Jenny the Kotooshu fanatic

This picture was taken by Bernie outside the sumo stadium. We were stopping people as they tried to leave. Behind us was a lady having an argument on her cell phone with whomever she had come with and some how got seperated from.It was actually pretty funny, I wanted to say don't you realive that we all understand what you are talking about.



This is the Kotooshu doll that Rachelle and I bought for Jenny, it is too funny!! Where ever she goes now her favorite man will never be too far away.

Sumo part 2

Here I am leaning against this big guys butt outside the sumo building.Outside Ryogoku station waiting for Randee and her friend Leann.

The girls ouside the stadium trying to look buff.

Going to the sumo tournament was quite fun. At least it was more interesting to watch live than on TV. Our seats were up towards the top and cost ¥4,900. Not bad when you consider that it is for all day long, 8:30 till 6:00. Most people actually only come for the afternoon, but I'm sure there are a few die hards that stick it out for the whole day. I think I saw one of them obviously drunk and sound asleep in his box, waiting for his other friends to arrive. I would like to sit down on the lower level some time but you only have an area only about 4 or 5 feet square that you have to cram 4 people into, I think that I might have trouble walking after sitting on the floor the whole time.

During the whole day there are men that run around delivering gifts and obentos (lunch boxes) to the people in the stadium they were all wearing Yukata with a kind of hakama like a pair of wrap around pants that go up to your knees and are open from there on the side and are tied at the waist. I think they are properly called 馬乗り袴(umanorihakama), meaning the hakama for riding a horse.

Sumo

Went to sumo today for the first time. Pictured here is Jenny's beloved Kotooshu. Actually I spent a lot of time wondering the halls and trying to get pictures and looking for any cool souvenirs. The coolest thing was the kotooshu doll that we bought for Jenny, I'll have to get her to take a picture of it so we can show everyone.

Below are some other random pictures.

Asakusa Sanjasai Festival

Ran into Asakusa today to see if I could get any good pictures at this annual festival, one of the top 3 in Japan supposedly. Didn't see a lot of great photo ops but this one turned out pretty good. We had great weather today untill about 4:00 and then it jus poured, it was almost like a typhoon coming in. Luckily it was just as I was leaving the festival.

Away from the City

It was good to be away from Tokyo for just a few days and even if it was for work. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that nice which meant that Mt. Fuji remained hidden for the most time while we were there. This is Tozanso the YMCA camp in Gotemba. It is in a nice area and the thing about I like the most about the grounds are all the Japanese maple trees. They are not all cut back and minature but have been let to grow to there hearts content. There is something about the paticular green of these trees leaves that I always like. I think this shade of green should have its own name and place in a box of crayola. Japanese maple leaf green. I think this one tree in the middle of the grounds is my favorite in maybe all of Japan.

More Golden Week

So how wild am I playing on this suspension bridge. This was behind our inn Magogajima, on the other side was a camp ground that looked like it might be a rather nice place to stay, but I'm glad that we stayed indoors.





On the way back into town we stoped at a small temple on the old Tokaido road. I didn't really get the connection but one of Shige's relatives has some connection to it. It is actually supposed to be famous, but now it seems to be just enough off the beaten track that only a very few visitors stop by. The lady working there knew the family relationship and she gave us a brief tour and then served us tea in the little tea house behind the temple. It was rather peaceful with the sound on the well water the was flowing into a stone bowl outside this sliding door.

48

Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday to me
Happy birthday dear Mike
Happy birthday to me!

Now that that's over I can get back with my golden week adventure.

May 5th is childrens day, the girls get the doll displays in Feb. and the boys get the Armor display. There were two displays up in our hotel, I assume this indicates they had 2 boys. From our hotel we drove on up the mountain heading for Umegashima onsen. On the way there we stoped to see one of the 3 famous mountain land slides in Japan. I took a picture but needless to say I wasn't that impressed so you won't be seeing that picture on here.
We stoped at the city run bath facility in the area, it was really nice and the water was so soft and felt great. I could have stayed in for hours if felt so good.

Above is the city run bath, koganenoyu and to the side here a very small picture of the out door bath. It was a real nice facility and these pictures taken from the Jaran travel sight don't do it justice. It was obviously frequented by the locals I assumed from the number of older men there.




Our next stop took us back to Shizuoka and to a small temple that was 500 years old and along the Tokaido. I didn't really understand everything, but Shige is a distant relative of someone connected to this shrine. The lady on duty there knew the connection and served us tea and dango and gave us a short tour of the temple. It's gardens are famous for moon viewing.

Back in Shizuoka we had lunch at a restaurant called "Saigon". It was very nice and seemed to be popular with young women. Stomachs filled we caught the Shinkansen to Hamamatsu. During golden week there is a famous kite flying festival. We actually didn't get there in time to see the kites, but they also have these huge carts that our pulled through the streets proceded by hordes of people carying laterns, blowing on trumpets, and beating drums. Something like the march around Jerico must have been like.



It started with a parade of marching bands. I guess one reason for this is the headquarters for Yamaha is in Hamamatsu. After that the men carrying flags came.

These guys were followed by drummers.

And they were followed by buglers, and lantern carriers.

These groups all came streaming by and getting more intense as they came, then they would circle back and meet other oncoming groups, it was very interesting. And this was only the begining.

Next came the floats.

These also were coming and going from 3 directions I don't know how many there were and actually we left before it was all over so we could get something to eat and avoid the inevitable stampede back to the station.



The evening ended with a light dinner at the stalls in a court yard of a building near the station. The interesting thing was that most of the booths were ran by foreigners. So I had Turkish and Iranian pita sandwhiches, and Shige had a pita and Indian curry and fresh baked nan. By the time we got back to the Inn that we had booked we were exhausted and sore from standing. So we stopped and got a nice 60 min. massage, a nice ending to a long day.

Shizuoka 2

Here is the view of the outdoor bath at 孫佐島 Magosajima. We forgot to move the wash tubs that we had stacked on the wash stools to take pictures. This onsen is called Conya the water temp. is low and they reheat it. The indoor bath was nice also but it was too cool. The family that runs the place was very nice, but I think they have there hands full because as well as the hotel, they have a restaurant, a small store, and of course they have people coming in just for the outside bath.

Shizuoka

Well I did have the chance to get away for Golden Week. Since plans had to be be made at the last minute, there were few options but Shige happened upon a small place in Shizuoka. As part of the plan you were alowed 40mins. in the outdoor hot spring all to yourself. It was bosted as a family plan. The only problem was that other than your alloted 40 mins. you couldn't use the outdoor bath and it was really nice. One of the types were it would have been nice to go in the middle of the night.

One advantage to the privacy we could take all the pictures we wanted with out bothering anyone. Unfortunately this is the only one of me that turned out well.

This was our evening meal. It consisted of Sashimi, a grilled fish, some mountain vegetables, another small fish in a pickled sauce with vegetables, miso soup, and a wild boar stew.

It's Raining Bears

What will those Japanese think of next. Check out the whole story on these bears.

May Day

It's May and only 5 days till my birthday.
I thought I would start off the month by trying to sit down and write some on my Blog. So I've started, let's see how long I can keep things going.


This picture does not do justice to the beauty of this tree. I love these trees that have been bent and shaped, the bark stripped bear and exposed. It reflects what can really happen in the harshness of nature and if you think about it ireflects what happens in our lives also. Our lives are often filled with stress, conflict, trials, sickness, you name it we encounter it. The things in life that can either make us or break us. If the bark of the tree was completely stripped away the tree would die. The same way staying connected to God is the thing that keeps us alive. I am reminded of one of my favorite passages of scripture;
2 Corinthians 4:7-10
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body."
We are not promised and easy life but we know that God is always there for us. We may have a lot to endure but in the end we become a thing of beauty, like this tree.

A Day in the Park

Spent the afternoon with Jenny at Showa Kinnen Park in Tachikawa. The weather was so nice I'm glad we took the time to enjoy just being out in nature.

It is a massive park and very beautiful, and you can't tell it from this picture but there were a massive amount of people there.

There is a nice section dedicated to Bonsai. I think the oldest tree was about 250 years old!
So I wonder how long it will take for my little tree to look anything like these.

I really like the ones where they have exposed the bark to give it a weathered look like it has been battered by nature over so many years.

How cool would it be to have a tree like this that you could display in your home.

After about 100 years maybe this is what mine will look like.

This is not a great picture but I really liked this one. I think the idea behind this type of bonsai is to give you the feel of a miniature forest.

Dagmar's Party

Saturday night was party time for our drum group. Dagmar one of the 3 Germans in the group hosted and did all the cooking. She is a great cook!! I escpecially liked the potato salad.

Dagmar is on the right in this picture, next to her is Beatrix Wagner.

Miura san Nagihana's leader striking a sexy pose.

From lest to right, Nii chan, Kaji kun, and Wan chan. Everybody goes by nicknames it is rather nice here in this land of never ending formallaties.

Nagihana is a a great bunch of people to hang around with. The interesting thing is how well they all get along. When we first started no one knew each but you would never think that now. It's a close knit group that I am glad that I am a part of.

Poem - Author unknown

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
as I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights, nor its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
who made me sputter and gasp--
the thieves, the liars, the sinners,
the alcoholics, and the trash...

There stood that kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.

Herb, who I always thought,
would be rotting away in hell,
was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus, "What's the deal?
I'd love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?"
God must've made a mistake.

"And why's everyone so quiet,
so somber? Please, give me a clue."
"Hush, child," said He, "they're all in shock;
No one thought they'd be seeing you."

Judge NOT.

Staff Retreat

Back in Japan I headed directly to our spring staff retreat at Bible Home in Gunma. Here we all are after breakfast.

This year they have had a lot of snow, Tom said that this year they had about 3.4 meters of snow. That's a lot of snow! It started to snow the evening I arrived and continued through the next day.



Of course one of the highlights of our staff mtg. is a trip to Takaragawa Hot Spring





They had already stopped on the way up so only Bernie, Rachelle, and I made the trip on Wed. Most people didn't want to pay the ¥1500 2 days in a row, but we were happily surprised when they told us we would get a discount because they had just cleaned the big mixed bath and the water level was not all the way back. Granted the lower portion of the bath was not up and a little cool the upper bath was really nice. We also got a door prize as we went in so that was nice.


Here is Rachelle and I showing off our prizes.

Spring Vacation

Well, I am back home after a very busy spring break. I went to California to visit my good friends Brenda and Dieter and I had a very relaxing time. It had been just about 8 years since I had been back but I felt like it was just yesterday, and Fresno really felt like home. Here we are on the last day.


The reason for the trip was just to get away, relax, and do some shopping. But lets not forget the food. I am into simple pleasures and how happy I was when Jean Williams asked us to go ou to In-N-Out. For those of you that are not familiar with the west coast burger chain, you don't know what you are missing. If you ever have the chance go!

Fresno has grown a lot since I was there, there ae strip malls going up everywhere! So I went to see if I could at least get some things to fill up my suitcase for the trip back. The dissapointing thing about shoping in the states anymore coustomer service is really the pits. It seemed that in most stores that their are either not enough clerks or the ones that are there really aren't there to help you. So I was happy when I finally went into Eddie Bauer, and the clerk was very helpfully and spent the time to find things for me and made the shopping experience enjoyable. It also helped that they seemed to have all the things that I wanted and liked.

I really didn't have a lot of time in Fresno, but it was great. I promise that it won't be as long before I get back.

Katsudon

Ever since I lived in Kobe and was introduced to Katsudon at a very popular restaurant "Kishibe", I have always been on the lookout for an equivalent, but have yet to find anyplace as good. Tonight was no exception. I had heard about a famous tonkatsu store in Nakameguro and tonight I had the chance to eat there. I found it a couple of weeks ago but I got there at a bad time and they had already closed for the afternoon. Well today on my way back from a massage in Ebisu I thought I would give it a try. It was about 5:30 so still a little early for a crowd, there was one other person in the store. I ordered the Katsudon that I had seen on a TV show where these different celebrities were choosing the best Katsudon in the Tokyo area. I guess the big claim to fame of this restaurant, "たい樹" Taiki, is they use Porkshire black pork exclusively. Well maybe the pork was good, but the overall taste of the dish was lacking. I think the biggest draw back was the sauce, which was actually on the sweet side. The worst part of the meal was the price, ¥1,920. I wanted to say what a rip off, especially when you compare it to the store in Kobe where the basic price is ¥550. So what ever you do, don't waste your money on the Katsudon at Taiki.

Asakusa 浅草

I stopped by Asakusa today, mostly just to pick up some new underwear at Trunk's Ya, that is all they sell boxer shorts and they are the most comfortable that I have owned. They also make great gifts for guy's. In Japan it is easy to find nice gifts for women, but when it comes to finding a nice afordable Japanese gifts for men it is rather challenging.

Of course on the way there I stopped by a few of the shops that I know, and across from the Hanten Ya I saw something that caught my eye. Can you tell from the picture what it is? An old Japanese urinal. I have one already but this one is nicer and if it is still there the next time i go back and if I can get the guy to come down a little in price it will be mine.

Vivid Thoughts

Another Larson cartoon that I have thought was really funny. It reminds me of a book I read recently by Amy Tan, "Saving Fish From Drowning". It follows an bungling group of American travelers to Myanmar, as they go on their adventure without the tour leader, who was found dead in her store window days before the trip. The journey starts in China where one of the members urinates on a sacred idol, that resembles the female genitilia, after that they are cursed by locals and forced to abandon the trip in China and move up their arrival in Myanmar. There are many examples of tourist stupidity, or should I say of cultural insensitivity. The main fiasco of the story is when they are kidnapped by a hill trip that sees the young teenage boy in the group as their reincarted great white hope so to say. They are lured to the village by the kidnappers by the hoax of special surprise a chance to see some really unique off the beaten track hidden tribe. Little did they realize that is was all a trick to lure them to their village and hold them captive because this young boy is the one that is going to liberate them from the oppression of the military. Well I have already given away to much of the plot, for the rest of the story you'll have to read it yourself. It's a good read, and maybe you can see how I found these two cows similar to the bungling travelers.

Eating

Eating, one of the great pleasures of life. Last Saturday I enjoyed a lavish Chinese meal and I thought I might end up like the Parker's.
I found this comic a couple of years ago and have kept it at my desk at work. Maybe as a reminder for me to watch what I eat, but in reality more to just bring some laughter into my life. Hope you enjoy it, and I hope none of you end up like the Parkers.