Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Wednesday in Japan.....

Wednesday in Japan..... by angryparsnip
Wednesday in Japan....., a photo by angryparsnip on Flickr.

My Wednesday post about my life in Japan.

Sengan Taoru
Washcloths in English, but worlds apart.

Unlike the American equivalent, these washcloths are not shut away in
some linen closets in colors from beige to pink and used for washing
up in a bathroom.
Sengan Taoru are carried in purses or pockets and used for drying your
hands when using a public restroom.
Even now when living back in American I still carry one in my purse. I
despise the wastefulness of paper towels and air hand dryers.

These fabulous squares of terry cloth come in brilliant colors,
designs and patterns. Any color and designs you desire from polka
dots, plaids, leaves, flowers or as in the above photo a few of the
mascots from my collection. I smile every time I use one.
Sold in Department stores, trendy shops, tourist destinations they can
be found in every where.

Sengan Taoru are usually one of the first differences ( beside the
wonderful lime green public phones, see my photo ) that tourist are
exposed to.
I was surprised to the attention to detail, style, usefulness of these
small wonders that characterizes much of Japan.
There is much though behind appearances and how it affects your
everyday life. Beauty can be found in a simple useful washcloth or a
walk in a tree lined park to view the Sakura Blossoms.

So kawaii !

charmed. . . parsnip
music. . . Kiki"s Delivery Service, OST

9 comments:

  1. Hello:
    What a wonderful and very practical idea. These are so bright and cheerful and, as you say, much, much nicer than paper towels. So much of Japanese culture is, we feel, so very well considered and carefully thought out.

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  2. I've never heard of Sengan Taoru, probably because I haven't been to Japan, but what a lovely idea. Your collection is really cute. I think I see at least three Totoros.

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  3. what a perfectly lovely idea!

    smiles, bee
    xoxoxoxoxo

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  4. I am intrigued by japanese words- as we tend to have this type of motorbike it is always interesting to know of the origin of the names.

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  5. Astro Boy! Brings back memories.

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  6. Jane and Lance...
    They are so much nicer to use that wasting paper towels and all the trash from people who seem to be unable to throw them away correctly.

    Diane...
    Oh My Goodness I must have over 20 Totoro's not counting all the other Studio Ghibli characters.

    Empress Bee...
    I wonderful, useful idea.

    mrsnesbitt...
    Japanese words are interesting and I must recheck out your blog to see what moterbike you drive. A family member works for one of the biggest Motercycly companies as a mechanic.

    Kirk...
    Daughter is a huge Astro Boy fan from way back so we made sure to make a trip to the Osamu Tezuka Musueum. Fabulous ! The Museum Building is very Astro Boy space age and I want to live there.

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  7. Great gift idea. They are so attractive and of course the people who had the good taste to use then would keep them immaculately clean.

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  8. Great post. I am going to start carrying one of the boring ones in my purse. I love the idea of not killing trees, just to dry my hands. Excellent.

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  9. Genius idea. When I travel I often think we are behind in being "green". I remember spending the summer in England as a child, back in the late 70's, and everyone took their own bags to the grocery store. I thought it was strange, ha.

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