Category: Japanese Kangaroos

Daily Life, Japanese Kangaroos, Roo-ing the Day, Unknown Nichigo

A Bit of a Roo-ed Shock

by Kangaeroo • February 24, 2023

Kangaroos are back in the Kangaeroo limelight

Kangaroos have always taken center stage in this blog (which I started almost 13 years ago to try to tap into the then recent introduction of Australian English into TOEIC testing), so it was a bit rare yesterday when I had the chance to write about roos but didn’t (albeit giving prominence to quokkas, another member of the marsupial family).

Yesterday, the Kangaeroos had a wonderful time at the Saitama Children’s Zoo, which has an Australian animal area., and attracted us because Mrs. Kangaeroo wanted to see its quokkas.

I know a lot of people aren’t too keen on zoos, but I love them, even though I feel for the poor captive animals.

I always console myself by saying that they are at least being freed form the savagery of life in the wild, even though that is the ideal reality and we should be looking to preserve ecosystems.

Anyway, enough of my pontificating.

Today, the macropodidae are front and center again, but kangaroos are back in the limelight.

Here’s a gallery of animals we saw at the zoo.

Japanese Kangaroos, Unknown Nichigo

Chocka Quokka

by Kangaeroo • February 23, 2023

Quokka took center stage today as the Kangaeroos hopped over to Saitama Children’s Zoo to see the little marsupials.

The zoo’s Quokka Island is chokka quokka, including a joey born in late January.

Quokkas have become something of an Internet meme after a photo showing one of the little fellers with a huge grin went viral a few years back.

The only place to see a quokka in Japan is at the Saitama Children’s Zoo.

Mrs. Kangaeroo has a stuffed toy quokka and yearned for years to see one, so dragged me out of bed and off to deepest, darkest Saitama.

It was a magical day and more will follow tomorrow, centering on a huge gallery of Aussie animals.

When we’d finished at the zoo, it was a quick rush over to garden and cafe prunus in nearby Higashi Matsuyama for a scrumptious afternoon tea (served with a sprig of wattle, Australia’s national flower!)

All in all, a magnificent day, a national holiday because of the Emperor’s Birthday.

Japanese Kangaroos

F.R.O. 2022

by Kangaeroo • December 31, 2022

As 2022 draws to a close, Kangaeroo will be glad to see the back of it.

There was plenty to be grateful for: a happy marriage, closer relationships with children, excellent friends, a life filled with love, family reunions, delightful garden, a full year of employment, generally good health.

For all of these, I am deeply thankful.

There was much about the year that was extremely satisfying, and I am filled with thanks for that, too.

But overall, 2022 was a year of loss. It is been, and remains, an excruciatingly painful time, despite all of the above.

One loss that didn’t occur in 2022 was hope. Although Kangaeroo is angry, bitter and resentful, mainly due to fear, there is hope that better things lie on the horizon.

May 2023 bring a new outlook on dealing with loss and fear that amplifies those losses so they seem more important than they are.

And may all those associated with Kangaeroo in any way at all be able to see the joys that took place in 2022 and thrive in the coming year. Love and best wishes to all!

(But 2022 can fuck right off!)

Japanese Kangaroos

Nurturing the Soul

by Kangaeroo • August 14, 2022

British Poet Laureate Alfred Austin once wrote, “To nurture a garden is to feed not just on the body, but the soul.” Kangaeroo is getting to find that out.

Gardening never really meant much to Kangaeroo, other than getting dragged out of bed as a youth on Saturday mornings to mow the bloody lawn with an antiquated, run-down Victa lawnmower.

Never the most energetic or enthusiastic of people at the best of times, the onerous task colored Kangaeroo’s views on gardening for decades, despite all family members showing a penchant and delight for gardening.

Having spent the vast majority of those aforementioned decades in Japan, where apartment life had been the norm and having a garden, even on a balcony, was rarely an issue, gardening was something that barely entered Kangaeroo’s consciousness.

However, having been blessed by circumstance and the amazing Alex Endo, gardening has become a daily delight.

Who could have dreamed that search and destroy missions for weeds could be so much fun?

And it’s a delight to enjoy the neighbors’ gardens, too, as well as to share information with them on the delights of getting out in the garden.

Fortunately, if a less-than-successful year so far, if nothing else the warmer months of 2022 in Tokyo have had finer than usual weather, which has also made the garden even more enjoyable.

The Aussie animals filling Kangaeroo’s garden are sure enjoying it, and so are the neighborhood cats and birds who are donating their unprocessed fertilizers!

Japanese Kangaroos, Unknown Nichigo

A Slice of Oz Enchantment

by Kangaeroo • April 11, 2022

Somewhere in the backblocks of Tokyo’s Tama district, there’s a little Aussie enchantment at work.

It could be coming from this jen, who stands about 1 meter high.

She’s nestled in among the bark and grevillias.

Her joey is enjoying the ride.

And they’re lit up at night.

東京多摩地区裏のある所に、オーストラリアの小さなな魔法場所がある。

由来が約1メートルもある身長のこの雌カンガルーにあるかな？

バークとロベスタの中に寄り添っている。

子カンガルーも楽しく同乗している。

そして、夜になるとライトアップされます。

Kangaroo Corner

Koala Colony

Japanese Kangaroos, Strine

Kangaeroo.com Kit Dares to Dazzle!

by Kangaeroo • March 31, 2022

The third, and latest, version of Kangaeroo.com cycling kit has come off the production line and is ready to dazzle.

This year, for the first time ever, Kangaeroo.com cycling kit includes a vest and bib shorts.

The kit is a full supplement of spring-summer gear in a predominantly Aussie-wattle hue with gum-leaf green lettering.

The brighter gear reflects a shift to a new environment.

Kangaeroo.com cycling kit comprises a jersey, bib shorts and vest.

The jersey features the Kangaeroo.com thinking kangaroo logo on the front, rear and both sleeves.

The website title and URL also appear on the front, rear and sleeves.

The jersey base is wattle gold with gum leaf green lettering.

Meanwhile, the spring vest is an almost identical design, but has a larger logo and no lettering on the front.

And the bib shorts are black with wattle gold side panels containing the Kangaeroo.com logo and website URL in English on the right leg and Japanese on the left leg.

Kangaeroo.com kit first appeared in 2017 with a white jersey, black sleeves and an embroidery patch kangaroo on the left sleeve.

A second version of the kit came out two years later, this time entirely black.

Both kits featured the website title in Japanese and English, the URL and the thinking kangaroo logo on the front and rear of the shirts.

Kangaeroo is a portmanteau of the Japanese word kangaeru, to think, and ‘roo, an abbreviation of kangaroo, Australia’s national animal and a symbol of the country.

Japanese Kangaroos, Unknown Nichigo

Plastic Roos and Fuji Views

by Kangaeroo • December 20, 2019

The Izu Peninsula about 100 km southwest of Tokyo is a sheer delight in many ways, not the least of which is that there’re plenty of kangaroos there at the moment!

Not that they’re real roos jumping around here and there on the peninsula.

Some of the zoos and animal parks in the area, which is blessed with glorious coastlines and numerous mountains, do have their marsupials.

But the kangaroos that stand out most to the ordinary visitor are the life-sized PVC statues plugging Izu Shaboten Zoo (notable for its various different types of cacti).

The zoo is located at the foot of the amazing Mount Omuro, which is shorn of most of its foliage each winter by being set alight in a spectacular bonfire.

Mount Omuro also offers panoramic views of southeastern Izu, including some of the most spectacular vistas of Mount Fuji imaginable.

The Kangaeroos got to spend some time in the area recently, even managing to snap a few illuminated marsupials as well.