It’s different in Japan

When I wrote this post about gun violence in the US yesterday, I intended to move on to another topic, but news of the assassination of former Prime Minister Abe of Japan broke here this morning and I was struck by the stark contrast in the level of gun violence in the two countries.

Part of the terrible shock to the Japanese public is that shootings are incredibly rare there. Firearm possession in Japan is highly regulated. Apparently, the gunman had built his own weapon, evading the strict process in place.

Last year in Japan, there were only ten shootings, eight of which were connected to the yakuza, an organized crime network. There was one death and four injuries from gun violence.

That’s 10 shootings in a country of 125 million people.

In a year.

The United States has 332 million people. I can’t even find the statistic for the number of shootings, but the statistics from Gun Violence Archive record 45,034 deaths and 40,585 injuries from guns in 2021.

Yes, America. Guns are the problem.

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Sharing some beautiful blossoms from one of my favorite photo-blogs.

My Food And Flowers

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Portuguese Squill/Hyacinth of Peru (Scilla peruviana) 地中海綿棗兒/地中海藍鐘花

Beautiful bulbous perennial.  Easy to grow.  Best growing in full sun to partial shade location but also tolerant light shade.   Small deep blue flowers in flower ball in spring.  Flowers attract bees and butterflies.  Good for cut flower.  USDA Zones:7-10.  Mature size:6″-1′(H) X 3″-6″(W).  Plant is toxic if ingested.  Propagate by seeds, bulb or division.

美麗的多年生球根花卉.  容易栽種.  最好栽種在全日照到半日照處但也能生長於散光處.  小朵深藍色小花聚成的花球於春天盛開.  花吸引蜂蝶.  也適合為插花的花材.  喜熱不甚耐寒.  成熟株高6吋到1呎,寬幅3-6吋.  植株全株有毒勿食.  繁殖以種子,球根或分株方式來進行.

Reference links: 參考網站資料連結:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scilla_peruviana                            https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-tw/%E5%9C%B0%E4%B8%AD%E6%B5%B7%E7%B6%BF%E6%A3%97%E5%85%92                                      http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/59661/

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mochi ice cream!

When I visited with daughter E in Honolulu for five weeks last year, one of our favorite treats was mochi ice cream, a Japanese-style bon bon made of pounded sticky rice wrapped around ice cream. The shops in Honolulu had many different flavors, a number of them tropical fruits.

When I returned home, I tried to find mochi ice cream. I finally found some green tea ones at Wegman’s, but my body doesn’t react well to tea, so I did’t buy them.

Yesterday, I happened to walk by the case and there were vanilla and strawberry mochi ice cream available.

I bought a box of strawberry and ate one after dinner last night.

It was delicious, but the memories of eating them with E made it all the sweeter.
*****
This post is part of Linda’s Just Jot It January. Join us! First here first:  http://lindaghill.com/2016/01/25/just-jot-it-january-25th-prestidigitation/

To find the rules for Just Jot It January, click here and join in today.

August Garden 八月的花園

I love flower photos and this blog is an extravaganza! Enjoy!

My Food And Flowers

August Garden 八月的花園

Cheddar Pink (Dianthus ‘Firewitch’) 多年生石竹

Mina lobata (Ipomea lobata) 金魚花/魚花蔦蘿

Double Annual Poppy (Papaver somniferum ‘Black Beauty’) 黑美人重瓣虞美人

Canna Lily (Canna indica )美人蕉

Sensitive Plant (Mimosa pudica) 含羞草

Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus) 大波斯菊

Red Double Blanket Flower (Gaillardia ‘Red Plume’) 大紅重瓣球型天人菊

Tricolor Viola(Viola tricolor) 堇菜

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia fulgens ‘Elmfeuer’) 紅花山梗菜

Bulbous Bergonia (Bergonia) 球根海棠

Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea Montana) 多年生矢車菊

Godetia Azalea Flowered Mixed (Clarkia amoena) 古代稀

Firecracker Flower (Crossandra infundibuliformis) 鳥尾花

American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) 花旗蔘

Garlic Chives (Allium tuberosum) 韭菜

Hall’s Honeysuckle(Lonicera japonica)忍冬或叫金銀花

Clematis (Clematis) 鐵線蓮

Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’ (Clematis ‘Sweet Autumn’) 甜秋鐵線蓮

Anise-hyssop (Agastache rugosa)藿香

Calla Lilies (Zantedeschia aethiopica) 海芋

European Bellflower(Campanula rapunculoides) 歐洲風鈴草

Blue-eyed grasses (Sisyrinchium bermudianum)庭菖蒲

Tree mallow (Lavatera) 錦葵

Double Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus double blue selection) 重瓣桔梗

Self-heal（Prunella grandiflora ‘Freelander’）大花夏枯草

Honeysuckle Fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Koralle’) 鞭炮吊鐘花

Common Soapwort/Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis) 高性肥皂花/石鹼草

Double Lily (Lilium) 重瓣百合

Obedient Plants (Physostegia virginiana) 隨意草

Carpathian…

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July Garden 七月花園

It’s summer here in the Northern Hemisphere, so I thought I’d share this lovely post of summer flowers. For my Southern hemisphere friends, I thought you’d like a reminder that spring is only a few weeks away.
– JC
(Make sure to click on View Original to see the rest of the lovely photos!)

My Food And Flowers

July Garden 七月花園

Beebalm (Monarda) 美國薄荷

English Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia)英國薰衣草

False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides)姬向日葵

高性肥皂花/石鹼草Common Soapwort/Bouncing Bet (Saponaria officinalis)

Tickseed (Coreopsis grandiflora) 大花金雞菊

Japanese morning glory (Ipomoea nil ‘Kikyo Snowflakes’) 日本朝顏’桔梗雪花’

Peruvian Daffodil ‘Sulphur Queen’ in bloom with beautiful fragrance! (Hymencallis caribaea) 黃色的蜘蛛百合開花了,美美的花香!

White Peruvian Daffodil in bloom! (Hymencallis caribaea) 白色的蜘蛛百合也開了.

American ginseng flowers. (Panax quinquefolius) 花旗蔘開花了.

Honeysuckle Fuchsia (Fuchsia ‘Koralle’) 鞭炮吊鐘花

Pineapple Lily (Eucomis bicolor) 鳳梨百合/彩鳳蘭

Chinese Artichoke/Artichoke Betony flowers. (Stachys affinis) 甘露子/草石蠶開的花

Double Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) 重瓣繡球花

Zinnia Bi-Color (Zinnia elegans Swizzle Scarlet & Yellow, Cherry & Ivory ) 雙色百日草

大花夏枯草 Self-heal（Prunella grandiflora ‘Freelander’）

Calendula ‘Neon’ 重瓣金盞花

Silene armeria ‘Electra’ 甜威廉捕蟲草

Double Balloon Flower (Platycodon grandiflorus double blue selection) 重瓣桔梗

Tree mallow (Lavatera) 錦葵

Anise-hyssop (Agastache rugosa)藿香

Summer Phlox/Garden Phlox (Phlox) 多年生直立型福祿考

Summer Phlox/Garden Phlox (Phlox) 多年生直立型福祿考

Supertunia Petunia (Petunia ‘Supertunia Pretty Much Picasso’) 滾綠邊的深粉紅矮牽牛

Carpathian Bellflower (Campanula carpatica ‘Blue Clips’) 矮性叢生風鈴草

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea) 紫錐花

Anise-Hyssop (Agastache…

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1,000 Follower Celebration: Meet and Greet

Jay Dee Archer of “I Read Encyclopedias for Fun” is hosting a meet and greet to celebrate reaching the 1,000 followers milestone! Jay Dee is an author, teacher, spouse, and dad, currently living in Japan but planning a return to Canada next year. He blogs about writing, life in Japan, being a dad, geography, astronomy, and much more. Go check out his blog, introduce yourself on his meet and greet thread, and have fun!

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

I love milestones, and this is a big one. This blog has finally achieved 1,000 followers! So, I thought, what could I do for this occasion? Well, some other people have done something similar, one for a 500 follower milestone, and another who just does it to bring bloggers together.

Let’s have a good old meet and greet! It’s very simple, just leave a comment with a link to your blog (the main blog or a single post, it’s up to you) and say something brief about your blog or yourself if you like. If you have a book, tell us about it, too. I’d also like to ask you to do one other thing: share this post as much as you like and anywhere you like. Tell other bloggers you know about this post so they can also find some great blogs to follow.

I look forward to meeting…

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Mother’s Day

Last year on Mother’s Day, I was with my husband B in Honolulu with both daughters E and T and son-in-law L.  You can read about it here and here.

This year, B and I will be having Mother’s Day brunch with both of our moms and my dad in the dining room at the senior community where they all live. I am especially grateful to be able to celebrate Mother’s Day with with my mom and mother-in-law this year because the past year has been rough for both of them health-wise but they are both much improved and able to enjoy the day, which is oddly summery for mid-May.

Meanwhile, E and T are on an adventure together in New York City. They converged there on Friday, E from Honolulu HI and T from Syracuse NY, and are staying with my sister. E is attending Japan Day in Central Park because six members from jpop phenomenon AKB48 will be performing. E’s master thesis is about the fandom, especially the online fans outside of Japan, so this is a great opportunity for her to make connections and conduct interviews for her research. T has just finished her semester in her master’s program and came down to help her sister for the weekend. It is also their only chance to get together this summer because T will be doing an internship assisting with botany studies in New York State parks. (Way to go, T!)

I’m so happy that they will have this special long weekend together. Their bond with each other is one of the true joys of being their mother.  While B and I won’t get to see them together, we will get time to see them separately. T will get a couple of weeks at home before her internship begins and we just made reservations to go to Hawai’i in June to see E while L is in London working on his dissertation research.

The generations of our family illustrate that being a mom is forever!

The Tohoku Earthquake Four Years Later

Sending thanks to Jay Dee Archer for this astonishing and heartfelt post about the earthquake/tsunami in Japan four years ago.

I Read Encyclopedias for Fun

It’s now March 11th.  At 2:46 pm Japan time on March 11th, 2011, the fourth most powerful recorded earthquake struck northeastern Japan off the coast of Tohoku.  I was in Yokohama at the time, and never in my life have I felt such violent shaking of the earth.  It’s an experience I will never forget.

Looking back, I’m amazed that it’s been four years since the earthquake and tsunami.  15,889 people died, most from the tsunami.  The buildings held up to the 9.0 magnitude earthquake remarkably well.  It was the tsunami that was devastating.  Not only did it destroy or severely damage numerous villages, towns, and cities, it also crippled the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and caused a level 7 meltdown.  The surrounding area was evacuated and is still restricted.  Few are permitted to enter the vicinity of the power plant.  60% of the people who lost their homes…

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Byodo-In Temple

Yesterday, Beth took us to the Byodo-In Temple in Kahaluu, north of Honolulu. It was finished in 1968 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants to Hawai’i. Located in a multi-denominational memorial park, it was modeled on the 900+ year old temple in Uji, Japan. You can read more about it here.

Before entering, Beth and Trinity together rang the large bon-sho (sacred bell) to create the proper mood for meditation. Next, we went to the meditation pavilion, which is set among little waterfalls and beautiful plantings. The temple grounds are non-denominational and it was nice to have a quiet space for the many prayer requests that are on my mind among family and friends. To enter the temple proper, we removed our shoes in order to visit the golden Amida Bhudda.

Then, we progressed to the other side of the grounds, which had ponds filled with carp. We also saw resident turtles and black swans.  On shore, a large peacock was strutting about. There were sign warning that peacocks are not tame and should not be approached. Brent spotted the peahen off near some bamboo plantings at the edge of a clearing. With her were three young peachicks, who were so well camouflaged that we could not spot them unless they were moving.

I have never been to Japan, so I’m grateful that a piece of Japanese heritage is so beautifully re-created on O’ahu.