It's National Foundation Day in Japan and More!

 That's like the 4th of July in the USA

It's a National Holiday and most people have the day off. Schools are closed.

Some sort of tropical storm is blowing cold wind and rain so, I hung around inside all day.

 

About 4 PM the wife and a daughter returned from a shopping expedition.

And the young one presented me with this ice-cold six-pack of beer.

I'm really not celebrating National Foundation Day for Japan. I'm American.

Naturally, I thanked the daughter for bringing my favorite beer.

Little did she know, I was gonna celebrate New Year's Eve tonight.

First, we must get back to the Japanese holiday.  

They say Japan began (as a country) in 660 BC.

That's all I can tell you. Read the history of Japan HERE if you need all the details.

How Did New Year's Eve Get in Here Today?

When I thanked the daughter for the Orion Beer I told her it's New Year's Eve.

She looked at me like I was crazy so, I had to explain. It's Chinese New Year's Day tomorrow!

Some folks in Okinawa still use the Lunar Calendar. 

And, the stick with the rituals, holiday routines, and planting of the Chinese Zodiac calendar.

Learn all about the Chinese New Year at this Site.

Adding a little more to all this holiday confusion, the daughter handed me another gift.

Some chocolate, as well as the beer, was her gift to me for Valentine's Day!

It's been a long (almost photoless) day. Two quick shots of the beer and I'm done.

One photo from the front and another displaying the top of the six-pack. That's it.

It's getting dark outside and I have some Lunar New Year's Eve business to tend to.

AMEN

Flower Photo: Melastoma. Heck, Just Call It Forest Star

Here is a new flower, to me, anyway.

At a museum up north in Okinawa, Japan on a cold and windy February day is where I found this.  See, I get tired of hanging around inside museums trying to make photos under the harsh indoor lighting. So, I step outside a lot.  That gives me a chance to see what's worth shooting outdoors, get some fresh air and a l'il bit of nicotine in my body.  So, that's what I do a lot.

The museum photos, I'll get around to developing and posting later.  There may even be some great shots.  There was this sweetheart of a gal at the place.  She turned off lights for me when I asked.  You don't find many museums like that these days.

Well, this gal showed me this tree thing with pink flowers growing on it and she told me they are called "Nobotan".

So,  I shot them.

The research I did online didn't help much but, I came to the conclusion they are some kind of Melastoma.

There are a whole bunch of places, like Hawaii, that don't like Melastomas.

People call them invasive.  And, they call them weeds.

Even Wikipedia !


But, this sweetheart of a gal was real proud of the pretty pink flowers and they don't seem like weeds to me. 

One of the names Wikipedia had listed was Forest Starr.

Not sure if that's a person or a flower name.  They're asking for help expanding everybody's knowledge about flowers, too.

What the heck.  The flowers in Okinawa aren't weeds.

Just call these pink flowers Forest Stars.

That's what I'm gonna do.