Sakura at Gotemba

Last week, my good friend and fellow teacher visited from MA.  She had lived here many years ago and was anxious to visit her old "hometown" of Gotemba, a small town at the base of Mount Fuji.  We took a shinkansen (bullet train) to get there, and as we did, we noticed the weather getting milder and the altitude higher.  It felt great to get out of the big city for a day.

The main attraction in Gotemba is the Peace Park.  Lucky for us, the cherry blossoms at this higher altitude were at their peak.

"Scent of natural civilization"?

Cherry blossoms - sakura - are a very important symbol in Japanese culture. 

Cherry blossoms symbolize the transient nature of life. 

The pagoda with golden Buddha statues 

These various statues were gifts to the park from other Buddhist countries.  Are they depicting dog, or lions - what do you think?  We thought they looked like lions but later read that they are dogs. 

Finally a few moments of sunshine!

Then, more rain.  We waited a long time for a bus to take us back into town, and when the bus finally arrived and we hopped on, we couldn't help but laugh out loud, because the bus was full of sleeping school girls, all in similar uniforms, ranging in age from elementary school to middle school.  We were the only other people on the bus - it was so cute and we really got a kick out of it.

Eventually most of them woke up!  School days and commutes are long in Japan!

Alyson and I then made our way to the small clinic where her son was born years ago.  The staff was very friendly and insisted that we go upstairs to see the babies:).

And then it was time to get back to Tokyo.  With the rainy weather, we never did get a glimpse of Mt. Fuji, but it was a great day nonetheless.

Cherry Blossoms

It is cherry blossom season in many parts of Japan.  We took a subway about 3 stops from our station and explored a new-to-us neighborhood. 

Cherry Blossom reports on the evening news

Families, friends, and co-workers have picnics under the cherry blossoms.

These poles appear to be holding the branches up, but in reality, they are training the branches to bend towards the water. 

Kyoto, part one

Noelle snapped this photo of an elusive Geisha in Kyoto

Over the winter break, we decided to travel a bit within Japan.  Noelle is with us, and it's great to be all together again for a few weeks.  Noelle took lots of pictures, some of which I am including here.

We traveled by bullet train, and spent a few days in Kyoto.  Kyoto was the ancient capital of Japan, and it is still the cultural center of Japan.  We had a great time.  We walked and walked, and saw lots of interesting shrines and temples.  Our first stop was Fushimi Inari Shrine. 

One giant Tori at the entrance gives a hint of what is to be found further up the incline.

If the fortune you receive is negative, leave it tied here and try again another time.

The fox is an important symbol in Japan.  This fox is holding corn - an important harvest symbol. 

Bamboo forest - it was magical!

Next we headed to Kiyomizu Dera.  Noelle snapped this photo of a spring where visitors drink the sacred waters.  There are three streams and it is considered greedy to drink from more than one.  But each spring represents different things, so people have to choose between luck in love, success in school, or a long life.  The line was so very long that we opted for none of the above!

We also visited Kinkakuji, the Golden Pavilion, one of the most famous sites in Kyoto. Noelle took some beautiful photos.

Amazing that at the end of December, there are still leaves on the trees!

The last of the persimmons are still clinging to their branches.

Chrysanthemums in the park

A few weeks ago I went with a small group to a Chrysanthemum show in Shinjuku Gyoen, a large park here in Tokyo.  It took two buses and about an hour for me to get to the park from my apartment.  Chrysanthemums were first brought to Japan from China in the 8th century A.D.  The flowers became the official seal of the Emperor of Japan.  Along with cherry blossoms in the spring, they are very important flowers in Japanese culture, particularly because of their association with the Royal Family.  Gardeners carefully cultivated these beautiful plants for an entire year and the results were very impressive!

The white flowers are all from one single stem!

In mid-November the leaves were just beginning to change color in the park.

Paper disks support these large, delicate blooms.

Hundreds of blooms from a single stem!

This little girl is feeding the koi (carp) in the pond.  We could hear the fish splashing from yards away.

Carp will eat anything!  If you look closely you can see their mouths opening wide for the bread crumbs- eeuw!

And.... flash forward three weeks.... and everywhere the leaves have turned color.   Last week, I snapped a couple of photos from a fourth grade classroom at the American School (where I occasionally substitute teach:)).    I almost felt like I was back in Littleton!  In New England, these are the colors of autumn, but here, this is what people look forward to seeing in early December!