Rice Planting

Well, it is rice planting season so we thought we would join in. Today we went to a small co-op with a couple of rice fields (tanbo) and learned how to plant rice the old fashioned way. The first thing we did was pull up the rice seedlings from a nearby field.  That was backbreaking work in itself.  Then we took them over to the planting field.  Here it is before the planting:

Then we began the actual planting.  You would take three or four seedlings and put them in the wet mud in rows about 6 inches apart.  The mud was very thick and mushy!  Here is Madeleine just getting started:

Vanessa and I also planted three rows each to the left of Maddie.  It was hard because you had to bend over for each planting and also walk in the muck.  A few people fell down and got covered in mud because you have to kind of wallow around to get yourself back up.  After an hour or so the first field was planted.   
Maddie surveys her work:
Hard working rice planters:
Taking a break by a creek:
Lunch was called so we headed over to a nearby spring and washed up.  While we worked, some Japanese ladies had prepared two big pots of Japanese curry over open fires.  We had a picnic style lunch.  It was delicious!

Maddie with some of the other kids:

We were pretty tired out and our backs ached but we had a lot of fun and learned a good deal about rice planting!  Perhaps we will go back at harvest time and give that a try.

Ueno Zoo

On Saturday, May 9th we woke up to a beautiful day. We didn't have any plans so we decided to head into Tokyo. We wanted to show Madeleine how to take the fancy train to Shinjuku. Let me explain. There are several types of trains that take you to Shinjuku station in Tokyo. There is a local train that stops at every station. Then there are semi-express and express trains that get you there faster with fewer stops. These trains are usually very crowded and you are lucky if you can get a seat. It takes about 30 minutes on the express train and longer on the local. BUT, a couple of stops down the line from our station, you can catch a train that has reserved seats. They call it the "Romance" train. This is the more traditional train that you might be used to taking. It is an additional charge to the ticket you buy to Shinjuku. It is great because you can sit together in comfort (airline style seats) and they even have a refreshment cart and attendant that goes up and down the aisle. There are bathrooms and plenty of room for baggage. Like I said earlier, it is the fancy train! So anyway, we took the Romance train to Shinjuku. Once there we looked at the stops along the Yamanote line. This is a train line that goes in a big loop around the city. Vanessa spotted Ueno and we remembered there is a big park there, Ueno Park. It is similiar to Central Park in New York since it is big and in the center of Tokyo. Soon after we arrived at the park we had a picnic lunch under some big trees. After that we started exploring. There was a lot of activity with street performers, booths selling pottery and lots of food and drink. We came to a big open area and standing in the middle of it was a man with a sign that read "Free Hugs" Vanessa didn't hesitate and with a big smile went right over and got a hug. We all got hugs! We only saw one other guy getting a hug but we hoped he gave away a bunch of them.

Shortly afterward we came to the Ueno Zoo. We weren't planning on going to the zoo but it looked like fun so off we went. Just past the entrance gate they had the carp flying in the breeze.

Maddie loves elephants. She thinks they are cool. We agree. There was a young one entertaining the crowd that Maddie really liked.

They also had Japanese snow monkeys! There were several babies running around getting into mischief. We stayed and watched them for a long time.

Maddie monkeying around at the gorilla exhibit. I don't know who that mysterious character with the sunglasses is next to her.

The seals were lively and quite vocal. This one hopped up on the rock just as we were walking up to the railing! (It was a sunny day as you can tell from Maddie's squinting.)

We were getting a little tired so we decided to head back home. On the way out, Maddie decided to hop up on the elephant. We've got to get this girl to Africa. She's a natural!

We took the Romance train back home. Once again, another fun day in Tokyo! We hope you have a nice day too.

Children's Day and Kite Festival

Ok, Ok, I know it has been a while since our last posting. I guess we got caught up in every day living and didn't do anything too exciting. But that all changed last week with the Japanese holidays called Golden Week. It is basically 4 national holidays all strung together and most people have the week off of work and school. One of those days is called Children's Day. On this day everyone hangs fabric carp from a line or pole. I'm not sure of the history for this. At Sagamigara river (check out the earlier blog on this river) they celebrate Children's Day with a kite festival. We went a couple of days before the festival to check out how the kite's were coming along. They build these huge kites out of bamboo and rope ahead of time and then cover them with decorated paper on the day they fly them. Here's a picture of Madeleine standing in front of one of frames:

Pretty big kite! They also built some kind of traditional straw hut. Vanessa and Maddie were ready to move in!

At the river, they strung some large carp across the expanse. These things were very large and with the strong winds looked beautiful flying in the sky.

After checking out the scene, we took a walk around the area. Along the river they have many rice fields mixed in amongst the houses. They have irrigation systems all around. We came across a monument of some sort with an old concrete pipe. It looked like a good opportunity for a photo of our beautiful Maddie!

On the day of the festival our friends who live right next to the river had a little party. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day with no wind. We still had a good time eating and visiting with our friends. Maddie and I got there early and walked around the festival while it was only sprinkling. We saw some of the kites up in the air. Since there was no wind, the people who built them would grab the long ropes and take off running to get them to fly. The kites looked great! But when the runners ran out of running room the kites would fall to the ground. Some of the people had to scatter as they came down! Our friends told us they saw a group fly their kite by pulling it with a truck. Here is one in the air:

We came to the main area of the festival where they had some kites on display. They looked great with the paper on them. There were some costumed ladies doing a synchronized dance to traditional music when we arrived. Maddie really enjoyed their dancing!

This is the one that Maddie was standing in front of in the first picture at top:

We had a good time. This happened to be May 5th. So we also had to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! We had some margaritas at our friend's house and then later that night we all went hunting for a mexican restaurant. Since it was a holiday, many restaurants were closed. Luckily for us, mexican food is popular in the area. After two failed attempts, we found one open and had a very good dinner. Sorry, no photos of that. Thanks for reading and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there!