Inappropriate store name

I don’t know which is the worst part of this Shinjuku store name: “Slum” or “Mania Shop.” I assume they sell adult video.

Ginza manias

Looking like pork on a spit, this is actually one of Tokyo’s latest crazes, a “baum kuchen.” Usually people form long lines to buy these German cakes in Ginza, but today’s rain chased away the crowds.

Another Ginza mania I discovered in the underground passageways connecting three Ginza subway stations. The camera phone crowds have gathered together to capture the Disney QR codes. It’s like a religious group activity, no?

Don’t fall into the moat, Salary Man

Late-stage cherry blossom madness had this older Salary Man perched on a guard rail above the Imperial Moat, one hand on the tree, the other on his keitai (mobile phone with camera). The multi-petal bossoms are the finale to this pink spring mania. Popular dedication cannot be over-stated.

Spring flowers

I love spring. It’s been cold here the past two weeks, and the ever vigilant newscasters are reporting that the cherry blossom season is now one week behind the previous estimate. There’s actually a nightly map showing the progress from south to north, and west to east for peak blooms. It’s flower mania.

The photo above is an unknown (to me) woodsy flower growing outside our apartment complext. Below is quince plus some other very common small white flower shrub.

And just around the corner, near the house demolitions, is this amazingly fragrant small bush. It smells like honey. I wonder what it’s called?