Sunday, November 29, 2009

Ben again

We share the shop with what seems like a hundred sparrows.  They are noisy in the morning until they clear out for the day.  One remarkable quality they seem to have is that they don't leave droppings in the shop.  That bit of fastidiousness (very Japanese?) will be important to anyone who has varnished or painted a boat in the company of birds.....


"Sparrow" in Japanese is "suzume."  But here on Iejima they are called "chyou chyou."

2 comments:

  1. In Tokyo, the child's word for sparrow is chun-chun (long u, as in 'truth'). Which came first, the chun-chun or the chyou-chyou?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Fascinating Douglas "to be there" with you as you tell the story ...and the use and fabrication of the butterfly plugs was very interesting. Thank you.David Jackson

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.