Small Japanese shops (1/300)

[Viator]

The street food kiosks

In many tourist places and especially during the festivals (matsuri) the temporary food kiosks are popular. They often go in form of tents and they sell season delicacies, an always popular seafood or sweets. These three were made on a "wooden base" 12 by 10 milimetres and sell french fries (an orange tent), grilled squid - ikayaki (a yellow one) and grilled octopus - takoyaki (a green one).

[Don Boose]

I remember those food kiosks. You have certainly captured the look of them.

Don

[Viator]

The corner building for sale

This is a traditional building with a little shop but it is closed and the signboards were removed, awaiting a new owner.

[#62]

[Erik Zwaan]

Very nicely done!

Erik

[Tapcho]

I could live there. And have my paper modeling studio downstairs. Nice.

Tappi

[Don Boose]

My wife and I have been viewing a series of Ozu Yasujiro films of the 1930s-early 60s, and I have been re-reading translations of Kawabata Junichiro novels, in both of which there are lots of such buildings.

It is a pleasure to each new addition to Nekomura.

Don

[Viator]

And your memories, dear Don, many times fed my imagination and they gave me a boost to continue!

Tappi, yes, I feel similar. And it's a pity that real old houses still being inhabited now are nearly not to be found. I read "Lost Japan" by Alex Kerr recently and I can't get over the fact that the Japanese really had nearly lost their tradition and monuments after WW2 and now they are regaining their own history due to the worldwide interest in their culture!

[Viator]

The garden house

The first attempt to recreate the little garden adjacent to a building. The garden is not connected to a small restaurant on the first floor but rather creates an entrance area to the owner apartment on the second floor. It is really small, containing of a flowering rhododendron bush and a cherry tree (now with no blossoms as it's a summer time), framed with a bamboo fence with a little traditional style gate.

(#63)

[Don Boose]

I like the building a lot, Andrew!

My own Yoshina cherry is currently in full bloom, the carnelian cherry is past its prime, and the kwanzan cherry is just about to come into bloom.

I am having trouble reading the name of the restaurant, however. Is the first character 未 (half) or 米 (rice, which seems more likely)?

I can't puzzle out the second character. Some possibilities are 具 (ingredients or equipment), 兵 (military or soldier), or 共 (both).

The third character looks like エ (workman), 士 (person or samurai), or 土 (soil).

None of the 18 combinations seems to fit as a restaurant name.

Of course we are up against my limited Japanese proficiency, and I will probably be embarrassed when I find out the answer and discover that it is something that I should have recognized right away.

In any event, the little building is delightful and your calligraphy is beautiful.

Don

[Viator]

Dear Don, I am sorry for disappointing you, but this time the calligraphy is not my own but it's simply copied from some photo image and printed on a sheet. In addition, that is only an upper part of the original signboard because the lower part was obscured by another signboard. And it is possible too that the original signboard on the wall of a building was not connected to the restaurant on the first floor at all...
I tried to decipher the text myself but "the half-military personnel" or something of a kind didn't make any sense for me as well... :(