Why is everything in Japan cute? Here is an illustration:
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| Bunny brand cars |
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| Mini drinks vending machine |
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| Even the poos are cute |
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| mini folding bike |
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| Oreo flavored instant coffee |
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| Post man on scooter |
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Incredibly cute mini van. Many of the
cars come in pink, too. |
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| Tiny excavator in a fairly large construction site |
In the case of trucks, cars and machinery, it is a combination of lack of space-either to park, drive or build- and smaller people (though not that much smaller- I was much more of a Godzilla in Guatemala).
To obtain a license to buy a car, you first have to prove you have a space to park it. I don’t know if you are then only allowed to buy a car of certain dimensions or not, but probably.
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| A cross street in my neighborhood |
For my builder friends, imagine construction where the houses are this close together. You have only tiny machines, and you have to be careful to not break the neighbor’s window or punch a hole in their wall. And, everything has to be built to withstand strong earthquakes. How are those for design constraints?
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Her garden is just along the wall to her
building. The road is a foot behind her. |
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The green line must mean something.
We think it might be designating the
sidewalk, or maybe an evacuation
route. See garden on left edge. We
walk down this way every day to
get to the school.
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Nicest garden on the block. I so want
to go in and get a closer look at
those pots. |
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Most beautiful and well protected
lawn in Hamamatsu |
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Lovely planters line the
stairs. Note cute metal
planter icons, too. |
Even though the houses are close together, almost everyone makes the attempt to have a garden, even if it is just a few pots of flowers along a wall. Some of the nicer houses have exquisitely landscaped mini gardens along the car park. Our walk to school goes past the apartment of this very nice woman who meticulously cares for her plants each day. I’ve attempted to complement her flowers and we now exchange bows and greetings. There is quite a variety of plants and flowers. To someone who gets their bearings by identifying the local flora, it is a bit bewildering. Lots of things I recognize (hydrangeas, camellias, azaleas) with many I’ve encountered only in greenhouses (huge cycads thickets, orchids, bamboo.) we haven’t been out of the city yet, so I don’t know what the native flora looks like. But I bet it is cute.
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| A drink that tastes like pancakes. |
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Japanese goldfish crackers,
the 3 year old's friend. |
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| Delicious variety of bean curd (I think) |
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| Micro 135 ml beer |
The Japanese make the cutest drinks, too. Everywhere you go there are vending machines, most with tiny juices or coffees. In the grocery, you can buy 250 ml beer, and mini wines. There are what seem to be party trays of various forms of bean curd. It even comes in pink. I love these small portions. I never feel over full and I can try lots of different things, but don't have a lot to deal with if I don't like it. Even the candy and snacks are cute.
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| The world's cleanest and most beautiful carrots |
Time to go get the kids at school. Today I bought them their school gym uniforms (but only for outside gym time, inside gym they wear regular clothes. Another mystery). The clothes are, of course, cute. I have no idea if I bought the right size, but I made an impression on the shop ladies. We had a long (incomprehensible to me) conversation. I am getting great at pantomime. I was given specific directions about how to attach the name tags (not that it matters since I have no iron), and finally the older lady became exasperated and wrote down the number one. No idea why. Finally I paid them and we all bowed and smiled, and I went home. It is no wonder that people everywhere think foreigners are simple minded idiots. Sorry folks, not making a good showing for America here, but at least I know enough to mostly be polite. And, maybe they just think I am cute!
