Japan in Germany 11: Goldberg Wohnen in Celle

My husband and I were recently in Celle in northern Germany and came across this display window from a furniture store called Goldberg Wohnen on Mauernstraße.  The official website for the chain that they belong to does not provide any hints as to why they would have a kimono and maneki-neko in their display window.  It was hard to ignore the cats when walking down the street because they were waving madly.  . .  and if you look at them closely you can see that they were not in time with each other.  I like the contrast of the kimono with the traditional German half-timbered houses reflected in the window.

cmmhotes 2013

Japan in Germany 10: Nanoblock Hokkaido Dog

Hokkaido holds a special place in my heart because I met my husband in Sapporo during my year teaching at an eikawa many moons ago.  I am not a dog person myself but my Tokyo-born daughter is crazy about them.  In fact, her first word after "mama" and "papa" was "wan-wan" - the onomatopoeic word for puppy in Japanese / the sound of a dog barking in Japanese.  On strolls through the streets of Tokyo, my baby daughter would point at every dog she saw and shout "wan-wan"!  Needless to say, she was also a huge fan of Wan-wan the dog on Inai inai pa! (NHK) and would sing and dance along to Guru guru tokkan!.

Check out the German Nanoblock Facebook page or follow them on twitter for more cool nanoblock figurines. Click on any image to view as a slideshow.

cmmhotes 2013

Japan in Germany 9: Nanoblock Tokyo Tower

I have loved Lego since I was a small child, so of course I fell immediately in love with nanoblocks when I discovered them here in Europe.  I first saw them in the gift shop of the Centre Pompidou last year for the Kawamoto-Norstein even at Forum des Images.  Happily they are also available in Germany.  A perfect stocking stuffer for grown-ups who are kids at heart.  Also check out their German Facebook page or follow them on twittter.  Click on any image to view them as as a slideshow.

cmmhotes 2013