Christmas in Kumamoto

One big motivation for this trip was my first experience of the holidays in Japan. While living here, the vacation time was too enticing to pass up, so Christmas was spent in places like New Zealand and Vietnam. At last, in 2011, I got to see the craze that is Kentucky Fried Chicken on Christmas!

Grandma Chieko was super excited to have her granddaughter here for Christmas.

A delicious Christmas Eve dinner began with live shrimp and a toast.
Next, the famous Christmas cake!
Japanese people cannot comprehend that Christmas cakes are not the holiday staple in other places that they are here. You have to order weeks in advance to get a cake, and everyone eats them on either Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. And they are worth the effort.

Hiroki loved the sugary Santa figure.

Then he went to sleep.

The gift-giving custom differs immensely. While I remember Christmas as the highlight of the year, when I popped up early in the morning after a night of barely sleeping in anticipation of Christmas morning and a family room full of presents, the tradition here is for Santa to put a single present in a stocking near a kid's pillow. Hiroki received some new Ultraman figures.

On Christmas Day, we ate some chocolate Christmas cake, equally as delicious as the vanilla the night before.

Aunt Masae also loved having her niece around this year.

Next, we headed to my friend Jason's house, where Randi tried on Hiroki's Santa suit.

Then they played with the Barbie Dream House that Santa brought her.

In the end, it seemed like just another day in Japan. People worked (that normally work on Sundays), and even the mail got delivered. On the one hand, I liked the lack of stress, hustle, and bustle of Western-style Christmas, as well as the focus on material things. Then again, I really missed family time and the enjoyment of celebrating a big holiday together.

Thanks for reading, hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Jason's Bar

My good friend Jason Wians moved to Japan about the same time I did, in the fall of 2001. We shared a ton of ridiculous times with a great group of friends during our time teaching English. I married and moved to America, he married and stayed in Kumamoto. After traveling on and off all over the world (42 countries and counting), he runs an English School, a wedding planning business, and in July 2011, he did what he says he should have done 10 years ago:

open his own bar!

`Jason's Bar` opened for business on July 30th, 2011.

This month, if I went out, I went to Jason's. It is a great atmosphere, with lots of good folks coming and going. If only Jason would allow any music other than country. . .

One day, Jason hosted a Christmas party for his students; I played Santa Claus and freaked Amane out.

Naoko is the main staff member besides Jason; she was thrilled with the belt.

Much love to Jason Wians--we are so fortunate to know him!

Kinuko, host family and friends

Ten years ago, I began my stay in Kumamoto with the Murayamas. My host mother, Kinuko, treated me like a son for my three years, and we were excited to meet with her along with family and friends.

Kinuko was delighted to meet Amane; everyone was snapping pictures and shouting "Kawaii (cute)!!!"

On the left is Mami, Kinuko's 15-yr old daughter, and with her is 19-yr old Chinami, their neighbor and friend. For three years, I taught English once a week after dinner at Kinuko's house; they were all such little kids then!

Hiroki relished all the attention from the ladies, especially in his pajamas, gloves, and hat.

Kinuko's other daughter, 19-yr old Kaori, finished her part-time job at 10pm, so after dinner we met up with her as well.

Mt. Kinpo

Every trip to Kumamoto must include a pilgrimage to the top of Mount Kinpo, the nearby mountain overlooking Kumamoto City, and the site where I proposed to Michiyo in the summer of 2004. Not far from the top lives good friends of ours, the Cairnes.

Kyoko is married to Jeff, from Canada, and their daughters Aoi and Sophie get taller every time we see them. Kyoko used to own and run Jelly Bean English School, and Michiyo was one of the first teachers hired back in 2001. A few months after that, Michiyo and I met at a picnic for the students, faculty, and families. The rest. . .is history.

I cannot wait to communicate our engagement story someday to Hiroki and Amane. Of course, it will not mean so much to them, but they will know where Mommy and Daddy decided to start our lives together.

The lock! If you want the story, go here. At the top of the mountain, there used to be a tower, with steps leading to a lookout platform, and on the railings were lots of locks. The whole structure has been redone; now it is simply a roof with four pillars, no steps and no railings. The locks, however, were apparently saved and moved to the other side. Our lock was pink, and no pink one was visible, although the one I'm touching here is probably ours: color completely faded out, with lots of rust and cracks. Seven years of life on a mountaintop will do that.

Saga

Just like in 2009, we drove a few hours to Saga and spent a few days with Yoko, Michiyo's friend from their time together in Eugene, Oregon, many years ago. Yoko and her husband Koji built a house and started life in the countryside a few years ago.

Yoko is the type of person who is amazing at a wide range of skills:

--She designed their house, and it won an award.

--She draws Kanji (Japanese characters) professionally, and her work can be seen on restaurants in Saga.

--She has excellent English, and teaches classes both in her house and at a junior high school.

--She is a phenomenal cook, as well as an excellent host.

Two years ago, her friends were very impressed with the gyoza (dumplings) she made, and asked her to make more for them, so she did. They spread the word, and Yoko's gyoza became known around Saga. Then, in the summer of 2011, she was featured on a TV program out of Fukuoka, a major city nearby. Since then, she said the phone has not stopped ringing.

I meant to get a picture of the finished product; the gyoza are incredible. I made a promo video for "Zenchan Gyoza," check it out here.

Family pics:

Amane & Yoko

Yoko, Koji, and the Fingerhuts

Koji, Yoko, and the belt

Saga Mochi Pound

We continued mochi pounding action in Saga. For this occasion, we added yomogi, which is bits of seaweed, and pounded in groups of two, three, and four. Good times!

Hiroki was almost too big for his Santa suit, but he loves it. And he loves pounding mochi.

Enjoying the fruits of our labor: we got to sample our work right away.

Minoru's 70th B-day

Michiyo's Dad Minoru turned 70 in November. We celebrated by having a fancy Japanese dinner at Kiraku, the restaurant where Masae works as well as the place where Michiyo and I had our wedding ceremony. They treat us like family, and the food is quite an experience, from the taste to the presentation.

The man in glasses standing behind Michiyo is Sakae-san, who MC'd our ceremony. I told them I had become a somewhat successful party host back home, and he and his wife got a kick out of the belt.

Hiroki's school

Sasebo Aquarium

On our way out of Nagasaki, we spent a few hours at the Aquarium in Sasebo. Besides the St. Louis zoo, this place was the first aquarium for Hiroki and Amane.HUGE tank with sharks and stingrays

Merry Christmas from Dolphin Santa, complete with white beard and mustache

The exhibitions culminated with the Jellyfish Symphony. Inside a massive theater-like room were displays of jellyfish in all sizes. Soothing classical music played while projection of jellyfish shone on the domed ceiling.Electric Jellyfish

My favorite: tiny jellyfish inside champagne glasses

Ishizuka Farm in outside Nagasaki

Our sweet Toyota hybrid van made it to Kawatana, outside Nagasaki City, where Minoru grew up and his family still runs an orange farm. Since we are here in December this year, the cold weather kept us from enjoying the usual relaxed walks around the rice fields and orange vineyards; but that did not stop us from enjoying some great meals and company under heated tables called kotatsu.

For our wedding week in St. Louis in 2005, Michiyo's cousins the Yoshidas came over with her parents. At that time, Hana and Shiki were ages seven and nine, respectively. This weekend, we met two grown teenagers who like to play volleyball and watch a ton of TV. How time flies!

Hana and Shiki`s Mom, Tomoko, LOVED Amane.

Amane was introduced to the custom of visiting the in-house shrine of deceased relatives. As pictured here, the protocol is to kneel, light two sticks of incense, fan out the flame with your hand, set them in some ashes, ding the gong (that's the technical description), clasp your hands together and say a little prayer.

This year's visit was a little emptier. The man of the house, Minoru's brother Kanji, passed away in January 2011. He was full of life, and is now featured on the family mantle next to the shrine (in the picture, second from left). I wish I had known him earlier.