Japanory

Welcome to Yesterday

1^st January 2008

As well as setting foot on Fuji-san, we wandered around Lake Kawaguchi for a few moments – it was bitterly cold, so we didn't stay outside for very long.

To be honest, there wasn't much to see so we pulled over at a large car park by an information centre and spotted this fabulously named hotel!

I was in stitches – where on earth did they get the idea for that name from? And even funnier was a sign saying "Hotel Yesterday is closed today".

 

In the information centre were a few vending machines and lots of leaflets about things to do in the area, but sadly they were all in Japanese so, although we collected a number, we have no idea what they mean. The pictures were pretty though.

We got tins of hot coffee and hot chocolate from the vending machines and for the first time, tried a food vending machine - there were no other options as "Yesterday" was closed.

It was rather good, although none of us fancied anything with chicken in it – after all, we have no idea how these things work (possible microwaves, but I'm not sure). So better safe than sorry. We had chips and a shared a big box of noodles which warmed us up beautifully.

And then it was time to head home, with a couple of stops en route to photograph the scenery. A lovely change from concrete.

Mount Fuji

1^st January 2008

Yes! I've finally made it to another year – I really don't know if I will get Japanory up to date, but I will continue to try...

What a way to spend New Year's Day – a trip to the magnificent Fuji-san.

As Japan's highest mountain at 3776 metres, Mount Fuji dwarfs every other mountain in the country. It is the iconic symbol of Japan and a sacred and beloved landmark with its almost symmetrical cone looming so high that on a clear day it can be seen from many miles away including Tokyo.

Although Fuji has been dormant for over 300 years, the mountain is a potentially dangerous volcano which, if it erupts, would cause an enormous amount of damage to the surrounding area and Japan as a whole. For now though, it seems calm. The last eruption started on 16^th December 1707 and continued until January 1708. Until this eruption the symmetrical shape of Fuji was about as perfect as a volcano could be, but this eruption created a new crater with a second peak half way down one side.

Due to the altitude, the climate near the top of Fuji-san is very cold and the peak is covered with snow and several months of the year.

Most cultures since time immemorial have worshipped spectacular mountains as sacred places and the homes of gods and Fuji-san is no exception. For many years the only people allowed to climb the sacrosanct mountain were monks, and women were completely forbidden to set foot on a mountain at all. This changed in 1860 when the first British diplomat in Japan, Sir Rutherford Alcock, was reluctantly given permission to climb Fuji. The ban on women climbing was lifted in 1872 after the wife of a British diplomat climbed a mountain in 1867. However she was not the first female to make the ascent. In 1832 a 24 year-old Japanese woman was given unprecedented permission to climb by a sect who worshipped Fujisan as a divinity in itself. She had to disguise herself as a man to show deference to the taboo.

Nowadays anyone can climb Fuji if they so wish although it is not an ascent to be made lightly. The official climbing season is in July and August and during these two months the mountain is usually snow free and the mountain huts are open and stocked with oxygen cylinders. There is a saying that "you are wise to climb Fuji once, but a fool to climb it twice". Approximately a quarter of a million people climb the mountain each year, which when you consider they all climb it during just two months, makes it rather a busy place. Apparently the favoured time to climb is around the O'bon festival in August when some of the passes actually have long queues of people patiently waiting their chance to move on. There is a Torii gate near the summit showing you that apart from nearing your goal, you are on sacred ground.

I have absolutely no intention of climbing it. I don't do "uphill" walking if I can possibly avoid it.

Once you see the shape of Fuji you can understand why it has been depicted so many times in so many forms, and you also gain an insight into why much of the art in Japan is stylised. Fuji-san is the perfect real-life example of a stylised mountain. If you ask a child to draw a volcano or mountain the shape corresponds perfectly to Mount Fuji.

We were delighted to see some substantial snow there – it made it all very picturesque. Shame about the clouds covering the top. Mum hadn't come prepared for a snowy trip so wore all her clothes and borrowed a hat, gloves and scarf from me.

On the drive up, we found a place to stop and go for a walk through some woodlands. Snow dappled the ground, icicles in a tiny cave and intriguing ice crystals that had formed in the fallen leaves and soil. Rhiannon hasn't had much experience of snow, so had a marvellous time although we had to put a dampener on her enthusiastic snowball throwing. It hurt!

 

The views were amazing. I don't know what lake this was but five lakes surround the area - Lake Kawaguchi, Lake Motosu, Saiko, Lake Shoji, Lake Yamanaka, so I guess it was one of those… The feathery plants are my latest love – Japanese Pampas Grass, aka Susuki. It's considered a weed, but I adore its grace and delicacy.

We drove up the winding road for as far as we could before the road was closed at 2020 metres.

According to the car's thermometer the temperature was -10C. A small car park was full and people milled around. There was a terrible stench in the air which turned out to be a mixture of this sweetcorn seller's wares and the most dreadful toilet in Japan. It was literally a hole in the ground and rather overused – I nearly dropped my camera down there, ugh.

 

And here's the standard photo to prove we were there - and cold - Tim is wearing his summer trousers! Then it was back into the snug warmth of the car to head back down the mountain to find some less stinky food.

A Christmas Round-Up and My Adventurous Mother

End of December 2007 (finally!)

Mum's arrival was a little late this year as she has plans to venture further afield in January.

Always a great traveller, she's going on a botanical exploration trip to the jungles of Borneo! As we're halfway there, it makes sense that she starts her holiday from here, rather than make the appallingly long trip from the UK. She'll get more out of it as she won't be anywhere near as travel-weary and jet-lagged as she would be after travelling from London. So she will travel to Borneo from here, then return to us later in January to recover, before heading back home to England. This caused her a few headaches with regards to packing – as well as "Tokyo clothes" she had to bring her jungle-wear too. The airlines had just decreed a new rule of only one suitcase, which makes it impossible for Mum to cope with – she's 71. So she called the airline and basically told them she was bringing two and that was that.

We shook off her jet-lag with an exhilarating walk around Meiji Shrine and Yoyogi Park. Rhiannon recently visited Meiji Shrine on a school trip so she was insistent on teaching us how to do all the rituals correctly. Don't stand on the big beam of wood in the doorway – very important! Wash your hands and mouth with water from the communal stone trough, light some incense, throw some coins into a big box and say a little prayer.

All the leaves from the gingko trees have fallen to create an incredible yellow carpet. And with the beautiful sunny and dry weather Tokyo enjoys during the winter, this is the perfect antidote to Britain's dark, damp and dismal December. The colour is much brighter than the photos show.

Christmas was as usual – present opening, leg of lamb roast for lunch – and a Christmas pudding this year, followed by Mum and I heading off for what will become our annual Christmas trip to Ginza.

On Boxing Day we went somewhere for a walk. I can't remember where it was and I've given my books away now, so it will remain a mystery (unless anyone recognises the photos?) We're a little disappointed at the walks here – all are "domesticated" and seem quite sterile. Anyway, there was a cute little shrine there, and this lovely stone trough. Look at the gorgeous bamboo spout, but boy, was the water cold! Once again, Rhiannon was happy to demonstrate her knowledge of the religion here to her Nana and we had to do all the rituals with her.

Some fish were in a pool and Rhiannon sent us all away so she could sing to them again in private. Strange child! Unfortunately, my picture of this amusing moment didn't come out.

We didn't bother with New Year this year. Just went to bed as normal – and that's the way it's stayed ever since. It's just another day; I've done all the partying I want to in my life and I don't want to be hungover with a child and my Mum to deal with the next day.

And on to 2008!! Phew!!!

First Anniversary

22^nd November 2007

(Hell's bells - this post got lost amongst a heap I did recently and I forgot to press the Publish button. DUH!)

So, we've been here exactly a year now. Tim keeps asking "do you remember what we were doing one year ago today?"

Frankly, no! I've been so busy that I can barely remember what I did last week, let alone a year ago.

Naturally I remember the excitement and thrill of moving to Tokyo. I also remember the slight sense of disappointment upon seeing the rather dull buildings here, when I expected to see dramatically designed tower blocks similar to Hong Kong.

My freelance writing work has gone from strength to strength, so this is very satisfactory.

Of course, there's been a steep learning curve involved in day to day life, but unlike many people, I am extremely self-sufficient, well-used to travelling in unusual countries and more than happy to be in a very foreign country. In fact, I'm so loathe to ask for help that our liaison officer contacted me once to find out if I was OK because I hadn't asked her loads of questions! It seems that most other "spouses" are extremely needy and want everything handed to them on a plate.

Actually, it's not that I'm opposed to asking for help – far from it – it just doesn't even occur to me most of the time. I just get on with it.

Tim is thoroughly enjoying his new job and accompanying responsibilities; Rhiannon is settling in fine, with just a few school hiccups. But I'm confident this is just the fact that it's school, rather than THIS school. She doesn't particularly miss her friends in the UK and is making lots more here.

In fact, I've made more new friends in one year here in Tokyo than I did in the entire 6 years I lived in Northampton. Of course, this is a lot to do with the expat culture, which in such a foreign land as Japan, is very close. Sometimes too close – ie cliquey – but that bitchy little side of people has no bearing on my life, that's for sure!

I am aware that I am writing this in long-distant hindsight with rose-tinted spectacles. Obviously there were day to day pressures and not-such-good times, but they were obviously of little importance as I can't remember them at the moment!

So, with the exception of losing my lovely cat, Inti, I've had a wonderful first year.

Christmas Party Season

December 2007

We are not great party goers, but there are two we must attend for work reasons. And another I choose to attend at lunchtime because I adore the lady holding it.

So on 6^th December I had a real Christmas lunch with turkey, sprouts and all the trimmings. How wonderful! Goodness knows where the sprouts came from as I haven't seen them in the shops here. And there was Christmas pudding too! (I bought mine from Nissin a few weeks ago when they first hit the shelves so I didn't miss out for our Christmas dinner like last year. I also later found sprouts - they cost about £1 each!)

Our host is a long-term member of the "trailing spouse" community and has lived in many countries; including Japan some years ago. She regaled us with tales of trying to find lard so her cook could be taught to make pastries and Christmas pud for the visiting dignitaries of the time. Apparently the look of horrified disgust on the butcher's face was well worth the trouble of trying to explain precisely what lard was. And here it's perfectly normal to eat some very peculiar things indeed!

The next event was a kids' Christmas party which was very well attended. An enormous decorated tree was in danger of being pulled over by hoards of over-excited children so another room was opened up for them to charge around in. Dinner was served, but hardly any of the children ate anything – luckily we hungry parents didn't let the delicious titbits go to waste.

Strawberries are a traditional Christmas food here and the chefs had turned them into little Santas by slicing the pointed end off, squirting some cream on (for the head & beard), popping the end back on – the hat – and adding little eyes. Very cute… and very tasty. Strange to eat strawberries in December, but that's when they are in season here so taste incredible.

A lady magician gave an excellent show that Rhiannon couldn't stop talking about. Especially as she was asked to come on "stage" and assist with one of the trick. The magician was so good even I couldn't work out how she did that particular trick.

Then Santa paid a visit! Oh the excitement!! Dragging an enormous sack with him full of presents too! The children waited incredibly patiently for their name to be called and each one got their gift. I think the photo says it all, really!

A few days later it was time for the adults Christmas party at the same place. People got very dressed up for this, some even wearing full length gowns.I didn't. I did buy some "posh frocks" before we left the UK last year, but it turned out I lost a bit of weight in the stressful run-up to our move... and quickly put it back on again when we got here. Nothing fits me anymore. And naturally, there is no way I can buy anything here - it's hard enough to find clothes to fit me in the UK.

This time we all sat at large round tables with an incredible amount of food available. There were the most enormous turkeys I've ever seen, done to perfection with all the trimmings and more. Later we had a ceremonial dimming of lights for the flaming pudding to be shown off and after that, a quiz. Hah! Luckily we were at a table with some extremely clever people as the questions were very hard, and included some tricky questions purely for scholars or native Japanese. Our table won! The prize was a hamper of British food which then had to be shared between about 15 of us. I remember there was also a teddy, which as the only parents at that table, the others kindly donated to us.

Finally, we were told that whoever was sitting on a chair that had a ribbon tied around it got to take the table's flower arrangement home with them. I won that! So it was a very lovely evening and a great start to the Christmas season.Two full Christmas dinners, as well!

The flowers lasted long enough for Mum to see them when she arrived on 20^th December.

Some random photos of funny signs

December 2007

I could fill an entire blog with funny signs I've seen in Japan, but I will restrict them to when they appear in my monthly photo folder.

We saw this wall of white. Just there, on the street, doing nothing in particular apart from inviting people to draw on it!

How polite is this notice?

Can you imagine this in the UK? And yes, all the crayons were put back in the pot.

 

And now we know where Superman lives!

 

And this sign is one I see every day.

It's just up from the school and I have NO idea what it's referring to. It's at the top of some steps leading down under the road so must relate to whatever's at the bottom.

I sent it into the Daily Telegraph for inclusion into their "Sign Language" place and to my great surprise was actually included! http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/picturegalleries/signlanguage/4978119/Sign-Language-week-39.html?image=17

Thanks to Facebook - I found out it had been published by a friend in America who read a British newspaper online and sent me the link here in Japan!

Christmas Concert - mark 2

Friday 7^th December 2007

I have been so looking forward to this after seeing the wonderful performance just after we arrived here!

However, this year there is a change of format. It is to be held at the school's other campus (for years 4 and up) which is about an hour's drive away. We have been told, yes, told, by the school that all children MUST attend and that there is absolutely no parking at the school. Hackles rise...

OK. We assume that the new venue is larger so the show will be even better than before.

Oh dear. How wrong could we be?

It was not a good evening.

Firstly, we caught a cab – after all, no parking, right? And no Metro. Then the cabbie got lost making us fairly late, but still arrived just before the concert started. He refunded us half the fare, so not too bad.

Once in the enormous hall, there were very few seats left. Rhiannon had to go to the front with her classmates, while Tim and I found a place right at the very back. The large centre columns of seats were reserved. Who for, I wondered? It turned out to be completely full of governors and sponsors. The parents had to make do with the smaller side seats. Humph.

Anyway, we looked forward to seeing our girl on stage singing some carols or something.

Again, this did not happen. All that was on stage was the school's large orchestra, various school choirs and that was it. When it came to Rhiannon's year to sing something, all they did was stand up by their seats, turn around to face us and regale us with one of the most dismal and depressing carols ever written – "In the Bleak Midwinter".

Various dreadful readings, some awful musical stuff and that was it. Pitiful – but extraordinarily lengthy.

It was the most boring event I've ever attended and quite obviously only a showcase for the music department. The majority of children weren't included in the service unless they happened to be in a choir or orchestra. It was evident that this was a money-making exercise to raise contributions from the sponsors.

I didn't meet one, single parent who enjoyed the show. Even the ones whose children performed on stage were seriously disappointed.

Aikido - Proud Mum Moment.

8^th December 2007 (and 3^rd December)

Yeah, I got the posts out of sync, sorry!

Because Rhiannon has been taking two classes a week in Aikido, we have the pleasure of going to two "watching days". These more than make up for the dismal Christmas Concert (which you will hear about tomorrow... sorry!) as they are fantastic fun! The teachers are hysterically funny and the children clearly enjoy themselves very much indeed.

Proudly we saw Rhiannon achieve her yellow belt – 9^th kyu in this particular dojo. She is immensely pleased with herself and it's good to see the hard work recognised by changing the belt colour.

This doesn't happen in many dojos – most remain on a white belt until they make it to 1^st Dan ie black belt. But children, especially as young as this, need to see the change and progression. And the coloured belts make this possible, it gives them something to work towards.

 

And down he goes!

 

The ceremony of Receiving The Belt

 

Group Photo

 

She wouldn't change out of her Aikido kit! Doesn't she look pleased with herself?

Tattoo in Japan - and a Side Trip to Bolivia

Thursday 15^th November 2007

It's time for another visit to my lovely tattoo artist.

We'll be finishing the cover-up in January, but in the meantime there is a design I've wanted as a tattoo for a very long time. You'd better get some of the "back story".

Let me take you away from Tokyo for a while...

Way back in 1996, when I was young(ish), free and single I backpacked around the western coast of South America for about 4 months. It was my second visit to this, my favourite country in the world. My first visit was a month in the jungles of Venezuela in '94.

After visiting Costa Rica, Venezuela, Ecuador, The Galapagos and Peru, I finally ended up in Bolivia where I paid a visit to the amazing ruins of Tiahuanaco.

While there, I had, what can only be described as a spiritual experience. I cannot put it into words - it's all a bit weird - but it was a fantastic place and the entire trip was one of the best times of my life.

Fast forward to December 1999. I was working in the delightful city of Florence, Italy; living in a romantic old, typical Florentine apartment overlooking the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore - the Duomo.

One day, I passed a sign advertising an exhibition of objet d'art from Tiahuanaco! Of course I went. And still felt the same spiritual connection to the place.

I spotted a smooth stone recovered from the area, and on it was a spiral design that caught my attention immediately.

Scrabbling around in my handbag for a note book, I scribbled the design down and kept it with me for the next 8 years - through two major house moves, meeting Tim, childbirth and of course, to Tokyo.

Luckily, my tattoo guy was able to translate my dire drawing into the perfect tattoo.

The spiral represents the spiral of life - according to my Aymaran guide at Tiahuanaco - although many other meanings are attached to it.

I just love it. And I love the way it's been interpreted as a gentle piece of skin art.

It's on the base of my neck.

 

 

Japanese Symbols and a Brilliantly Timed Flashback

November 2007

I went to a little antique shop in Azabu Juban for a look-see.

They had a lot of very reasonably priced articles as well as some completely incredible and very old antiques – some dating as far back as the very early Edo era 1615-1868, possibly even the Azuchi-Momoyama period 1568-1615. With prices that had too many 0's to count. These were museum quality and therefore behind glass.

The cheaper items were obviously meant for daily use and many had a little damage or could be considered "seconds" with kiln marks or mis-painted patterns.

A couple of elderly ladies were in the shop and were happy to show me around, but spoke no English. I was in a phase of trying to identify certain extremely stylised symbols incorporated into the porcelain. We got on well with items such as "sakura" – cherry blossom, "ume" – plum blossom, "tsuru" – crane and "koi"… well, I think you know that one!

With some hysterical sign language they explained a pattern based on octopus tentacles, "tako-karakusa". (Further research tells me this is actually now considered to be a plant called the Octopus Vine). And taught me a load of Japanese names for other common symbols too.

We had a great time, and they wanted to learn the English for these words, so we went around the shop with me doing the teaching – as far as I could recognise the pictures. "This is a crane, this one is a plover, here's bamboo and pine. Oh, this is a cloud." When we came to koi, they were surprised and delighted that we use that word in English too. They diligently made notes and we had a wonderful time.

Then we came a bit unstuck. The symbol on a pretty plate was quite clearly a chrysanthemum. As Japan's national flower this appears regularly and is very recognisable.

"Aha", said I, "This is a chrysanthemum"… producing very blank looks and a lot of discussion between them. They obviously had never heard the word before in their lives. I recalled Mum mentioning a confusion when discussing the national flower with some Japanese people at an art exhibition. Again, the word was unrecognisable to them.

Suddenly from the depths of my mind came a vision of a bilious yellow perfume set from the 1970's (my parents owned a pharmacy where I spent a lot of time as a child). It had the same symbol on it. What was it called?? I wracked my distant memory and somehow it popped back.

Oh yes… "Kiku!" I exclaimed rather triumphantly.

"Ahhhh, Kiku!" they said, somewhat relieved. Then one of them trotted behind the counter, returning with an electronic translating machine commonly used here (see my previous post about how many kanji they have to learn!)

They typed in "kiku" and jumped back in horror at the word in English. Valiantly they tried to pronounce it, but all those consonants together proved too much for them.

 

You see, the Japanese language, whether written or spoken, has a vowel between each consonant. My last name is pronounced "Harretto Mobb-us".

You can understand why chrysanthemum was a little too much for them with five consonants in a row!

Japanese Kanji

November 9^th 2007

Today I went on a little course to gain some insight into the beautiful Japanese lettering, kanji.

It appears I cannot learn a language unless I can see the words written down. For example, with hard-won O levels in French & German, a smattering a Latin and an evening crash course in Latin American Spanish, I can read quite a bit of these languages, even though I can't speak them anymore. It also means I can work out some Italian and Dutch words, according to their roots.

However, this method is obviously not going to work in Japan!

Even though it was absolutely fascinating, I was hoping to be able to learn how to read the words, but the course centred on the evolution of the characters and their individual meanings rather than their pronunciation.

This site shows the sort of things I learned today.

Since then I've picked up a few more but don't necessarily know the sound AND the meaning, usually one or the other.

So I know that this 出口 means exit – very useful in the enormous underground car parks or train stations. Another useful one is 東京 meaning Tokyo.

This 分 means "minutes" and we worked that one out from various food cooking instructions. Don't know the sound – we call it the "jellyfish", so "boil for 7 jellyfishes" is now a standard comment here.

山 is "mountain" so I presume (for most of the time) that it's pronounced "yama" as in Fuji-yama. But I fully realise that this is doing the Japanese language, both written and spoken, a huge disservice. It seems that all the individual symbols have numerous meanings and sounds depending on the other kanji around them.

北 means north – and I also learned east and west but can't find the characters in my symbols list – sorry! We weren't taught south as apparently it was too complicated. Feel free to Google to learn for yourself!

There are more than 60,000 kanji. Children have to learn 1,006 kanji before they reach the end of primary school! Can you imagine?! To be able to read most books and newspapers you'd need to know 1,945 kanji.

The Japanese government have a kanji proficiency test for scholars. Apparently the highest score has been 6,000. So what's happened to the other 54,000? Does anyone know them?

Oh, and as well as kanji, there are hiragana and katakana to learn!

Katakana is used for foreign words, so my name looks like this: キャロル ハレット モッブス

On my meishi – business card - my name appears as above, most of my address is written in kanji because it's "original" Japanese, while "House" is written thus ハウス

I don't stand a chance, do I?!

Children’s Hall and Children’s Castle

November 2007

Each ward in Tokyo has a place called the Children's Hall. Entrance is free and is an activity based centre where children of all ages can join in various activities. For example, there is a music room where children can experiment with all kinds of instruments; a few arts and crafts areas where a different project is available on a daily basis. These are wonderful places. And, as I say FREE!

As an aside, entrance fees to all attractions, museums and so on here are extremely cheap if not free. When we go back to the UK during the summer we are astounded at the outrageous prices charged to gain entry to theme parks etc.

Although the areas are supervised, the children are encouraged and expected to just get on with it rather than be hovered over by their parents. Parent who hover and fuss over their kids are viewed as a bit odd, to be honest!

I highly approve of this. The first time Rhiannon went there she made something from wood (I can't recall what) but she was expected to use a hammer and saw – at the age of five. And this wasn't considered a problem for the health and safety brigade. This is the way kids should learn. I really think, in general, we pamper "our" (ie British) children too much these days.

Children's Castle is pretty much the same set up. It's called Kodomo-no-Shiro. As well as the activities on separate floors there is a large climbing gym, a computer playroom and a teen corner with table tennis. There's also a swimming pool. Children's Hall is more geared to younger children.

When we go now (2010), I sit in the rather sparse canteen and drink tins of coffee and do some research, study or read while Rhiannon runs all over the 6 floors partaking in whatever activity takes her fancy and making friends on the way.

The school had a little trip to the Children's Hall this month and learned a bit about another culture. I admit, my memory is not working this far on, and I can't recall which culture was being taught then. Anyway, she had a great time.

We still like going there.

Although I do get a bit bored after more than three hours sitting on uncomfortable chairs.

But it's free! Did I already say that?

A Cocktail Tasting Competition

Sometime in November 2007

Strangely enough I didn't remember this event until I looked at some old forum posts I'd recorded and have just discovered on my PC!

We went to a "do" which was a cocktail invention and tasting evening. It was a good night.

I drank 6 cocktails in five minutes - it must have been a tough day because it certainly wasn't a speed drinking contest!

The creators of these lethal mixes wouldn't tell us what was in them, but most tasted pretty foul. Perhaps that's why I drank them so quickly?

We then had to vote on our favourite – mine was something called an Edo Jidai and, rather scarily, was invented by a chemist…

Hic!

Hawaii – the end of the holiday

Saturday 27th October 2007

Most of our time in Hawaii was actually spent on the beach near the house with a few trips to various shopping malls for food and a look around.

So here are a few final photos of Rhiannon enjoying the surf! No, she didn't venture much further in to be honest! The waves just a few feet out were incredibly strong and even I found it hard to swim through them.

Travelling back through the airport, guess what? Yup, we were hauled over for yet another full search and interrogation. Not impressed.

With the dateline confusion, we left on Saturday and arrived on Sunday even though it's only a 7 hour flight.

Everyone had to go back to work and school on the Monday so we made a note not to do that again! Especially as Rhiannon was still on Hawaii Time and woke up at 3am - meaning I had to as well...

We must give ourselves a day to recover and unpack in future.

Sealife Park – Oahu, Hawaii

This was a trip especially for Rhiannon. Utterly obsessed with life in the oceans, she had seen signs for the Sealife Park and desperately wanted to go.

However, for me, it was deeply distressing. I completely detest the idea of dolphins (and most other animals, to be honest) being kept in captivity and forced to perform for the public. Seeing dolphins in places like this actually distresses me to the point of tears. The things we sacrifice for our children, though.

I refuse to go to zoos. Wildlife parks are a little better and the only "zoo" I have ever truly enjoyed was my hero, Gerald Durrell's, Conservation Trust in Jersey.

I kept my ideals to myself as much as possible so as not to spoil her day and took a few photos for her to remember.

While we were waiting for the "show" to start, Rhiannon went down to the horribly small tank to see the dolphins up close. One of them noticed her through the glass and came to take a closer look. She was thrilled although rather scared by the sheer size of it.

She was very pleased to have seen the creatures up close and personal, as it were.

I was just pleased to leave.

Hawaii – Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve

Another trip to another beach. Well, isn't that what Hawaii is all about?

http://www.threebestbeaches.com/uspac/hawaii/2008/12/hanauma-bay-nature-preserve-oahu-hawaii.html

This one is a specially created nature reserve (or Preserve, as it's called) and you do have to pay to get to it. From high up on the cliff the curved beach is magnificent. Apparently the bay was created from the crater of an ancient volcano that collapsed. Judging by the size of the bay that volcano was enormous.

Before being allowed onto the beach we had to watch a film about the nature there and how to protect it. Then we climbed down the path to the beach and found ourselves a nice spot amongst the crowds. A small café provided refreshments throughout the day and we had a lovely time in the warm, shallow, wave-free waters looking at all the pretty fish and doing a spot of snorkelling.

Once we had enough of the sand, we climbed back up the cliff and sat in the picnic area at the top of the cliff for a while with a drink. Suddenly a movement in a nearby hedge caught my eye. It was a mongoose! Then another one. Soon a whole band of them were darting in and out of the hedges. They appeared to be gathering nesting material rather than pinching scraps from the picnickers.

 

They kept me entertained for longer than the fish and I had to be dragged away in order to head back to the house.

Surfing in Hawaii

No, not me! I was enjoying lying in the soft white sand taking photos of the bucket & spade and laughing at Tim and Rhiannon's attempts.(For some reason my camera went all weird with these photos - perhaps the salt got to it. It recovered well though).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, the waves were pretty strong and after one particularly spectacular wipe-out, Tim discovered his wedding ring had been snatched by the sea. Rhiannon was very upset – she seemed to think that meant we weren't married anymore! So later that day we went & bought him another one. Not as nice as the original, sadly, but there we go.

 

And this is how surfing should be done.

Sight-Seeing in Hawaii

Driving around, just seeing what's to be seen. Mostly photos in this post.

This is a beach...

 

This is another beach. But not just any old beach - this was where That Scene from the film "From Here to Eternity" was filmed!

 

This is supposed to link to the scene from the film but I have no idea if it works as the post I see just shows a big yellow box...

The sea was really rough (so the waves in the film were accurate!) but I was thrilled to see turtles bobbing around in the waves.

 

A road...

 

Some greenery

 

A lookout point where there was a blowhole - impossible to catch on film!

That'll do for now. More tomorrow!

 

 

Picking Pearls at the Polynesian Cultural Centre

After dinner, we had to do some shopping of course!

Something that really caught my eye was a stall near the exit where you could choose an oyster for a few dollars, have it opened with due ceremony, and keep the pearl guaranteed to be inside. This turned out to be horribly addictive! I can highly recommend it – but do exercise restraint – having the pearls set can turn out to be rather expensive… It's called Maui Divers Pick a Pearl.

As the blurb from the website says – "the excitement starts when you select an oyster from an assortment presented to you. Anticipation builds during the ritual Aloha blessing of the chosen oyster. Then, the magical moment: a luminescent jewel emerges when the oyster is opened before you." Even though I knew it to be a given that there would be a pearl inside, Rhiannon was completely entranced.

The sales people were extremely skilled too – when you get your first pearl, you're offered a draw ticket, which amazingly enough entitles you to another FREE oyster. YIPPEEEE!! Only this next oyster contains TWO pearls ('coincidentally' in matching colours to the first pearl) and obviously intended for earrings.

And so it continued… we ended up having to set 11 pearls. No, I don't know when to stop! All my pearls were black and Rhiannon's were peachy pink.

As Rhiannon doesn't have her ears pierced, I pocketed the twin peach pearls with the intention of having them set in a necklace for her as a surprise. I knew that the shopping mall in town had a stall which did this so managed to set them before the holiday finished. When I presented the necklace to her at Christmas she was so thrilled she actually cried! Awww!

Hawaii - part 2

One of our big day trips was to the Polynesian Cultural Center. This is a sort of theme park without the roller-coasters that showcases the various cultures that make up Polynesia – New Zealand (Aotearoa), Fiji, Hawaii, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga and others.

Very much geared towards children as well as adults, there were plenty of activities for Rhiannon to enjoy. The "countries" are set out in "villages" and you follow a trail to each one. Once at the "village" there are people there dressed in their traditional clothing and showcasing their culture and skills. For example, in the New Zealand village, we learned how to whirl balls on ropes around without knocking herself out. Poi balls – these were great fun and we bought a pair home with us which we still play with. We also played a game with sticks which was originally used to help hand-eye co-ordination for warriors. 

Rhiannon also had the opportunity to "fish" at one point on the route – using a bent paperclip on a length of string baited with a ball of stale bread. Being Rhiannon, she actually caught one! The tiny tiddler managed to get trapped in the loop of the paper clip – apparently nobody had ever caught a fish here before! Let's hope Rhiannon's luck continues like this throughout her life.

I was intrigued to discover that this lavish place was created by Scientologists  Mormons – in fact one could take a special train to their church some distance away. We didn't.

A colourful display was put on in the afternoon with watercraft full of people "from" the relevant countries sailing up the river. Lots of music, dancing and all in all the day out was a fascinating and vibrant experience. (More babble after a load of pictures of the parade)

We had dinner there too (well, it was all included in the rather high price). The hall was enormous and we had to eat at a set time; it seemed like thousands of Americans were there too. We were placed at a long table with a number of other people, ate pretty bland food and watched a show from a great distance.

All the people we met were absolutely astounded to meet Brits in Hawaii. It's a heck of a trip to make from the UK, but not so bad from Japan.

Hawaii! – Part 1

Saturday 20^th October – Sunday 28^th October

I'm humming the "Hawaii 5-0" theme tune while I ponder how to document this trip. I've decided to just post lots of photos rather than ramble on as usual. This is mainly because there's a lot I can't actually remember about where we went and the names of places, sorry!

Tim booked a little house by the sea on the island of Oahu and hired a car which turned out to be a massive whale of a vehicle, soft on suspension and given to turning corners like an articulated lorry with a hangover.

Getting to Hawaii was – erm – interesting. We left late on Saturday afternoon and arrived on Saturday morning due to that wonderfully weird invention of The Dateline. Try explaining that to a just 6 year old girl?! I don't even get it myself.

On arrival we were hauled by airport security in for a full search which totally freaked Rhiannon out and made Tim extremely cross. We were the only ones to be subjected to this indignity – in a glass room in full view of all the other travellers. I should hasten to add, this was NOT a full naked body type search; we were just left hanging around in a fishtank awaiting the arrival of a large, terrifying female security officer to go over us with her whatever-detector. She was deeply unpleasant and immune to Rhiannon's fearful tears. Not a good start.

I forgot Hawaii was American...

Finally out of the airport hell, we found our way to the house which was delightful and only a few yards from a perfect white sandy beach.

We began to relax.

 

 

The Birthday Party

Sunday 14^th October 2007

Well, the day of The Birthday Party has arrived!

We spent yesterday afternoon and this morning putting the decorations are up – and they looked very feeble to be frank. The room was a lot bigger that we recalled when making the decorations. Ah well, hopefully the kids will be occupied enough not to notice. A friend has agreed to do the catering for us, so that's a huge weight off my mind. We bought an enormous birthday cake from Costco. (Rhiannon's actual birthday was on 12^th so she had a home baked one then).

We pop out for lunch then return to greet the screaming  hoards. Before they arrive, Rhiannon insists on dressing up as a mermaid and being face-painted before anyone else arrives. It was a bit of a rush job in the cramped bathroom there but the newly 6 year old was happy with it. No competitions will ever be won with my face-painting skills though. But the kids love it!

I set up my face-painting table next to the music system and am prepared with my mandatory bottle of champagne. After all, it's my 24 hours of hard labour that gave Rhiannon her birthday so I deserve a treat too. I figure I will probably spend about an hour painting faces then go and help out and enjoy the rest of the entertainment. I could not have been more wrong.

The children begin to arrive. Most of the parents drop them and scarper as soon as possible – understandable! But a couple of dear friends stayed and helped out. Little did I know that if it wasn't for Deb and Peggy the party would have been a total disaster.

Why? Well, it seemed that ALL the children wanted very complex face-painting, and it all had to be done NOW. I think there were about 30 kids there. I didn't get to move from my station for pretty much the entire 3 or 4 hours the party went on for. The boys weren't too tricky – they all wanted Spiderman or Batman, but the girls were more discerning and wanted fancy patterns. Not only that, it turned out they popped off to the bathroom after a while, washed it off and came back for another "look". Meanwhile, my champagne was going down very nicely indeed… and this also meant my face-painting skills and care went down proportionately. Some of the later Batmen looked more like racoons. And let's not mention the state of my drunken attempts of Spiderman… carnage!

Tim was a total star, organising all the children into the different activities. His painting of Ariel for "Pin the Shell Necklace on the Mermaid" was a huge hit – apart from the fact that many of the little ones couldn't quite reach high enough on the board so it became "Pin the Shell on Ariel's Boob or Belly Button" for them instead! Deb and Peggy ensured that the kids were fed and watered, taken to the bathroom when required and generally held it all together while I remained rooted to my seat surrounded by a demanding crowd, while getting steadily legless on my bottle of champers. Then someone produced another bottle of champagne and the face painting deteriorated even more dramatically.

I don't remember much after that…

Something that I DO remember however, is the rudeness of one particular mother. You may recall that someone didn't RSVP? Well, she turned up – with not just one child, but the invited child's younger sibling too.

Tongue loosened by the excess of alcohol, I remarked I wasn't expecting her or her TWO children as she hadn't replied to the invitation.

Her response? "Oh, I never bother to RSVP in case something better comes up" !!!!!

I was dumbstruck (for a change) and mindful of young ears listening in, kept my counsel (also for a change). I just said "Oh, well. Erm... there aren't enough party bags for your two, sorry".

Again, the utter rudeness of her response astounded me "That's OK, we don't need any of that sort of crap anyway". <Insert many swear words here>

I would have loved to have had words with her, AND to ensure her children didn't receive "crap" in the form of party bags, but Rhiannon ended up giving the bags out at the end of the party so the two children received them and two children with nice parents had to go without. A slightly sour end to an apparently fabulous party.

What a shame I missed most of it. But I will never, ever offer to face paint at a party ever again. Four solid hours in a chair… oh, my aching back. And a pounding head from the champagne and noise.

Next year we will have a SMALL party. And I will only invite POLITE people.

Apart from Work, Work, Work…

October 2007

Although I am incredibly busy with work, I do manage to make time to attend a couple of classes. Not language training, sadly – this requires too many hours for me to commit to.

Of course I continue with my Ikebana. I've got the bit between my teeth now and am really enjoying myself. Finally, I can make flowers look pretty in the vase!

Also, I went to a Cloisonné enamelling class which was rather fun and left me with a very amateur pendant and a small, rather attractive but ultimately useless pill box; and a yearning to get my own kiln!

Another "class" I went on was a field trip to an antique Imari porcelain shop. Well, I say "shop" but after meeting the group at Shibuya station (a miracle in itself!) several changes of Metro followed by a bus journey and a long walk, we ended up climbing a couple of flights of stairs in an anonymous tower block to a room containing a fine selection of small items.

The other members of the small group were all American and snapped up some interesting (to them) cups. They were made for the export market and if you held the cup to the light, the gently carved face of a geisha shone through the translucent china. They were marked "Made in Occupied Japan". Ouch!

The others pretty much swept the shelves clear, grabbing everything they could – especially the most expensive stuff. But for relatively little outlay, I managed to snag a nice little cup with paintings of Susuki - Japanese pampas grass - which is a favourite theme of mine, a nice rice bowl with circular emblems and a dinky little plate with unusual markings.

I am pleased with my little collection and even more so when the owner of the shop told the leader that out of all the buys, mine were the best and classiest choices.

Me smug? Yeah, a little bit!

Rhiannon’s Busy Life

As well as me being extremely busy with work, Rhiannon's school and social life requires a diary of its own!

The school is very well set up with extra-curricular activities, which we are both very grateful for and appreciate. Aikido is continuing on Mondays and Saturdays – she loves it! Then gymnastics at stupid o'clock on Friday mornings. A short – 8 week – course on "jewellery making" on Wednesdays, which is really only threading beads onto elastic. Rainbows on Thursdays and now she's started learning the violin too! She'd been going on and on about taking violin lessons since we arrived here (many of her peers have been learning from toddlerhood – remember, this is Japan…). So eventually we gave in. The racket is appalling…

Now, please, I don't want you to think I'm one of those ultra-pushy mums. I've never insisted she does all these classes; they are all her own choice and would do more if a) there was time and b) I allowed her. Besides, as they are available at the school I don't have to put myself out to ferry her anywhere, so it's all fine as far as I'm concerned!

Where (and when) I grew up there were absolutely no opportunities for me to try any of these activities: I did ballet for many years until I grew too tall (and discovered the teacher didn't allow en pointe work). Then I was forced to do piano lessons which I loathed with a passion. I can play the recorder though – very useful… not! And that was it until I discovered athletics when I got to comprehensive school. But that's another story.

However, I do think that all these are a bit too much as it doesn't allow her much time for playdates, which I think is pretty vital for an only child. So we will see how it goes after this term has finished.

Amongst all this we do manage to fit in a couple of sleepovers for her and what is becoming the regular weekend birthday party of one or other of her friends.

Not long until her big do too! Tim and I are still beavering away creating decorations for the hall.

Freelance Writing Work

October 2007

In between all the day to day life of school runs and getting used to living in Tokyo, I have been offered more freelance writing work. This is for the same people I write the Tokyo Tales articles for, as well as the garden articles by "Rose Henfrey", and a couple of quarter page "fillers".

Each month two extra pieces are required. These are  classified as "Time of Year" and a "General Article". So for each month I have to find a subject to write about relating to that month – not quite as easy as it sounds. For example, October would probably be Halloween, November – Guy Fawkes, something Christmassy for December and so on.  That's OK for this year, but what about next year? I need to write these about 2 or 3 months ahead of the relevant month. Lots and lots of research required – unpaid research – I only get paid for the final article.

The "General" article is a little easier to plan as, in theory, it could be about anything. However, as I used to run one of the local, community magazines that these articles are to go in, I know that a carefully chosen article can attract much needed advertisers. Therefore, it makes sense to write an article each month that the clients can include in their magazine to entice advertisers from a certain field. I write about things like tree surgeons, history of driving and the Highway Code (to attract driving schools) and alternative therapy articles, amongst many, many other things!

As well as the monthly article writing, I also receive all the other content required for the site: articles from other writers, puzzles and quizzes. All of which need to be proofed, edited where necessary, formatted for instant inclusion into the magazines, relevant photos sourced and finally create the various different types of files required by the users. After all this has been done I then start uploading them onto the site. The web-mastering of the version of the site at this point was very clunky and tedious. It required me to upload each file one by one - four files for each subject, write the code number on a scrap of paper, then put the code numbers on site in the relevant categories.

It keeps me VERY busy, often long into the night as many of the articles arrived just before the boss's deadline. But I enjoy it.

I try not to let it interfere with learning about my new home town though, but I'm so busy that I no longer have time to learn Japanese.

Shopping – Antiques and Japanese Screens

2^nd October – 3^rd October 2007

After our regular Tuesday coffee morning we all take a trip in Peggy's large car to a shop she's found called Yamamoto Antiques. This is not just a shop; this is an emporium of wondrous items from true antique tansus to modern replicas via second hand relatively modern chairs, clocks, coffee tables and beautiful porcelain hibachi. Items are piled on top of each other from floor to ceiling and sometimes it's hard to actually find a way through this large store. I can highly recommend a visit! One of the stranger items I discovered in this maze-like shop was an old British telephone – one of the dial ones just like we used to have in the "olden days".

On this occasion I didn't purchase anything but I went back on another occasion with Tim and we bought a small modern tansu which ended up being commandeered for Rhiannon's extensive art materials.

Then on Wednesday, Peggy and I make a trip to a very special shop on Omotesando, Fuji Tori. I was on a mission. For many years I have wanted to own a screen. And Fuji Tori sells screens – amongst many other beautiful Japanese items. I love this shop. One of the reasons we made our regular coffee mornings on a Tuesday was that Fuji Tori is not open on Tuesdays therefore saving me a weekly spending spree!

As I have visited this shop many times, the owner, Naohiro Kurihara, treats me as a valued customer and seems to admire my appreciation of Japanese art. He flatters me, telling me I have "black eyes" meaning I see the art as a Japanese person, not a gaijin. It's a fantastic ploy to encourage sales! He writes a column in one of the English language papers here and showed me some of them, including a picture of how Omotesando used to look – no shops!

Here is an excerpt from an article written about him:

Mr. Naohiro Kurihara is the proprietor of Fuji-Torii, a Japanese artworks and antiques shop located next to Kiddy Land, Omotesando. The shop was established in 1949, some 60 years ago. He has long watched the changes taking place in Omotesando. We interviewed him.

Before World War II, my father had a store in Ginza. After the war, he moved and started his business here. Harajuku was originally a "temple town" in front of the shrine. But the town burned to the ground during the war.

The area of Yoyogi Park, the south side of Meiji Shrine, was once a parade ground for the Japanese Imperial Army. After the war, the place was requisitioned by the occupation GHQ, and they built the Washington Heights housing area for the Occupation forces. Each residence was for a high-ranking officer and it had a broad lawn and a nice house, and this brought many customers to our store, so we often visited the place by delivery truck. I was only a child at that time.

Kiddy Land, next to us, was a foreign bookstore, but the store also started to carry quite sophisticated toys as foreign customers had often asked them if they dealt with toys, which they wanted to buy for their children. The place where the GAP store is now located used to be Central Apartments. There were many restaurants such as Italian, steak house, Chinese, Philippine. These restaurants also catered to Americans living in Washington Heights.

In 1964, when the Tokyo Olympics were held, the Washington Heights site was returned to Japan. Later, the media started reporting about small apparel makers in the area. Gradually, Harajuku began to draw attention as the city's latest fashion center. Beams, one of the well-known apparel makers, was there at that time. Takeshita-dori Street used to have many shops carrying reasonably-priced clothes for import and export. Years ago shops owned by TV "talents" were popular. Harajuku is a popular tourist spot for school trips from all over Japan. In the 1990s, after the so-called "bubble economy" burst, the number of shops managed by foreign-affiliated companies began to increase. "Ura-Hara" ? the small alleys that comprise "backstreet Harajuku" ? attracts fashion-conscious young people these days. Harajuku has been continually and dramatically changing for the past 60 years. Maybe, only our shop still exists among those shops which were open 60 years ago.

In the winter of 1971, I remember we enjoyed skiing the next day after a big snowfall. I guess people hearing this today would think it was unbelievable.

Omotesando in the early 1970's

Omotesando today

 

 

 

 

 

 

In my head, I have an idea of the type of screen I want – something gold with possibly bamboo on it. I love bamboo. I don't want people or scenery.

Peggy and I take a seat, accept the offer of green tea and watch while screens are displayed in front of us. Screens of all sizes and colours soon surround us but still nothing shouts "take ME home". Incredible paintings of branches of plum or cherry blossom stretch across the panels; the bamboo doesn't seem quite right somehow and gaudy flower carts don't appeal to me at all. The gold seems too… gold, too over-the-top, too bright. We are there for a good couple of hours looking, discussing and dismissing. The screens are all hand-painted by professional artists so each one is different.

Then, ever patient, the assistant brought out one I had specifically said I didn't want – scenery. Instantly I fell in love. The gold is a soft colour – not as garish as some of the others. The painting is exquisite, subtle yet strong and compelling. I feel I can look at it for hours. This information is copied from a similar screen on the Fuji Tori website:

"A four-panel folding screen made of multi-layered Washi paper pasted onto a wooden frame.  The background is finished with square gold leaves put on to the Washi, over which beautiful silk is stretched. Tranquillity is expressed in this waterside landscape depicting a pagoda and pine trees, painted in Sumi-ink and light coloured paint.Borders of silk brocade and a black lacquered frame tone up the entire work.  The artist's signature is on the bottom right." The artist is a woman called Sazanami Suzuki.

Entirely happy, I bought it. It was packed in a wooden box with special hangers if I want to hang it on the wall, and then gift-wrapped as is normal here in Japan.

I have enjoyed gazing at the beautifully peaceful scene every day since. The perfect choice!

Quick Round up to Finish September 2007

Oh lord, I am NEVER going to get this blog finished am I? Ah well, I can but try my best.

 

Tim and I start making decorations for Rhiannon's party. This involves trips to the fabulous Tokyu Hands to buy huge pieces of cardboard to cut out fish and other undersea creatures. An international supermarket called National Azabu has an upper floor selling all kinds of decorations so I invest in several miles of sea-coloured streamers, many packets of balloons and a series of party bag fillers.

Out of the blue, Tim arrived home one day with a 6 foot long inflatable Orca. As you do! We will suspend this from the ceiling of the hall.

We plan a set of activities with the intention of rotating groups of kids around the room. Pin the necklace on Ariel, face-painting, decorating mini-buckets, food, dancing and so on. I create a playlist on my Zen MP3 player and make sure the thing works with the PA system. It does. Goodo!

Everything seems to be going well in this respect. Apart from some people not RSVP-ing. This does irritate me – apart from manners, we need to have their details for the security guards on the gate to the area where the party will be held. I also need to know how many goody bags to make, so I email everyone who hasn't replied thus far and get all but one to reply – most are coming, which is fabulous! I have to assume the person that didn't respond won't be coming.

I have a hair appointment for a recolour. This takes AGES! But well worthwhile. My hair is extremely strong and resists bleach so it takes several attempts to get it light enough to take the cerise colour. But I'm very happy with the result… after four hours!

Rhiannon has joined Rainbows, but it really doesn't suit her at all. In general she just doesn't "get it" and I can't see her staying long, but we were in the waiting list for ages so we'll continue for now. There are a couple of girls who steal from her which required a nice chat to all concerned. This parenting lark is bloody hard work sometimes.

Friday mornings are a slog to get Rhiannon to gymnastics at 7.45 am, but the team who run it are absolutely fantastic and I can recommend them to anyone in Tokyo – it's ICan Gymnastics – run by the extremely charismatic and capable Mr Lee. Sadly the school has no gym equipment so all the kids can do is learn to tumble, which is good in itself, but not worth getting up at silly o'clock for. We look into getting her into other clubs with more equipment.

Saturday is a run-around with Aikido in the morning and a kid's party in the afternoon. While Tim and I have coffee in Starbuck I manage to not put the top on the coffee cup properly after putting in my 16 bags of sugar… a litre of hot coffee all over me. And I'm wearing cream trousers. Lovely.

I'm writing a Tokyo Tales article about something that I decided would be good with a photo of Maneki Neko - the "Beckoning Cat" so arranged these teeny ornaments for a photo that I don't actually recall using! They are about 1.5cm high.

 

And here is a gratuitous photo of a somewhat larger Raymi!

 

Imari Porcelain and Kyodai… aka SHOPPING!

Tuesday 25^th September 2007

After our regular "girls coffee morning" - enormous Latte, breakfast and a gossip at Starbucks, Peggy and I take a trip to a wonderful little antique shop I've discovered. Okura Oriental Art is a tiny little room situated just off a main road near Roppongi. I can't emphasise just how tiny the shop is (the pictures on the website are of a mysterious display building somewhere or taken with a very wide-angle lens). You have to be very careful just moving around in there in case you knock something ancient and beautiful off of a cabinet.

Antique tansus (chest of drawers and cupboards) are display cabinets for porcelain and storage for miscellany. These stunning tansu are also for sale. I wish I could get one, but sadly the terms of our stay here mean we are not allowed to ship any furniture. All our furniture in the house is rented and we gave away most of our furniture in the UK.

But there are many, small items I covet.

My soft spot is, and always has been, blue and white ceramics, pottery, porcelain - call it what you will - but here is the home of the best blue and white in the world. Imari.

The owner speaks English to a certain degree, and I have been doing my research, so we get along very well.

I am entranced by the numerous symbols of Japan. Stylised and zen-like brushstrokes take the painting of these icons to a subtle, yet strong level.

We spent a happy hour or so exploring this fascinating shop and I made my first foray into what would come a bit of an obsession. I bought the soba choku pictured above. This is a small cup that's filled with sauce to dip soba noodles in. It's about 6cm high. To my amazement I'm told that this delicate piece of porcelain is over 200 years old! In a land regularly shaken by so many earthquakes, how can something like this survive so long?

Periods of Japan are named depending upon the Emperor or Emperors ruling at the time. Most antiques here are from the following dates:

1603 - 1867 is the Edo era, generally sorted into 'early', 'mid' or 'late', without a particular date to these names. Tokyo used to be called Edo. For much of this period, Japan was completely closed to the rest of the world, allowing the arts and crafts to evolve in their own special and particular way. In 1854 the Japanese government was forced to open some port in order to trade with the world.
1868 - 1912 - the Meiji era.
1912 - 1926 - the Taisho era.
1926 - 1989 - the Showa era.
And, for reference, from 1989 to now, the Heisei era. But of course, no antiques from this one - yet!

So I guess my little cup is from the late Edo period - around 1807. Wow!

I also like boxes. Not sure why, but as the saying goes - what do you give someone who has everything? A box to put it all in! By no stretch of the imagination do I have "everything", but perhaps I am saving these boxes for when I do? I'm working on it!

Numerous little boxes exist in this shop. Suzuribako - inkstone boxes for storing calligraphy equipment, inbako - stamp boxes. I don't know what sort of stamps, but they have little compartments inside. Haribako are sewing boxes with an upright fixture. The small box at the top housed a pincushion and is thought to have acted as an extra 'hand' when sewing kimono.

It's hard to decide what to treat myself too. But then I spied the cutest little box with a hidden secret. 

When closed, it looks like a plain box, but lift up the front and there's a mirror! It's called a kyodai and is a dressing table box. At just 22cm high, this is the perfect size.

 

 

"Kore kudasai" ("I'll take this, please" - one of the first phrases I learned…!)

More than pleased with my visit and purchases, I head home happy and educated. Retail therapy is the best! It is, unfortunately, more expensive than a regular therapist, but it works for me! And you don't need to do it regularly. Allegedly.

This shop becomes "my" personal heaven over the next few years, so look out for more shopping posts to come!

Holiday Planning

End of September 2007

Yes, it's all about planning stuff at the moment!

We haven't had a holiday for ages. I don't count going back to the UK as a holiday as there was so much to do, and it felt very un-holiday-like. We've only got a week free at half term as Mum will be coming over again at Christmas.

So we need somewhere fairly close to Japan. However, nothing is close to Japan! It's quite surprising when we research further as all resort type places are about 7 hours flying away. We then have to decide what sort of holiday to go for. As usual, I lose.

Tim and Rhiannon like "ordinary" holidays - beach and pool. And, whilst I agree my type of travel won't work with a child in tow - previous trips of mine have included backpacking solo around South America and Asia - it still hurts that I can't visit places like Cambodia, Vietnam and so on. Yet… there's still time. Mum's a great traveller, heading off to far-flung lands and she's in her 70s.

Hawaii is settled upon and Tim books us a week in a bungalow near the sea with a hire-car.

I quickly warm to the idea of Hawaii; it has volcanoes! Seven hours away and we have to cross the dateline, so we will arrive before we leave.

Good to have something to look forward to.

Party Planning

Late September 2007

Rhiannon's birthday always catches me by surprise, which is ridiculous really. The date of her birth is obviously etched into my psyche - 12^th October. But planning for it has been left until the last minute this year.

The only reason I can think for this appalling memory lapse is that the new school term started only a few weeks ago and with all the new things I have to learn / do / organise / pay for, the fact that a certain little girl's birthday is looming gets squeezed out of my mind.

That is, until she starts asking how long it is until her party. What party? Heck!

The school have a policy of mixing all the children up each year, so she's no longer in a class with any her friends. There are four classes per year group. I'm not sure I approve, but can understand the reasoning from an adult point of view: the expat community is extremely fluid and the school takes the view that separating friends helps children adapt to when they eventually move away. From a child's point of view, however, this is disastrous.

So we decide to go all out this year and invite her entire class, plus her friends from reception year. That's a lot of kids!

In the UK, we had soft-play areas where all the stress of party-planning was removed. The children could run riot for a couple of hours, then the venue provided food for them. Not here though. There aren't any soft-play areas, no readily available child-friendly halls or restaurants prepared to put up with thirty 5 and 6 year olds; just nowhere (that I could find) to hold a party.

Under NO circumstances am I having the party at home. Even the mere thought of that sends me rocking into the corner.

It's too late in the year to hold a party outside - it's not that cold, but it is typhoon season so the weather is unpredictable.

What to do?

Tim came to the rescue, as ever, what a brainwave! We'd hire the big hall at his workplace. Perfect!

Invitations are quickly sent out with instructions to RSVP. It's vital to get the RSVP so that a) I know how many goodie bags to make and b) security to get to the hall needs to be sorted out. (OK, perhaps these points should have been reversed…!)

Rhiannon's very much into the "Under Sea" thing so Tim and I decide to decorate the hall with streamers of seaweed, shiny fish and other stuff on the walls to make it less "officey". I delegate much of the design work to him as I have loads of work on and he's a fantastic artist. We pop over to take photos in order to plan further. It's a BIG room.

Having so many children potentially coming we decide to have stations of activity and rotate the kids between them. Some crafty things, I will face-paint, pin the necklace on Ariel, and a couple of other activities I can't remember now.

Party Day is set for Sunday 14^th October. So just over two weeks to sort it out. YIKES!

Tattoo in Tokyo

Friday 21^st September 2007

I've mentioned my tattoos in a previous post. Now here's a bit more detail.

After several discussions and meetings with a tattooist recommended to me, I have decided on a way of getting my unsatisfactory piece sorted out. He's a true artist and a fabulous character.

There are very few pictures of me, so this is the only one I can find of the original. It's the Nazca Lines tree surrounded by an intertwined Celtic dragon and a snake.

This is what it looked like before it was coloured in, I should have just left it like that but I didn't.

 

After the tattooist in the UK coloured it in so badly.

 

 

 

 

My appointment is at 11am but before I can go and be 'me', I have to be 'mum' and attend the class assembly mentioned here. It all went well and I managed to whizz home, leave the car and catch a cab to the studio.

It will take a couple of sessions of about 4 hours each to sort it out.

We got on like a house on fire and the time just flew by accompanied by enervating chat about religion, politics and music.

I got back in time to do the school run wrapped in clingfilm. Rhiannon helped me clean it up and apply the ointment, bless her. She was very gentle, but I don't feel the pain really.

Next appointment on 15^th November.

Kasai Rinkai Koen and Sealife Centre

September 2007

We take a day out to visit this enormous park outside Tokyo. It's easy to find as there is a huge Ferris wheel nearby which is called the "Diamonds and Flowers" wheel. This is because of the beautiful light show it displays at night. We always see it on our way back from the airport and it is stunning. Of course, I don't have a photo of it in all its glory, typical! Each rotation (apparently) takes 17 minutes to complete, which advertisers sell as permitting "maximum kissing time"!

The park is a nice reprieve from Tokyo with a lot of space for walking. It lies on the edge of Tokyo Bay so there's a fresh breeze coming in from the sea and plenty of people watching to indulge in as well as a sea bird centre which we didn't visit on this occasion.

The main reason for our trip is to visit the aquarium as Rhiannon is still hugely interested in sealife. Outside the aquarium was a huge wall of water which attracted children like bees to honey. She got soaked! But luckily it's still very hot in Japan at this time of year so she dried quickly.

The aquarium was rather spectacular with the largest fish tank I have ever seen. In it I was amazed to see Hammerhead sharks and many other huge fish, crabs and all sorts of creatures. There was also a vast hall with a tank all around the edge. This was the main tank and has a viewing area in the middle. You are surrounded by a wall of fish (tuna) going round and round.

Aquariums are something that Japan gets very right. They are way ahead of the rest of the world in managing to keep certain creatures in captivity where other set-ups fail. The tuna roundabout being one of them. They have also invented a special tank to display jellyfish which is absolutely fascinating. And I also saw a Nautilus in one of the aquariums here. Fabulous creatures!

While I enjoy visiting aquariums, all the lights and tanks do weird things to my eyes and give me a headache so I can't stay in there long. I made my way outside to wait for Tim and Rhiannon before I ended up with a migraine and lay on the grass outside with a tin of iced coffee from a vending machine. How very Japanese!

A lovely day out.

Another one of those quick round ups…

First three of weeks of September 2007.

After surviving the Typhoon, it was time to get on with the minutiae of everyday life.

I registered for some classes again at the TUCWS, managed to get Rhiannon to her gymnastics classes at stupid o'clock each Friday and had lovely coffee mornings on Tuesdays with my friends. Rhiannon's still really enjoying Aikido and has signed up for more extra classes on Saturday mornings. 

Tuesday has been marked as my "day off". My helper comes on Tuesdays and I find it hard to work while someone's around. It's also a day when one of my favourite shops is closed, so I won't be tempted to end our coffee morning with a shopping spree! This shop is full of stunning Japanese arts and crafts. Some are antiques which are way out my price range, but the modern articles are gorgeous. I've already bought a number of tea cups, sake sets and other bits and pieces and am eyeing up a real Japanese screen. One day…

Tim and I have an evening out - to a school-organised "meet the parents and teachers" do. It was memorable for the dreadful food and the fact that we swore never to attend another one.

Rhiannon's class are holding an assembly which we are expected to attend, and do so willingly, of course...!

Coming so soon after starting back at school, the children  must have worked very hard to learn their parts. Parents sit on miniature chairs at one end of the hall; the teachers sit around the sides and all the other classes troop in and sit on the floor. As you can see, Rhiannon was pretty nervous, although in my opinion she did extremely well. How scary is it to stand up in front of loads of people and say your piece? Many adults couldn't handle this, but Rhiannon's voice was clear, unwavering and easily heard.

A couple of playdates, a couple of birthday parties for Rhiannon to attend and that's about it for the day to day life in September.

Some more interesting things coming up in later posts though!

Typhoon!

6^th - 7^th September 2007

[From Wikipedia - A Pacific typhoon or tropical storm is a tropical cyclone that develops in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean between 180° and 100°E.]
In other places it's called a hurricane.

Basically it's Weather with a capital W.

Well, here's a new experience. It appears Tokyo is in the path of a rather nasty typhoon. Apparently it is due to hit between 6pm and midnight and is likely to be rather bad....
Meaning that school may well be cancelled tomorrow as well as all the other activities we have planned. All sorts of horror stories are being imparted to me about houses being blown over and so on.

At least with earthquakes you have no warning (I never thought I'd ever say that with relief!). Having this warning makes it more worrying as I have time to think about it! The current prediction is for approx 110 mph winds. Eek!

So, hopefully this has all been blown out of all proportion and I will be around as normal, or... goodbye and thanks for all the fish!

Later that day I sent a message - "It's very windy and pouring with rain, but nothing out of the ordinary yet."

Abridged from a local news source on the day:

Japan issued warnings for high waves, strong winds and flooding, and more than 140 flights were cancelled as Typhoon Fitow approached Tokyo with gusts as high as 198 kilometers an hour (123 miles per hour).

The eye of Fitow was about 250 kilometers south of Tokyo at 8:50 p.m. Japan time today, according to the latest advisory on the Web site of the Japan Meteorological Agency.

The storm was moving north at 15 kilometers per hour. The eye of Fitow is forecast to make landfall on the Izu peninsula, southwest of Tokyo, at about 10 p.m. and pass over the western outskirts of the capital a few hours later.

The agency issued warnings for high waves, heavy rain and flooding for Tokyo and surrounding prefectures because of the typhoon, which is classified as 'strong'. The storm is expected to dump 50 centimeters (20 inches) of rain on Tokyo and adjacent areas.

Another message I sent: "It's now 1130pm and I'm still here! The name of the Typhoon - Fitow - means "beautiful fragrant flower", seriously! It's only got a name because it originated in Micronesia. The Japanese Met Office, being unsentimental souls have given it a number – 0709.

By the next morning it had all "blown over" with us waking intact in our own beds and not in the middle of the adjacent park as expected

The main problems appear to have been out of the centre of Tokyo.

Again, an update from a local news source: Heavy rain and strong winds lashed Tokyo on Friday as a typhoon neared the capital after killing one person, injuring at least 35 and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes. (a tree fell on the man, and other injuries were people being blown over or having car windscreens smashed) In Tokyo, train service was disrupted and pedestrians struggled to hold onto umbrellas. (sorry, but this made me laugh!)

Some kids didn't go to school but all the non-Japanese went in as normal. The British amongst us were puzzled as to why a little rain and wind would stop people doing normal things!

Back to School!

Tuesday 28^th August 2007

Oh yeah! At last, the long summer holidays are over and Rhiannon goes back to school. Now she's in Year 1 and is thrilled to have the fabulous Mr B as her teacher this year. This is the fun-loving guy mentioned in the post about Japanese Day who dressed up as a lady…

All the children adore him as well as all the parents, so we are very happy for Rhiannon. The only sad thing is that this school deliberately separates friends each new school year, so Rhiannon is upset that she won't be with her special friends. This "policy" thinks it's a good idea to split friends up regularly so the children get used to the peripatetic nature of expat life… That may be a good move, but it's painful to see your own child upset like this.

"The Girls" - my little group of special friends are still together though! We drop our children at school, have a quick nose around the class and swiftly make out way to Starbucks for a long gossip. We vow to make this a regular Tuesday meet. For me especially, this is much appreciated as a work-from-home-mum, I rarely get to talk to adults. Well, apart from Tim, that is!

Another fantastic option now that Rhiannon is in year 1 is something called "drop off". Rather than me having to find a parking place near the school and walk her to the school door or fetch her after school, I can drive by and drop her off in the morning. After school, I drive by again and collect her.

This isn't quite as straightforward as it sounds because there are hundreds of other cars doing the same thing in a narrow one-way system. Naturally, most of the expat cars are enormous people carriers driven by women with an overinflated sense of entitlement and an underwhelming knowledge of driving protocol. Meet one of them in the only two way road and there is no way they will reverse or move out the way. They probably can't reverse their monstrous cars; even with the built in reversing camera they all seem to come with. Some even feel it's their right to drive the wrong way down the one way street. Very annoying.

Later in the week we get a list of classes and clubs the kids can join. Rhiannon wants to sign up for Gymnastics and Rainbows, so that's OK: apart from the gymnastics starting at a ridiculous 7.30 am in the morning. There's also an out of school class where she can learn Japanese, so I sign her up for a trial run there. With all the work I'm doing now, I can use any extra hour in the day I can get.

She's also desperate to play the violin so we will reluctantly look into that. She's been talking about playing the violin for over a year now and even asked Santa for one for Christmas… He gave her a toy Hello Kitty one. She was disgusted. Oh dear!

I didn't have the chance to try all these things as a child, so if she wants to, I'm right behind her.

Travel Advice for Japan

Quite a few people email me asking for advice on travelling to Japan either on holiday or in one case, on relocating completely.

Mostly, I never heard from them again (did I frighten them off?) but one lovely couple kept in regular touch.

Michael & Glynis Thomson made a long dreamed of trip to this beautiful country and managed to fit a lot of sight-seeing into a relatively short time.

Once again, unfortunately, I've lost their original emails and my replies, but I kept this one as they enclosed a gorgeous photograph of them in front of Mount Fuji.

Hi Carole,

I felt that a quick email to you in Tokyo would be in order. Why? Well having read, with great delight your many excellent articles on Japan in our local "Freebie Booklet", I then am happy to say spent an excellent fortnight in the country in question!

Everything you said was a great help to us, on this trip of a lifetime. My wife and I are both ex-art teachers, so you can understand that Japan had to be paid a visit (This is a forty year old dream) to see for ourselves the "real" stuff!

Well the dream came true and we had a really wonderful time all round.

Our trip took us from Tokyo to Nikko, Bandai National Park (Snow still up in the mountains ) Fukushima, on to Toyama-Shirakawa and the GasshoZukuri thatched houses, to Nagoya-Toba and then on to Osaka.

Next came a trip to Matsue, Hiroshima followed by an excellent link in a "700" Shinkansen train to Kyoto. Spent a great time in this city, to continue to Hakone National Park and a cruise on Lake Ashi.

Japan is a strange country but I could cheerfully live there!

I have many interests in Japanese things, one being a collector of Japanese toys- the best being "Pla-rail" which this year celebrates 50 years of age! (See my trains on YouTube under the name of:-plarailmike)

However, enough about me, all I can say to you is, please keep on writing your super articles on Japan for my wife and I to read!!

Best regards,

Michael J. Thompson.

HELLO TO MICHAEL & GLYNIS!! Thank you for following my very slow blog and please feel free to fill in my many blanks about our email conversations! I'm so happy I could help you a little bit with your dream trip.

Email Me!

This blogging platform isn't the easiest for finding where to comment on posts, so I quite often get emails instead. Which is fabulous! Thank you!!

I've now sorted out my Japanory email system so I will be informed straight away of any new emails and won't keep you waiting for months for a reply (I'm really sorry about that)

If you want to contact me the email address is [email protected]

As I mentioned previously, when I recently changed web-host I lost all the emails received apart from a couple I saved in a page on this blog which I've now removed to make it look a little tidier.

 

Just a note to say I love reading your blog, it's really fascinating.

My husband recently visited Japan and we both read your site with interest before he left, it certainly opened his eyes to how very different the culture is to here in the UK.

I think you really capture the mood of what it is like to be a stranger in a country and how life's simple pleasures - buses! - can make such a difference!

Keep up the great blog - love reading it. R

 

Just wanted to tell you how much I've enjoyed reading your blog. I read most of it some time ago and have just been back to read your latest pieces. Your descriptions of your life in Japan are so vivid that I've been madly googling the places you talk about so that I have more pictures to go with the images your writing has created in my mind. I hope you'll be writing more (and more often!) so that I can keep up with your life.

Thank you for letting me share your experiences with you. H

 

Enjoying the site very much.

If ever you get to Kyoto please send lots of photos - it's a dream destination, but not in this lifetime! Enjoy your experience. D

 

Thank you for a most interesting website. I shall certainly bookmark it as well as pass it on to all my friends. Keep up the good work. R

“Fan Mail”

Sorry - bit of a delay updating this due to a major computer problem over the weekend.

Note to self - if my husband offers to rebuild my computer for better performance... REFUSE! It's taken two extremely late nights and much anxiety on my part for it to come back to life. I only wanted a new graphics card!

However, it reminded us of a time many years ago when we worked together on a job in Lyons, France. We had to rebuild a network 11 times before the new software finally worked. We finished at 4am then. Two days later, the server caught fire...

It's good to remember those days!

Anyway, back to the slightly closer past!

 

Perhaps even more than the thanks from the publishers, it was the emails from their readers that really impressed me. Especially when the owner of the publishing company where I sold my articles decided she no longer wished to run them.

This one in particular made me extremely proud and sad at the same time.

Proud that a Japanese woman enjoyed my view of this fabulous country, and sad, of course, because nobody would get to read any more articles. Unless they read Japanory, of course!

Hello Carole,

As a Japanese woman who is living in Edinburgh for 20 years, I want to say your Tokyo Tales are amazing. There are many Japanese fans for your articles and we are all disappointed that we can no longer read your articles any longer.

Your unbiased vision of life in Japan is refreshing not only for Japanese but also for those who have little real knowledge of Japan.

Your articles have made me happy and many thanks to you.

Y

A Disappointed Publisher

Following on from the cancellation of my "Tokyo Tales" articles, I received this sweet email from one of the publishers. I had many others too, but haven't kept them due to a long overdue and over-enthusiastic clearout of my private email. Bad me!

Hi Carole,

Just wanted to say that through T**** I have used all your Tokyo Tales articles in my magazine and am really sorry to see them go. They were the best article on there and really popular with my readers who will be as disappointed as I am.

Thank you, they gave a fascinating insight into life in Japan.

In Response to the ‘last’ published “Tokyo Tales” article

I was asked to finish writing "Tokyo Tales" at the beginning of this year. The final article was published in March 2010. I had to pretend I was leaving then. But as you all know, I'm still here in Tokyo!

So it was a little misleading to my readers. If you were one of them my apologies for that but I had to do as I was told…

This lovely email arrived after the last "Tokyo Tales" was published in one of the magazines. This was one of the emails that got lost during the web-host changeover and I only copied the text. If you were the writer, please do get in touch again!

A HUGE thank you to her for her vivid descriptions.

 

Hi Carole,

I felt compelled to write to you today as I was sat reading your latest offering of Tokyo Tales in the C**** T*** C****.

My husband, two daughters and I, like your family, set off on an adventure to Japan; ours began in January 1996 and ended in July 2001. T was 2 & 1/2 and S just 11 months old when we arrived. We lived in Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture. Having no preconceived ideas, we were not fully prepared for what was to come!

It was your comment 'my time in Japan has been one of the happiest periods of my life and it will be a wrench to leave this incredibly beautiful, culturally fascinating and remarkable country' that stirred emotions in me that took some time to come to terms with back in 2001 and the following couple of years! My feeling exactly!

On returning to the UK I would often find myself daydreaming about going to Jusco's or Kasumi to do my shopping instead of our local Sainsbury's for example. I remember it so clearly, it's incredible! I have never been homesick for anywhere before. When we left Japan it was the longest time I had ever live in one place, having travelled lots as a child myself. Looking back I realise it took quite some time for me to settle but life with children is always busy; for the following 5 years my husband worked in M***** so he travelled back & forth every 10 days and we would visit during the holidays. The girls loved this new adventure, but for me it never quite replaced the feelings I had for life in Japan.

I have read all your 'tales' that have been published in our little magazine and it has brought back the most wonderful memories for us all - we too have an extensive photographic library of our 5 & 1/2 years - I think we took on average, 80 rolls of film every year! I imagine that if we had a digital camera then, we would have thousands upon thousand of images!

I could ramble on for hours, but suffice to say, enjoy the remainder of your time in the land of the rising sun - soon will be Plum Blossom season followed by my favourite; Cherry Blossom. You may like to visit Kairaku-en in Mito, as it has the most spectacular Plum Festival if you've not been before. http://www.jref.com/practical/mito.shtml

I look back so fondly on the time we spent there - hoping one day to find somewhere that will feel like 'home' as much as Tokai did for us!

Best wishes,

A

Testimonials from Publishers

I really did appreciate receiving these. It takes me a long time to write and edit the articles down to a small size, so it's nice to have my work acknowledged in this way.

Some of the published Tokyo Tales articles have been uploaded onto Japanory - the link is over on the left column. I'll get the rest uploaded "sometime"!

Right now (as in Spet 2010!) I have a lot going on in my life that needs clearing before I can start writing "proper" Japanory posts. I'll be back soon!

 Meanwhile, back to the lovely testimonials from publishers and their readers.

Just had to tell you our new mag went out to our new 'upmarket' area - delivery started yesterday and the distributor rang at 8.50 this morning to say they were just finishing the area off because they didn't have time last night.
Five minutes later the phone rang. This bloke had just got the mag through his door while he and his wife were having their breakfast, and he just wanted to say what an excellent magazine, they are very impressed with the quality and great content and especially liked the "Tokyo Tales"! M & L

I always use Tokyo Tales - as everyone says it's quite unique and different from the usual articles A

I use "Tokyo Tales" every month - I love it, thank you Carole S

 

Thank You part 2

Here are a few comments I received from the publishers of the local, community magazines that published "Tokyo Tales".

My thanks to them for including the articles!

 

Thought I'd let you know that I had a call from one of my readers this week saying how much they enjoy Tokyo Tales and wondering whether you give speeches! I explained that you probably do but it is unlikely that you will be able to make the journey from Japan!!! He was very disappointed and asked me to pass on his good wishes. J

 

"Tokyo Tales" is a favourite with my readers, judging from comments from people when I am delivering. H

 

I love Tokyo Tales, I've always run it in my magazines, right from the start, in fact I think I started a month before everybody else did I was that keen to get it out there. It's very different to everything else I run and makes for a very interesting read. We can sample how it would be to live in Japan through seeing it through your eyes. M

 

I love Tokyo Tales! It is very unique and is a world so different from the UK and I run it every month and with some special photos - I've given it 4 pages this month! T

   

I always use Tokyo Tales too because it's so different! Double page spread for Christmas/New Year issues! Please keep it coming. A

 

Thank you

There will be (another) slight lull in blogging while I get my head down to do some work - I need to try and earn some money!

In the meantime, I am going to post some of the lovely emails I've received in response to the published articles - Tokyo Tales. These pieces were published in numerous local, community magazines for just over 2 years.

Thank you is such a simple phrase, but one that is often not used so I feel very privileged that people took the time and effort to email either me, or the magazine's publisher, with their comments. They made me very happy to know my scribbles were being read and enjoyed.

I'll spread them out over a few days to allow me to continue updating the blog with something! Sadly, some of the emails were lost when I moved web host recently, but here is a sample.

Please allow me a little indulgence for the next few days! 

 

I discovered your email address in our local mag. It was printed below one of your articles.

I gave it to my daughter who is in year 1. The class are studying Japan so they all found your stories very interesting. I would like to say thank you for taking the time to share the experiences of your new life.

Good luck for the future. I will be visiting your site for updates to pass on to the class!!! C

 

 

On browsing through a back copy of The H****** Directory my eye caught your “Tokyo Tales”. With a trip to Japan coming up I avidly read 'The Joy of Bento'. And, what was even better I found another copy and discovered 'Japanese Weddings' - the reason for our trip is that we have been invited to a wedding in Kyoto. So I was absolutely thrilled to read what we might expect.

I thought it might be rather nice to speak to the author of these Tokyo Tales (thinking the person probably lived somewhere nearby and could drop by for a coffee!). Instead of which, here I am emailing you across the other side of the world! (Still drinking coffee, though.) H

 

 

Just to let you know that I am a follower of “Tokyo Tales” which appears in the 'O**** Press' every month and as a result am following your Japanory blog!! S

Memory Jolt - On Travelling with Child

July 2007

I can't believe I forgot to add this to my posts about travelling back to the UK with Rhiannon.

At the Passport Control in Narita airport, Rhiannon and I were delayed for some considerable time while the officer looked very carefully at Rhiannon's passport, his computer, some papers and back again. He looked deep into Rhiannon's eyes, asking her to move closer to his cubicle. Eventually he allowed us through.

Then it hit me. I've been told several times that Rhiannon bears a resemblence to Madeleine McCann. Certainly when she was younger, the similarity was very strong.

It was good to know that officials on this side of the world were very actively looking for Madeleine. I hope they still are.

Until this point, Rhiannon didn't know anything about Maddie's disappearence - news here is pretty localised and Rhiannon is extremely sensitive to things like this (as we all are, of course). But on our return journey through Heathrow posters of Madeleine were everywhere which naturally prompted questions from my 5 year old. I told her what had happened: it gave me a chance to give her a lecture on "stranger danger".

However, while I was buying some duty free, she suddenly disappeared! This isn't something Rhiannon ever did - she was never a "runner", always stayed close... until that moment.

My heart stopped. With all the horror still very fresh in my mind... well, any mother reading this will understand the rapidity of scenarios that flash through your brain at this point.

Five very long minutes later I found her. She'd gone to look at the fish tanks surrounding the Creme de la Mer stand and several lady shop assistants were anxiously keeping one eye on Rhiannon and the other looking out for a frantic mother - me.

My heart started beating again.

 

As a terrifying coincidence, we'd all been on holiday near Praia da Luz six months before Madeleine's disappearence.

 

Please keep looking for this beautiful girl.

http://www.findmadeleine.com/home.html 

 

  

O-bon - a Festival

Sometime in late August 2007

Shortly after returning to Japan we went with some friends to an O-bon festival.

 

It was a treat for all the senses with the sight of refined and charming dancers, haunting melodies and strident drumming entertaining our ears. Our noses and mouths were full of with the heavy scent of burning incense and delicious local food. All combined to make for an extremely memorable evening.

O-bon is a family orientated festival held in the months of July or August depending on the region. This centuries old Buddhist ceremony is a memorial festival to honour ones ancestors. O-bon is one of Japan's three major holiday seasons and families try their hardest to get together.

The belief is that each year during O-bon, the spirits of our ancestors returned to this world in order to visit relatives. Lanterns are hung in front of houses to guide the spirits home, families gather at the graveyard to reminisce about lost loved ones and food offerings are made at temples and small altars within the home. These home altars are very common and can be purchased from the most department stores or specialist shops. The altar is decorated with flowers and tiny paper lanterns which are lit on the first day of the festival and on the last day these little lanterns are lit at the graveside to guide the spirits back.

During O-bon special folk dances called bon-odori are held all over Japan. The one we went to was held in a park square with a large fountain as the centrepiece. The fountain was lit by multicoloured changing lights and at one end of the square a tall platform was erected on which taiko drummers performed. Above our heads were streamers of red lanterns and around the circumference of the Park were stalls selling all kinds of food, drink and most importantly, kakigori (shaved ice). It was extremely hot even though it was evening.

 

Many people gathered around the fountain, most of whom were wearing light cotton summer kimono called yukata. Some groups of ladies were wearing what appeared to be a uniform with matching yukata and obis. They carried fans which were tucked into the back of the obi when not being used.

 

 

Music started with the pounding rhythm of a number of large taiko drums.

Each region has a specific local dance and the way in which the dance is performed differs throughout the country. Typically the people line up in a circle and move around either the stage or in this case the fountain. The dances apparently tell stories of the area's history, geography or specialisation, so some dances may show the movements of miners, rice picking or rivers and mountains.

 

 

What was depicted by the dancers we watched is a mystery, but the hand gestures and gentle movements were incredibly elegant and beautiful. Often fans were used in the dance which served to emphasise the gracefulness of the moves. Everybody joined in including my daughter and her friends who were accepted with a smile and a helping hand. What amazed me most was how all members of society joined in, from elderly gentlemen to leather-clad youths, each knowing the precise and intricate choreography of each dance.

This spectacle was repeated over and over again, the music and steps changing occasionally, until finally a compère arrived on stage to sing special O-bon songs and announce the end of the ceremony.

It was a moving, beautiful and spectacular event.

Summer in Japan

Thursday 9^th August 2007 onwards…

Returning through the beautiful and efficient Narita airport was far less stressful than the UK travesty.

Tim met us at the gate and drove us home.

It's HOT! Oh my god it's hot!! Thankfully we have air-conditioning. Raymi's ears are a state so I booked a vet's visit for him in case it's something worrying. (Turns out he has an allergy to mozzie bites, same as me, and the only cure is a) keep him inside and b) regular steroid injections. So we leave it as they don't seem to bother him too much).

And the cicadas… LOUD! And constant. Now I like the sounds of a real jungle, but this is something entirely different. For a start they aren't tuneful. There are no trilling frogs to provide the melody. And they are LOUD. Did I mention that?

Towards the end of the month they start dying and Mum asked me to collect one for her so she can paint it when she returns at Christmas. (That's paint as in "artist" not "decorate the dead bug" - just thought I'd clear that up as someone I told about this got confused…) I started off by keeping it in an opaque Tupperware tub, but forgot it was in there so made myself jump each time I opened it to see what was inside. So I moved it to a clear one. The 35mm film shows the scale.

 

 

Jetlag this way around is harder to get through - I wake absolutely ravenous at 3am and find it hard to function for some time. Rhiannon wakes very early too. But after a few days, she sleeps about 14 hours straight, lucky girl! Unfortunately, this was on the day that we had people come round to replace our ridiculous oven... with a new one that's exactly the same. So I had to wake Rhiannon up before I wanted to.

Tim has two outings arranged for us.

One is to take Rhiannon to DisneySea - a watery version of Disneyland, apparently. I haven't been.

The other is to an O-Bon Festival one evening

Things We DIDN’T do in England!

One of the main things we didn't achieve while in the UK was to get our address changed with our bank. I'd better not name names, I suppose, but their service has been unbelievably awful. We would normally change banks immediately in the face of such incompetence, but it's impossible to open any new accounts while you're living overseas - you need personal ID confirmation and proof of address. Which of course, we don't have.

Before we left the UK in 2006 we both wrote numerous letters and filled in countless forms requesting change of address. I was forced to travel 10 miles into town as they were unsure of my signature. On that occasion it turned out they had lost all the paperwork dealing with my name change after marriage and so I had to go through all that again. Unbelievable.

We'd set up a mail re-direct for a few months sending everything to Mum's house where she would sort through the junk mail and send relevant letters onto us. Which is how we realised no change of address had taken effect with this particular bank / building society.

Tim set up all his accounts to have his work address on them while I set mine up to come to our home here in Japan. Neither had been actioned.

So every time we passed one of their branches we would go in to try again. And again. AND AGAIN!

We got precisely nowhere. (It took 2 years before they finally got my address changed successfully and this involved me writing a four page complaint letter to their head office. Which, coincidentally, was just 4 miles from our old home in Northampton! If only I'd known before we left the UK.)

I don't have great hopes for much success when we move again.

 

There were other things we didn't do either, but in the interest of family harmony I have just deleted that paragraph. It may arise again later…

 

 

Things We Did in England - Part 2

At the end of July we hired a car and drove down to Devon for a change of scene.

Luckily, I have a base there and so we stayed in Exeter and did touristy things. We visited a beach on the north coast (brrrr!), hiked on Dartmoor (my spiritual home) and met up with Devon friends.

Near the house is a river and Rhiannon was delighted to see this bundle of super-cute ducklings. There is also a swans' nest but the cygnets are large now and begging for food with their parents. Rhiannon called them "swanlets" which I think is far nicer and very endearing.

We finalised the shopping expedition and stocked up on kid's  clothes; a nice winter coat for school, socks, tights and so on that are impossible to find in Japan. Sainsbury's was also ransacked and I treated myself to a huge pot of real Clotted Cream and stuffed myself daft on scones and meringues slathered with this delicious taste of "home". (I grew up in Devon, in case you were wondering!) 

Another memorable trip was to the Miniature Pony Centre where Rhiannon had a wonderful time patting and hugging the dinky foals and riding around a ring. She seems a natural horse-rider so in the future perhaps we'll take this further. I haven't ridden for years; quite fancy a hack. One pony was fat and tiny and had a dreadful trot - how I laughed to see Rhiannon bobbing around like a demented toy! It reminded me of the wonderful Thelwell drawings.

 

 

Then it was time to get Tim back to Hampshire ready for his trek back to Japan. Naturally, Rhiannon was sad and tearful about this - she's very much a Daddy's girl - but we'll be heading back ourselves soon enough. Once again, he made me promise to return too! Bless him - as if I'd give him up to stay in England - crazy thought. The fate of his friends is obviously very much at the forefront of his mind.

Rather than allow Rhiannon to dwell on his leaving, I take it upon myself to drive all the way back down to Devon the day following his departure. What a nightmare! It was a very stressful trip with a whinging child and aggressive British drivers.

Back at our Exeter home, I let her run off some steam at the local park, got some fish and chips and, when she was finally in bed I relished the absolute peace and quiet of a Devon night.

Knowing my total lack of any sense of direction Tim bought a GPS before he left, so I programmed in a trip to somewhere I remembered going as a kid - Becky Falls.

OMG! I had totally forgotten about the Devon roads! Sooooo narrow, with enormous hedges on either side with the chance of turning a corner and meeting either a local car at top speed, a flock of sheep in the road or a huge tractor. To think I used to bomb confidentally around these roads as a teen is terrifying to remember.

Becky Falls has changed a lot in… erm… thirty odd years and is now a complete "experience". We had a fantastic time and made a note to take Tim next year. There are beautiful walks around the area with a small quiz to encourage reluctant children to continue walking; they have to collect stamps hidden around the trail in order to receive a small prize at the gift shop.

 
 
Tim called to let us know he'd got home OK. Our helper had been living in to look after Raymi (the cat) and Tim reported all was well apart from Raymi's ears which were bitten raw from mosquitoes. He also said he'd got some outings planned for our return - wonder what that could be?

We spent some time with my Devon friends and had a lovely time.

Then another horrible drive back to Mum's for a last bit of gardening, and to return the hire car before making our way to Hellish Heathrow and back to Japan.

 

 

 

Things We Did in England - Part 1

July 2007

Mum's birthday was brilliant! We all went to The Mayfly - a pub right on the River Test. A stunning setting and fabulous food. Penny (my farmer friend from Wales) walked in and promptly met someone she knew from the tiny town near her farm! What a small world. It gets better - Mum's cousin is a retired vicar or something and lives in the same area in Wales. Turned out they all knew each other!

After an enormous lunch we walked around the common while the kids ran, paddled in the stream and attempted to catch tiddlers. In time honoured fashion we took some bread in order to feed the ducks but actually fed the enormous trout that live in the river. We played Pooh-Sticks. For ages! Simple, childhood memories and fantastic weather made for a wonderful day. I know Mum really enjoyed having everyone together again.

 

 
  

I did a LOT of gardening for Mum. She's finding it hard to keep on top of the amount of work required in her large garden and doesn't have the strength to complete many tasks. I pruned, hacked, dug, and spent an inordinate amount of time waging war on the bindweed that is beginning to take over. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

However, I didn't enjoy the surprise of the light evenings. I'd totally forgotten about them! In Japan it gets dark at 7pm in the summer and about 6pm in the winter. Lovely! Rhiannon's logic is - if it's not dark, then it can't possibly be bedtime.

 

Penny and I spent an evening catching up on life, the universe and everything at Lainston House - which is where Tim and I got married last year. We pledge to continue this tradition as it's a wonderful place.

Penny and me at my wedding:

 
 

On another day, I reluctantly accompanied Tim and Rhiannon to Paultons Park. As you already know from my previous post about Disneyland, I do not like these overpriced places. And boy, are they expensive in the UK?! I was horrified at the costs of everything. Japan is supposed to be expensive, but we spent far more in the UK than we do here. For one thing, entry fees to most places here, such as museums, gardens and so on are minimal. And drinks etc are usually vending machine prices - 120yen max (approx .50p at that time) rather than £5 for a coffee. Outrageous. But again, the weather was fair and as you can see, I managed to crack a smile for the camera!

 
 

Tim took Rhiannon swimming while I had a business meeting with the woman I write for (mentioned in this post).

She appointed me as the monthly Gardening writer - I was thrilled! But I wasn't allowed to write under my own name, so have to come up with a pseudonym, "in case anyone complains"... WTF?! Ah well, whatever, it's a job of sorts. It's a shame I can't add it to my portfolio. Therefore Rose Henfrey was "born". Henfrey is a family name from eons ago - Arthur Henfrey was a reknowned botanist with connections to Charles Darwin (which could explain a lot about my interests) and, although I haven't found the connection to our family, many of my ancestors carried his name.

So, yes, if you read and enjoyed any of Rose Henfrey's garden articles, thank you - that was me! If you Google "Rose Henfrey" you can read some old articles I wrote.
I can reveal my pseudonym now as I was recently and abruptly dropped from this position - my favourite of all the regular columns I wrote. The pretext was something along the lines of a change is good... Are you sensing a tinge of bitterness?! You'd be right!

Anyway, moving on! I accomplished a lot of shopping ready for Tim to take back with him; Winchester is good for some of that, but most will be bought in Exeter, especially the kid's clothes. We visited hyper-markets and had a whale of a time! "oooh look, Chocolate Hob Nobs!!!" "mmm, brown bread". We feasted and over-indulged on all kinds of British staples.

And yes, we got our bacon sarnies and fish and chips. Heaven! It's funny the food items we missed but didn't realise until we saw them again.

 

 

Rules for Expats…

July 2007

Seasoned expats have advised us on two very important rules about returning to your home country.

Rule 1: Do not go "home" for at least a year. Mind you, this is only really relevant if you aren't settling happily into your 'new' country. However, we feel very settled and happy in Tokyo so have no fear of the pull of Britain becoming too overwhelming (as if!).

We've heard numerous tales about families going home and the wife refusing to return with her husband at the end of their holidays. I've assured a slightly worried Tim that there is NO WAY I'd ever do this to him. He knows of a fair number of people this has happened too. How terribly sad.

Rule 2: Do not spend your precious time trying to visit everyone. Select a convenient location and suggest they all come to you. If you are important to them, then they will visit you. If not, then no loss.

This worked very well indeed.

 

Prior to 2004, Mum held family garden parties each year when our entire (smallish) family came to visit. However, since Dad died in 2004, Mum hasn't been able to bring herself to do this again. I tentatively suggested restarting it this year, but no, understandably she didn't want the hassle and the painful reminder of the past happy summers.

The last garden party in 2003: this is my family: my darling Dad is second from the right.

 

Instead, my oldest friend will drive down from Wales and stay for a few days. My brother and his family will join us all for Mum's birthday party at a lovely pub on the River Test. And that's it.

I'll catch up with my other best mate while we are in Devon.