Author: wabisabisole Page 44 of 54

Living in such a large and compacted military community is a new experience for us. With the exception of a few DOD personnel, ALL of our neighbors are in the military. As a result, there are always people moving in or out. On average, I pass a moving truck every other day, often with even more frequency. 

Most military families come to a new place and quickly attempt to assimilate into the community and for lack of better words, “nest.”  Spouses buy plants or yard decorations to spruce up their town home and bring a little personality to their 1970s Japanese-American “bomb shelter” town house. When it is time to leave, most of these objects can’t be taken to the next duty station because they are plants or just not needed. Typically, the leaving family will post them for free on our Facebook resale page. First come – first serve. I’ve learned that when I see a moving truck, check the resale page STAT for free stuff. Because who doesn’t like free? If it’s free, it’s for me! 

Such was the case with a friend I made, who is moving in the next week. She had a plethora of plants that needed a home. Yes, please! She delivered them yesterday and I planted them today! 

I also had a neighbor recently move. She, too, was giving away plants and flower bed fencing. A fresh coat of white spray paint and our house looks even more inviting. 

She had the tree in a pot and I thought it would be happier in the empty space at the end of the walk. Just a few hours later and I can see a spring to the branches. I thought the ornaments were a happy holiday touch. Although, it does remind me of Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree! 

This picture shows our whole front porch.  The Japanese Maple on the other side of the fence has become a welcoming beacon. So, beautiful to view coming home. 

I know it looks like we need to sweep the porch. But, that is the yellow powder to keep away the bugs. It stays or I go!! 

The other great thing handed over to me by my friend leaving next week, is a job possiblity. She currently teachesEnglish to a group of Japanese ladies on Friday afternoons. She passed my name and contact information to the headmaster of the school. I’m excited. I spoke with the headmaster on the phone today. She actually invited me on the school field trip on Thursday!! So, nice. Unfortunately and a bit surprisingly, I already have something on the calendar. Ikebana – December meeting. I thanked her profusely and told her I looked forward to meeting her on Friday!! I need to start Working so I can build up a plane ticket fund! 

Recently, I learned about a New Years Japanese tradition. On the 2nd of January it is a tradition to visit temples in a local area that are participating in the Seven Lucky Gods pilgrimage. I discussed the meaning of the Seven Lucky Gods in an earlier post and incorporate more information I have learned throughout this post. The 2nd of January is the only day for this specific pilgrimage at the designated temples and thus results in chaos as locals and tourists alike are busy going to and fro to collect their Temple stamps or Goshuin and Seven Lucky Gods figurines. Further research on the subject enabled me to find a Seven Lucky Gods of Japan pilgrimage in Tokyo that is available year round.

Dave was my pilgrimage partner and he was a good sport! The information I collected described the route to take about two hours, cover six miles and include six temples. Six temples? It’s Seven Gods – why only six temples? At the third temple, the pilgrimager collects two Gods. This journey involved 8 trains total and took about an hour each direction. Pretty breezy, actually. I’m not sure if you can tell, but we are on the south side of Tokyo.

Our first stop was at the Kakurinji Temple.  The Kakurinji Temple was established in 1631 and enshrines Bisyamonten, the Indian God of War. Each of the temples were nestled in the middle of the city.

Bisyamonten is the god of war and also the god of treasure and wealth. He wears yellow armor, a tower on left hand and a spear on right hand. He is stepping on evil with his angry face.

We continued on our way to Zuishoji Temple. The Zuishoji Temple was founded in 1670 and was the first Zen temple of the Obaku sect – one of the three main schools of Buddhism in Japan. Zuishoji Tempme enshrines Hotei, the God of Happiness and contentment.

This is how each God is presented. The pilgrimager selects their own God because it contains a fortune inside. The fortune is good for a year. If one does not like their fortune, it can be tied at the temple where it was selected. During the New Year celebration, all unwanted fortunes will be burned. Since neither Dave nor I read kanji, our fortunes will remain inside our Gods.

Peeking inside the temple.

Hotei has a huge abs and great smile and often referred to as the Fat Buddha. He has a fan called Bashosen and like Daikoku, he has a lucky bag.

The third temple of the pilgrimage was the Myorenji Temple.

The Myorenji Temple enshrines both Fukurokuju and Jurojin. Fukurokuji means fortune (Fuku), happiness (roku) and longevity (ju). He has long head, long beard, stuff and his parter crane. Jurojin (meaning longevity) is the founder of Taoism. He wears a cute cap, and has a long staff and often has a deer as partner. These two with their similar descriptions are often confused.

At the Myoenji Temple I learned the importance of being bold. Because this is the off season and a Sunday, the temples are not obviously “open.”  One must be bold and go ring the door bell. You will be greeted happily. The awaiting Monk will stamp you Temple book and allow you to purchase your God. Just be bold and smile. They will happily take your ¥¥.

Next up was the Daienji Temple. The Daienji temple was founded in 1624. This temple was the most entertaining. It had statues and shrines everywhere. I attempted to take photos of most – but, I know I missed some. I’ll look forward to visiting this one again, with you!

Daienji Temple enshrines Daikoku. Daikoku is the God of wealth, farmers and the kitchen. Daikokuten has a hammer with right hand, and a lucky bag on left hand. Sometimes he stands on two straw rice bags. He is the combination gods of Indian god and Japanese god.

Our fifth temple stop was the Banryuji Temple. The Banryuji Temple was established in 1646. It enshrines Benzaiten, the only female of the Seven Lucky Gods.

She was originally Indian Goddess. She is a god of water. Benten Shrine in Japan always located near water. Notice the pond at the temple.

And the God – Benten. Benten is the God of music and fine arts.

Our final stop was the Ryusenji Temple. The most impressive was definitely saved for last. The Ryusenji Temple was founded in 808 making this the oldest spot of the pilgrimage.

Ryusenji Temple enshrines Ebisu who is the the God of commerce, fisherman and good fortune. Ebisu holds a fishing pole on right hand and red bream on left hands. Ebisu is the only Japanese God in 7 Lucky Gods.

All Seven Lucky Gods together. I absolutely LOVE my Seven Lucky Gods of Japan. They make me smile with happiness.

Finally, I have to give serious props to my husband. Dave said he would take this pilgrimage with me and he was such a good sport. Especially, because he woke up at 2am to watch football and make white bean turkey chili all while I slept. Football is something we miss because of the time difference and he was looking forward to rivalry weekend. He really wanted to watch football and he really wanted to make me happy by pilgrimaging with me. Amazingly, he did both with a smile. To top it off, dinner was ready when we arrived home. He’s a keeper fo’ shizzle.

When you visit, this is totally doable. It’s about a half day adventure, covering six miles. I will make sure you have plenty of yen for your figures before we head out.

Only 1% of the Japanese population is Christian. Therefore, the Christmas holiday is more secular in nature. The more important holiday in Japan this time of year is the celebration of the New Year. The celebration begins towards the end of November and continues through the end of January. 

To celebrate the New Year the Japanese LOVE to decorate with lights. These public displays of lights are called winter illuminations and they can be found in all parts of the country, not just Tokyo. However, Tokyo was where we started. 

This afternoon, Dave and I ventured to Shibuya to observe the “Blue Grotto Shibuya” illumination. The illumination models Italy’s famous sightseeing spot – Blue Grotto. There are 550,000 blue LED lights lighting the trees along the major shopping street of Shibuya Koen-dori. The most spectacular part of the illumination is 250m stretch close to Yoyogi Park. Here the street has been covered with a mirrored surface to reflect the blue lights. 

It was beyond beautiful. 

A couple before pictures. 

The lighting occurs daily from 5:00pm to 11pm. We arrived at 4:50pm. My timing was pretty amazing. Although, I didn’t really plan it out, other than the train route. 

In fact, we walked Shibuya Crossing several times and stopped to eat a pizza and have a beer all before heading towards the lights.  

This tour guide deserves an A+ and a gold star! We took a total of 5 different trains on our route and never took the wrong one. I’m moving my status from amateur Japan train rider to apprentice in training.

Enough with the self proclaimed kudos- on with the lights! 

I’m not sure if you can tell, the police tried to keep the crowd back when the lights were first turned on for photographers. Shortly after, we were allowed to walk along the street. It was very crowded, very beautiful and very fun! 

On the other side, was a Spanish festival. Again completely unplanned on my part. 

We walked back through the lights and made our way home. It was a fun evening. We are excited to find more illuminations over the next couple of months! 

Perhaps the only thing to make this winter illumination better would be to have Blue Christmas playing in the background. 

Dave and I went to Kamakura for lunch followed by a hike in the woods. Lunch was a repeat at one of our favorite burger spots. JR Burgers. Still just as yummy! 

Fueled and ready to explore we set out for the Kencho-ji Temple. The Kencho-ji Temple is the first ranked of the 5 Zen temples in Kamakura. It was completed in 1253 making it the oldest Zen training monastery in Japan. The temple grounds are quite large. There are 10 subtemples in addition to the main building. The grounds were beautiful. 

Inside Butsuden or Buddha Hall. 

After collecting my stamp book with my new stamp, we passed through the temple to find our trail. 

And up we went! 

One more flight of stairs to the next temple! 

At the top, we enjoyed the view of Mt Fuji! 

I’m not sure the name of this temple. So, it will be one the flying monkey temple. Here is the stamp. 

After a quick stop, it was up more stairs! And another great view. 

And then from the top. Not only Mt. Fuji, but also susuki grass that I learned about from Ikebana. 

From there, we were walking along a somewhat muddy trail. Beautiful, none the less. 

And let’s not forget about the three bears. Or where they once lived. In these caves. Dave told this Goldilocks she wasn’t allowed to go eating porridge and sleeping in bear beds! 

A fun Friday afternoon. I was happy to have my favorite selfie partner exploring with me today! Kanpie! 

Happy Thanksgiving! We enjoyed a traditional Thanksgiving meal at our home. We invited our neighbors and a young single sailor from Dave’s work. It was lovely and delicious. Amazingly enough, we fit five adults around our cozy kitchen table! 

Besides listening to Alice’s Restaurant while making dinner, the highlight of the day was the snow! Yes, SNOW! According to local news, this is the first November snowfall in Tokyo in 54 years! 

It was a very wet snow with huge snowflakes! Beautiful to watch. 

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I had fun photographing the Japanese maples with snow. 

The evergreens made a winter wonderland scene. 

No shoveling was required. Which was great because we put our snow shovel in long-term storage! 

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to don my hot pink snow pants! 

I matched the camellia bush! 

By the time we finished eating and said goodbye to our guests, the snow had melted. 

We miss you all so much. I am grateful for the opportunity to share our experiences with you and thankful you take the time to read about them. Sending hugs and kisses to all of you this holiday! Xoxo

After a rainy day yesterday and a rainy morning today, the clouds cleared. The sky was a crisp blue color. I had the perfect idea of how to spend my afternoon. I have been waiting for an afternoon like this since I went to the botanical gardens in Ofuna. 

Ofuna two stops beyond Kamakura. Here was my train route. 

The Ofuna-Kannon-ji temple is at the top of a hill and just a short walk from the Ofuna train station. The focal point of the Ofuna Kannon ji temple is the “goddess of mercy of the white robe” also known as “the white lady.” I have waited to return to Ofuna and visit this temple because I wanted to have a blue sky background when I photographed the goddess. 

Here she is from the train station. 

The building of the statue began in 1929. As the goddess of mercy, she is a symbol of prayers for permanent world peace. Construction was conducted for about 5 years. Then in 1929, because of the War, construction was halted for twenty years. In 1954, several priest and ministers from various temples united to complete the construction. The statue was finally completed in 1960. 

The path up the hill to the temple. 

The Ofuna-Kannon society dissolved in 1981. The temple is now under the direction of Soji-ji in Yokohama. 

Pictures from the approach and through the Gardens. 

The temple contains stones carried from ground zero of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. These stones were placed to commemorate the souls of those who died when the atomic bombs were dropped. 

The temple had two types of prayer walls. One was leis of origami swans. 

The other was the typical prayer wall with prayer wooden plaques.

The statue was stunning in the sunlight with the blue sky. 

The cherry trees all around are a sign of a beautiful spring ahead. I will make a note to return to take pictures with the. Cherry tree blossoms. 

It was possible to walk behind the statue where I found a door to a beautiful prayer room. 

I walked around the temple garden while waiting for my stamp to be drawn. My favorite picture of the day – 

And more pictures from the Gardens. 

I was able to get both a temple stamp and a charm for my tree! 

The Kannon temple is relatively close to the Kamakura City, but just far enough away to not be a common attraction for most temple sightseers. As a result, 60% of the visitors to the temple are visiting for spiritual purposes. The goddess of peace welcomes Japanese citizens and foreigners as a symbol of familiarity hoping to provide comfort during period of solitude or homesickness. Ultimately, as with all Buddhist temples, the desired prayer is for peace to prevail. 

Remember back in the day when we got our first cell phone – the flip phone! I’m pretty certain this might surprise you, the Japanese love the flip phone. Yep. In a country where you would think technology prevails, the flip phone is ever prevalent. This isn’t to say you won’t see a smart phone, you definitely will. You will see a lot more flip phones!

The great thing about a flip phone, they have a spot for a charm! Do you vaguely remember there was a small spot where you could loop a charm to hang from your phone. The Japanese continue to market cell phone charms. They are everywhere. Usually ¥100-¥300. Cheap and cute. I started collecting them because they are just so kawaii. I’m sure you’re wondering why me, a happy iPhone owner, would need cell phone charms. To decorate a Christmas tree, of course!!

I know, it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. I just couldn’t resist. I was excited to display all my charms from the past 3.5 months.

I have collected them from our various adventures. Like to the Cup Noodle Museum.

Also, a couple to celebrate climbing Mt. Fuji. Nothing says Japan like Hello Kitty on Mt. Fuji.

One of the Seven Lucky Gods.

A couple of Daibutsu (Great Buddha).

And Ushiku Daibutsu– The tall standing Buddha near Tokyo.

Sumo wrestlers!

Lucky cats!

Kimono Shoes

Kokeshi Dolls

Cute Japanese men in hats.

Red Lantern

Angry Japanese Sea Hawks

One more – Hello Kitty in a bowl of Ramen!

It’s cuteness overload. The best thing, I still have plenty of room for additional charms! Good thing, because I still have 2.5+ years of adventure to add to my collection.

There are two international airports serving the greater Tokyo area. Narita and Haneda. When you come visit, most likely you will fly to Narita Airport. It is the larger of the two airports and the further of the two from where we live in Ikego. Haneda is the closer of the two and much smaller with fewer international flights to the U.S. Obviously, I will plan to meet you whenever and wherever your flight arrives. If you fly into Narita, you will need to prepare yourself for a 2 hour train ride back to our house. 

The positives of this situation include us being able to chit chat for two hours while sipping our (non-exploding) roadies and enjoying Japanese snacks. Another positive is one of the trains we will ride is an express train. It is called the Narita Express. We will go from Narita airport to Yokohama, about 1.5 hours in comfy style. No worries, I will be there to help you purchase your ¥4,200 ($42) ticket. Once we arrive in Yokohama, it is only about 30 more minutes on the train to our house. Easy, right? 

Well, I scoped it out today. Dave was returning from a business trip and we thought it beneficial for us to figure out the route together. Although, that meant first I had to do it solo in order to meet him at the airport. Here was my route to Yokohama. 

My friend, Dina, has made the trip to the airport several times and schooled me on the process during one of our runs this week. The important thing is to purchase your ticket BEFORE going through the ticket stall. Do NOT use your PASMO card. (Normal train card) you have to purchase a special ticket. The other important thing is to purchase a reserved seat so you don’t sit in someone’s and have to move. Cost is the same. Once you are standing at the platform, you have to pay attention to where your car and seat will stop. I was confused and showed my ticket to one of the nice men wearing a conductor uniform. He escorted me to my spot. 

The sign didn’t photograph well, but it says to stand here for car 12. 

I planned my trip so I had about 25 minutes in Yokohama to purchase my ticket and find the correct track. All of that was pretty easy. The part I messed up – I purchased a green card ticket. (Side note, when buying train tickets it is possible to switch the ticket kiosk to English. I will never question why American ATMs offer Spanish again!) It cost ¥5,830! What! It’s only supposed to be ¥4,200. Oh, crap. Turns out, I bought a fancy seat in the fancy car. Leather seat with carpet floors. Very spacious. Oh, geez. For a while it was just me and one other passenger. After the second stop in Tokyo, we picked up more people. Anyways, here is the route on the Narita Express. 

I also must admit, I was a bit emotional (wet eyes aka tears) once I was final seated on the train. I can’t really explain why. The romantic thing would be to say it was because I was going to pick up my husband, the love of my life. And perhaps that was part of it. Honestly, it has been very strange to be in Japan alone this past week. Simultaneously, I think it was because I managed to navigate yet another Japanese situation solo and successfully. Living here is fun, exciting and daunting. Adventure awaits around every corner. Every day I learn something new and gain more confidence. Today was no exception. 

The Narita Express (NEX) 

After arriving at the airport, I found Dave who didn’t find his luggage. It is still flying the friendly skies. We quickly purchased our tickets and made the NEX for home. Didn’t take too long for this to happen…

Keep that in mind as well. If you need a nap when you arrive, it’s completely ok. Trust me when I tell you – it’s a long flight and a long train ride home from Narita. Just relax and enjoy. I’m happy your here. 

PS. I loved the green car so much I upgraded us on the way home, too. 

PSS. I’ll tell you about traveling to Haneda next month. We fly out of there for our Xmas holiday. 

Japan has a strange obsession with creating a variety of KitKat flavors. Someone mentioned the KitKat Chocolatory in Tokyo was a great place to find new and seasonal flavors. This seemed like the perfect adventure on a rainy Saturday. Here was my train route. 

The trip was pretty easy. I only had to switch trains once in Yokohama. This area of Tokyo is called Ikebukuro. It is located more on the north side of the city. Adjacent to the Ikebukuro station is a HUGE mall with 8 floors, a rooftop and 2 basement floors. Somewhere in those 11 levels is the KitKat Chocolatory. It took me about an hour to find it. I went all the way up to level 8 and came all the way back down. 

Then I realized there was basement floors. 

These floors are adjacent to the train station. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I found the KitKat Chocolatory right where I came out of the train station turn stall. Yep. I basically walked right past it. Oh, well. I enjoyed the mall walking! Fortunately, there were escalators. And I could replenish calories I burned with KitKats. 

A funny side note. I was exploring solo and I as approached the chocolatory, one of the sales clerks turned around and went behind the counter. No big deal, right. We have not spoken to each other. No greeting at all. Until she returns from behind the counter with an English KitKat menu and offers it to me. “Oh! Thank you! Arigatōgozaimas!” Hilarious. I wanted to ask her how she knew I spoke English. Haha. 

I purchased a large assortment!

Strawberry Maple, Butter, Champagne Raspberry are the “new” flavors. The Fruit Variety: strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, lemon & passion fruit. 

Also, the sublime combo which is the high end of the three classic chocolates. 

 I will conduct taste test over the next week and let you know which one changed my life, if any. 

If you want, we can go when you visit. There isn’t a lot to the chocolatory. But, it could be worth it just for the picture!! 

I have mentioned a lot about Kamakura recently. It is my new favorite place to explore. There are so many short hiking trails that lead you along a path to tranquility. For this adventure, I started in Kita Kamakura (where I was yesterday for Ikebana) and went in the opposite direction. It was a beautiful day and I was able to bring my friend, Tiff,  along with me. 

Here was our route. We took the train from where I live in Ikego to Zushi. We had to switch trains & train stations. We walked from the Shin-Zushi station to the Zushi station and then took a train to Kita Kamakura. If you look closely at the map below, Kita Kamakura station is the white rectangle at the top. From there, we walked/ hiked along the road (white line) to the trail (red line).  The red line represents the Daibutsu (Great Buddha) Trail. We then walked to the Hase Station and took the train to Kamakura. Switched trains and went back to Zushi. Switched train stations and walked back to Shin-Zushi station. Hopped on the train to take us back to where I live in Ikego. I executed an almost flawless delivery of train hopping. I made one mistake, an 8 minute mistake. I was confused as to how many stops we should take from Hase to Kamakura. I thought it was only one. Nope it was 3. So, we had to wait 8 minutes for the next train. None the less, I have to say, I’m pretty impressed with my train hopping / google map navigation skills I have developed. 

Moving along, this story is about 4 Buddhas, although I could have called it the trail with 5 trains, obviously. 

After getting off the train in Kita Kamakura, we detoured into the Tokeiji Temple (Circa 1285). This temple was originally a sanctuary for women who desired a divorce, but because of the feudal age they were not permitted to initiate it. Tokeiji provided refuge for women seeking release from their marriage for over 600 years. In 1902, the temple was converted from a nunnery to a monastery during the anti-Buddhist movement. The Tokeiji temple is now a recognized as Zen Temple. What a beautiful & educational detour! And the first of four Buddhas. 

As well as the second Buddha. 

The Japanese maples are really starting to turn beautiful shades of red. 

While we explored the temple, I had my temple book stamped. 

As we continued on our route to the trail, we passed through the Jochi-ji Temple (Circa 1281). Another Zen Temple, the Jochi-ji temple is where I found the God of Happiness (Buddha #3). 

To find the God of Happiness, follow the sign…

We continued our journey along the trail at this point. 

Around the halfway point, we passed Kuzuharagaoka Shrine. The shrine is built on a execution sight from the Kamakura period. Here I was able to get my second temple stamp of the day. 

The remainder of the trail was a short trip to the Great Buddha. Dave and I went here in August during our orientation class. This trail will definitely be on the list when you visit! 

And my finally temple stamp of the day from the Great Buddha (Buddha #4). Four Buddhas in one day is a new record for me!