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Okubo's Secret?
The flower letters thing is real but there's a quieter version of it I've only seen a couple times. Some of the older kids, maybe 5th and 6th graders, will fold their paper strips into tiny origami cranes before tying them on. It's not something they teach each other, just a few who learned from grandparents. If you're there right when the 3pm wind hits, watch the kids who hang back by the fence near the bike racks. They're the ones doing it.
honestly i think the other commenter is half right but it's not the drain thing. my friend's kid goes to okubo elementary and they have this little thing where they tie paper strips to the cherry tree in the back corner of the playground. it's not a school event or anything, just something the kids do on their own during recess when the blossoms start falling. they write like one word wishes or names on them, nothing fancy. i've seen it a few times walking past, it's kinda sweet but super low key
That's intriguing! Okubo, huh? I've spent a fair bit of time in that area, but never heard anything about a specific cherry blossom ritual tied to the elementary school. It sounds like the kind of thing passed down through generations of families, maybe something incredibly small and local, not something widely publicized. You'd probably have better luck chatting with some of the older folks who live near the school itself. Try striking up conversations at local shops or maybe even the school itself, see if you can get talking to someone who's been around a long time. Good luck uncovering that secret! It sounds like a great story waiting to be found.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.