#todayintokyo

[merpmonde]

Hello! I just saw your post about the conference. I know it's very niche, but I'd love to hear / read more about your sangaku presentation. I actually went back to Konnō Hachiman-gū this afternoon, hoping to see more examples, but no such luck. (I cannot decipher them, of course, but I taught English at a faculty of engineering, and my students could. Sometimes. )

I'll put together something about the shrine, but どうぞお先に。Nudge nudge hint hint.

Hi, thanks for the message!

The presentation was in two main parts: first the historical context of the Edo period and function of sangaku in developing mathematics during that time, and second a closer look at Kashihara Miminashi Yamaguchi-jinja's example with a modern solution. I can't read the sangaku in full, but I have been able to pick out the parts with numbers and compare some of their results with the formulas.

I can probably put together a mini-series at some point. Which parts would you want to hear more about? (That's a general question btw: anyone can reply and add the conversation of course.)

[matryokeshi]

30 March 2024. Cherry blossoms in Tokyo, Japan 🌸

[aers-radio]

Are we also allowed to geek out over miniature trains? I don't mean toys; I mean rideable miniature railways. We're not too grown-up for that, are we? Depending on your answer, I just might...

I'm not knowledgeable in that area, but they can be fun, and I'm guessing Japan has some with really neat details, so go for it!

Though that does remind me of a quirk I saw on Japanese maps: aren't theme park rides technically railways? I'll leave the question there for now, double-check things and might write a short piece about it.

[aers-radio]

Oh wow! Now that's what I was talking about regarding minute details, and it's that attention to detail that I love about Japan!

In Europe, it would just be a mini-train, "like who cares, the children will love it either way"... But in Japan, they'll go "look, we've got this vintage loco on display, let's make a proper scale miniature of it and drive around with carriages behind that! Oh and of course it'll be steam powered [initially] just like the big one, that wasn't even a question!" Just brilliant!

The miniature train in Setagaya Park, Tokyo, based on the D51 272 locomotive that's on display in the park. The small train used to have a steam locomotive, but it became too expensive to maintain and was changed to a battery-driven electric model.

[shoku-and-awe]

Fancy brunch at a rare place in Tokyo that has REAL BACON! Which is on the right: the left is smoked salmon. With kale, which we also can’t really get! And I didn’t even know salmon benny was a thing!

Everything was so delicious I actually left kind of mad about it somehow. Is that a legitimate emotion? When I got home and my husband asked how it was, I actually sighed in frustration and said, “Fucking amazing 😤 Is that what you wanted to hear?” Whatever that means.

Anyway, I love you, Woodberry Coffee! Next time, please be a little cheaper and stay open a little later!

[earlgreyrainydays]

[impracticaldemon]

Year of the Rabbit

Happy New Year 2023

[tanuki-kimono]

Super fun design for this obi depicting past and present Nihonbashi as an infinite swirling roadway/waterway. I love how design mixes Edo-era bridge and river, with the far more modern Tokyo expressway!

A fitting design for you @todayintokyo don't you think ;)?

[merpmonde]

Hello Kitty Shinkansen. Yes it's real, and it's a lot of fun.

A year ago, I planned a trip between Hiroshima and Kokura on what I feel is the wackiest train concept imaginable. Take the 500 Series Shinkansen, an absolute rocketship (and IMO the best train ever) and wrap it in pink. That didn't sound too appealing to me when I first heard of the project, but I've got to say, the livery is a banger, and turned a lot of heads at every station we stopped at!

The train remains on a regularly-scheduled service, a return trip between Hakata, Fukuoka on Kyûshû, and Shin-Ôsaka as an all-stop Kodama, so it's a normal train... save for two cars. Car 1 is basically a shop, while car 2 is the Kawaii! Room, a seating car in full Kitty mode!

The front of car 2 also has a space to pose with Kitty-chan. As a collab, the Hello Kitty Shinkansen takes the opportunity to showcase the prefectures JR West serves, with Kitties on the map promoting each area's special feature, such as "the great lake" in Shimane (Shinji-ko), "we love this pear!" for Tottori (though Kitty seems to be holding an apple?), takoyaki for Ôsaka, and Hyôgo is "proud of Bread" (any thoughts on that @todayintokyo?). These 8 local characters are repeated on each of the 8 cars outside.

While I'm not a fan or particularly knowledgeable about Hello Kitty, I thoroughly enjoyed riding this train. It's over the top with Easter eggs everywhere, down to the jingles! (not my recording)

All that's left to say is...

[matryokeshi]

11 March 2023. Japanese white-eye on a sakura tree in Tokyo, Japan 🌸

[shoku-and-awe]

@butter-da 👀

[kit-all]

@todayintokyo thanks for sending me snow😊

[brownie-pics]

'23.4.11 興福寺、春日大社参道にて

･･今シーズンの初藤です。最盛期が過ぎた桜写真のストックも、質はともかく量だけは沢山あるのですが、先日 @todayintokyo さんが去年の初藤を撮った投稿を再リブログしてくれまして、「また待ってます😉💜」なんてメッセージも付けてくれたこともあったんで、行ってきましたｗ･･という訳で、お蔵の桜はいったんすっ飛ばして速報です😉。

今年は興福寺から。南円堂前の藤棚は咲き始めていました。境内には遅咲きの八重桜や枝垂れ桜もまだ花を残してくれていて、紫・ピンク・白と訪れた者の目を楽しませてくれます。公園内の藤の花は、場所にもよりますが次の日曜～4���下旬頃が見頃かなぁといった感じです。今年も例年より早めに咲きそうですね。

興福寺を後にして、砂ずりの藤はどんなもんじゃろかと春日さんへ向かいます。･･一之鳥居が見えてきました（続く･･かな？）

[shoku-and-awe]

I guess it really is true what they say.........

[daily-hyosatsu]

I like this typeface :) Cool name, too. 龍田 is written with the characters for 'dragon' and 'rice paddy.' It can be read Tatsuta, Tatsuda, Ryūta, Ryūda, Ryōda, or Takita.

Interestingly, there are two other characters for dragon you could use to write this surname: 竜田 or 辰田 (albeit with other potential pronunciations too). So how are they different?

龍 (tatsu, ryū, ryō, or rō) is the classical character, and its simplified version is 竜 (tatsu, ise, ryū, ryō, or rō). How does a simplified kanji end up with more readings than its ancestor? You will have to ask someone much smarter than me; I can see the resemblance NOW, but I've thought since college that they were totally unrelated 🤦‍♀️

And 辰 (tatsu, shin, or jin) basically refers exclusively to dragons in the Chinese zodiac sense. Our next Year of the Dragon happens to be next year, 2024. Although maybe I shouldn’t say “next year” quite yet—Chinese Lunar New Year is this Sunday, January 22. But here in Japan, the zodiac animal changes with the Western calendar on January 1. As a result, people with birthdays early in the year might have a different zodiac animal in each country(!), depending on when Lunar New Year fell in the year they were born.

[earlgreyrainydays]