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I’ve been busy again since I’m back to the real life in Tokyo. (I’m not exactly located in Tokyo, but only a few train stations allows me to reach Tokyo, so I’ll say that.) But it’s just about a week from the trip, nevertheless I feel it were almost half a month or so. The parcels that I dispatched from west Japan have been delivered to ourselves, my mother-in-low, and her friend, as well as some friends of mine. When I was almost forgetting, the final souvenir to myself has just come.

This was a small stamp store in Kyoto. Actually I think I could get the similar stuff in Tokyo, but I just did this for myself as a piece of memory from this trip. When I finally arrived the store, it was about to close in 10 minutes or so. I was told to pay delivery cost and then I can order the name stamp of my own before they close. The delivery cost was very cheap and that encouraged me to do that

And here it is! The stamp is cute, named Kirin in Hiragana, Japanese.
(Kirin is a nickname but I like using it since I’m married and my last name was changed. I really liked my family name from my dad, but in Japan either husband or wife has to accept either family name and discard the old one. My new last name from my husband is plain & boring compared to my old one from my dad, but when followed by Kirin, it sounds OK to me. I just don’t even show my last name in this blog because I don’t like to be called with Ms. last name, or last name + san, as in Japanese style.)

Anyway, I was far more impressed with the letter from the shop than the stamp.
What a beautiful calligraphy it is!
This could be even an art to me.
Compter typing has become so popular these days and that makes this letter look so nice.
It gave me a moment to think of our culture.

When was a kid, it was very popular among kids to learn calligraphy, abacus, and piano.
As for me, I didn’t. Instead I learned how to play Koto & Shamisen and that was so rare.
For your easier image, for example this music is a piece of cake to me, as I played it by ear at the age of 5 or 6.

I stopped playing them at the age of 13 because I didn’t like them due to too much practice. My mom wanted me to be a professional Koto or Shamisen player, but I wouldn’t because I thought they were way too behind the date. I was also sick of wearing Kimono every time I play them in public.

Well, I wrote too much about myself.
I thought I should have learned calligraphy, which does not require an expensive musical instrument, also expensive gear to put fingers and again expensive Kimono. Just a pen and a paper needing nothing else…