the winter front is gliding in . . .

you know winter`s coming when you see all your japanese neighbors tying up their trees. tying up the trees??? . . . you wonder, what does this mean, you think desperately. you`re dying to know . . . yep, well here in japan in the snowy regions, everyone ties up every little bush and tree in hopes of salvaging the greenery when a more menacing force of nature comes along. snow, with the drudgery of your nightmares and the weight of a glacier, can do a thing or two to skimpy little shrubs. recently, everyone`s been trying to beat the flakes to save their yards. this might be perhaps singular to japan, i`m not sure to be honest. but, it`s a little taste of cultural japan that i thought my avid readers needed to know.

the long, reinforced approach. smart fellas there!


the new seedlings (or i guess a little older than seedlings now, what`s the word for baby tree?) get their deserved treatment




even big boys will bow under the weight


my school`s trees


even the itty bitty babies; perhaps they need the most help


and then, this beautiful yard has a little of everything japanese - the much celebrated fall leaf colors, the bound trees (you can see towards the bottom of the photograph), and the daikon (japanese radish) hanging from the balcony in the back. i find it to be fabulous


i think this tradition actually looks pretty cool, trees all tied up together with bamboo. if we did this in america, we`d probably use some sort of ugly metal. another apsect of old japan peeking through modern society`s edges.