No105

Dear Customers & Friends
Hello from Japan! This is Kimono Flea Market ICHIROYA's News LetterNo.105.My mother turned me up very early in the morning, and I went out the parky street. Cicadas already started to chirp, which seemed to forecast the very hot day. Neighbors and friends were gathering, and the radio began to broadcasted the familiar music, and we started to do gymnastic exercises perfunctorily. After the exercise adults gave us a stamp for the attendance, and we returned to home to take breakfast. On the way back we used to see the sunflowers became dramatically taller than yesterday.
In my boyhood there were lots of sunflowers in the neighborhood, and summer was more hot than now. Our 'natsuyasumi'( summer vacation days) started like above. I had to write diary, and I used to check the air temperature and wrote it with weather marks. I remebered the day when I astonished and shouted to see the Celsius temperature scale rose more than 43C( 107 F)! Mother always didn't forgive me to stay out during hottest hours, and I had to take a nap from noon to 3 pm. How I itched to rash out! I felt I never could sleep, but while I leid on the tatami floor as mother ordered, I always faded into sleep without realizing.
I always wore a white T-shirt and knickers. And I had to wear a straw hat or baseball cap, and our skins were burned brown and peeled again and again. We often went to public pool with friends by bicycles with a few coins in our pockets. Somteimes huge columns of white shining clouds grew rapidly in the blue sky, and in another moment shower came. We were amazed to see the flashes of lightning cut the sky just same as pictures. I don't know why we seldom see the shining clouds like the ones which I saw in my boyhood. I feel the sky was more vividly blue, and shining clouds were more active and huge in my younger natsuyasumi days than now.
Boys knew many street games, which are almost lost or only played at camps now. We went crazy prevalent games, for examples 'kankeri'(kick the can), 'esuken'( hopping tag in S shape field), 'umanori'( mounting game) and others. They had slightly arbarous phases, we played hardly and at the ends someone used to cry. Always dinner time came earlier than the darkness, so we had to end the games by mothers' calls from windows.
Most favorite treat in natsuyasumi was a ice-cold 'suika' ( watermelon).How many suika we ate during summer vacation! From outside we couldn't know the sweetness. In those days not-enough-sweet suika were often sold, and only once third we could eat sweet and delicious ones. One of our serious concerns was the sweetness of the next suika. Mother and father always said that they could tell the sweetness from the sound when they tapped them. But I came to know their assured judgement often took mistakes. Mother and I used to carry the big suika from market to our home by bicycles, with hoping her today's judgements would be right. Insect collecting was the king of playing of natsuyasumi. During the natsuyasumi, my parents always took us ( me and my sister) for the several days staying travel in the seashore or mountains. How I got excited to hear the places were just near the wood, and I might be able to catch beetles or stag beetles. Father and I looked for them and tried to paint the honeydew on the trees, but we could never catch them. Instead of the beetles I had to besatisfied with cicadas, although I enjoyed the variety of the shapes and chirpings. But sadly enough, they died soon in the cages. The memory of natsuyasumi makes us slightly wistful. Summer days are vivid in our memories, maybe they are exaggerated without realizing. This summer must be very similar as in the boyhood, but I feel they are way different. How about your natsuyasumi? I imagine you also feel same kinds of wistfulness.
Byt the way, thank you very much for lots of mails about my backache. From four days ago, I can stand up without holding something, and from yesterday I can carry small packages and today I rarely feel pain! Last week I lied down as long as I could, and it seems to have been good for my back. I am very sorry to let many customers worried about my health more than its seriousness. Anyway I should take care about my back for a while, and should not carry heavy package and move fast.
Today we are addding many packs--packs of haori, children's kimono andso on and als men's kimono set. We hope you have some time to check ournew arrivals, domo arigato gozaimasu.
Ichiro & Yuka WadaKimono Flea Market "ICHIROYA"http://www.ichiroya.com
e-mail: info@ichiroya.comaddress: Asia-shoji Bldg.301 1841-1 Nishi 1 chome Wakamatsu cho Tondabayashi city Osaka 584-0025 JAPANTEL&FAX ****( international number ) - 81-721-23-5446