Week 36 - Rice festival cancellation and some bird spotting mark a quiet week in Tokyo

 Edited BY


G P Kennedy


Ian & Minako – Tokyo

 Hello again from Tokyo, winter has arrived all of a sudden, we're getting used to it now. Proper Tokyo winter, cold but sunny, which is good for our daily walking exercise.


The masks keep our faces warm and give us moisture in this very dry air, which is a bonus!


 This week the daily average for Tokyo is 452 so is still increasing gradually, a record 584 new cases on Saturday and the total is 43,377 and 511 deaths up 23 on last week.


 Nationally the total cases are now 160,870 in total including 2684 last Saturday. There have been 2229 deaths overall (196 in the past week) the 45 deaths on Friday is a record number and the daily average new cases increased to 2230. Osaka is now on red alert as hospital bed occupancy approaches 70%.


 Despite the increasing spread of the virus the government has decided to extend rather than cease the Go To Travel campaign to next June. But there are restrictions for some areas and the “elderly” (like Ian ☹ ) have been requested not to travel outside Tokyo. The early closing of places serving alcohol continues.



 It’s been a very quiet week for us. Of course, there are lots of places we'd like to go but we need to be extra cautious with the high virus rate and crowded trains.


Apart from the usual bird-spotting in the park and a bit of local shopping we've stayed in.


 We wrote all our Christmas cards, experimented with cooking different things and made more jam – quince this time! 


 The first Saturday of December is normally the annual mochi-pounding event organized by our landlady's family for tenants and friends of our apartment blocks. Sadly, it had to be canceled due to the virus. 


 Making mochi (rice cake) is a traditional end of year ritual, it's not long since the new rice was harvested and the mochi is eaten in the New Year. 



 People gather to help cook the glutinous white rice in big pots then pound it in a huge mortar using large wooden mallets.


It forms a sticky, stretchy lump, which is cut and shaped, and we all eat some with a stew (nabe). 


 We should point out that this sort of activity is quite rare in Tokyo, it’s more of an old-time rural thing.


People here are amazed when we tell them about it. We are very fortunate to have landed in such an interesting little bit of Tokyo.


Hopefully, we'll be able to have the cherry blossom party next spring – fingers crossed!

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