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. 

3/11 remembered

Hello Russell Street!  

It feels like it's been awhile since I've been able to blog.  It was spring break last week, and I went to Denver to visit my grandma (!) who recently turned 90.  It was pretty fun to be back in the U.S. for a week!  

At the same time, Tommy and Kaela spent some time in Tohoku, doing service work with their youth group (unfortunately they didn't take any pictures).  

The teens helped clean up what was once a neighborhood near a fishing wharf.  They wore protective clothing, including big boots with steel toes and liners, and long gloves.  There is still so much work to do in that area of Japan.  

As the anniversary of 3/11 approached, we heard lots of stories from people who experienced the earthquake last year.  In general, things are back to normal here in Tokyo, but the people who experienced the earthquake will never forget it.  

We see posters like this everywhere: 

Costco

Once a month or so, a friend who has a car generously invites me along to Costco, where we stock up on  basics like rice, meat, cheese, paper towels, etc.  Here are a few items I don't buy:

Sushi, of course! We (especially Kaela) like sushi, but not in such large quantities! 

How about some boiled luminescent squid?

Or boiled octopus? 

Countless varieties of rice crackers: 

Mmmm.... Steak flavored Doritos?

Tai Yaki.... and Dosojin

Today Aunt Masako left to go back home.  It will be a 14 hour flight to Washington, D.C.!

We spent the morning running some last minute errands in our neighborhood, Azabu Juban.  Masako loved this place that is famous for a type of Japanese treat... maybe the same way that Kimball's is well known for icecream:).  They make "Tai Yaki".  Yaki means grilled, and Tai is a sort of sea bream that's red (lucky).  So the name refers to the shape of the sweet (a fish), and the color red refers not to seafood but to the beans that fill the sweets.  (Most Japanese sweet are based on...  beans!).

It was hard to say goodbye to Masako.  I am reminded of the "Dosojin" figures so common around her hometown of Matsumoto.  The stones are always rounded, and depict a man and a woman, sometimes holding hands.  They are the "gods" who protect travelers.

Matsumoto, part two - yaki-imo and art

After seeing Matsumoto castle, we spotted a "Yaki-imo" truck, and got a sweet potato snack:

Masako's sister Akko-san picks out the type of potato we want.

Masako juggles the bag of steaming hot potatoes!

 After enjoying our snack, we walked to an art museum, actually a complex of several small buildings.  I don't have any photos to show you!  Photos were not allowed in the buildings themselves and in the courtyards, we were skypeing and facetiming with Noelle back in the states.  Coincidentally she was in Washington, D.C. visiting with Masako's son and his family for her spring break.   Japan is 14 hours ahead of Boston, and will be 13 hours ahead after you "spring forward" on the 11th (Japan does not observe daylight savings time).

Stay tuned for more about our weekend in Matsumoto!

Matsumoto, part one - the castle

This past week, Mr. Nanto's Aunt Masako was visiting Japan from the states.  Very early Saturday morning we took a train and met Masako and her sisters in Matsumoto, their hometown.

Straight from the train station, we visited the famous castle in Matsumoto.  Many castles were destroyed by bombing during World War II, but this one survived, and it is ancient and very well preserved.  You might call it a "ninja" or "samurai" castle.  It was very dark inside, so I didn't get many pictures.

Approaching Matsumoto castle. 

Those cone-like structures protect the trees from heavy snow.

Once inside the castle, we took off our shoes and put on plastic slippers, and joined the crowds exploring the castle along a pre-determined route.  There were many stairs!

Looking out from the third or fourth floor.

Samurai warrior armor. 

Looking down at the moat.

We climbed up and down very steep stairs throughout the castle.

Ancient coins.  

Stay tuned for more photos from our weekend in Matsumoto!