JULY

Monday, 9 July 2018

So, summer really did arrive so early this year. Our rainy season - Tsuyu- was over before July even arrived. Apparently that is the earliest in the history for the Tsuyu to end as usually it goes on for a couple weeks longer.

Things with nature, there have been just so many record breakers. Biggest snowfalls or rainfalls in history, earliest cherry blossoms blooming in xx years, coldest day in the month of xx, etc etc. We hear it all the time and it's a real worry...almost everything is a record breaker these days when it comes to the weather.

In the western part of Japan over the last weekend, there have been torrential rains causing massive flooding and landslides that destroyed tens of thousands of homes. A horrendous natural disaster like this seems to be happening almost every year now. Can we only pray and hope there will be no more...?

Today my thoughts are with those who suffered from this disaster, may many more people will be rescued and be reunited with their loved ones.
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SUMMER

Thursday, 28 June 2018


It is still supported to be rainy season in Tokyo but we have been having very sunny and very warm days it feels like the real summer has already arrived. It's not even July yet. I was just reminded of our two weeks trip we had back in March when we travelled from the very cold wintery Tokyo to the really warm Brisbane, Melbourne and then Singapore. This picture here was taken on our first day in Brisbane, I thought it was end of summer there but it was still really hot and it was very much like how it feels in Tokyo right now. It kind of felt a little strange that this feeling of being in a hot and humid weather seemed somewhat more familiar than experiencing it since last summer, but now I know that is because this is already my second summer this year. Tokyo's summer is very harsh, it's not nice. But I guess I have to face it,  oh summer please please be gentle....
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Light and Shadow

Monday, 18 June 2018







There are many places I really love in my own city, not many of them are actually that difficult to get to but I never really get to visit them any more. You know when you know that you can visit any time you tend to leave it till later and then you would just forget. Or maybe that is just my excuse.
Hara Museum has always been my favourite, it's small, has a lovely garden, beautiful old architecture, and it's located somewhere that you really have to aim to get there. I visited there last summer after many years, nothing really had changed but one big change I noticed was that we were now allowed to take photos inside. Most of the Japanese museums didn't allow photography inside but it's changing and you'd notice that you can take photos at many of the places, often with some limitations.
I don't remember how hot that day was when we visited here but it looks like it was a very hot day, that light and shadow tell it don't they.
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June in Tokyo

Wednesday, 13 June 2018






So I went looking through my old photos (and got a bit carried away actually) and found so many fond memories from the past years, of all the places I went to and all the beautiful things I saw and enjoyed. It seems nothing has really changed but so much has actually changed and I missed the good old days. I mean, we all know that things always look better in distance.

For many years I kept saying I am too busy, I have been working so hard and hadn't really had time to enjoy other things for a long time. And that was why I could not keep up with blogging, or so I thought, but maybe that is not true. It's not always so easy to keep doing something for a long time, to keep the passion and motivation. There can always be excuses, for not being able to keep doing something, I don't know for how many times I have thought but now I really want to come back here and start posting again whether or not anyone is still around to read it.

So JUNE. It's rainy season in Japan, it rains a lot but it doesn't rain hard like it does in the rainy season in the tropic. It's not my favourite season, but I like it because it is the season for the beautiful hydrangeas too. You would spot hydrangeas here and there and everywhere if you walk around Tokyo right now, on the side streets and in the parks, and these days there are so many varieties, different types in different colours - they are just so beautiful and the rain makes them look extra pretty. 

Another thing I always think of June is the Ume - Japanese plums. For many years until some years ago it was our tradition to make our own Ume-shu plum wine, we used to get the beautiful fresh organic ume delivered from the farm. I don't drink umeshu any more and we have no space to keep the large jars so I just stopped making it. When I see the fresh green ume which are only available at this time of the year I remember those days, maybe one day I will make it again.

Hydrangeas and Ume plums, they are the things that make me happy in the month of June :)

Happy June!
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BLOG!

Tuesday, 12 June 2018

Hello BLOG! I have been thinking about you and wanting to come back but why is it so hard???? I have a lot that I want to say but I don't know what to post... Maybe I should just go back to when I first started this blog 9 years ago, how I didn't care or didn't even think there would be anyone who would want to read it.

So I am starting to dig all the photos I meant to post and share, hopefully they will make it here soon!

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BELATED SUMMER: HOUSHI ONSEN

Saturday, 7 October 2017

So, my last post was belated spring post and now it is time for belated summer. It's already October and is starting to feel so much more autumn.
This year we had a rather strange summer weather-wise, we had many really hot days but we also had many not-really-that-hot days and it was so much easier. (I mean when compared with previous years, summer had been insanely hot and intolerable.)

Anyway, this summer I had a mini brake and went on a little trip to this gorgeous onsen ryokan - hot spring inn. Our lovely friends from Melbourne Michelle and Steve were travelling around Gunma and R and I joined the two. I had been really looking forward to visiting this ryokan Choju-kan at Houshi Onsen and to see this beautiful architecture built in the Meiji period - 140 years ago.
This secret onsen is at the very end of the road so deep in the mountain in the Minakami area in Gunma prefecture. So quiet and peaceful surrounded by nature, it was just so incredible.


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SAKURA 2017 : Meguro Canal

Wednesday, 17 May 2017






My favourite season, back in early April when it was all magical, cheerful and beautiful. I took the courage to go down to to Nakameguro although for some years now I have only seen the cherry blossoms in Nakameguro from the station platform but soon after I started walking along the canal I could not cope with the crowd so I walked away from it towards Meguro along the canal Meguro-gawa. It doesn't take so long before you are free from the busy area, the canal gets so much wider and it feels nice. (See my post from 2011 to see the Nakameguro sakura) It was meant to be a quick stop after my dentist visit but it was hard to stop and I kept on walking to Shirokanedai past Meguro taking so many pictures. It was really beautiful.

人ごみに耐えられずここ何年かは中目黒の桜は駅のホームからのちらっと見にしていたのですが、思わず途中下車で下へ降りてみたのです。こんなに混んでも浮ついてもいなかった「あの頃はよかった〜」系の思いを引きずりすぎているワタシには、やはり難しくて、歩き始めて間もなく早歩きで遠ざかることを決意。駒沢通りを越えればあっという間に人ごみはなくなり、それと同時に行き違う人たちの年齢も上がり、広い空も見える。ホッとして、ゆっくり、じっくり、桜を楽しむにはやっぱりこうでなくては、と。来年は中目黒に間違って降りることはない、と思う。（あの頃はよかったバージョン、過去の記事はこちら）
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MAY

Tuesday, 9 May 2017


I had an American gentleman visiting my store the other day, out of the two stores option he was given to visit and purchase some items for his wife he chose my store as mine looked more independent. I thought that was a really nice way of choosing things, and of course I felt so grateful for the kind thought. There are hundreds of nice stores across Tokyo and especially for my store being so hidden people have to have a good reason to take a bit of effort to come and visit, so I really do appreciate people who visit my store each time. Some really kind people say to me it is a good treat for them to come to my store but that sweet thought and gesture always make it a huge treat for me.

I love people who can naturally make others feel so warm.

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APRIL

Monday, 24 April 2017



Well, I think I wrote in the last post that I had loaded a new roll of film nice and fresh just as the new year started. I did mean that and I felt really motivated.....until I found out that the film had not been set properly and what I thought had photographed never existed. I don't know how many more times I will do this, if you take film photos I am sure you know how it feels when this happens. And you can not blame anyone or anything for this to happen except yourself.


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JANUARY

Tuesday, 24 January 2017

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I haven't visited my own blog for so long, and why does it happen when I have deadlines for some work submissions coming up that I finally post something. It seems to be the way it is.

I stopped having "new years resolutions" but still, I will try to go back to the basics, all things I used to really enjoy - photography and movies. New roll of film loaded as soon as 2017 started. Already seen 6 movies. Feeling inspired. So far so good.

Photos are from the beautiful Happoen garden in Meguro/Shirokanedai. Peaceful place if you go on the day when they do not have 30 weddings a day(!)
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THE WHITE ROOM FITZROY

Wednesday, 7 September 2016









A really dreamy place we stayed in Fitzroy, everything is so beautifully and thoughtfully decorated, everywhere you look is picture-perfect and amazingly inspiring. It is one of the four beautiful houses a Melbourne interior stylist Lynda Gardener offers, this one The White Room Fitzroy is in a lovely neighbourhood so convenient and close to all the cool spots to explore.  She has just opened The Apartment St. Kilda which also looks really amazing, in a 1920s art deco building. I just wish we were staying here for a holiday sleeping in an enjoying drinks in the garden etc!! Next time!!!

メルボルンで泊まった本当にすてきなお部屋。どこを見てもどう切りとっても、完璧な絵になるすばらしい空間でした。って、写真で伝わるのではないかと思いますが・・
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MELBOURNE

Tuesday, 30 August 2016
southbank

federation square

pellegrinis

Another typhoon is hitting Tokyo this morning, my July (and August) also seems to have came and gone almost like a typhoon.

This July marked 7 years since I started UGUiSU, and in this special month I was lucky enough to have made my long time dream of having a pop up shop in Melbourne to come true. My last visit to Melbourne was 7 years ago so it had been a long time, when I first moved to Melbourne was something like...almost 20 years ago so, that is like another lifetime. Scary.

I am also realising that it was right after my last trip to Melbourne when I decided to start this blog (which then led me to start UGUiSU), I did not care if anyone would read it or I really thought no one would be interested but I felt I needed to use English more to keep it up so I made this blog and started posting some photos and blurbs. Maybe no one saw them but my first posts were actually Melbourne. (It's sad that this beautiful hotel I stayed is no longer there.)

I was just super crazy busy during my trip but I did enjoy some really great food and places so I will start posting about them!


怒濤のごとく過ぎ去った7月（と８月）のツケが、思わぬ形で出てしまった夏の終わり。突然片耳が聴こえなくなり、この先ずっとこのままなんだと受け入れたものの、ひと月とにかく休んでいたら何もなかったかのようにまた聴こえるようになるという、とりあえず良かったと胸を撫で下ろし、でも本当に気をつけないと、休むって大事なんだと心底おもい、ようやく現像したメルボルンの写真の整理をし、ようやくブログにまとめようと向き合いました。この７月でちょうど7周年を迎えたUGUiSUのポップアップをメルボルンで、という秘かに思い続けていた夢が実現されたんです。もちろん、たくさんの人たちの力をお借りして。

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