It’s spring, and although the sakura (cherry blossoms) are long gone now, the azaleas have been out in full force. They are arguably more beautiful and more prevalent.
The school year is quickly drawing to a close in the coming month, and the concerts in rapid succession would immediately draw a familiar pavlovian response from any other band director — boomboomboom goodjobkids next goodjobkids next goodjob aaaand it’ssummernow.
The April and May weekends have provided us with beautiful respites of flowers, sunshine, and outings to the Yokohama waterfront or Kamakura. You’ll sometimes go out to lunch and realize there’s a festival or a parade, and then you’re wandering around and enjoying whatever’s happening for the next couple hours.
The next month will fly by, and it’s hard to believe an entire school year has come and [almost] gone already.
Soon to come: more concerts and another Baystars game in June!
AZALEAS!
Landmark Tower
A nice day around Red Brick Warehouse (looking at Minato Mirai)
There was a flower arrangement competition going on (I think!) at Yamashita Park. Enjoy the next several photos of the entries. This one has LOTS of porcupines hidden in it.
This one has an entire patio built into it.
This one has an almost life-size bridge with Hot Wheels cars on it. (The actual bridge is in the background!)
A flower Leandra adored at Yamate Italian Garden
During her walk in the same place
The same sakura tree at school is now starting to show cherries. This is one of the first to appear.
We were enjoying brunch when a parade started on the street. There were a ton of different dance groups, marching bands (some were pretty good!), and even this group entirely made up of kids playing glockenspiels.
A weekend trip down to Kamakura for breakfast, art, and people-watching
Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine in Kamakura (this dates back to 1063!)
A view closer up
Had a blast getting to play along with our amazing and talented private instrumental instructors as well as my awesome colleague who plays accordion as a side talent. “Takarajima” is a familiar piece here in Japan and features a sax solo (video below).
The crows, ravens, karasu - whatever you want to call them - are brutal here with the trash. It’s why people create barriers with nets and heavy water jugs to keep them off. It obviously didn’t work this day.
This man simply wanted to watch it unfold.
A familiar friend - a huntsman spider much like the ones we encountered in India - appeared last week next to the bike parking. I spotted him several times throughout the week.
Enjoying breakfast or lunch at 7artscafe is a nice treat on the weekends. It’s rare when there ISN’T a dog (or three) present. Our first visit here was in August when we stumbled upon Freddie’s birthday party (the golden retriever). He was present today, and even brought flowers, for Mozart’s birthday party (the owner’s dog seen here).
A beautiful day around Minato Mirai
THERE WAS A STINGRAY THERE! Video below.
We went to World Porters this afternoon. I can’t explain how much stuff is in this place. You can watch a walkthrough video here. One of the floors features HUNDREDS (maybe thousands?!) of capsule machines. Enjoy some of the random ones we found today. This one is pretty normal: ginger-shaped erasers.
