Wicket Games

Lately our schedule involves a lot of going to parks before lunch.  In doing so we often run into seniors playing what I always thought was croquet.   However, research prior to writing this indicates that it may be a Japanese variation of croquet called gateball.

Here's what I can tell you for sure:  the old folks around these parts love it, whatever you call it.  They're in every park with their mallets and wickets, whacking away.  Way back when we first got here I saw some people playing it in the local community center and thought it was mildly interesting that croquet was played here.  But now that I spend all my time in parks I'm a little taken aback by the local fervor for the game. You hear a lot about how Japan has an aging population---I'm inclined to agree based solely on how much time I spend chasing Cora away from croquet balls.

We walk to our neighborhood park at least two mornings every week and hang out with the neighborhood croquet players.  There are usually about 20 or so there on a few teams. It seems to be a fairly informal, easy-going game---I don't know much about the rules but I'm pretty sure that putting one guy past the wicket whose job is to stop the ball from going too far off course is technically cheating.  They're very nice about Cora occasionally trying to steal their equipment.

a team around a wicket 

an overview of several teams (from the playground area)  

On another topic entirely, go back to the first picture and notice what the people are wearing.  It was at least 85 degrees (Fahrenheit) that particular day.  Notice the long sleeves?  Totally typical Japanese summertime attire.

I get some odd looks sometimes in the parks because I'm usually there in running shorts, T-shirt and baseball cap.  All the other moms and the seniors are completely covered up.  It's not an issue of modesty, it's completely an issue of sun protection and the desire for pale skin.  On the same day that I took the croquet photos above an elderly lady literally stopped me on the street and started stroking my bare arms and jabbering at me.  I couldn't really catch much of it but I gathered she was telling me I needed to protect my skin.  She was in a typical Japanese elderly lady outdoor costume that reminds me of a beekeeper outfit.  In fact, I confess to occasionally referring to these ladies as "beekeepers" in private conversation.

yes, they are even wearing gloves (this was another 85+ degree day)

Even the other kids are usually more covered up than Cora in her shorts and T-shirt.  Of course, we are covered in sunscreen which we have to bring back from the US.  Not because they don't have it here, but because it only comes in tiny bottles (think sample size).  They just prefer sun protection in the form of clothes.

One good thing about all this is you can find an awesome array of sheer, gauzy layering clothes in the stores in the summer.  Particularly cardigans.  Great for if you need something to go over a sundress.  I'm really going to miss the cardigan selection here when we go home.  I feel like the hat selection is better here too.

So, the takeaway is, if you are coming to Japan in the summer, prepare to feel a little under dressed and try to pick up some cardigans. :D


(And please excuse the post title, I couldn't help myself.:D)

Rainy Season

It's the rainy season here which can make for some boring days inside.  But if you can manage to get outside during a break in the rain, you can see some beautiful Japanese countryside.  The rain has cleared the air so you can see all the way to the mountains over the new fields of rice.  Here are some shots I took recently on a walk (but they don't do it justice).

Photo Shoot

A few weeks ago I took Cora to a local chain photo studio called Studio Alice.  Studio Alice is a popular chain with many, many locations all over Japan (the website is all in Japanese).   It was fairly similar to a kid/family photo studio in the US but there are a few differences here and there.  

Studio Alice caters mainly to child photo shoots, but can accommodate taking portraits of entire families.  You can bring your child with their own regular dress clothes (suit, tie, frilly dress etc.) but a very popular thing to do is take your kid and dress them up in Studio Alice's elaborate costumes including fake hair and makeup if you so choose.  (It reminds me a bit of those old Glamour Shot setups that were so popular when I was in middle school.)  The costumes range from Disney princess dresses, Halloween-type characters and traditional Japanese kimonos.  As mentioned in my previous post, this is also a popular place to bring your child for their Shichi-Go-San photos.

Of course, I wanted to have Cora's photos taken in a little kimono because, well, when in Rome, right?  It's an opportunity that can't be passed up while we're here.  When they presented me with the options for fake hair I was so enormously entertained that I make the foolish mistake of letting them put some on her.  It was funny, but so not worth the time and effort.  If you're ever in the same situation, be smarter than me and don't try to put fake hair on a squirmy almost-two year old.  I was there with an American friend and we took some shots her kids while wearing the fake hair but none of them turned out so great.  Multiple tiny kids and elaborate fake hairdos?  I have no idea what we were thinking.  ;)

Disclaimer: Studio Alice doesn't allow you to take photos inside the store for obvious reasons but you can take video.  So the shots below are mostly stills from videos we took, which is why they aren't that great. 

I grabbed this shot of the walls of costumery that greets you when you walk in

The photos below are stills from when we were getting Cora ready.  You can see some of the fake hair if you look closely.  Note that my iPhone is the only thing keeping her still for the hair-fixing.  And in the dressing photo she is actively trying to run away.  Photo shoots are not her thing, unsurprisingly.

 Below she is waiting somewhat patiently in the play area.  The fake hair is blessedly gone by this point.

 And finally, below is the best shot we got.  All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.  Note that she isn't wearing shoes because she was having no part whatsoever of the matching geta, which are those Japanese-style wooden flip-flops.  It's also a little blurry but I'm going to tell everyone that it was an artistic choice and not because my kid won't sit still for more than five seconds at a time.  And as for what she is looking up at, it was me jumping around and singing off-key like an absolute idiot in an attempt to distract her into being still.  I have heard many interpretations of that expression but I know for a fact that she's thinking " OMG, Mama's lost her mind!".

After we took the photos we sat down to review them and pick a package.  The packaging and pricing was fairly comparable to what you would see in the US but they would not sell me digital copies now.  After one year I can go get them on a CD for a nominal fee.  Not a big fan of that but whatever.  So I took the copies they gave me and scanned them.

Although it was not the most relaxing day I've ever had, I'm really glad we did it and I know that one day far in the future we'll look at them and remember that crazy time when we lived in Japan.  :D

7-5-3

You might be thinking "What kind of post title is that?  Did she forget to proofread?"  No, I did not. ;)  

It refers to a Japanese tradition called "Shichi-Go-San" which is the subject of today's post. Shichi-Go-San translates to "seven-five-three".  The tradition, in a nutshell, involves dressing your 3, 5 and 7 year old kids up to go take pictures of them, visit a shrine and/or have a party.  Traditionally the day to do this is November 15th, but since it isn't a national holiday most families do it on the closest weekend.  The tradition goes back as far as 800 A.D but changed a good bit around the 1800's and has stayed basically the same since.

I have an American friend here who has a 2 1/2 year old daughter.  She, in turn, is friends with a Japanese family who was kind enough to offer to do Shichi-Go-San with her daughter (I'll call my friend "M" and her daughter "R" in order to somewhat protect their identity). I was fortunate enough to be invited as the official photographer/blogger of the event.

This Japanese family actually has their own "family kimono" that has been passed down through three generations. So R was the fourth to get to wear it.  Not all families have their own real family kimono these days.  Many families will rent them for dress-up occasions as they are rather expensive.  

You may be wondering why I'm posting about this now as it isn't November.  Well, (and this is information that I could find nowhere else on the Internet but I have it on authority from actual Japanese people) if you have your own family kimono (or even if you rent, I suppose) you can opt to also do a kind of "preview" Shichi-Go-San in the spring.  This is for two reasons: 1) you can get pictures outdoors with the spring flowers and 2) you can get pictures of the kids before they get their summer tan.

You also may be wondering why we are doing this when R is only 2 1/2 years old.  It's traditional to do it all in the year the child turns three, even if their birthday hasn't passed yet.  Alternately, some families may choose to use the East Asian method of calculating age, in which a child is one year old at birth and gains a year on each lunar new year.

We started at a hair salon near the home of our host family (run by a family friend), where R was given a fancy updo.

We moved into a side room in the hair salon where the stylist (who is also known as a "kimono master") proceeded to dress R up in the many layers of a three-year-old's kimono.  I'll stop here and praise R, because she was extremely patient and well-behaved during all this.  I couldn't help but think of my own child, who wouldn't have stood for it, no way, no how (and I know this for a fact, but more on that in a later post).

After she was finished, we took a trip to a local shrine where we took family photos.  And then we went to a local park for more photos.  Below is one of my personal favorites.

Many thanks to M and her family for inviting me to see a Shichi-Go-San and for allowing me to blog about it!

Sunny Money

A few posts back I wrote about how Ota City had only one claim to fame--being where the Subaru car company was founded.  I have to make a correction now because that isn't entirely true.  If you run Google searches for Ota City you will probably run across a lot of articles about solar energy.

All of them are several years old and link to the same video:




Apparently I live in the "Solar City of the Future".  Who knew.  For the record, I have no idea where Pal Town or the strawberry fields are.  They must be on the other side of town.  I can confirm that many houses, even in my neighborhood, have solar panels on the roof.  Especially new homes.  Ours does not, but our house is a little older.

So that is the back story to my story.  A couple of months ago a Japanese friend of mine called me to tell me about some "money tickets" being offered by the city.  My friend's English is good but not so good that we didn't have to go around in a few circles to get on the same page about what "money ticket" entailed.  Come to find out, she was talking about coupon books, similar to those that are commonly sold during fund-raising drives in the US.  In my (American) experience, kids sell them door-to-door to raise money for school trips/supplies.  The coupons offer discounts to local businesses.

In this case, the city was selling the books, not to raise money, but to dispense it....albeit in a roundabout manner.  In the video above, they kinda mention government subsidies provided as incentives for using solar energy.  These coupon books are a way to dispense government subsidy money to the populace.  The number of books available is limited so you have to "apply" to receive them.   My friend applied for me as it required sending in a postcard with your name, address and age.  I am happy to say I was "accepted" to receive my requested two books.

Now, some of you might be thinking "yeah, you mean the coupons that wind up unused in your junk drawer because there are so many limitations and exceptions plus you don't even go to half the businesses anyway?". No?  Well, that's what I was thinking, even though I applied for the two books anyway.  Well, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that these coupon books don't exactly operate like the American ones.

I had to report to City Hall on a certain day to pick up my books.  My friend wasn't available to go with me so I went by myself but it was a very easy process to pick up the books.

this is Ota City Hall.....it looks like a City Hall

After I got them I was surprised to see that every coupon was exactly the same.  Turns out that each coupon is worth 500 yen (about $5) and can be used at any of the participating local businesses, no strings attached.  My friend had given me list of some of  the local participating shops and they are all places I shop at (part of the reason she called me).  Not only that, but you can use as many tickets at one purchase time as you want.  So basically it's like a book of five dollar bills.  Easy, huh?

So you're probably wondering how much money I'm getting/saving, right?  Well.....turns out that when you do the math you're getting about $15 per book.  Which isn't much, especially for all this work (rather than buying them from a kid on my doorstep) but that's Japan for ya.  Also each book is 10000 yen, which is about $100 so they're expensive on top of all this.

coupon book, aka money tickets.  if you can't make it out, that is a picture of solar panels

They're good for a year, I think?  And I've already used some at my regular supermarket.  Being able to use a bunch at once seems weird but so far I haven't had any trouble with it.  Anyone else out there have an alternative coupon book experience in Japan or another country?
  

Rebuilding Edo Castle Tower

During Golden Week we spent a weekend in Tokyo visiting the Imperial Gardens.  We went to the Gardens once before, a long time ago, but we just kinda walked in, looked at the palace from a distance, and walked out again.  This time we decided to really spend the day there, see as much as possible, and let Cora run around free-range if possible.

The gardens are big, and toddler-active-time has it's limitations so we ended up making a beeline for the ruins of the Edo Castle Tower.  Back in the samurai days (1600's) Tokyo was called Edo and it had a castle.  Initial construction of the castle and grounds were begun in 1457 and were very, very extensive. Over the centuries there has been lots of burning, wars, rebuilding and relocating of the various buildings and architectural features.  Details here.

Now all this is part of the Imperial Palace gardens.  At one end is a stone pedestal where the largest tower of the castle stood.  The tower had five stories and was 51 meters high.  It was the tallest tower in Japan.

the stone pedestal

from on top, looking back down into the gardens

Now, here's where it gets kinda interesting.  There is a group of citizens in Tokyo who believe that it's a shame that Tokyo doesn't have a castle.  Lots of other big cities in Japan have a castle they can show off, but not poor Tokyo.  So they've banded together and formed a committee to raise money and rebuild the main tower to it's original splendor.

We received the flyer below when we entered the gardens.  I didn't pay attention when we were handed the flyer, but I wonder if we were slipped an English one based on our appearance.  My response after reading it was "bless them".  They have a Facebook page and a website but it's all in Japanese.  (And as usual, if you let them be translated by a program, it's little more than gibberish.)  

I hope they can make their dream come true and if I ever see an actual opportunity to donate I'll totally do it.  It would be great to come back to Japan one day far in the future and see a tower here on this pedestal.    

the front: note that it "might" be a great monument....no promises

my favorite line is about them being ordinary people

Tomb Raider Part 2: Return of the King

Last month, during the height of cherry blossom season, I went with some friends to a new (for us) park over in Ashikaga (in fact, it is called Ashikaga Park).  There wasn't much to this park but it happens to be built on and around some more ancient burial mounds.  It was a much nicer experience than my previous trip to see some local random boring hills ancient burial mounds.

There are twelve mounds in the immediate area, two of which have blocked-off passageways.  Not too much to say about them that I didn't say in the previous post about the ones in Ota.  My Japanese friend who was with me informed me that old Japanese "kings" were buried here.

There was also at some point a geocache buried near a shrine in the park.  I went back later to try to find it but no luck.  It hasn't been found in a long time so I think it's defunct.

Anyway, it only took three years and going to a different town, but I finally got my interesting (or at least pretty) burial mounds!

hey, where'd that American kid come from?

I hope this poor thing hasn't been growing since 1945

it's rare to get a pic of the sakura that doesn't also include five hundred people

from the top of a mound---can you see the cardboard laying at the bottom?  kids bring it and "sled" down the hill.
and I was afraid of climbing the other burial mounds because it might be rude.  Ha!

view from the top over Ashikaga

Claim to Fame

So most of you probably know that we live in a little town called Ota.  To be honest, there isn't a lot going on here but Ota does have one claim to fame.  It's where the Subaru car company was born.  It's hard to miss this, since there's an enormous Subaru factory right in the middle of town.

According to my research, a local guy named Chikuhei Nakajima founded the Nakajima Aircraft Company in 1917.  It became a prominent aircraft manufacturer for Japan during WWII.  From what I read, the factory here in town (or it's predecessor) was heavily bombed during WWII.  As you can imagine, after the war they were no longer allowed to make aircraft.  So they started using  leftover airplane parts to make scooters and.....cars.  The umbrella company is now called Fuji Heavy Industries, Ltd. and Subaru is just a division within it.  If you're at all interested in auto-manufacturer history this link and the one above re Nakajima lead to some good reading on Wikipedia.

I took a special trip downtown to take some pictures of the factory but they don't do justice to the enormity of it.  Seriously it's acres and acres of car plant.  And it's quite the bustling area, with lots of trucks---not the best place to be trying to take photos from a moving car.  I tried to pull over in a side parking lot at one point only to be honked at by a semi who wanted me to move so he could pull in too.

There are lots of Subaru dealers around this area and a lot of people drive them, including Chad.  The big semis that carry lots of stacked cars are a common sight here in town too.

the entrance, right before I was nearly mowed down by the semi

driving by, you can barely see a red/white airplane out front.
I can only assume it's in reference to the company's beginning

employee parking?  I assume it's a major employer in the area

Lean In, Licca-chan

I spend my fair share of time in Babies/Toys R' Us these days.  It was there that I ran across Licca-chan, aka Japanese Barbie. (Because of the way "L" is pronounced here her name can sometimes sound like "Rika".  I tell you this only because it can cause confusion---it did for me.)  Actual American Barbie is available here too, although I don't think she is as popular as Licca-chan.

Licca-chan was introduced in 1967 and at first glance she's a lot like Barbie.  She has a back story, family, a personality, careers etc.  One thing I thought was funny is that Licca-chan is described as a "fan" of the Anne of Green Gables books.  I read those books for the first time just before we moved here---imagine my surprise when I learned that they are super popular in Japan.  Japanese kids read them in school.  You can visit Green Gables Farm on Prince Edward Island (the Canadian setting for the novels) and I gather that it's a popular tourist destination for Japanese people and some even get married there.  Go figure.

Anyway, so now on to my personal experience with Licca-chan. After I decided to do a blog about her I went and really examined the merchandise available and took photos.  I was a little appalled by what I found.  The only career options available to Licca-chan in my local toy store are food service, pet shop employee, childcare and beautician.  And one lone nurse Licca-chan stuck in a corner.  Don't get me wrong (or flame me), these are all very noble and important professions.  But come on....

nurse and pet shop

Pizza-La employee and cafe worker.  or parent with two suspiciously
red-haired children straight out of The Shining

beautician Licca

donut store employee is surprisingly popular?

Japanese restaurant worker (lots of tiny sushi)

teenage babysitter, judging by the looks of her

and to top it off, she apparently has a French boyfriend
(on second glance, he is labeled "papa" and the doll next to him is "mama"
--I think they are Licca-chan's very young parents?)

I wanted to get a Licca-chan for Cora, in the spirit of having some neat souvenirs of her early childhood in Japan.  But now I'm not so sure.  I did some additional research on Licca-chan, just to make sure that it wasn't a case of the store only carrying certain models.  As far as I can tell this is the height of Licca-chan's career aspirations.

I also did some research on what Barbie is up to these days, just to make sure that this wasn't an overall doll trend.  I am pleased to report that I was easily able to locate astronaut Barbie on the American Toys R' Us website as well as some other choices that were at least more interesting like singer/songwriter and ice skater.  The full list of Barbie's careers astonished even me.  Computer Engineer Barbie is pretty awesome.

Some of you may be thinking well, duh....feminism isn't as prevalent in Japan so why is this surprising?  I suppose I was just taken aback to see it displayed so blatantly in the doll section of the toy store.  But it is what it is, right?  I guess I'll just let Cora pick what Licca-chan she wants and then get her a US President Barbie when we get home.  Maybe Barbie will be a good influence on Licca-chan.  ;D

So Ugly It's...Cute?

Many months ago I was walking through the kiddie arcade at the mall and happened to glance over at a small toy dispenser.  I did a double take at what was inside.  It was this guy:

yikes

Now, honestly, what does that look like to you?  Am I the only one who thinks it looks obscene?  I took some pictures, mostly just to prove to myself later that I hadn't imagined it.

A few weeks later I ran across an article that explained who and what this.....thing.....is.  I am relieved to inform you that he is a mushroom and his name is Nameko.  He's part of the Japanese trend of popular characters who are supposed to be gross....but in a cute way.  The trend is called "kimo-kawaii" which translates to "gross-cute".  No, I'm not kidding.  You probably already know that anything cutesy is prized in Japan....think Hello Kitty.  I guess they got tired of actual cute things and had to branch out.

Nameko is just the tip of the iceberg, there are tons of these characters (go read the linked article for a comprehensive list) but he is the one I see most often.  I did lose my original pictures and had to go all over the place hunting this weird thing so I could take some new ones and share him with you all.  Because without pictures would you have really believed me? And I don't like to think of how I would've tried to describe him.

lewd fungus arcade game prizes

lewd fungus cell phone charms

I will say that I think America totally has its own version of this stuff, mostly the cartoons you find on Nickelodeon and the Cartoon Network (think Spongebob) so it's really not that particular to Japan.  Nor is the concept of "so ugly it's cute" although I think Americans usually stick to dogs and babies.  I have a feeling if Nameko made it to the States he would get a completely different reaction. :D

Life-Altering

I recently found myself in need of having some clothing alterations done.  Namely, I needed a bunch of jeans and pants hemmed.  This might not sound like a big deal to you, but when you're as short as I am it's extremely important to have a good tailor on deck.

I determined that I had three choices: 1) ship my pants back to the US to be altered 2) get a Japanese friend to locate and accompany me to a local tailor or 3) go alone to the cubbyhole in the mall with a sewing machine on the sign and see what happened.

You're probably thinking "She was going to ship her jeans halfway around the world to be hemmed?!?  That's nuts."  So I should note that two pairs of these jeans had cost me a pretty penny.  That's a long story about growing older and not being able to wear the cute, cheap jeans in the teenager stores yet refusing to wear mom jeans.  We'll skip it, it's depressing.   I'm also particular about having jeans hemmed in that I want them to look like they still have the original hem and have never been touched.

Anyway, I decided to throw caution to the wind and take my fancy jeans to the sewing machine-sign place in the mall.  Lo and behold, it was a place to have clothes altered and they would take anything (I had been concerned that you might have to have a receipt to prove it had been purchased in the department store to which it was adjacent).

I took my pants with pins in them and basically used gestures because I have no idea how to say "hem" or "alter" in Japanese.  I could look it up but I would get 50 results with only one being the actual, common, everyday usage version and no way to know which one it was.  And I could ask someone, but I'm lazy.  That's the way that goes.

But in a miraculous turn of events, the nice lady at the alterations counter totally just understood that a pair of jeans with pins at the bottom need to be hemmed.  It was like it happened to her every day. ;)  She measured the inseam (in centimeters) and gave me my pins back.  I had to fill out my name, phone number and go ahead and pay.  I got a receipt and was informed that they could be done in two hours!  Two hours! And it only cost about $7! At this point I was ecstatic.  And two hours later when I received a beautifully hemmed pair of jeans I was even more ecstatic!

my beloved cubbyhole, the sign actually has a
sewing machine and a.....squirrel.  don't ask me.

 If there's anyone out there in Japan trying to find an alterations place and wondering where this is, it's in an Aeon.  I think the alterations place itself is called "Fashion Reform".  I'm assuming they are always located with Aeon but I'm not sure.  I took a picture of their services sign but I can't help ya out on reading it.  Except that the first two items listed are "jeans" and hemming, based on the prices.  I really want to know what $84 will get me at the bottom right.  A custom suit?

And I have since taken about 7 more pairs of pants to this place and have had lovely results and service every time.  Classic Japanese service.  Here's wishing you all good service, well-hemmed pants and a happy spring!

America...Be My Valentine

(Soon I'll return with more positive posts that are actually about Japan, I promise! I was just inspired by the date! :))

O America, you frontier of wide-open spaces, of plentiful forests, wide roads and gratuitous wildflower medians. Of rolling hills dotted with cows that are destined to become BBQ, hot dogs or thinly sliced ​​be-pickled roast beef in one of a bajillion delicious, delicious delicatessens. Delicatessens that are next door to Mexican joints with melty cheese and burritos and real sour cream.

Look at you, flaunting your wealth of public benches and public trash cans and outdoor dining options.

And across the street is Target and Whole Foods and Hobby Lobby where, using the US measurement system and your debit card, you can buy lovely things to decorate your thick, luxuriously insulated walls. Walls that stay a consistent temperature because of central heating and air conditioning or maybe even a fireplace! Fireplaces! Second only to your garden bathtubs in their splendor ....

You are a paradise of enormous appliances, of high-energy lint-sucking washers and dryers and giant stainless steel refrigerators and vast ovens for (at Celsius) roasting those beautiful Thanksgiving birds. Birds served next to delicious desserts made with tubed crescent rolls and the assistance of that great American, Betty Crocker.

America, I love you.  Don't ever change, no matter what anyone says.