Typhoon #18 struck Tokyo on Thursday morning. It was the first typhoon in two years to directly affect the metropolis, but city workers hadn't forgotten what to do. NHK news showed workers cutting down the vines clinging to public buildings that provide shade and insulation from hot summer temperatures.
Why would they do that?
They are the kind of vine that produces gourds as long as your arm, the kind that can be turned into bath sponges. (hechima) They are huge and heavy, and could have been lethal if blown around by the typhoon winds.
Who knew?
Okinawa Looks Like This
Peaceful: a beautiful place for a walk
自己紹介
- Chura
- Born and raised in the USA (NJ), I’ve spent most of my adult life in Japan. One of my favorite places in Japan is Okinawa. To me, Okinawa is a land of stories and an island of music, magic and mystery. The music is shima-uta, songs sung to the rhythm of a three-stringed lute called a sanshin. The magic is in the colors of land, sea and sky. The mystery? Mystery begins where the line between legend and verifiable human memories begins to blur. I am a member of the Archaeological Institute of America, chapter chief of a sanshin study society, and a founding member of the Marine Culture Research Association of Okinawa.