Spring is coming (?) ～　春が来る（？）

Ikebukuro Station area sign

（明日日本語を追加します）

Yes, Spring is coming on you.  I suppose it will eventually come on us all.  This sign was found at the Ikebukuro Station in front of a new shopping area called Esola.  Get your spring while you can.

You wouldn’t know spring was anywhere near by yesterday’s weather – heavy wet snow all night.  But we don’t complain about trivialities like the weather on this blog – we march on!

I have been on the road with the Rikkyo Chapel choir.  We recently had a week of choir camp in the Chiba-ken Iwai area.  Many hours of basic training, new music, and an appearance at a local church (Tateyama’s St. Andrew’s Anglican Church) for their Sunday service.  It was my first bit of real work after the sabbatical, and I can tell you I had a hard time keeping up for the first few days.  Out of the practice of handling stress, I suppose.  As usual, we were overfed by the wonderful people where we stayed (Minshuku Minami-so, if you care to try it out).  Meals like the photo below were the norm.  SOME people I know gained a bit of weight over the week.

Iwai is on the coast, so free time (when it wasn’t raining) was useful for getting some photography in.  Among the more interesting sights were the ruins of buildings along the coast.  Have a look at my latest album – Derelects.  Why take pictures of things decrepit?  I suppose it is because there is so much shiny and new in Japan.  These wrecks have personality, whether it be the patina of rust on a metal object, or the weathering of boards on a traditional house.  Many are not long for this world – in fact three houses on my street have been torn down in the last few years, to be replaced by shining new, but rather anonymous houses (like my own).    Here’s a taste of what you’ll find in the album:

Abandonded hotels at Kinugawa Onsen