Awesomeness of Japan

So many people may know that Japanese people love miniaturized things. And I have to add that I have always had a thing for Japanese art and drawings. One absolutely cool thing that I observed in Japan was the manicures! They are literelly miniaturized pieces of art on each nail! Rhinestones, flowers, pearls, sparkles, sequins and more can be seen decorating a woman's nails, and its totally awesome. Each manicurist is an artist and craftswoman. They go anywhere from cute and subtle and pretty to outrageously, uncomfortably excessive. Ive never seen anything like in in America for sure. Its sooo amazing!

Ill let the pictures speak for themselves. and I chose the more everyday looking ones for the most part. If you want to see more just type in Japanese nail art in google image search and be wowed!

The oddities continue...

Another thing that shocked me and I couldn't quite get over when coming to Japan is the ability of green vegetation to survive and prosper in the winter. Even though Southern Japan area in the state of Okayama does not get too cold for too long (aka there were no more than 5-10 days of less that 32F degree weather), I was still shocked to see the combination of the occasional snow on the ground and cabbages and other vegetables growing in all the house's gardens, and the occasional orange tree. Bamboo is still seen green along the mountain sides and palm trees still reach their unique shillouetes toward the sky, and some trees and shrubs, that are not evergreens, seem to stay green all the way through winter. Of course, most trees do shed their autumn foliage and reveal their scraggly grey arms. It was such a shock to me who has lived in the winterwonderland of Michigan her whole life, where snow falls several feet a winter and temperatures stay below 0C for months at a time while the sky is a murky grey color for almost the entire season. Here in Japan the weather hit 60s in february, though now it is back down to 40s and 50s, I cant complain. The plum trees are in bloom and other flowers are starting. I absolutely relish the sunshine and the relative warmth of the region, and dread going back to Michigania for winters ahead, even though I do admit I missed the snow a bit.