If A Tree Falls...

In the middle of Sendai, does it make a noise? Jozenji Street, home of the Jazz Festival, Pageant of Starlight and Tanabata is lined with over 60 欅・けや木 (keya-ki) or Zelkova trees. On Mondays, my lessons are held at NHK on that particular street and today's 3-hour break included a walk along the Hirose River (more on that later*.) Upon return, 20 minutes after I'd entered the building, I was told by one of my students that a large Zelkova decided to crash onto the street, disrupting vehicular and pedestrian traffic. I just missed it!

I had to teach for the next 3 hours but as soon as my lesson was over, my students and I investigated the crash-site.






All that was left was a ragged stump and a City investigator taking samples and measuring it. I asked if she'd be checking the other trees and she informed me that she would be. That's a lot of trees to probe.






I scammed some of the detritus and the pulp was very ふらふら (furafura=spongy) and I'm surprised it was standing as long as it had. Apparently, this tree is resistant to Dutch Elm and other major blights, but something had chewed this guys guts up!







*Earlier that afternoon, I went on a walkabout and just before traversing the 大橋 or Ohashi Bridge (Ohashi means Big Bridge), there is a hidden monument. I'd seen this about 8 years ago, but had forgotten about it and came across it again today. It's a statue of 3 Christian martyrs who were put to death in midwinter by standing them in the middle of the Hirose River with rocks tied around their ankles until they either froze to death or drowned. Ahh, the good old days!























I continued on my mini-trek where I saw cicada husks, ducks, a pile of garbage and the perfect skipping stone, I got about 15 skips!












Heading back I encountered gardens, a Toy shop that I used to frequent ages ago but is WAY too expensive now, a Teddy Bear outside a Restaurant and an Architectural competition in the Mediatheque building.