Play Halls

I can't ride off into the sunset without a word or two about the "children's play halls" (jidoukan, 児童館) that you can find here in Japan. These are indoor / outdoor play places to which you can bring your kid (s). Here's the thing though --- they're free . I know there are places like this in the US, but I don't know about any of this caliber that are totally free.

All you (typically) have to do is sign in with your kid's name and age (I assume so they have an idea of ​​who all is there in an emergency) and then play as long as you want. I will say that most of them have the slightly worn air of a public school. The toys and stuff are pretty "well-loved".

But I will also say that there are a few local ones that have saved my sanity more than once, particularly on rainy days. They have staff to supervise but you can't usually just leave your kid there. I think some may offer short term babysitting, but that may have a fee involved.  

Most offer "mommy & me" type classes like dance or arts & crafts that can also be totally free. They are a fantastic way to find other kids to play with if you are a stay-at-home mom and they can keep you from having to buy new toys to keep your kid entertained.  

To find your local ones you can talk to other moms (how I learned about them), call your city office or even try typing the kanji I gave above into GoogleMaps. You might get lucky. Also, if you can find one play hall they may have information (maps etc.) on others in your prefecture.

Now some pictures! These were all taken at one particular play hall here in Ota but we have been to a few. There is another one located at the Gunma Children's Castle park which I wrote about here.

outside

new toys!

slides and light-up walls

bins and bins of toys, cars, houses .....

 a strictly supervised trampoline (one person at a time only!) that is
still a little terrifying for this mama

big kids playing ping-pong

a library, all Japanese of course

I found a funny set of encyclopedia, written in an odd mash-up
of English and Japanese. the entries were funny to me.

I find myself at a bit of a disadvantage in terms of knowing what kinds of entertainment options are available for kids in the US.  After all, I've never been a parent there except for a week or two here and there!  If there are any places similar to this (and free!) that I don't know about please comment!

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)

Training Grounds

Today a couple of friends and I took our kids to a large park here in Ota.  The park is notable for two things: 1) there are castle ruins (yes, an actual castle) close by and 2) a large part of the park is totally a Ninja Warrior training ground.

If you haven't watched Ninja Warrior (or rather, Niiinnnnjaaaa Warrrrriorrr!!!!), it's pretty awesome.






At any rate, there was a TON of equipment in this park.  You can see hills in the background of the photos below ---there is a chairlift-type thing and a huge slide that goes down one hill.  There's an amphitheater and a cafeteria and a section for tiny kids....

But mostly....it's a Ninja Warrior course.  There were teenage boys totally pretending to compete.

bizarro climbing thingies (chairlift to the left up the hill)

this is some full on Ninja Warrior right here...the thing in the middle
background is a suspended log walk

the white things are inflated trampoline-type things that you bounce on

a lot of playground equipment (you can kind of see the hill slide in the middle)




And yes, one day this spring I hope to return and hike to the castle ruins, so keep an eye out for that adventure. 

Updated 3/21/13: The park is called Gunma Kodomo-no-Kuni which is Gunma Children's Land/Country although I've also heard it called Kodomo-no-Shiro which is Children's Castle.

Commercial Culture

Full disclosure: I totally stole this off another blog.  A really good blog that consistently has interesting knowledge to impart about Japan.   Matter of fact, quit wasting your time here and just go read it. :)

Anyway, it's a link to a YouTube channel that is updated with the currently airing Japanese TV commercials.

Japanese Commercials in HD

Another disclosure: Japanese TV commercials make my eyes glaze over.  Even more than American commercials.  Something about that girl-pop music they put in all of them?  It's the same pop music that's popular in a lot of stores.  I think when I'm eighty I'll hear it in my nightmares.....

That said, I think commercials are a really good window into a culture.  So go check them out.

Nightlife

We've spent some time lately hanging out in Roppongi Hills, which I first blogged about here when we made a brief daytime trip.  It's in a pretty lively (and expensive) part of town with a lot of nightlife.  The Hills is basically a giant indoor/outdoor mall with shops, restaurants and even a museum or two.  The architecture of the place is impressive.  We've been going here because of the Outback Steakhouse (we never went to Outback back home, but we love it here because it tastes like America) and a movie theater where Chad has seen a couple of movies.

Last night while he was at the movies, I perused the English section of a bookstore and spent time curled up in Starbucks.  I also took some night photos of the area.



the skyline from Roppongi Hills, with a rainbowed Tokyo Tower

the Mori Tower (the blue lights continually
run up and down the side)

down Roppongi Street towards Shibuya

looking up into the various towers from within the complex

I think this is part of the Keyakizaka Complex
(this trip we ate Caribbean food way down there on
the bottom level you can barely see)

One of the coolest aspects of coming here is that if you drive (which Chad is comfortable doing now) you can leave your car in an "automated garage".  Basically you pull your car into the garage like normal, but there are just a few parking spots.  You pull your car into one, get out and then your car goes onto a conveyor belt into an elevator and is stored way back in the bowels of the garage until you come back and check it out.  We are big dorks fascinated by this.  We even took video but this is my first attempt at video editing so it's kinda rough.  And you may not be able to play it from an iPad or phone.  I'm sure there's a reason why but I don't know anything about computers anymore. ;)

Kicked Back in Kyoto

This weekend we took a long-planned trip to the city of Kyoto.  Kyoto is a very old city, first founded in 794 AD.  It was the capital of Japan (and the seat of the Imperial Court) from that time until the late 1800's when the capital was moved to Tokyo.

Kyoto has had a lot of fires and earthquakes over the centuries but it was spared during WWII because of it's cultural and historical significance.  So there are an unusual number of pre-war buildings still standing including a bajillion temples and shrines.  From my perspective, it seemed like wood is used more for buildings there.  There wasn't quite as much concrete.  The skyline was much lower than Tokyo.  And the city seemed to be surrounded by perpetually misty mountains.

Typically when we travel we stay in large chain hotels so we know what to expect but for this trip I convinced Chad to stay in a small boutique hotel in the Gion district.  Gion is famous and familiar for being where geisha (or geiko, as they call themselves) have lived and worked for decades. 

I really wanted to get photos of one but they are hard to catch as they aren't really there for tourists and tend to actually avoid people.  They work in the extremely exclusive and expensive teahouses as entertainers, making tea, singing and playing instruments.  I read the book Memoirs of a Geisha years ago and while I now very much doubt it's accuracy (geisha are not prostitutes) I enjoyed it very much at the time.

Anyway, we did see one right as we were leaving but, of course, I didn't have any camera nearby and we were speeding by in a taxi.  So you'll just have to take my word for it.  She was wearing a beautiful peach and white flowered kimono, the complete head-gear and full white makeup.  She was standing on a street-corner waiting to cross, looking like she did it every day.

our hotel

the lively Shijo Street at night

side of the 300-year old Ichiriki teahouse
(worth reading about at the link)

houses on a river in Gion

Gion stone street

Another thing about Kyoto that I feel the need to mention is the food.  Namely that there is not a lot of western food at all.  We ended up asking the hotel concierge to recommend a tempura place for our first night.  We asked for tempura because at least we know that everything is pretty much fried in a batter.

The experience demonstrates perfectly why we are a little cautious about walking into Japanese restaurants.  The restaurant had a "set menu" which pretty much means you don't order, you just eat whatever they bring you.  See, the thing is, once we get in a Japanese restaurant and sit down, we commit and do our best to not act like clueless foreigners.  I would probably do really well on Fear Factor if all the creepy-crawlies were brought to me by a sweet little old Japanese lady who I didn't want to offend.

We started the meal off with what appeared to be a fried spider (pretty sure it was some kind of shrimp and it tasted like a pork rind).  We ate eel, sea urchin, mussels, lotus root, jellied fish broth, jellied egg custard and the ubiquitous octopus.  We had a salad which I initially thought had fried onions on it.  Then I realized that the "onions" had eyeballs.  Deep-fried baby minnows.  Dessert was soybean goo.  For the record, we did have some good fried shrimp (normal and headless, miraculously) and some delicious fried scallops.  We tried everything and ate most of it.  We were almost the only customers and were being observed by the very nice chef because we were eating at the bar and he was enjoying practicing his English on us.

(Incidentally, the baby was not amused by all this and retaliated with a particularly vicious case of heartburn.)

The next day we decided to go to the famous Kinkakuji, which is also known as the Golden Pavilion because it's covered in gold foil.  The pavilion, which is part of the Rokuon-ji Temple complex, was built in 1397 by a shogun.  It burned down (arson) in the 50's but was rebuilt immediately.  It isn't an operational temple anymore (no priests) but is instead a tourist trap and a nice place to take photos.

crowded

belfry on the way in

with the reflection in the lake

on the backside (you can actually walk really close to it)

several of these were set up around the grounds....those are coins.  if
you get your coin in the little pot you cheer and jump up and down.....
perhaps because your wish was granted?

surrounding lake and gardens

The Saga of the Neighborhood Social

So last year about this time our next-door neighbor came over and told us that the yearly neighborhood social was coming up.  She said there would be food and drink and gave us a ticket for a free serving of yakisoba (a popular noodle dish).  The flyer she gave us was all in Japanese but she told us that it would start at 11am and that it was in "the park". 

Now, there is a small grassy playground area around the corner from our house.  And then there is an actual small park (seen here) a few blocks away.  I had no idea which one she was talking about but just knew it wouldn't be too hard to figure out.  Anyway, on the day of, I got ready to leave around noon (thinking it had to last at least a couple of hours) but then met my neighbor in our driveways on the way out.  She told me it was already over and I'd missed it.  So.....it didn't last two hours.

Fast forward to a few days ago.  Another neighbor (seriously, they take turns) comes by with the flyer and the yakisoba ticket.  She, like the previous neighbor, speaks a little bit of English---about as much as I speak Japanese.  She tells me that it starts at 11am and that it's in "the park".  Sounds familiar.

So today was the day.  (If you're wondering about Chad, he had to go to the bank in Tokyo to try to get a Japanese credit card.  Plus, honestly, he has zero desire to socialize with the neighbors.) Based on last year's experience, I was ready at 9:30am.  I walked down to the small playground area to check it out and there was nothing there.  So I drove down to the actual park and there was nothing there.   But I met this year's neighbor on the way back and stopped and she informed me again that it was in "the park" but this time she pointed toward the actual park.  And she said "but not start until 11am!".  OK.  Got it.

So by this time I'm determined.  I'm going to find out what is going on or go down trying.  So a little after 11am I get in the car and drive down towards the park.  But just before I reach the park I see a crowd of people in a lot under tents and my neighbor waving at me frantically.  She pointed me towards a tiny spot where I could squeeze my car (I should've just walked it).  And so....the social wasn't even in the park.  It was in a tiny gravel lot near the park.



ta-da!

It turned out to be mainly a few food tents.  My neighbor had already collected some food for me, bless her.

the yakisoba is upper left, the other two are rice & veggies and rice & red beans

I stood around for awhile and tried out my Japanese with my neighbors.  I only got my belly rubbed once and it was by a small child so that wasn't so bad.  I asked questions....but sometimes the answers get tangled up in translation.  I'm pretty sure that at least the yakisoba was homemade by neighborhood ladies.  Not 100% sure on the other dishes.  (I did try them all out and all of them were OK.)  And I think that the social was actually for a few of the nearby neighborhoods, not just our little street.

The tan building that you see on the right side of the first photo is a "community building" used for meetings and activities of some sort.  During the social, it was the kid's area.  Apparently there was some kind of drumming lesson going on?  And I really thought someone said something about pirates?  I dunno....




I think that's a drum on the right, but I see no pirates?

Anyway, it was incredibly humid (notice all the sweat rags in the photos below) so I didn't stay too long.  On my way out I did make the acquaintance of a nice man who spoke pretty darn good English and was happy to get to practice it.  He lived in Indiana for a couple of years. 

Some extra photos of the action.....

So there ya go....a Japanese neighborhood social. :)

Rock N' Roll

The other day, when I stopped by 7-Eleven, I noticed a flyer on the window.

In case you can't see the bits of English, The Stone Roses, Radiohead and whatever solo nonsense Noel Gallagher (formerly of Oasis) is up to are featured at the Fuji Rock Festival '12.  On July 27-29th.  Now, normally I would at least be looking up the ticket prices but, having gone to a few summer music festivals in my day, I don't quite have the guts to go to one at 8 months pregnant.  Although going into labor at a rock show would be a pretty good story....

I did look it up to see if it really is at Mt. Fuji and.....it is not.  It's actually not that far to the north of us, in more or less the same mountains as Nagano.  At a ski resort.  Go figure.  Oh, and I saw the prices....sheesh.  About $200 for a one day pass.

And, below that you'll notice the Summer Sonic '12 festival featuring Green Day.  It's in Tokyo a little later in the year.  Tempting, as we'll actually be in Tokyo at that point, but again, I'm gutless.  :)

More Hanami.....and Pandas!

This weekend we went into the city for a doctor's appointment and to meet up with an old friend of Chad's and his girlfriend who were visiting Tokyo for a few days.  We ended up spending Friday morning at Ueno Park and Zoo which is destined to be one of my favorite places in the city.  Along with the zoo, there are shrines, temples, museums and green space all in a huge park in northeastern Tokyo.  We didn't get to see much, and only half of the zoo, but I know we'll probably go back multiple times.

Right now, the park is also known as one of the best places to see the cherry blossoms in Tokyo, although a lot of them had fallen by this point.

walking through the park

a few still left...

....here and there

Shin Shin---one very relaxed and hungry giant panda

the elephants were nice enough to pose

building in the park

After the zoo we headed to the doctor's office where we found out that we're having a baby girl!  I'm very excited about the massive shopping spree I'm going to go on now!   In light of that news, here's a little more pink! ;)

Matinee

Last week I went to the movie theater here for the first time.  I went with a couple of friends to an afternoon showing of The Iron Lady.  In English, of course, with Japanese subtitles. There's not too much to report about the experience, it's about the same as seeing a movie in an American theater.  Only three things caught my attention: 1) you get an assigned seat number---randomly generated when you buy your ticket  2) you can't get butter on your popcorn---only salt, cheese or caramel and  3) they didn't have much candy at the concession stand---only KitKat, cookies and churritos.