One day, when she was home alone,
Hime-chan climbed out of her box with as much gracefulness and dignity
as her elaborate kimono would allow. The kimono was beautiful and she
knew she looked like a million dollars, but it restricted her movements a
tiny bit. Last night she stole into the liquor cabinet and instead of
taking a sip of her favorite brand of sake, she drank some Polish vodka,
just a little… a little too much, so now she’s thirsty.
'Coffee or tea? Hmm, my heart will stop
one day for all the caffeine I consume daily when she looks away. Not
today, it’s definitely matcha time!'
'Whaaaat? That glutton drank it all! But
maybe, just maybe, she hasn’t discovered my secret stock that I keep
hidden behind the instant coffee jar. Coffee hates it so she doesn’t
look there often. Ahh, here it is!'
'Ok, now I need a pot. Ugh that’s heavy,
but I’ll manage. Where’s that shovel now? It’s really beyond me that
Coffee hasn’t bought a genuine chawan yet. What am I supposed to drink
matcha from? A miso bowl? Oh well, no matter, now let’s mix it and we’re
ready to go!'
'Tea certainly goes very well with a good book. What has she been reading lately? Ah, Gai-jin, excellent! That’ll do'
'A vegetable chopping board will be a
perfect substitute for a table. I wonder if the sushi from Matte-ru is
any good. Oh dear, I wish I had the made to move type of legs. Click and
bend knees are very nice indeed, but there’s no way I can kneel'
'Ohayooooouuu Hime-chan! May I join you?'
'Aaaaah Peko-chan, of course, please sit down.'
'You’ve made a table out of … a vegetable chopping board? Seriously?'
'The meat board was disgusting. Anyway, it certainly does what it’s supposed to, so don’t complain.'
'Well then, Itadakimaaaaaaasu!'
'Wasabi was first class, I’ve already stopped sneezing, but the onigiri had that plastic under taste to them …'
'You know, you’re right. Let’s wash it
off with something. Let’s see, there should be some Pocky left, unless
Coffee ate them all, which is quite probable… Ok, we’re good.'
'O no, Coffee’s back, she’ll catch us red-handed eating blissfully her Pocky!'
'Well, well. What do we have here? A tea party, and I’m not invited! Fancy some sake? Kanpai!'
I enjoy reading blogs of the collectors
who give names to their dolls and create their stories. It makes a doll
that is mass produced very special and one of a kind. Much as I love it,
I lack the creativity this requires or perhaps it’s just not the
direction I follow with my collection. But there’s one doll that I’ve
named and that’s Ohime. When I look at her, all kinds of stories just
pop up in my mind and although Mattel gave her the expression of
serenity and inner harmony, to me she could be a dangerous woman and
holding a shuriken quite becomes her (shuriken is a kind of Japanese
weapon, star-shaped and quite small, but deadly and very helpful should
you want to help your enemies move onwards). Hime-chan’s shuriken is
actually a part of a Christmas Tree ornament, but what do you have your
imagination for?
You may think otherwise, but the object
that I really wanted to present in this entry is a tiny little
accessory set #CFB51 that I found by accident when I unintentionally
lost my way to the groceries and ended up in a toy section one day when I
was out shopping. The set includes a sushi tray, two plates, two sets
of chopsticks and two cups of green tea. It’s also packaged in such a
way as to allow taking the contents of the little bag without damaging
the packaging and then put it back again. Very nice if you like to keep
your collection boxed.
This entry also features Peko-chan who
of course isn’t a Mattel doll, but she’s very special to me. I got her
six years ago from my friend Y. She came to Poland accompanied by her
students to launch a school exchange following the very unfortunate
earthquake and the tsunami in 2011. Back then I just started my Japanese
classes and our Sensei asked us to write letters to the teachers and
students living in one of the areas that were most affected and damaged
at that time. A year later Y. came and brought me a ton of presents, a
Peko-chan gift set being one of them. Peko-chan is a character created
by Fujiya, a company producing candies called Milky.
Back then I didn’t even dream about
collecting dolls and Y. must have been unsure whether a gaikoku-jin
woman would like a doll for a gift. Well, she couldn’t have picked a
better present for me!
No comments:
Post a Comment