Omochi pounding

Masahiro is the assistant boy scout troop leader and soon-to-be-husband of our cub scout pack leader, Bonnie.  They are a great couple and make the boy scout experience a great one for both kids and parents.

I can't resist posting this photo, taken at a fertility shrine at Daishi Kawasaki in Tokyo.  We were in the neighborhood to pound mochi for the new year with a group of Japanese scouts.

I hear this penis shrine is quite popular and many foreigners come to pose with it, so add me to the list!  While we were here, I did see some families posing in front of the temple with their young babies, presumably giving thanks for the success of the fertility shrine.

If you can't own a car, might as well get a bike with some caché

I see these bikes all over Tokyo.

The best grocery sack in the world

Yes, the Japanese have the best reuseable grocery sack.  You may not have even known that you need the features in this grocery sack:

1. It folds into a very neat square that you can tuck into your purse or briefcase
   
2. A snap to keep things in the bag
3. A pocket for your wine bottle (of course, the store will also cradle the bottle in its own foam fishnet sleeve)
4. A small inner pocket for your money, in case you are doing the grocery store run
5. Super strong handles and construction because you WILL be walking those groceries home for several blocks