Ginkyo madness

On the university campus is famous avenue of ginkyo trees which in Autumn becomes a mecca for the citizens of the Japan (or at least Sapporo). There are probably 2 reasons for this; firstly is the beautiful colours of the leaves. This brings masses of the amateur photographers of Japan to this spot during the peak of the colour...

The leaves are pretty spectacular and in the last weeks I've also been out with the camera

Spontaneous leaf throwing is a common side effect of ginkyo madness

The other reason is nuts...

I don't know who first discovered that you could eat the orange seeds that smell like vomit and give you rashes, but its become a firm favorite among the Japanese during the autumn season.

Ginkyo nuts look much nicer than they smell.

Apparently they're very delicious in the savory egg custard dish Chawan mushi. The nuts themselves contain a chemical that often causes contact dermatitis (itchy rashes) so you can see the people picking up nuts with chopsticks or wearing gloves. It seems particularly popular with the old folks of Japan- maybe because they know what to do with them, or they have destroyed their sense of smell of the vomity nuts over the years.

Some are seriously hard core....
Extreme nut collecting- throw the sticks up into the tree wait for the smelly nut rain to fall

Quick! look like we're just doing some normal shopping.....

selecting their next prey.....

Who owns these nuts? I'm pretty sure the university does, but within full sight of the security guards, hordes of nut theives with bulging sacks go about their not- so - sneaky business.

The "grey brigade" carefully co-ordinate their routine, with the getaway bike close at hand.

I did a quick search (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba) to find about the ginkyo trees and found that the nuts themselves contain chemicals which are potentially beneficial for Alzheimers disease and memory enhancement. Perhaps these nuts are the key to a healthy old age. Personally, I wish someone would engineer a tree that does not have such an awful smelling fruit with such beautiful autumn colour.

Sliding towards winter...

Struth! Is that the end of October already- where did it go?

*Enjoying the autumn colours here in Hokkaido- the campus is really colourful at this time of year and I often find myself hanging near the kettle staring out at the changing leaves...what am I saying? Actually I like looking out the window at anytime of the year or day. Its probably a good thing there isn't a window at my desk otherwise I would do even less work.

* Getting back to Soranuma dake (actually finally going on a hike!). When I first arrived in Japan almost 2 and half years ago, I went hiking in Golden week here. At that time it was full of snow (over 1m deep in places... in May) and we stayed in the mountain hut overnight- one of the best experiences I've had in Japan. So it was great to go back in an autumn setting...going under tree trunks that I had gone over in the snow and seeing the glorious autumn colours. I must go again and finally make it past the hut (the warm log stove and gossipy ladies lured me in this time, walking in deep snow did it the previous time) and get to the peak.* Getting accepted for another conference in December- this time I'm talking about my own research. It's in Fukuoka in Kyushu so I finally get to see a new part of Japan. This has finally inspired me to try and do some more work and work on some new experiments. Fingers crossed they yield some good results!

* Going to Marukoma onsen with my best friends in Japan (big hugs for you!). A perfect Sunday activity, sitting in the deep bath which is fed by water from Shikotsu ko (Lake) and enjoying the last of the autumn leaves and naked man spotting (an added bonus?).


* I"m managing to go Swimming every Thursday and can do 40 lengths non stop in around 30mins (40 lengths=1km if I can read the sign right in the pool). I hope I can keep this up when the snow arrives.