This post is brought to you by the letter "E". Can you guess why?

This morning I went with some friends out to an area of Tokyo called Asakusabashi. This area is known for stores selling Japanese dolls, and the supplies to make them, and washi paper (a special type of paper made in Japan). We went to look at a specific type of doll craft called Kimekomi where pieces of cloth are glued onto a base. This has become a very popular craft in Japan. Dolls are interestingly a very prominent part of traditional Japanese culture. Many dolls were made for household shrines (for example, women made protective dolls for their children or grandchildren), for formal gift-giving, or for festival celebrations. Others were manufactured as a local craft, to be purchased by pilgrims as a souvenir of a temple visit or some other trip. Dolls were used in religious ceremonies, taking on the sins of a person whom they had touched. Girls also played with dolls and doll houses.

On my way home I saw this tree at Ebisu Station. Japan is already in full Christmas mode. Actually, I started seeing Christmas stuff a few days before Halloween had even passed.

If I could have somehow cut the next part of my day out, it would have been a great day. However, the following experience soured the rest of my day for me. When I arrived at my apartment building after my morning outing there was a sign posted on the elevator informing me that I could not use it, as it was being serviced. The sign helpfully explained that the elevator could not be used until 2:30pm. The problem was that it was a only little after 1pm, Squirrel had a dirty diaper that needed to be changed, and she was due for a nap. To make matters worse, we live on the 8th floor of our building. Luckily I was using a backpack this morning as my diaper bag, so I stuffed everything into that, and then picked up Squirrel, stroller and all, and headed up the stairs. Each set of stairs between floors had 14 steps, I know because I counted them. Multiply that by 7 and that gave me a pleasant 98 stairs to climb carrying a backpack full of stuff, a Squirrel, and a stroller. 98 stairs is bad enough, by they are steep stairs, and each step is quite tall. Needless to say, by the time I reached the 8th floor I was dripping with perspiration (remember, “Ladies don’t sweat, they perspire.”) and I felt like I was going to die. In fact, my body is telling me right now that it still feels like it is going to die. So tonight, I would like to say that I am truly thankful for elevators in operation.