I thought it would be fun to show you what our neighbourhood looks like and then I thought it would be even more fun to show if we could have a virtual walk around other peoples neighbourhoods around the world. So today's post kicks off the world tour or neighbourhood walks! At the bottom of the post is the full list of the bloggers taking part and the date their post will go up, please pop over and have a poke around their neighbourhood and why not ask them a question or two about where they live too?
So, he we go... a tour of our small town in Saitama...
Ebi-kun's elementary school
The park
Rice paddies
Shrine torii gate
A manhole cover
Local shop 7/11!
A rice vending machine
Rice planting tractor
A postbox
A street view
An old style Japanese house
Small veg stall (honor store, put your money in the box)
and the full tour dates..
June 25th - jojoebi-designs - Saitama, Japan
June 26th - akatsuki ra-ra-ra - California, USA
June 27th - little red farm - Sweden
June 28th - "Je veux une 'tite soeur-fille" - Canary islands
June 29th - Knitty Lorn - East Devon, UK
June 30th - We Don't Need No Education - Michigan, U.S.A
July 1st - Jeollanam-do Salad - South Korea
July 2nd - Merita's Playground - Slovenia
July 3rd - kids, craft and chaos - Scotland, UK
July 4th - Zonnah's Addictions - Washington State, USA
July 5th - Adventures of a rainbow mama - Australia
July 5th - Adventures of a rainbow mama - Australia
July 6th - Se7en - South Africa
July 7th - Talia's Travel Web Log - New York, USA
July 8th - Monkey Magic - Japan
July 9th - The Pukeko Patch - Wellington, New Zealand
July 10th - Cami Daily - Berlin, Germany
July 11th - Crazy Cambridge mum - Cambridge, UK
July 12th - Schaeresteipapier - Switzerland
I have remembered to post a link from my webpage! I love the manhole covers - is that a normal Japanese thing? Can't wait to see everyone else's!
ReplyDeleteyes, it seems like each town have their own manhole design. The ones where I lived in Iwate had the onikenbai dancers on them, pretty cool.
DeleteWow! I'd never realised that there are rice paddies in Saitama. I'd always thought of Saitama as a very urban city, and more like Yokohama. Do the rice vending machines also polish the rice?
ReplyDeleteI love that you can have honour boxes for veggies... It's sad to say, but that's not possible in Los Angeles. Perhaps it's just a problem in cities; my husband's father still has honour boxes for eggs on his farm in Scotland.
lol. once you get past Omiya there isn't much else! A 5 minute walk from our house and we are in the paddies, although we live on a newly built area so it looks fairly urban.
DeleteAccording to my uncle who has a big allotment in England, legally you are not allowed to sell your products unless you have some kind of permit or you have to pay tax on it or something - erm, yeah, can't quite remember what he said! We have LOADS of theses boxes around which often saves me a trip to the supermarket.
oh yes, the rice - this vending machine sells the bags of rice, there are different types, all polished I think but depending where it is grown etc. the price is different. You put your money in and select the number then pull open a draw at the bottom to get the prepared bag out. There is another machine nearby where you have to put a bag underneath and it measures out the rice for you, I'd be too scared to use that one!
DeleteGorgeous! I love how some things are SO different to us here in Australia & yet some things are familiar. That big blue sky for one! I love the manhole cover too :)
ReplyDeleteIs it too late to come on board the tour? I'm happy to do July 13 if you would like :) X
Hi Amber, the blue sky days were taken the day after a big typhoon so the weather was gorgeous! Would you be able to do July 5th? We did have someone in Oz for that date but she had to drop out :o(
DeleteSure! Do we provide you with the post or post it on our own blog? x
Deletecan you send me your email addy then I will send you the full details?
Deletejojoebi.designs (at) gmail (dot) com
The rice vending machines are new to me, very cool!
ReplyDeleteI have never actually used one!
DeleteThanks so much for this! I love looking at different places (especially love seeing things like a local).
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing the others!
I love how we get to see what real places look like, not just the pretty areas or places of interest!
DeleteWhat a great idea. I love seeing how different things are to here in Australia. I really enjoyed your selection of photos. I am looking forward to seeing the rest!
ReplyDeletei suppose I still still much of it from an outsiders point of view, I wonder what a Japanese person would have taken the pictures of?
Deletewhat a great post this is...it provides a glimpse on the communities around the world...does one sign up to join these "tours"? Would love to do one too and share some photos of where we live...
ReplyDeleteIt would be fun if you joined it too! Read the requirements on this post
Deletehttp://www.jojoebi-designs.com/2012/06/neighbourhood-photo-journal.html
and let me me have your details before the 10th. Thanks!
thanks...sent you an email...:)
DeleteWhat a brilliant idea this series is! Let me know if you'd like photos of the boonies in Quebec. :)
ReplyDeleteYou live in a fascinating place. I love the rice tractor especially.
Same as Mamagarcia, if you can check out this post and let me have the info by the 10th I will add your links at the end of the tour.
Deletehttp://www.jojoebi-designs.com/2012/06/neighbourhood-photo-journal.html
cheers!
Love the photos!! Our Manhole covers aren't this glamorious:) I would love to tiptoe through the rice paddies. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteI think you would find it is more of a squelch through the rice paddies lol.
DeleteHonor boxes, huh? I had never heard the term before. We have these in Saitama City too, selling veggies, but not near the town centers. There are small paddies here and there, too. In Vancouver, we used to see newspapers sold using the honour system. Not sure about nowadays ... (Great pics, by the way).
ReplyDeletethank you!
Deletewe have loads of these boxes dotted around, now we have been here long enough I have a good idea which farmer grows what so i know which boxes to go to!
Great! This brings back memories ... I always loved japanese manhole covers. Ours are so boring ... :)
ReplyDeletethe manhole covers are so cool, we had to choose between 4 designs!
DeleteLovely! Perfect activity to add to our Summer. We are also participating in a small group cultural exchange, involving mailing packages, but this is so much more ecofriendly, cost-effective and can reach so many more people, great idea!
ReplyDeleteI know we're very similar to the USA but if you'd like a tour of a Canadian neighbourhood -we'd be happy to contribute to your tour!. We have a dismal little homeschooling blog that we use mainly for reporting our academic journey but we'd be happy to post it on there and link to you. Thanks for helping us see so many interesting neighbourhoods around the world!
ReplyDeleteif you would like to join in I will do a round up of extras at the end of the tour, please read this post http://www.jojoebi-designs.com/2012/06/neighbourhood-photo-journal.html
Delete