I still haven’t been to Japan. I hope to visit some day. This pretty, colorful kimono seemed like an odd addition to the tree, so I thought I’d spend the day exploring Christmas traditions in Japan.

You can read about Christmas traditions in Japan at All Things Christmas, The Culture Trip and Why Christmas?

#vss very short story

Hoteiosho wanted to bring all of the presents this year, so he challenged Santa to a sumo match. Santa wasn’t willing to take off his Santa-suit, so he had to forfeit. He got home early from deliveries and took a nice long nap.

Today’s Poetry Prompt and Poem

Today’s theme is Clouds
clouds
light and                                                     mean and
fluffy white                            foreboding dark warning
pareidolia for                      of a storm approaching, blocking
grass-layers in spring                          the sun’s warmth and light
moving              swiftly            swirling      and               roiling overhead
drifting

Editing Focus

I made some progress yesterday. Through meticulously filling in  The Story Grid: What Good Editors Knowspreadsheet, I noticed stronger places to start the story and places where point of view would be stronger from another character.

Today, I will continue the process of finding the Story Event of each scene.

#FlashFicHive

graphic by Anjela Curtis

Looks like this is a story and poetry prompt.

To keep with today’s theme, I looked for a Japanese Christmas song and found some Christmas songs in Japanese matched with anime images:

Then I found this gem:

A cover of Christmas Eve by Chemistry. Definitely what I was looking for.

Here’s a translation of the lyrics. I cannot attest to the accuracy.

Christmas Eve

All alone I watch the quiet rain
Wonder if it’s gonna snow again
Silent night holy night

I was praying
You’d be here with me
What it used to be
Silent night holy night
For Christmas

Somewhere far away
The sleigh bells ring
I remember
When we used to sing
Silent night holy night

I keep you inside me
Oh the truth is unspoken
So my heart won’t be broken
On Christmas

They lit the trees
Along the avenue
Twinkling silver with a touch of blue
Silent night holy night

Don’t Forget To Read!

To go with today’s theme, I found a couple of books about Christmas in Japan:

Tree of Cranes by Allen Say
The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya (light novel) (The Haruhi Suzumiya Series) by Nagaru Tanigawa

Happy Reading and Writing!