Daily Glimpses of Japan: 100th Post And Western Cakes In Japan

It is the 100th post today. It means exactly 3,500 people from 59 countries so far. I continue posting just for you, the viewers. I am glad you enjoy seeing little of Japan through my photos. It is a country worth discovering, a country to fall in love with. I would have liked to show something special today, like making washi - Japanese traditional paper. However, I have less free time tonight, so I will just show some photos with cakes. Japanese traditional sweets are called wagashi, exquisite and so different from the "western" cakes. Though even the cakes as we, the foreigners, know them look amazing and are so tasty in Japan. I hope they look festive enough and you will enjoy viewing them.

And one 100-related proverb in Japanese, a symbol of long-lasting love, goes like this: omae hyaku made, washa kyuju-ku made, お前百までわしゃ九十九まで - may you (the wife) live 100 years, and I (the husband) 99 years. It is represented by two dolls: "she" is holding a broom, because hyaku 100 is similar in pronunciation to 掃く haku to sweep, and "he" is holding a rake, because the ending of 99, kumade 熊手, means rake. The broom will sweep away all the evil, and the rake will gather a lot of luck. You can see the Takasago Dolls online.
Some photos taken in Morioka, Iwate-ken: