Maybe more people feel like this: We want to do something for Japan, but besides donating money, what can we do?
Dosomething.org started a Facebook group called Paper Cranes for Japan. Their aim is to collect 100.000 pictures of paper cranes to symbolize 100 wishes for the people of Japan who desperately need help. I’m aware this is no „real“ help, but it shows our feelings and our wish to do something.
Alles Liebe,
Heute habe ich durch Zufall auf der japanischen MSN live Seite einen Blogeintrag darüber gelesen, wie man, obwohl man nur am Sonntag in der Küche steht, für die ganze Woche Bentos zum Mitnehmen hat. Verwiesen wurde auf unterschiedliche Bücher, doch ich dachte mir, all das kann ich eigentlich auch bei justbento bekommen. Ich wollte mich inspirieren lassen, durch die Kategorien schnurren…nach zwei angesehenen Rezepten stand ich dann aber schon in der Küche 
Ich habe nach dieser Anleitung futomaki mit einem Küchenhandtuch gezaubert. Es war nicht schwierig, aber zeitaufwändig. Aus 2 Cups Reis sind vier riesige Rollen geworden, so hatte ich genug für ein königliches Abendessen und eine prall gefüllte Bento Box für morgen 
Das ganze besteht aus Sushireis (für alle armen Studenten: das klappt auch mit Milchreis ^^;), natürlich nori-Blättern und gefüllt sind die futomaki mit Brunch Feta-Olive, grünem Salat, Lachsschinken und einem gekochten Ei. Macht nach Weight Watchers knappe 10 ProPoints. Na dann, itadakimasu!
Alles Liebe,
Seit mehreren Jahren schon habe ich mit kleineren oder größeren Unterbrechungen ein Abo des ribon (りぼん) Magazins. Es erscheint, wie viele andere Zeitschriften dieser Art in Japan, monatlich und enthält neue Kapitel von Mangaserien, die extra für die ribon gezeichnet werden. Manche halten sich über Jahre hinweg, andere laufen nur wenige Monate. Der Inhalt richtet sich ganz klar an Mädchen, wie das Design unschwer erkennen lässt ^^ Das Besondere (und für uns Animanga-Fans Begehrenswerte) daran sind die Extras, die jeder Ausgabe beiligen, wie zum Beispiel Kalender, Taschen, Briefpapier oder Stifte.
Früher waren meine Sprachkenntnisse noch nicht gut genug, um den Serien folgen zu können, doch schon die wunderschönen Zeichnungen und eben die Beigaben waren für mich Grund genug das Magazin regelmäßig haben zu wollen. Durch den Japanaufenthalt hatte ich mein Abo erst mal ausgesetzt, gestern aber beschlossen, dass es langsam an der Zeit wäre es wiederaufzunehmen. Vor allem da ich mittlerweile das ganze auch lesen kann 
Ein Online-Abo der ribon ist ziemlich schwer zu bekommen und für gewöhnlich unerschwinglich teuer. Zum Glück bin ich täglich in München und habe mit dem neo tokyo meinen Japanhändler des Vertrauens vor Ort. Dort kann man alle japanischen Zeitschriften abbonieren und bekommt dann alle 6 bis 8 Wochen eine Email, wenn die neuen Ausgaben eingetroffen sind. Das beste daran ist, dass sie nicht so viel teurer sind als in Japan. Somit freue ich mich auf meine nächste ribon und liebäugel schon mit der nächsten Publikation meiner Begierde 
modeS4u reached 10.000 fans on their facebook fansite so they decided to make a kawaii giveaway! ♥Â Take a look here to see it’s worth it
Besides that their shop is worth a visit anyway. They sell a lot of cute stuff from Japan and I’m crazy about the Helloween fabrics. Matryoshkas, cats and cute other things combined into one pattern – adorable!
I spent a lot of my free time in 100 Yen shops but from time to time A. and I went for some quality shopping. It’s a pity we only discovered shop ilex (follow the street behind Feel News south [right for all the girls out there ] and you’ll find it on the left side after approx. 10 minutes by bike) in April when it was almost time to go back. Shop ilex was stuffed with zakka. The sortiment ranged from bento boxes to natural style clothes. Simply looking at the pictures gives me a funny sensation in my stomach that is a wild mixture of happiness and „I wanna go back“.
bento boxes
more bento boxes
and even more bento boxes
bunny umbrella ♥
calendar with clever German saying
„Ich schnitt Rasen“
Shop ilex does have a website: 
shop
Unfortunately it’s only in Japanese and you can only find a small selection outside their clothes range. It’s a pity because in my eyes the shop’s strongest point was the stationary department. Japan loves masking tapes with all kinds of colors and patterns. Here are some examples:
I especially adore the one with the weekdays on it. Would be a great addition to any diary, calendar or schedule.
If you are in love as much as I am you wanna buy them…now So here’s another online shop called UGUiSU (found via decor8). The entire website is in English and they offer shipping worldwide. Have fun shopping!
Saturday another big dream for me came true – a trip to the Grand Shrine of Ise, Japan’s most sacred place. According to Japanese mythology the sun goddess Amaterasu gave the Three Sacred Treasures of Japan – sword, mirror and jewel – to Ninigi-no-Mikoto and while the sword and jewel are located at the Atsuta shrine in Nagoya and the Imperial Palace in Tokyo the mirror is kept at Ise.
What is simply called a shrine is in reality a complex of several bigger and smaller shrines located at two sites – the outer (geku 外宮) and inner (naiku 内宮) shrine. We took the train from Nagoya and when you arrive at Ise you just have to walk for about 500m to arrive at the outer shrine. The weather was perfect and I was lucky to go there with a person like A. who shares my enthusiasm for Japan’s sacred places and understands if I spend minutes staring at the buildings or talking to the enormous trees.
Although it said in the travel guide that if one’s in a hurry it’s better to skip the outer and go straight to the inner shrine I can’t agree. The atmosphere there with all the green and huge, old trees was amazing.
Actually it’s forbidden to enter the area directly around the shrine buildings themselves but at least the tourists/pilgrims are allowed to peek over a fence to get a glimpse of the thatched roofs with the golden embellishments.
Yes, the trees were HUGE, and yes, I do talk to them. Only this time I wasn’t the only one We saw Japanese everywhere hugging trees, touching trees, pressing their ears to the ancient stems (okay, I did that too but couldn’t hear anything…so we have the theory that one day somebody started, other saw and imitated that person and so on…like when you stare up at the sky and suddenly others stop to do the same thing xP)
The bridge above, made out of one gigantic stone, is supposed to look like a turtle ^^
I bought the most beautiful protective charms I had seen so far – shaped like the legendary magatama – for my parents and one for myself. And of course I prayed bowing twice, clapping twice, bowing one more time and thanked for the wonderful time I have at the moment ^^
From the outer we headed to the inner shrine with a bus in which a lovely recorded voice told me to „press the butter“ if I wanted to get off xDÂ The naiku is surrounded by hills and thousands of trees…oh, and tourists.
At the inner shrine I bought some more protective charms, talked to even more trees and was able to recharge my batteries.
Mah, I’m running out of things to tell inbetween the pictures
After all the spiritual input we came back down to earth to enjoy a little strolling around the nearby quarter that is designed to look like back from the Edo period. It was packed with tourists but the atmosphere was good nonetheless.
Fresh green tea anyone?
One shop was entirely for manaki neko – fortune cats.
As if spiritual fulfillment wasn’t enough for one day we headed to a small town called Futami to see the meoto iwa – the wedded rocks. To our suprise there was a big aquarium at the bus stop with sea lions outside.
We arrived before twilight and spent some time at the beach picking seashells and enjoying a salty breeze.
Hm, who’s that? xP
I wonder if I had ever seen so many shrines on one day. Each and every one of them is beautiful in its own way and I never seem to get tired of them. ^^
I especially like the different temizuya where you wash your hands and normally mouth for purification.
Finally, here they are – the wedded rocks that symbolize the deities Izanami and Izanagi. To be honest they were a lot smaller than expected…but who cares? They look great on pictures.
I love the next picture ♥
Another temizuya with a lot of frogs. ^^
At every shrine it’s possible to buy ema – small wooden plaques on which you can write your prayers and wishes. The one on the left without the tiger is A.’s ^^
Ah, the suspicious person again!
All in all I had a fantastic day and can only recommend a trip to Ise if you’re at least in some way interested in shinto, Japanese culture or sprituality.
I guess with this picture everything is said ^^ „May Peace Prevail On Earth“ irrespective of origin or believe!
