I have been struggling with a persistent case of sinusitis for quite some time. It was the first time in my life to experience sinusitis and I still have the pain below my eyes. My wife had been reading up on what to do at home to make recovery quicker, and one suggestion was to […]
New year in Japan is arguably the most important holiday of the year, and as such is filled with traditions. There is the traditional osetchi-ryōji, many different kinds of new year’s food served in stackable boxes. There is the traditional hatsumōde, the year’s first visit to a shrine or temple. Otoshidama, new year’s money, is
A new year and I start talking about zero energy, that does not sound too good. But it is not about my energy or my wife’s or son’s (although we have been a bit low on energy due to all the colds and last year) but rather our house’s energy use that I am talking
Even though it has no age-old traditions in Japan, celebrating Christmas the Japanese way is a very big happening here. It is a festive season leading up to the traditional New Year’s celebrations, and from what I have gathered so far, the important parts of Christmas in Japan are decorations, gifts for loved ones, chicken
When I ask my son what he would like to do today if he could decide all by himself, he normally gives me one of two answers. The first is to go on a bicycle trip. Where, I ask him. Imajuku, he says. Imajuku is where we live, so then we take a ride to
There is a place called Thomas Town, a small Thomas the tank engine theme park, located in a shopping mall outside Tokyo. We had seen it on the Internet long before and when we finally went to Tokyo I decided that I wanted to take my little boy there as I was sure he would
Recently we went to Tokyo for a shichi-go-san (7-5-3) celebration of our son’s cousin who turned 7 this year. 7-5-3 is a traditional Japanese celebration for the growth and well-being of children, at the ages of 3 and 7 for girls, and 5 and sometimes 3 for boys. Our sons loves his cousins and hasn’t
Sometimes I find that words can be a distraction when writing. With the view of Mount Fuji still in my mind, and the weight of my son still on my lap, tonight was such a time.
Being lovers of nature as well as the old and new world, we are so fortunate in where we live. While a shorter walk takes us to the train station or the shopping center, a short bicycle ride takes us to the nearby beach and mountains. And a thirty minutes drive will let us reach
As the the temperature started to drop and the colors of the trees started to shift towards the warmer tones of the spectrum, I started to plan our nature outings to enjoy the colors of autumn. However, the autumn colds has coincided with the colors so my son and I have had to postpone our
A year ago I had never heard of Thomas the tank engine, as far as I remember. Now I am familiar with not only Thomas but many of his friends thanks to my son. He tells me about James and Percy and Hiro and Rebecka, and his Thomas puzzle we bought last week has already
My little boy has really started to enjoy exploring different ways of expression, and I am so happy that the things we can do and explore together become more and more numerous. At home we have started to enjoy water colors in addition to crayons, and also my baby has become interested in sewing. We