WIT Life #191: Multiple marathons and Honolulu highlights
Earthquake Tsunami, Food & Drink, Translating/Interpreting, Travel/Tourism, WIT Life, Writers 
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WIT Life is a periodic series written by professional Writer/Interpreter/Translator Stacy Smith (Kumamoto-ken CIR, 2000-03). She starts her day by watching Fujisankei’s newscast in Japanese, and here she shares some of the interesting tidbits and trends together with her own observations.
Tomorrow I head to Kumamoto, my home for three years during JET, to participate in the inaugural Kumamoto Marathon which will be held next weekend. The following weekend I will go up to Tokyo to participate for the fifth time in their amazing marathon. I’m looking forward to not only the running, but catching up with natsukashii friends, eating oishii food and most of all onsen!!!
Speaking of oishii food, 
I recently enjoyed the Hawaiian version of wagashi at my favorite shop in Honolulu, Kansai Yamato. This small stall in the food court of the fantastic Ala Moana mall sells handmade mochi in funky flavors like Kona coffee, mango and Oreo as well as more traditional offerings like kinako mochi. Pictured above are some of my purchases, the creative flavors of chocolate and peanut butter (aka Reeses) and Okinawan sweet potato mochi. The former was good but I prefer a larger amount of peanut butter, so I went back and got the peanut butter (crunchy) mochi which did the trick…
I 
also found a booth selling goods to benefit Tohoku’s recovery effort via 赤い羽根 (Akai Hane or Red Feather) fundraising. The kanji initially caught my eye, so I stopped by to see what was being offered. The deal was a tee and tote bag for $26, all of which would be donated to the fund. They had cool designs and a Hope for Japan trademarked logo, and though the booth was abandoned when I was there the saleswoman said that sales have been brisk. Glad to see that fundraising efforts have not lost steam as we approach the disaster’s one-year anniversary.
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