Dear Diary, just stuff I saw these past few days

The last couple of days: taken from my phone camera's point of view....

1.  a book I bought a few months ago and totally forgot about...but remembered last night when I was making my list of "100 Japanese authors to read". (click here for an almost finished list)

This is a book titled "a  book of women author's - Meiji Era born authors edition" by Ichikawa Noriko.    (I just found out that she has a magazine titled....."Iroha" ....  unfortunately the last one was published in 2007 and there hasn't been a new one out yet.  I'll try to find one of the 5 issues that have so far been published!)

This is a book of 150 pages and it introduces 6 authors (born in the Meiji Era: 1868 ~1912) with timelines, pictures of their most favorite belongings, book covers and sometimes pictures of their homes and offices...

(click here and you will be taken to the publisher's website...all in Japanese but some very nice books...)

2. I found a mushroom underneath the book return box at my local library....

   It looks like a shiitake, but I'm not sure!

3. On my way home the other day, I was staring out the train window and I saw a rainbow.

I thought, "awww, if only I could take a picture..."

Then, when I got off at the train station, the rainbow was still there!  It was starting to fade away, so I took the picture with my phone...can you still see it?

Then an even stranger thing happened...I was looking at the new "blogs of note" and found out that that person was looking at the EXACT SAME rainbow!  

The rainbow is a bit more clear in his picture over here: is my English strange

The world is so big, yet so small...

Dear Diary, my tiny shopping spree

It was rainy in the Kobe, Osaka area today.  It was also my day off.

Since I needed to get out of the house after being cooped up a lot, I went to Motomachi, Kobe.

The suppressed shopaholic in me went a bit bonkers at my favorite bookstore.  You can seen what I bought here.

The following picture is a stack of papers I bought at a Fair Trade store at the very end of the Motomachi mall.

Made in Bangladesh and very beautiful.  The textures are rather unique too.

Then I went to a lovely store that sold all things Japanese.  

Kimonoesque patterns for hair bands and clips.

I wish I could have taken pictures but the books were pretty heavy....lol

Why I have been visiting gardens these days...

The view from my room...I'm not necessarily a country girl but I am not a complete city girl either. So, when I see a place with beautiful flowers and trees, I kind of get sucked in...

After visiting the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum I walked to the neighboring garden.

They had a rose garden that wasn't in full bloom yet but there were a few beauties.

There were some interesting fellows too...

?

and some of my favorites as well...

Then I realized that these flowers and trees were surounded by buildings just like me...

On the way out I found a building covered in ivy with a nice garden in it too.  It was hard to believe that this was a Chinese restaurant.
Too bad it was a bit expensive for a "regular day" but the Mr has promised that we can try it on a "special occasion".

Takarazuka...Treasure Hill

About 5 miles north from where I live is a city called Takarazuka (which translates to Treasure Hill).

Since there were a lot of small slopes to walk up I wasn't sure when I was actually on the 'hill', but that is beside the point for today's post.

Most people in Japan associate Takarazuka City with the theater troupe that goes by the same name.

The Takarazuka Revue is a group of women that perform musicals...

Phantom of the Opera, The Rose of Versailles etc...

They are trained since high school under strict supervision by teachers and superiors. 

To get accepted into the school you need to be able to dance ballet and sing.

The fans of the Takarazuka Revue also well known in Japan for their enthusiasm. They are more like worshipers and since the history of the troupe dates back to the 1920s, the audience consists of a wide range of age groups.

I am not a Takarazuka fan (I think it is the makeup that scares me away...) but I do like theater so, to see one of their stages is on my "to do" list...

So, what was I doing in Takarazuka?

...

There was a man who lived in Takarazuka  when he was a young boy.

This young boy was a fan of the Takarazuka Revue, and he loved to draw and write stories.

He studied to be a doctor in university but he ended becoming a man who inspired people...

This man was fascinated with bugs...so much that he used the character for the word bug (mushi虫）in his name...手塚　治虫　Tezuka Osamu.

Welcome to the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum.

the inside...and the outside...

That bird is the famous phoenix...the bird that is reborn from its own ashes.

There were people from around the world visiting the museum on this cloudy day.

Maybe you know these guys...

Kimba and his father...kind of like the Lion King except earlier...

Anyway...

Tezuka Osamu is known for writing manga for both adults and children.  His animations have been praised not only for their characters but their cinematic shots as well.  

His stories have focused on things that transcend barriers... the environment, technology, war, religion, self sacrifice, patience and love.

...and if you are wondering, "who is this boy?"...

He is Atom.

In other parts of the world he is called Astro Boy.

He is going to be in a movie (movie trailer can be seen here).

I have mixed emotions about how the characters look, but if this movie will help make Tezuka Osamu more well known around the globe, well then I am dancing a happy dance.

Here are some of his other characters that "posed for me" in the museum.

After I left the museum I walked to a park.  I saw a greenhouse, so how could I not take a peek?