Season's Greetings from a Classical Japanese Poem Lover

Dec. 25, 2010

Season's Greetings

from a classical Japanese poem lover

with

photos of
the four seasons of Yokohama (from the top):

people at a bus stop near Yokohama Stadium
children and flowering cherry trees at Motomachi Park
a pleasure boat and cherry blossoms on Ohoka River
people strolling on Bashamichi Street
a tunnel under Yamate Dori Avenue
an illuminated sign at entrance to Motomachi Street
girls on their way home from school at Mimato-Mirai area
a mother and a little girl at Yokohama Museum of Art Square
a couple at Yokohama Bayside Park

a dog and Christmas decorations at a shop on Motomachi Street
a boy and a mother in front of a florist at Yokohama Station Square
Christmas illuminations at Red Brick Warehouse Square

Rabbit hoped to help Japan out of economic slump in 2011

Dec. 22, 2010

Rabbit hoped to help Japan out of economic slump in 2011

As 2011 is the year of rabbit in Chinese astrology, rabbit-related items are on display at various kinds of shops in Japan with about a week left before the turn of the year. Sitting side by side with Christmas decorations, rabbit dolls at a traditional ceramic ware shop in Fujisawa, south of Yokohama, were helping to attract customers while smiling at them.
At the beginning of this year of tiger, Japanese people and policymakers hoped to see the economy pull out of the long slump sometime this year, but this has not been realized. A gap between the haves and the have-nots has become wider, and the unemployment rate is yet to be improved. The situation remains especially hard for job-searching young people, including those graduating from universities next spring.
Rabbits are quieter but they are believed to be emotionally strong. So, Japanese are hoping that the forthcoming year of rabbit will be a year of a big jump out of the doldrums.
At some zoological parks in Japan, events have been held for the transition of the animal of the year from tiger to rabbit, with breeders disguising themselves as the animals or the real animals playing their roles.

Rabbit! Rabbit! What makes you jump up?
The full moon up there makes me jump up.
(A personal translation)

This is an old children’s song, the song which was sung by little girls when they play with a ball.
Japanese consumers are getting tired of practicing strict economy, shopping trend watchers say. They are sometimes ready to loosen their purse string in a “petite extravagancy” mood. But it is far from certain whether the nascent sign of recovery will spread through the economy and dispel the suffocative mood in society in the coming year.

An author's note: Followoing is the melody of the children's song "Usagi (rabbit)" : EEEABABx/EEEABABx/ABCCBaaFE/AFEEFEDDE (Usagi usagi/Nani-mite-haneru/Jugoya- otsuki-sama/Mite-haneru.