This is a photograph I took from my Dad’s vegetable garden on March 3, 2007. They’re glass bottles (I think they’re probably beer bottles) that are upside down in the dirt. My father uses them as markers to divide the sections of the garden.

The garden is a little overgrown right now. I think those plants are actually some sort of flower plant (iris?). I also took a photo of some of the bottles close up.

This photo reminds of one of the phrases I heard a LOT growing up…“Mottanai”. Finding ways to maximize the use of things. I love this very creative use of what most people would consider trash.

I wrote about this mottanai mentality in a piece I wrote for Discover Nikkei: A Yonsei’s Reflections…on Unearthing My Family’s Values