(Ms.) Tomo Kimura’s Translation/Tokyo Notes

NANA was supposed to resume in this month’s Cookie. However, there was an announcement in the magazine that Yazawa-sensei has fallen ill, and will have to take at least a month off for treatment and recuperation.

So now NANA is tentatively scheduled to resume from the December issue (on sale October), but a more definite announcement will be made in next month’s issue.

The amulet Kyoko’s wearing around her neck is a very common type of amulet that’s sold at shrines and temples. There seemｓ to be amulets for every purpose, such as good business, having a healthy baby, finding a partner, and traffic safety. Amulets come in different shapes too. There are card-type ones you can keep in your pass case (these are usually for traffic safety), and there are ones you can stick on your car window from the inside.

Here are my amulets. They’re both all-purpose good luck amulets.

I keep the blue one in my work bag. The brown one is a keitai strap, so the name of the shrine has become pretty illegible. You’re supposed to keep amulets with you always, so having it on your keitai is convenient.

So what’s in that pouch? Let’s open it and find out:

What’s usually inside is paper, cloth or wood with the name of the shrine or the name of a God on it, and is like a small portion of the God that’s enshrined. I’ve flipped the pouch over so you can see the shrine name. This amulet is from Kasuga Taisha, a large shrine in Nara.

Venus Fort is a mall where the majority of the shops are targeted at girls and women. The inside is built like a European town in the 17th and 18th centuries.

The Fountain Plaza, where a large fountain is supported by six goddesses. People throw in coins and make wishes to Venus.

The Church Plaza. This place often appears in magazines and TV.

Fuji TV. You can see Mt. Fuji from the observatory (the round part is the observatory). There are photos and props of different TV shows on display. If you’re lucky, you might be able to watch a show being taped in the studios as well.

The ferris wheel is open until 10PM, so it’s a popular night dating spot as well.

A 6-volume series about by Matsunae Akemi about a psychiatrist and his female patients. What bothered me was that he keeps sleeping with his patients in the course of treatment, and that seemed so wrong, especially since he’s a shrink. There’s also an ex-patient who keeps stalking him throughout the series…whose name is Tomo (-”-). I read all 6 volumes in one sitting, and felt as if my brain was going through indigestion.

I like her artwork. I’ve been a fan of hers from when she used to draw for Bouquet magazine.