#japan story

[berma-dalam-titik]

Bukan Buatku

Bagian 1

Semua dimulai dari Tou-san---ayahku---yang menurunkan toko manisannya padaku. Kalau boleh jujur, aku bukan penggemar makanan manis, bahkan sejak masih kecil. Tou-san tahu itu, tapi tetap menurunkannya padaku.

"Cuma kau satu-satunya anakku! Kenapa tidak mau membantu ayahmu yang sudah tua ini?!" katanya, di hari pertama ia membicarakan topik itu. "Yang buat manisannya, kan, karyawan-karyawanku, bukan kau! Yang kau lakukan hanya menjaga toko, menggaji karyawan, serta mencicipi varian baru yang mereka buat!"

"Justru bagian 'mencicipi' itu yang kuhindari, Tou-san," aku ingat pernah memberinya alasan.

"Banyak alasan! Pokoknya, toko itu harus tetap buka saat aku pensiun! Aku tidak mau terus-terusan terjebak di kota itu! Aku ingin jalan-jalan, membawa serta abu ibumu! Paham?!" Namun, alasanku ditolaknya mentah-mentah, hingga mau tak mau, kuterima toko itu sebagai mata pencaharian utamaku saat ini.

Toko manisan Tou-san---atau sekarang toko manisan-ku---sama sekali tidak besar. Ini toko kecil dan tua yang hanya memiliki tiga karyawan yang semuanya bekerja di dapur. Tadinya Tou-san dan Kaa-san hanya menjajakan manisan-manisan tradisional. Akan tetapi, mengikuti permintaan pasar dan perkembangan zaman, lambat laun mereka menerima pasokan permen atau manisan lain dari pabrik-pabrik sekitar. Yah, bisa dibilang, apa pun yang rasanya manis dan berbahan dasar gula, akan Tou-san jual di sini.

"Haaah, melihatnya saja sudah membuat mulutku lengket ...."

"Se-tidak bisa itu, kah, makan yang manis-manis, Kotaro-kun?" Seorang wanita yang ada di masa setengah abadnya, muncul dari dapur dengan nampan berisi ichigo daifuku di atasnya. Itu Junko-san. "Nih, yang ichigo baru jadi. Mau satu?"

"Junko-san bercanda, ya?"

Junko-san tertawa sambil memasukkan benda-benda bulat berwarna putih itu ke raknya, bergabung dengan daifuku-daifuku lain yang sudah jadi lebih dulu. Aku keluar dari area kasir, membantunya untuk menyusun. "Padahal makanan manis itu bisa menaikkan mood-mu. Kenapa tidak mau?"

"Rasanya tidak cocok di lidah," balasku, menyusun daifuku terakhir ke raknya. Aku menghela nafas lagi---akibat dari menyentuh benda penuh gula itu di tangan---sebelum meneruskan, "Gula-gula ini seperti menempel di setiap sudut mulutku, dan bisa membuatku haus sampai seharian."

"Separah itu?" Aku mengangguk. Junko-san ikut menghela nafasnya. "Tapi kau memang tidak tertarik dengan manisan sejak masih sepinggangku, sih," ia bercerita sambil menaruh tangannya di pinggang, mengukur tubuh kecilku yang hanya tersisa bayangan masa lalu. "Anak yang tidak suka permen .... Sama sekali tidak terdengar lucu."

"Tenang saja, bahkan Tou-san tidak pernah menganggapku lucu."

Junko-san tertawa lepas, mungkin membayangkan wajah Tou-san yang hampir tak pernah terlihat ramah di sepanjang hidupnya. "Ya, ya, kau benar. Yang menganggapmu lucu hanya Yui-chan---Kaa-san-mu."

Aku tersenyum getir. Junko-san dan Kaa-san ini sangat dekat. Meski mereka berawal dari pemilik toko dan karyawan, hubungan mereka sudah seperti kakak-adik pada akhirnya. Aku pun sering menganggap Junko-san sebagai ibu keduaku. Jujur, aku sangat bersyukur Junko-san masih mau bertahan bekerja di toko kecil ini, di saat dua karyawan lainnya sudah sering berganti setiap tahunnya.

"Baiklah, aku masih harus buat manju."

"Eh? Bukannya manju jatahnya Fukui-san?"

"Hari ini ada yang pesan untuk oleh-oleh." Junko-san mengambil kembali nampan tempat ia menaruh daifuku tadi. Sambil hendak kembali ke belakang, ia bicara lagi, "Pesanannya masuk saat kau belum datang ke sini, jadi mungkin kau tidak tahu, tapi kau bisa cek di Buku Coklat. Harusnya Takamori-kun sudah tulis pesanannya di sana."

Segera aku kembali ke meja kasir dan mengecek Buku Coklat yang dimaksud. Sebenarnya ini hanya buku tulis biasa yang disampul coklat, tapi ini sudah semacam tradisi yang Tou-san buat supaya tidak mudah lupa apabila ada pesanan khusus yang masuk ke toko. "Rincian pesanannya ada di Buku Coklat! Kau tinggal cek saja!" Biasanya dia akan bicara seperti itu setiap Junko-san atau karyawan lain bertanya. Aku seakan bisa mendengarnya bicara seperti itu tepat di sampingku---sambil marah-marah, mempertanyakan kenapa aku bisa lupa dengan urusan toko sendiri.

Aku langsung membuka buku itu ke halaman paling baru. Tanggal penulisannya dua hari lalu, dan ada nama "Takamori" di bawahnya. Sudah dipastikan inilah rincian pesanan yang dibilang Junko-san tadi.

"Berapa banyak manju yang dipesan?" Suara Junko-san terdengar agak jauh.

"Lima puluh buah!" Suaraku sedikit meninggi, supaya terdengar oleh Junko-san yang sudah ada di dapur.

"Sudah ada 20 di sini!" Kali ini suara Fukui-san yang terdengar.

"Urusanmu itu stok toko, Fukui-kun!" Balasan dari Junko-san membuatku menahan tawa sedikit.

"Heee!? Tapi manju itu spesialisasiku! Dan juga, Junko-san belum buat satu pun, kan?! Pesanannya diambil jam dua siang ini!" Aku refleks mengecek kembali rinciannya, kemudian beralih ke jam dinding di atasku. Sekarang sudah jam 10.30, tepat setengah jam setelah toko dibuka.

"Lalu manju di toko siapa yang pegang?!" Suara Junko-san membawaku kembali ke pembicaraan mereka.

"Aku sudah taruh 20 yaki manju di rak toko!" Kali ini suara si karyawan muda, Takamori, yang terdengar.

"Yang biasa kita jual itu kukus (mushi)! Bukan panggang (yaki)!" Keributan yang terjadi semakin membuatku tak kuasa menahan tawa.

Baru saja aku ingin memisahkan mereka dan mengingatkan waktu terus berjalan, pintu toko dibuka oleh seseorang. Aku langsung menyambutnya, tanpa menyadari siapa pelanggan pertama kami. Hingga setelah aku melihatnya dengan seksama, aku terkesima dengan kecantikan yang dipancarkannya.

Ia membalas sapaanku dengan senyuman, membenarkan posisi kacamatanya sejenak, lalu bicara, "Uh, maaf. Aku Kishimoto, yang dua hari lalu pesan manju di sini. A-aku minta maaf karena datang terlalu cepat---aku baru ingat jam pengambilannya saat sudah dalam perjalanan. Karena sudah nanggung buat balik lagi---berhubung rumahku jauh dari sini, apa boleh aku tunggu saja di sini?"

Maafkan aku, Kishimoto-san. Aku terlalu terpana dengan kecantikanmu, bahkan suaramu juga terdengar indah, sampai aku kehabisan kata-kata.

Sepertinya ... aku sudah jatuh cinta pada pandangan pertama.

Bersambung ...

[Ditulis oleh Titik Berma; Pamulang, 4 September 2024]

[bookymcbookface]

Japan Story: In Search of a Nation, 1850 to the Present, by Christopher Harding

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[tanuki-kimono]

Final artpiece by Acotama for their youkai project, based here on Utagawa Kuniyoshi's The Origin Story of the Cat Stone at Okabe. You can find here the presentation of this piece and here the WIP of the big nekomata.

I already share two of those doll monsters (depressed pumpkin ghost / fox-deer-faced discarded hakama), but Acotama made 140 of those creatures, and some will be sold this Winter, so be sure to follow their page if you are interested :D

[zegalba]

Nobuyoshi Araki: Private Story (1999)

[saipisjidar]

[saipis-jidar]

Saya pikir kamu akan menyukai cerita ini: " NOT MY SELF " oleh SaipisJidar di Wattpad https://www.wattpad.com/story/329610502?utm_source=android&utm_medium=com.tumblr&utm_content=share_writing&wp_page=create&wp_uname=SaipisJidar&wp_originator=eNQjbgOKrkBYu1q9ZlNkpZ45Hia3lsci6aMp9K34zzIyQqxKBerJDk%2BZb2cD6oG6hzF8PfJtMiylXFJbFHBfaxbU9qTrZ6M9fNLoIXL91Smjo5CUsu7sRhf9U%2Fl06xmT

https://w.tt/3hwK7mD0

[botanyshitposts]

ok this sounds insane but in 2018 i went to a few carnivorous plant talks at the botany conference in minnesota. i got caught up in conversation with one of the guys there who was a huge nepenthes guy who told me a story about another collector in the pacific northwest who'd been buying poached plants, like a huge amount, and eventually got staked out by the fish and wildlife service and arrested and had all his plants seized and went to prison for it. idk if i ever talked about this on this blog before-- i know i liveblogged a lot from that conference but cant remember what all i posted-- but ive avoided talking about it since then because i was never able to find like, news articles or anything covering it, but behold.... we now have proof it was real, and im like 80% sure this was this guy he was talking about. the raid happened in 2016 and they'd been staking them out since 2013. he had nearly 400 plants and had been sourcing many of them from poachers in indonesia and borneo.

remember folks: poaching happens with plants too! it's a huge problem not only in carnvirous plants (nepenthes especially, which this piece is dedicated to talking about) but also in native plant populations in the US, including native carnivorous plant populations (north and south carolina's venus fly traps, california's darlingtonia, and sarracenia from the east coast), native orchids (historically one of the most poached categories), desert plants/cacti/succulents, and slow-growing woody ornamentals (cycads, for example). never buy bare-root plants off ebay or facebook! your best bet is local nurseries (which usually purchase farm-raised plants that do well in a wide range of conditions, and as a result have a healthy population in the wild) or specialty greenhouses (more expensive, but at least in the case of carnivorous plants offer young plants bred from established adult plants in-house, raised in captivity).

[reunitedinterlude]

lofi phantasy: the album

tracks 1-4 (x)

[manybackflips]

[todayintokyo]

Bowing to the gods at Takakomo Shrine by 和種馬ホースランド

[zoe-oneesama]

How do you feel about certain tropes for personalities?

Hate to reference it, but Yandere for example

I mean, I've usually only personally seen Yandere tropes in like horror anime, (though Quiche/Kishu from Tokyo Mew Mew was definitely my first intro before I knew what the trope even was), so it always felt fitting in that setting.

I'm not really into it because either it's played completely straight as is, in which case there's not really a good outcome for anyone? Either the target is stuck with Yandere, the Yandere kills the target, or the Yandere gets killed.

The other option is despite being foaming at the mouth, ready to kill anyone who even LOOKS at their love interest wrong...they just...concede? To the actual Main Love Interest? Kind of feels like a lot of wasted effort and energy.

I mean, if Yuuno Gasai is the poster child for When the Yandere Gets the Guy, your trope is trouble.

[tanuki-kimono]

My teenager heart is all doki-doki for the [Lulu Felice x × Ai Yazawa] gown collection inspired by Nana 💖

Collab also revisits Gokinjo Monogatari:

You can see below which plates inspired some outfits:

[zegalba]

Nobuyoshi Araki: Private Story (1999)

[egophiliac]

As someone who hasn’t played the twst game very long I just got into it. I wanted to know about events? Like do some not come back? For example do the Masquerade, Port, Beanfest, Ghost bride, starsending events. Do those come back? I hear people say how they missed their chance to get this great card like as if it won’t ever come back and then someone on Reddit will say something like “Oh beanfest happened twice on the JP server” so which events have gotten reruns so far? I would ask about more recent ones like the Easter one but idk if it’s too recent to know if get rerun or if they clarify that it won’t come back? I was really sad to find out about the Silk outfits I missed out on when they visit the scalding sands. I also was really sad to find out i missed out on the anniversary cards because I didn’t play the game yet. I wish they would add the anniversary cards to the store at least…I want to be apart of the celebration :’)

I was looking in the shop and saw all the different groovy items you need to groovify event cards and this question just came to me so I had the urge to ask someone…

welcome to Twst! 🎉 it is a bit confusing to jump right into, especially because. they're not always consistent. :') it sounds like you're probably playing on Eng, which I'm less familiar with, but I'll try based on what I know! (I also don't always remember everything, so somebody please correct me if I get something wrong!)

first, I do recommend the Twst wiki.gg, which seems to stay pretty up-to-date on events for both the Eng and JP versions! it's a great resource for when you want to see if/when an event ran or rerun. in general, I believe that the Eng version only does reruns that have already happened in JP, so if JP has a rerun that hasn't happened yet in Eng, they should get it too eventually! on the other hand, I don't think either version has ever rerun an event more than once. :( BUT this doesn't mean you're entirely out of luck, because:

anniversary events (March for JP, January for Eng) will usually offer a chance to get both an older event SSR and an older birthday SSR in the shop, via buying a special item with exchange currency (which you get by doing pulls on the anniversary gacha, I think you need to do 100-150 pulls for enough currency to buy the item to exchange for an SSR). only SSRs though, and you're limited to one each (one birthday, one event). so if there's an SSR you REALLY want and it's already had its rerun, it's probably worth planning to save up some keys for!

as for actual reruns, they seem to come in a few different flavors:

straight-up rerun, no changes or extra cards

unchanged event story, with a new SSR of a character who wasn't in the story (e.g. Applepom Jamil)

slightly rewritten event story that includes a new SSR (e.g. Ghost Marriage, they don't seem to do this anymore though)

completely new event story that acts as either a sequel or alternate-universe version of the original (e.g. Beans Day part 2, Fairy Gala IF) (though this is pretty rare and might actually count as a separate event, rather than a rerun?)

Master Chef/Culinary Crucible events have never gotten reruns (though they might start now that we've finally gotten through all the characters in JP, time will tell). birthday and Halloween events will also rerun the previous version in addition to the new one -- for instance, Eng should be getting a Glorious Masquerade rerun this year, followed by the new (Playful Land) Halloween event. and a birthday campaign will, in addition to the new card, have a separate pickup for the previous year's birthday card.

for the specific ones you mentioned -- I think Beanfest, Ghost Bride, Fireworks, and Starsending have already rerun in Eng, so those most likely will not be rerun again (at least not anytime soon). Masquerade should be coming back for you guys this Halloween, and Portfest JUST got its rerun in JP, so that should be coming too sometime in the future! (no new SSR though, alas, I was really hoping for a little marching band sailor boy Leona. 😔) the Easter event is the White Rabbit Fest, right? that one hasn't gotten a rerun in JP yet either, so it's still on the table!

all that said, it's entirely possible they'll change the rules at some point and start doing more reruns/chances to get older event cards, especially since the game's been going on for a few years now and some cards haven't been available for a pretty long time! there's only one card that they said was for-realsies limited-time-only and wouldn't ever be available again -- Platinum Grim, since he was to celebrate the 100th anniversary -- so. there's always a little bit of hope for everything else. :D (fairy gala Ortho PLEASE COME BACK SOB)

[respectthepetty]

Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko has me in my Old Fashion Cupcake feels since both Japanese office romances deal with a lost underling being inspired by their cool superior to enjoy life more and falling for them in the process.

Their supervisors' advice is the reason they are the excellent workers they are and it affirmed their queerness since they fell in love with their bosses.

(And they are both color coded!)

So it makes perfect sense that Ayaka would lighten up after seeing the brightness and brilliance of Hiroko much like Togawa did after seeing Nozue's radiance.

After all, Hiroko was the one to give Akaya her color.

So it's interesting that the previous episode highlighted that Akaya's nails are pink.

Because this episode showed that whoever hurt Hiroko a decade ago was also a Pink Person which has caused Hiroko to become stuck and it was shown through the nails and the drink.

Even though their bosses gave them life-changing advice, their bosses became comfortable and cautious, so they need their persistent subordinates to remind them of their brightness.

And their love (for life).

[brownie-pics]

'24.7.9 松尾寺にて

境内の階段を上がり、三重塔の裏側を眺めながらお地蔵さんが並ぶ細い参道をさらに登ると松尾山神社へと繋がります。