Maiko’s day

Kyoto is well-known for its temples, gardens and geishas. Spring and Autumn are the peak travelling seasons. Now the 5^th of every month is made the “Maiko’s day”, maiko (apprentice geisha) is invited to come to the shopping avenue in Jingu Lane (Sakyo District) to show off their dance skill or play the role of shop assistant. It is hoped that with such an event more customers will be attracted to the shopping avenue in the slow season.  

Benibana Flowers

To promote tourism in Yamagato prefecture, the hotel association in Tokamachi gave away benibana (scientific name: Carthamus tinctorius) flowers which is in bloom in summer to the passers-by on 29 June 2012. 

A campaign is also organized from 1 to 22 July during which the hotels and sight-seeing spots will use benibana as the decorations, the restaurants will provide special menu using benibana as the ingredients. 11 bodies including hotels and restaurants are participating in the campaign.

Benibana

Benibana noodles

Lavender Road Divider

In Hirosaki city (Aomori Prefecture), about 22,000 lavenders are planted in the road divider in Kita Odori. With the approach of summer, the lavenders blossom and add colours to the carriageway. The lavenders will be cut down on 3 July and freely given away from 4 to 6 July (9:00 am – 4:00 pm). 

Cemetery for single women

A burial ground especially for single women is set up in “Fureai Park” in Fuchu city, Tokyo. This arrangement is said to have met the social needs. Due to the weakening of family ties, more and more single women prepare for their own cemetery instead of joining the family altar, because they foresee that no relatives will offer memorial service to them after their death. They even look for friends who will join them in the cemetery.

The burial ground is run by the NGO body, there are 300 spaces, all of them have been fully booked due to low price. At present there are 20 occupants.

Exhibition of “Tengu Joshi” - Japanese Traditional Paper

The exhibition of “Tengu Joshi” was held on 3 June 2012 in Tosa Washi Village in Kochi prefecture. “Tengu Joshi” is a kind of traditional Japanese paper, it is said to be thinnest in the world (0.03mm) and not easy to be torn apart. The paper in different colors was mounted on the bamboo and shaped into a lamp. It was made by Hamada Hironao who has been engaging in the artwork for over 15 years following the footsteps of his grandfather. In the exhibition the décor of “Tengu Joshi” was a pleasing to the eye and fill the garden with grace.

Allergy Free Sweeties

The long established bakery "Kurata" in Akita prefecture take on a new page and release a new type of cookie which is free of the 5 most common allergens “wheat, egg, soy, peanut, milk product“. Other bakeries like the Cadeau, Kirara are also offering similar items to children with food allergies. With the special recipes, this special group of children can enjoy the sweeties like any normal child do.

A cup of coffee in the price of Yen 10,000

To commemorate their 60^th anniversary, Mikado Coffee in Karuizawa (Nagano prefecture) is selling a specially made coffee from the deluxe grade of coffee beans from the Blue Mountain. Each cup of coffee costs 10,000Yen (about USD126.50).The cup for holding coffee is from the renowned Japanese tableware manufacturer “Okuratouen”.  

Having drank the coffee, the guests can take the cup and saucer back home.

This specially made coffee is restricted to 60 cups only. It is said that from 1^st April to 15^th May 2012 Mikado have received 7 orders.