Pooking around the kitchen timer section of the kinda offbeat department store Tokyu Hands was this Elmer The Gay Vague Patchwork Elephant kitchen timer, for 1,500 yen.
It was too high for the kid to see, but later, when I showed my wife the pic on my phone, the kid saw it, and started screaming "Elmer!" incessantly.
The kid's been great on the trip, very resilient, but for some reason, the mention of a toy from home--that, admittedly, she hasn't really played with or read the books of very much in the last few months--sent her into a homesickness-like meltdown. She needed her Elmer that very instant.
So off to the book store we went, the kid in arms, chanting "Elmer, Elmer, Elmer." We asked for the book; they have it in Japanese, but not in stock, so they'd have to order it. We got the Japanese edition of Barton's Airplanes book instead, which calmed the kid down for a while.
Just in case, though, we're off to Tokyu Hands again to get ourselves an Elmer Homesickness Countdown Kit.
Previously: Elmer The Rainbow-Patchwork Elephant
