Whatchamacallit 27: Carp Towel

Looking at my Covid-19 postings, I realized that I have not yet shown any of my Japanese (or other East Asian) belongings.

Much of this boils down to aesthetics: I love visiting Japan, South Korea, and Thailand – but the typical art that they hang on their walls is not art that I want to look at on my walls. There’s one notable exception to this rule – a wonderful painting of Hong Kong, which I should talk about in the near future.

As such, the only visible thing I have from Japan on my walls is, shockingly, this towel from the Hiroshima Carp.

My first trip to Japan – indeed any place broadly called “East Asia” – was to Hiroshima in July/August 2013.

At that point I had not been to a real baseball game in quite a spell – and while I could have gone to the States, it occurred to me that baseball in Japan is a thing and that I could go visit Hiroshima for my own selfish nuclear tourism related interests.

Thus, I enjoyed 3 Hiroshima Carp games against the Tokyo Yakult Swallows.

However, it being summer, it was hot. It was also humid. I sweated like a fountain throughout my time in Hiroshima, whether I was looking at A-bomb dome, walking the streets, or sticking to the seats of Mazda Zoom-Zoom Stadium. I ended up buying this towel for two reasons: first, I desperately needed to wipe the sweat off and, second, I wanted to cheer for the home team – in that order.

After getting home, I hung the towel using two nails in my hallway, relatively high up. Thus, while I see it out of the corner of my eye every day, it is not something I actually pause to think about all that often. I should probably take it down and wash it – something to do in the near future.

My trip to Hiroshima was so excellent that I’ve made a point of returning to the city at least four additional times.

During the Covid-19 crisis, I am going to try and make a point of writing a blog post about an object in my home.

We’ll see how long this lasts.