October 28, 2000: Housekeeping and Family Budget Exhibition in Kitakyushu |
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| Today, I visited Kitakyushu city to see Housekeeping and Family Budget Exhibition in Kitakyushu together with my friends of Oita Branch, Tanaka, and Nyuu. The theme of the Exhibition was "What do you think a great deal of in your life? - Present and future life -" We started Oita before nine a.m. and arrived Kitakyushu Group of Friends' House.
We met Matoba, general leader of Oita Branch, in front of the House. We took a picture on the second floor on the background of Motoko Hani, the founder of Group of Friends. On the leftmost is Mrs. Suemori of Kitakyushu Branch. |
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Unfortunately it turned to rain. I had once been a member of Kitakyushu Branch for more than ten years. At the reception table I met some old friends. |
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| Kitakyushu House was rebuilt five years ago. A panel welcomed me in the front hall, introducing the outline of the Branch. Mrs. Maruyama, my old friend, said that she painted this map. |
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A four-year-old-kids-group of the Branch painted this panel. The panel illustrates how the kids spend a day once a week apart from their home for the first time. The kids make their best of together with the friends of the same age. |
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 The Kid Group meeting is held monthly and the attendants read the founder's book, discuss on life time sharing, and food preparation. |
 Many dishes born from the learning in the Kid Group are displayed like those. |
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 This lovely panel shows the check result of the cloths of a kid. |
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| Those panels illustrate the check results of the kid's life, including the number of clothing, life time sharing, petty cash books, and others. The mothers and kids cooperated to make those panels, they said. |  |
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Well-balanced food is a source of healthy home life. What and how much should we take a day? How can we eat necessary nutrition? Some kinds of pickled vegetables are the part of the answer. |
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| At the handiwork corner of the Kid group, they make lovely handicrafts of "Magic cubes" using milk packs. |  |
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"What do you do in your daily life?" We affixed some of answer seals on the questionnaire board.
Put off lights frequently Kitchen garbage is turned to compost Go shopping with a shopping bag Don't use a car to go near places How many items do you practice? |
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| Thick green-colored vegetables were displayed. They were grown on the soil made from kitchen garbage breakdown by enzyme rice hulls. |  |
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a series of account books of a member was displayed. The valuable record books, filled punctually with small figures, show the history of a home since 1963 | ||||
 Clothing record notes.
 Together with the clothing books, actual cloths were also displayed. |
 A clothing planning table |
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| Dear old friends of Kitakyushu Group of Friends: Back from left, Matsumoto, Matsunaga, Kokura, Nakahashi, Nogami, Nagano, Oniki; rear from left Yamasaki (general leader of Kitakyushu Branch), and Noguchi. |
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We took homemade tasty hamburger at the lunch corner. Cakes and oranges made us very happy. |
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| At 2 p.m., we joined a mini-study course crowded with many visitors. The cooking course demonstrated how to make most use of a Japanese radish in whole. Japanese radish is a winter vegetable. All parts of single radish can be used fully: leaves to be chopped and cooked with rice, or fried as Tempura, or pickled. The head will be finely sliced and seasoned in vinegar for salad, center part will be boiled for Furofuki or Oden dishes, the tip will be ground, and skin turns to Kinpira. There is nothing left behind. |
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 One-day food for an old person |
 Hand-woven cloths |
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| Senior comrades displayed their articles on this corner. They have been walking long ways surrounded with many friends. Well-balanced food is on the top ranking for healthy life. Enjoying housekeeping, weaving cloths with makeshift materials, and hand-moving works are the keys for seniors' life. When one becomes to a situation to be supported by others, it is ideal to live a life in the warmth of mutual supports filled with the sense of thanks. |
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| We have learned much from the Exhibition today. We could also strengthen our feelings that we are blessed with good friends. Watanabe, Hirota, Matsuno, Oniki, and other friends saw us off. |
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It was raining heavily, but I hoped to visit my old residential area Sawami district of Tobata ward.
This is West Japan Industrial Club, nicknamed Matsumoto House. The House was designed and built in Meiji Era by Kingo Tatsuno, featuring its beautiful art nouveau style. He designed the beautiful garden in the rain as well. A wedding ceremony is going to be held. |
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| Nexe to the House, we came up to Meisen Club. I used to take a tea break at the Club after walking around the park surrounding Matsumoto House.
Free from the noise of downtown Kokura, this is a quiet tearoom in the green as if it stands in another world. We enjoyed afternoon tea here and headed back to Oita through the rain and mist. |
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