Be Careful How You Say It

Big Brother's officially boring me now, so what better time to do some blogging?*


Two weeks before I came back to England Keiko, Michelle (a friend) and I headed to Sensoji Temple in Asakusa to see the annual houzuki bazaar that I'd never heard of before. Houzuki is also known as winter-cherry or Japanese lantern, or in Latin - and this is where you have to be wary - physalis alkekengi.


As usual it was packed with tourists looking for souvenirs and trying their luck with the paper omikuji. The plants were being sold by people on stalls the whole way down from Kaminarimon (thunder gate) to the main temple, which made me wonder what they do the rest of the year round. They were pretty expensive, at about £5 a single branch, but popular especially among the older generations. We asked around where they were grown but most people were defensive to say the least; one guy said something which, since I couldn't understand, took the tone of: 'If I tell you I'll have to kill you'. Friendly.



He did show us the fruit inside which looked tough but sweet.


I snacked on my regular festival food mizuame, sticky water candy drizzled over a piece of fruit or marshmallow. The general method of selling is for 50p or so, you play rock, paper, scissors and can win two or leave with just one. I won!


The main delivery service was even on hand for purchasers to send gifts straight off to friends and relatives.


Some other sights included a sign that's just asking for trouble, some cute kids, the ingenious price of a pancake, cooking red-bean pancakes, and some even cuter kids!


A bit of a walk around and then across the bridge to the Asahi building (and the Flaming Turd/Yellow Willy architecture) and up for that toilet view a few entries ago.


*Although, to BB's defence, and my embarrassment, I had a close encounter with The House (!) in Borehamwood the other day which was bed-wettingly exciting.