Kitchen, balcony, and city in one frame, plus new summer fig tree

この視点から、台所やベランダや都市景色が枠のなかに見えます。前景には、今年の夏に買ったイチジクがあります。

This is the view from one end of our narrow balcony to the other, facing east towards Shinjuku. The twin towers are the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buildings, and to the right is the Park Hyatt hotel from the movie Lost in Translation. In the foreground is the fig tree, a new addition this summer.

The view from the kitchen out to the balcony and the city. A floating sky jungle makes me feel at home.

台所から見えるベランダの庭と都市の景色は、空を流れているジャングルみたいです。植物のおかげで、くつろげます。

Our kitchen has sliding glass doors that open out to the balcony. By early summer, the green curtain and shrubs have filled out, providing some privacy and the feeling of a floating sky jungle. The plants make me feel at home.

Green curtain filling in again

今年もグリーンカーテンが厚くなってきました。琉球アサガオやバラやジャスミンがネットに登っています。左側、カナメモチは台所に一番近いです。

This year’s green curtain is filling in. Already leafing out are the perennial Okinawa morning glory, jasmine, and a pink rose. The kanamemochi (photina) bush is about 1.5 meters tall, and brings the garden right up to the sliding glass kitchen doors.

Plum branch with buds popping in kitchen

台所で、梅の枝が冬の日を暖かくしてくれます。

With the temperatures still cold outside, it’s nice to see this small plum branch blooming in the kitchen.

Who’s in your back pocket? Mine is Kotooshu.

後ポケットに、いつもだれがいますか。私のポケットには、琴欧洲がいます。洗濯ひもは家と外の間にあって、庭のまんなかにあって、台所の机からいつも見えます。

The laundry line in our Tokyo flat is ever present, in the middle of the garden and directly in view from the kitchen table desk. Whether decorative or not, the laundry line is a porous border between inside and out, home and neighbors.

My handkerchief collection now includes the Bulgarian Kotooshu, one of the longest serving ozeki sumo wrestlers, as well as Asashoryu, the Mongolian yokozuna forced out of the profession a few years ago for bad behavior. Given the function of handkerchiefs, perhaps it’s not the most appropriate form of hero worship.

Deep purple, decorative pepper offers flowers and fruits. Viewable from kitchen desk.

ベランダの紫色の唐辛子には、フルーツも花もあります。台所の机から、見えます。

From my kitchen desk, I can see this lovely decorative pepper, that has purple fruits and flowers at the same time.

Delicate vine growing outside my friends’ kitchen window

この花が咲いているつる植物は繊細に見えます。友達のイアンとゆきとパットの台所の窓から。

I like this delicate, flowering vine growing outside the kitchen window at my friends Ian, Yuki, and Pat’s house.

Night and day views of balcony strawberry

夜の庭と昼間の庭は全然違います。台所からイチゴを収穫することができます。

This half-ripe strawberry looks very cinematic at night. The garden has a different feeling at night and during the day.

Basil, nasturtium, and parsley are all good balcony & kitchen garden plants

料理に使えるバジルやキンレンカやイタリアパセリはベランダでよく育ちます。ベランダは台所にとても近いです。

I like to have ready access to fresh herbs, and to use nasturtium flowers in salads. These potted herbs on the balcony are close to the kitchen so I can use them often.

Another bonsai transformed in winter

もう一つ、植物の室内撮影。去年作った変わった盆栽は紅葉で色づいています。今、深紅の枝が三つ残っています。部屋のなか以外に置く時は、台所の窓の近くに置きます。

More indoor plant portrait photography.

I made this strange bonsai last summer with a small bi-colored grass, tall leafy tree, and gravel. It’s fun to watch the leaves turn deep red and fall. When it’s not inside, this plant is close to the kitchen window.