Cherry blossom, or sakura, season in Japan is greatly celebrated, and unrivaled anywhere in the world. The importance of the cherry blossom, in Japanese culture goes back hundreds of years, and signifies the beauty and impermanence of life. It is also…
Anyone heard of the Moomin comic strip? I hadn’t either, but apparently it is a popular Finnish comic strip/book series that follows the adventures of the Moomin family (who have an hippopotamus-like appearance), in Moominvalley. So, leave it to the Japanese,…
The Yosakoi Festival is a dance competition held every year in Harajuku, featuring over 5,000 dancers (about 100 teams) from all over Japan. 5,000 dancers? You know I’m there! Yosakoi dance originated in Kochi City, Japan, which still boasts the…
Matt and I celebrated our twelfth wedding anniversary on June first this year, and with my mom in town, we were able to getaway overnight, kid-free! We have had some Hilton points that we were able to cash in for…
Today we had the pleasure of attending a homeless ministry with our chapel community on base, in conjunction with a Japanese Christian church. I thought it would be a good way for the girls to learn service to others. The…
Today we headed back to the fun neighborhood of Kichijoji, to the Inokashira Koen (park). This is the bike parking at the train station and it goes on forever. There are similar bike lots all over Tokyo, even bike parking garages!…
Showa Kinen Park is one of our favorite places to go and is very near our home. Every season is so beautiful, but spring is extraordinary! Somehow, we missed Komorebi Village on past visits, but finally took a look inside this house.…
Today’s adventure was a trip to Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens to see the plum blossoms. Blossom viewing is very popular here and plum blossoms bloom a little earlier than the popular cherry blossoms. I can hardly wait for those! We loved…
We decided to stay closer to home today and check out a Japanese park we refer to as the “obstacle course park”, and also a shrine that we had passed a few times. The shrine and torii gates are the…