever seat you happened to be cushioned in.

This train takes you all of an hour and fifteen minutes to get to the airport, however I would like to point out that it will likely arrive sub-terrain with possibly a bit of walking to the departures and check-ins floors as opposed to the bus which dumps you off right in front of the check in counters. I will edit more of course after my next vacation. 

The only down side to the train is carting that luggage to the actual check in counters, oh and the fact that it only runs once an hour. The bus will run several times an hour and therefore there is always safety in numbers. But then of course, if you miss your train, you can always take the bus as a back up. After all they are located at the same place. 

Also worth a note, a double train fare is cheaper than the special deal for the round trip bus (which is probably why I am curious-and by that I mean confused- about the payment methods and transactions when using the train).
EDIT!
Ok an edit to this one. I found out last weekend it is 2990 to go to the airport from Kyoto via train if you do not change from the Haruka Express. It is only 1830 if you change trains in Osaka, which is also a lot slower I think...

And finally the only other method I have actually taken before now, is the low cost slow train route to the airport. It takes probably more than two hours and you have to transfer like three times, but it is cheap. It costs 1200 yen from Kyoto to the airport, but there are different routes and prices for different areas in the Kansai region, which don't really seem to be well advertised, except for on the bus to and from the second LCC terminal of KIX airport. At least in the Kyoto region, you first start out taking the Hankyu lines heading toward Osaka and alighting at the Awaji station and exiting and transferring to the Nankai lines, from which you will disembark and transfer a final time to board the airport railroad trains. 

Due to the amount of transferring  this process is not recommended for those who have lots of bags. Pretty much used only by those few backpackers who have no money left from their travels in Japan. And people like me of course. 

Also worth a note, it is not really cost efficient to take this method of transportation to the airport and then return home on the bus if your trip will be within two weeks. 1200+2500=just not worth it and go buy a round trip bus ticket 300 yen is just not worth saving if you have to go through that much trouble with your bags. 

Ticket package and tickets for Hankyu and Nankai lines

awesome multilingual paper tail that no one reads

other deals for areas in Kansai

Less a Home

Homeless in Japan.

Not me of course.

Many people in Japan do not have a home, by choice or by other circumstances that are known only to them. Actually a pretty good book called the Devotion of Suspect X, highlights Japan's homeless in pretty good detail and gives a potential grim outcast. I won't go in o further details in case of spoilers. It is a good book and a pretty quick read, you should look into it. 

Anyways, one of the popular spots for the homeless to live is by the river. Any river. I am not really sure why this is, if it helps to carry away their bodily wastes, or if it functions to help bathe themselves and their clothes, or for drinking, or maybe all of the above. In any case, they are usually there. They actually remind me of the hoarder I posted about a bit ago. They have a large accumulation of stuff near their locations, often covered with a large blue tarp. Others who live in a more permanent locality, will even set up their own little hand built shack made of wood or cardboard or scraps of metal. Those people will usually be a bit away from the bustling of a city where people or officials would be less likely to hassle them and tell them to remove their structures as they are not really in the way of any one or thing. They set up their camps along the under sides of bridges which can't help but remind me of the trolls in Billy Goats Gruff. But they do it not to frighten poor little goats, but for the over head streets to act as a shelter from the rain. They will then camp themselves on the inside of the pillars that hold up the bridge so as not to be seen or stared at by too many passersby. You know privacy, but also I suspect it is also part due to the Japanese sentiment of not being in other peoples way. 

can collector

So what do these people do to get by? They do not busk. They do not beg or hassle you for money. Many of them collect cans. They ride their bikes around and go through garbage bins and those recycle spots right next to vending machines in order to draw out the aluminum cans to collect and turn in for mere pennies a piece. Others will go in search of daily employment. There are facilities that hire people based on a day to day basis. A lot of these places are places like construction sites, and they will pay you by the day for your work. This helps to keep mouths fed and people from begging. However, there is also a bit of a shady aspect to them. A few known killers have flown under the radar for months and years working for daily job sites like this before being apprehended. That is because these places don't require too much information about you and it is easy to get employed with very little effort. It is a double edged sword allowing the homeless to work by not requiring too much information like addresses and such, but also potentially letting not so good men into your presence; however I think this system does more good than harm. 

among the places you will not see on house hunters

Spring Cleaning

Does not actually happen in the springtime for Japanese people.

It is something that everybody actually does before the new year, right around Christmastime, or soon afrer. The big osoji (cleaning). Everything must be cleaned. It is pretty much a ritual habit or culture aspect of Japan. Houses, work places, gardens. Everything. And not just your weekly cleaning. I am talking about spring cleaning clean, but almost over and beyond. At least over and beyond any spring cleaning I have ever done. Take everything out and individually clean it and clean the room. Ceilings too. Before you put anything back inside.
I even cleaned under my built-in bathtub with fungal cleaner.
They do this to welcome the new year with a nice and fresh house. The more and more I study about Japan and its culture it is so interesting how repetitive they are with all of their customs and reasons, it seems they are oddly superstitious. They always try to start everything, houses, relations, semesters  workplaces, anew as a way to purify it and to bring in good luck, longevity, and prosperity. To push out the demons of yesteryear and invite in the good spirits and freshness for the new year.
After everything has been cleaned, the decorations are put up, which often consist of mochi and oranges, as well as whatever the year's zodiac happens to be. Likely you will find those large bamboo pine decorations called kadomatsu in front of especially prestigious shops, hotels and other locations soon after as well. In homes, a bit more modest decorations are in place, in addition to their mochi and oranges, they also will typically have  twists of straw rope they are a bit famous for, as well as their paper decorations. All of these things will again reinforce the themes of purity and prosperity in their homes and workplaces.

Happy New Year!

So get off the computer and go do fun stuff!

I am currently in the air and will write something here later!