Roof Tile Cracker

These are the sweets my wife and I chose to buy as souvenir from Kagawa prefecture. The brown one is called "Kawara Sembei"(Tile-shaped hard cracker). This is really hard so that I won't recommend it for older people without strong teeth and jaws. I like it because it maintains the shape in my mouth for quite a long period, maybe 30 minutes to 1 hour, during which I can enjoy the taste. - MT

Koinobori (Carp-shaped Streamer)

A Koinobori is carp-shaped streamer which is made of cloth and hung on a rope to catch the wind. It is the symbol of strength and hope and displayed in Japan to celebrate boys in a family. The fifth day of May is Boys' Day and the people display Koinoboris to make wishes for happiness of the boys.

I found this couple of Koinobori-shaped porcelain at a shop in Takamatsu City, Kagawa prefecture, during a business trip. - MT

Hikiyama

Ohtsu City also has a traditon of Hikiyama, decorated cars drawn by men when they have Ohtsu Festival in October. I visited Ohtsu Festival Hikiyama Exhibition Hall before going home and made this efuto.
- MT

Ohtsu-E

Ohtsu is the capital city of Shiga prefecture, Japan. It is famous for Japan's largest Lake Biwa. Unknown to me was that the people in Ohtsu have produced Ukiyoe-like pictures of their own since Edo era. I imitated one of them to make this efuto.
- MT

Basket of Flowers

These Spring flowers were given to my wife and me when we went to a Tokyo auditorium to conduct Seicho-No-Ie lecture meeting. After the meeting I sent this efuto to say "thank you" to the person who arranged the meeting.
- MT

Is Food Better Than Flowers?

A Japanese saying goes that dumplings are better than flowers. It seems to mean that beauty comes after necessity. Well, I would say that this is sometimes true but not true in other times. There are many Japanese sweets that are made to resemble flowers and other natural lives. In such cases beauty comes before necessity.

These dumplings that I bought in Matsuyama City, Ehime prefecture, are good enough to just watch. - MT

Action makes difference.

Action makes a difference. If you want to get something, you need to act. Planning alone, no matter how thorough it may be, does not bring about change.
- MT

Compare them.

Some say you cannot compare an apple with an orange. But they are so similar, aren't they? Similarities bind, while differences discriminate.
　- MT

How to cut an apple?

There are many ways to cut an apple in half. Each way is unique and no better or worse than others. Enjoy the diversity.
- MT