Yoshino Baigo Plum Tree Festival

Today we decided to head out to see our old stomping grounds and take in the beautiful site of blooming plum trees.  We got up and had breakfast at our local Skylark restaurant (Vanessa and I had the "American" breakfast of eggs, sausage, bacon, toast and salad while Maddie had the Japanese breakfast of steamed white rice, dried seaweed, grilled salmon, pickled cabbage, and miso soup.)  Afterwards, we drove to Yokota Air Base in Fussa.  It was only about an hour drive.  Yokota has changed a lot since we were there and it was fun to see the base where we used to work.  After an hour or so around the base we headed out the gate on foot to the Fussa train station.  Along the way we took a slight detour and walked by the first apartment we lived in back in '94.  It was so small!  We took the train West, past Ome to Hinatawada station.  That is the location of the Yoshino Baigo annual Plum Tree Festival.  It is actually a residential area but many of the homes have plum orchards in their yards.  The whole town is a mixture of decorative plum trees and actual fruiting plum trees.  Both are beautiful and fragrant.  The Tokyo Metropolitan Government's tourism web site says there are about 25,000 plum trees of up to 120 varieties in this area!  We had a very nice time walking around the streets, climbing a hill to a shrine with a fantastic view and enjoying the festive mood of the crowds of people.  After a couple of hours we, along with seemingly thousands of others, took the train back to Fussa.  We stopped in a Starbucks to fortify ourselves for the short walk back to the base.  After a bit of shopping on base we drove back home.  There was more traffic going back home so it took us a couple of hours.  Jelly Bean was glad to see us!  It was another glorious day in Japan.

This is the view of Mt. Fuji from Yokota Air Base.
Vanessa and Madeleine enjoying some festival treats.
The hills were covered in blooms!
Madeleine only added to the natural beauty.
Vanessa took a close up of one of the blooms.  If only you could smell the perfume-like scent!
This was Maddie's favorite tree.  It was in someone's yard.
This is an orchard we passed on our way back to the train station.
This is the Tama river we crossed to and from the train station.

Happy Birthday Jelly Bean

March 13th was Jelly Bean's 2nd birthday!  We celebrated on Saturday since I had to go to school on Friday.  On Saturday morning it was rainy but that did not stop us.  We put Jelly in his coat and went in the car.  We went to a park called Sagamihara Park and walked around.  He had a blast.  We walked around a fountain but there was a sign that said "No Dogs" so we kept going.  We came to a lake and he chased a duck.  He really liked running through the puddles in the rain.  I climbed up a giant tree house but he couldn't go with me.  The rain stopped so we went to an outdoor cafe where there was a spot where we could tie Jelly up next to our table.  We ate ramen (a kind of noodle soup) and ice cream.  Then we walked through some pretty gardens.  The flowers are just starting to bloom.  On our way back to our car we met a giant, white dog.  He was really big and friendly and drooly!  I liked him.  So did Jelly.  Next we headed home.  Later we had a little birthday party.  We sang Happy Birthday to him and then he ate his filet mignon doggy food cake.  Then he licked the plate and got every little bit.  Mommy said we could put the plate back in the cabinet, ha ha.  I think he had a great birthday.  Sorry, but we forgot the camera so no pictures.

Having a great time in Japan,

Maddie

Snow on Girl's Day

Today is Girl's Day in Japan.  Maddie received some sweet treats from her teachers and a gift from us.  But the nicest gift came from Mother Nature in the form of snow!  It started snowing about 530p tonight (while Maddie was with her Japanese tutor) and is still snowing three hours later.  It should snow until about 1am or so and then the forecast calls for rain.  We are hoping it doesn't rain so the snow is still there when we wake up.

This was Jelly Bean's first time in snow.  He loved it!  He was running around at high speeds stopping only to lick it up from time to time.  We recently took him to the groomer for his first haircut since coming to Japan.  He looks handsome, doesn't he?

Maddie made some yard sculptures.  She stayed out playing until bedtime!

Traditional Japanese Buildings in Noborito

Not long ago we spent the day with our friends, Kazushi and Mieko Kimura.  We met at a park in the area of Noborito, only about a 20 minute train ride.  The park is home to many traditional homes and buildings from all over Japan.  They have restored them to their original condition.  It was educational to see how these buildings were constructed, mostly without nails.  We had a great time touring the park and then had a wonderful lunch at a nearby museum cafe.

In one of the buildings (an old inn for horse traders) the man shown above created a scale model of a typical fire place in this type of building.  He asked Maddie to help him assemble it for display.
This building has an interesting roof.  The wooden shingles are held down by logs cut if half and rocks!

We really liked the massive thatch roofing.
Vanessa grinding rice for a particular kind of grilled rice.  They would grind it using these stone grinders, then cook it and put it on sticks.  Then the rice sticks would be placed in the ashes around a fire for grilling.  Sounds delicious to us!
There were many volunteers who practice the crafts of the time period.  These artisans were making shoes, slippers, boots and other items from straw and grass.  I tried to buy some but they were not for sale.  We met some of them and they are very dedicated to keeping the old traditions alive.

Maddie's Speech at School

Today the parents were invited to the classroom at Maddie's Japanese elementary school.  All of the students prepared speeches about what they would like to do when they grow up.  Madeleine gave a short speech about being a veterinarian and liking animals.  We are very proud of her!  Her teacher said that her pronunciation was very good.  Way to go Maddie!

(Sorry about the low quality but we filmed it with our regular camera, not the video camera.  Turn the sound up!)