It's not the Jolly Green Giant's Space Tweezers!
Some very creative answers people...unfortunately, none of them were correct. But I was highly amused!
The green plastic thing is actually....
A futon clip!
If you are a proper Japanese housewife, you will air the family's futons daily on your balcony, and to avoid embarrassing situations you must clip it to the railing with the handy tool above. The purpose of this is to avoid mould and dani (pernicious little bugs that breed in bedding and tatami mats). After they've been airing in the hot sun for a few hours, you must beat them with a futon beater. This removes the dead dani and any other goodies that have accumulated in the futon.
That ends your first lesson in Japanese Housewifery 101. Your homework is to post on your blog about a handy tool you use to keep your home clean enough to invite Martha Stewart around for a bake-off!
Thank you for playing Photoionary.
The green plastic thing is actually....
A futon clip!
If you are a proper Japanese housewife, you will air the family's futons daily on your balcony, and to avoid embarrassing situations you must clip it to the railing with the handy tool above. The purpose of this is to avoid mould and dani (pernicious little bugs that breed in bedding and tatami mats). After they've been airing in the hot sun for a few hours, you must beat them with a futon beater. This removes the dead dani and any other goodies that have accumulated in the futon.
That ends your first lesson in Japanese Housewifery 101. Your homework is to post on your blog about a handy tool you use to keep your home clean enough to invite Martha Stewart around for a bake-off!
Thank you for playing Photoionary.
Labels: culture, dani, futon care, Japan, life, Photoionary
posted by verniciousknids @ 11:35 am
14 Comments:
At 12:42 pm,
Bearette said…
hee. i guess my only tool worthy of martha is my garlic stripper (and such a racy name, too) ;)
At 2:23 am,
Elsa said…
As usual, very enlightening. I would have NEVER guessed.
And there is nothing I use that would make my home clean enough to invite MS to my place!
At 7:06 am,
GG said…
i would love to do a blog entry about a handy housework tool, but, alas, i have none. the only thing i can suggest is a broom, but i reckon martha's already got that covered and it wouldn't rock her world.
i so need some housewifery lessons...
At 7:48 am,
Caro said…
Maybe my push broom but I would die before I'd let Martha see this sty.
At 12:25 pm,
MsCellania said…
I have a futon that came with it's own beating stick. I had no idea we were supposed to hang it outside - makes sense...
Thank you for visiting my blog. You will note that you are featured in the BlogRoll. I am such a pathetic computer person that I had to steal all Carolyn's links! I added some of my own, deleting some of hers to add them.
We lived in Okinawa for a few years - my father built a house there. It's gone now, replaced by a huge towering hotel. No surprise...
At 4:03 pm,
My float said…
Ah. Yes. How could I have missed that?!!
Do you really beat the futon every day?
Looking forward to the next Photoionary...
At 10:18 pm,
Jean-Luc Picard said…
Highly entertaining picture!
Michele sent me here
At 10:25 pm,
phoenix said…
My cleaning gadjets consist of old rags that used to be clothes and old socks to dust with lol!
Hi from Michele!
At 5:11 am,
kenju said…
That's interesting - over here we call them bed bugs - but our mattresses are so large and think and heavy that we cannot take them out for airing. Too bad.
Michele sent me.
At 2:08 pm,
verniciousknids said…
Bearette: I want to read a garlic stripper post :D
Liz: The best thing about these clips...is that you buy them for only 100 yen - a bargain! Unfortunately, the futons are little more pricey!
Elsa: I love to confound! I wonder if MS gets invited to anyone's house...I guess everyone would be too nervous :)
GG: If you lived in Korea, you would be able to enrol in "housewife school"...women of a certain age attend to learn how to be the perfect woman :D
Carolyn: With all those puppies...you are too busy to be inviting MS over ;)
Vickee: Thanks...I'll link to you very soon! I love Okinawa, it's so different to the rest of Japan...and best of all, it has fabulous beaches! Good luck with the futon beating :D
MF: No way...I don't have the time to do that, I generally do it about 3 times a week. Thanks for playing, I'm sure you can be Queen of the Universe next time :D
Thanks JLP!
Phoenix: Waste not, want not!
Helen: I love IKEA and all the interesting names :D
Kenju: They are close to bed bugs but are apparently slightly different...and I don't just mean because they are "futon bugs"!
At 3:27 pm,
Unique Designs from Zazzle said…
i don't think i'll ever be able to eat dannon yogurt again. i'll think of dani and hurl. lol
At 11:16 pm,
verniciousknids said…
Funny you should say that Shane...as I find the new RHCP song amusing because it's called "Dani California" :D
At 11:36 pm,
Anonymous said…
I wouldn't have guessed what it was but it sounds like a good idea, apart from the chore aspect.
At 11:19 am,
verniciousknids said…
Pearl: You are so right...they need to invent futon clips that hang the futon out for you...I think I still want to do the beating part though, as that's quite enjoyable!
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