Washing Machine Wars and Wajima Photos

I haven't got anything particularly interesting to share except the fact that, three months in, I still open my washing machine and have to pause in absolute disbelief at what lies within. The intricacy of the knots that my washing machine manages to tie in my jeans, tank tops, towels, and socks is really a testament to the Japanese attention to detail. It honestly takes me 4 minutes just to untangle the first article of clothing from the mess to start hanging them up. Now I start with the towels after discovering early on the particular affinity my washer has for jeans. They are not so easily extricated.

After hearing horror stories of laundry bags being ripped to shreds I got smart and began putting as much of my laundry as possible into my zippered pillow cases. Though it is an effective way to preserve some of my clothing, I always end up feeling bad for the clothes that don't make the cut. They come out of the washing machine with their appendages stretched and twisted in the most unnatural directions, and though no one has been torn limb from limb yet, I'm just not sure how long our luck can last. This may be one battle that Japan was always going to win.

Some photos...


Photos from the last night of the Wajima Tai Sai, the children's night! This should not suggest that there was no carrying of heavy things and no burning of big stuff, or even that there was no carrying of the big burning stuff, there were just more kids around.

one of the dueling teenage kiriko teams




baby taiko drummers



Senmaida - 1,000 rice paddies. The smallest one has just 6 bunches of rice.



In Japan, even the road work signs can't help but bow.



Photos of Monzen Temple, home of the most delicious green tea/vanilla swirl cones in the Noto.