Steam Locomotive (2)

This efuto was created from a photo I took from a hotel room at the end of June. It is the same locomotive I drew previously. The smoke engulfed almost the entire train and I could not help imagining the misery of passengers if the train windows were open upon entering the tunnel ahead.

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive gives us a sense of power and industriousness. It also reminds us of the day when human efforts to conqure nature were never questioned but received with enthusiasm. I saw this locomotive when I went to Kitami City in Hokkaido at the end of June. It was a special occasion on which this old machine was revived to carry fans and tourists marking the beginning of Summer.

Kamaboko (steamed fish paste)

Toyama Bay produces an abundance of marine products--fish, squid, shellfish, sea urchin, and seaweed. Despite being a city boy, I have acquired the taste for them largely because my grandmother, born and raised in Toyama prefecture, shared her favorites with her grandchildren, including me. Kurozukuri, chopped squid marinated in its ink, was one of her favorites. It is salty but tasty. I used to love it, but nowadays, I try to avoid salty food. I was therefore glad to see my wife buying kamaboko, which does not contain salt, as a souvenir at Toyama airport.

Piggy Censer

On June 16, I stayed at the official residence of Seicho-No-Ie Head Temple in Nagasaki prefecture. On the tatami mat of the corridor of the residence I found this pig-shaped mosquito-coil hanger. It looked familiar and made me feel a little nostalgic. I briefly recalled my boyhood when I used a similar-shaped hanger while studying or reading. Nowadays, we rarely see this type of hanger. I liked the color combination, too.

Wooden Cat

My eldest son recently came back from a vacation in Bali. His souvenir to me was this green wooden cat. Not one, but three cats of the same form with different sizes. Seeing them, I realized the face of the three is almost identical to that of other wooden cat I bought several years ago at a shop in Tokyo. I was happy to realize that we share the same taste.

Cocoon Animals

Before WWII Japan was famous for its silk production. Nawadays, however, you seldom see people raising silkworms in rural areas. In the late 1960s, Mikijiro Murata in Morioka, Iwate prefecture, came up with the idea of creating toy animals from silkworm cocoons. This turned out to be a long-lasting popular folkcraft.

I bought these three animals at a souvenir shop in Morioka station. These are three of twelve kinds, (from left to right) monkey, wild bore, and dragon, representing the twelve signs of the Chinese/Japanese zodiac. Aren't they cute?

Piggy Pot

I saw this pig-faced pot standing by the window of a small house when I visited the souvenir shop in Aomori City. The name of the shop was Kohgen-Sha, and it was not merely selling souvenirs but it was a compound consisting of a souvenir shop, a pottery, a small museum, and a coffee shop, all related to the poet-storyteller Kenji Miyazawa. This particular pot, however, did not seem to have anything to do with Miyazawa. It even looked foreign to my eyes. I simply assumed that it was an imported pot, probably from Africa. But for some reason it matched well with the place where Miyazawa's numerous fairy tales were once published.

Apple Cookie

Aomori prefecture is famous for its great many apples. It produces about one half of Japan's total output of appr. 842 thousand tons (in 2003). Naturally, products made from apples make good souvenirs from Aomori. My wife bought apple cookies and other sweets for her friends. I drew some of them in a way that they somehow represent the 2008 Summer Olympic Games. China is the world's top apple producer, with its 2003 production of 20 million tons.

Telephone Booth

In the age of cellphones and PDA's, telephone booths have become an endangered speices in large cities in Japan. However, in many smaller cities, such as Aomori, where the population is rapidly ageing, access to public telephones has to be maintained for those elderly citizens who are not entirly satisfied with cellphones.

I saw this telephone booth in Aomori, the Northernmost city of Honshu Island, when I visited there at the end of May. It was built on a concrete mount about one meter higher than the level of the street.

Taiyaki (fish-shaped pancake)

Taiyaki is a popular sweet which is mainly sold from Fall to Spring. It is sea bream-shaped pancake filled with sweet bean paste. When I went to Nagaoka station last Saturday, I found a taiyaki shop saying that they are closing soon because Spring is ending. It was a cool evening and I thought it was a good time for me and my wife to warm ourselves with the hot, sweet taiyakis.

Boxed Dinner

On the train trip back from Nagaoka City, Niigata prefecture, I had this boxed dinner. The box was made from the skins of bamboo shoots, a material not commonly used for this type of boxes. It reminded me of the bamboo shoots I took out this Spring in my garden. The skins might actually be imported from China, but the association and the soft touch of the box made me choose this out of several kinds. The hope was that the appearance would not betray the content.

Wheat

On the edge of Meiji Park in Tokyo I found an unusual patch of greens. The grass didn't look like the usual kind we see in other parks. It was not a lawn. I took a bunch of it home with me. Upon seeing it, my wife immediately said that it was wheat. The idea of someone growing wheat in a Tokyo park is mind-boggling.

Yokan (jellied bean-paste)

Yokan is not my favorite because it often is too sweet. But this particular yokan is made of persimmon fruit and not so sweet. I like the idea of putting it in the bamboo container because by doing so the whole product becomes biodegradable. I also like the way they color and fold papers to decorate it.

Foliage Plant

As the breeze from the window in my offce touched my forehead, the plant by the window drew my attention. The color of green was so gentle, the joggle of the leaves so soft. But I drew this efuto, rather wildly.

Kumpei Raccoon

Kumpei Higashi produced an abundance of manga books, illustrations, and children's stories. There is a museum of his works, called Kumpei Dohwa-Kan, not far from our mountain villa. In early May we went there to see his work. There I bought this stuffed animal, called Kumpei Tanuki (raccoon), representing one of his characters. According to his widow, the face somehow resembles Kumpei himself.

Taranome

Every Spring my wife and I look forward to getting taranome when we go to our mountain villa in Yamanashi prefecture. Taranome are Spring shoots of the taranoki tree, one of the most common wild trees in Japan, although it gets increasingly scarce as urbanization spreads toward the countryside. People are generally allowed to get into another person's property to take taranome and other Spring shoots of wild trees without permission. Therefore, we were expecting to see many of the shoots taken out when we get to the villa. This May we were fortunate to have a few shoots left intact. The taranome tempura was very good.

Rice Cracker 2

This rice cracker contains special seaweed produced in Ariake Bay in Kyushu. I bought it as a souvenir from Saga. The combined taste of the seaweed and soy sauce was so GOOD!

Arita-produced Vase

Saga prefecture is famous for its pottery. Arita, Imari, and Karatsu produce various pottery, from chopstick pillows to large, gorgeous vases. When we went to Saga City this April, there was a large Arita-produced table lamp in the hotel room, so large that I could not draw all of it in the limited time. So, I just drew half.

Rice Cracker

Rice cracker, or senbei, is one of the most popular confectioneries in Japan. Virtually every city or town has its original cracker. It is fun to try them when you travel around Japan. I found this cracker when I visited Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto. The design on the package made me smile because it reminded me of the old game fukuwarai. The face is called "otafuku," the name of an imaginary woman having many fortunes.

In the game a blindfolded player is given the eyes, eyebrows, nose, and mouth of the otafuku, all made of paper, and the player has to put them in the appropriate places on the faceless otafuku. You can imagine how funny the face will be when the blindfold is taken away.

A Ceramic Tumbler

The hotel in Fukuchiyama, where we stayed in early April, had ceramic tumblers. I liked the simple design and the touch of the tumbler. The actual tumblers are shorter than the one I drew, but I altered it to fill the length of the envelope.

- MT