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!

Cute Cars Redux

This post is just to share photos I've collected of a fun Japanese trend.  It's popular  (more so than in the US) to decorate the inside of your car with stuffed animals, trinkets etc.  It's something that really stood out to me when we first arrived but now I don't notice it so much.  But I still have a few pics!

And FYI, the title is a reference to a post I did long ago about the cute little pastel compact cars they have here.  I think you can see a couple of the cars below are pastel pink.  It really adds to the overall effect.  Very kawaii!!!

tweet tweet (and I wonder how this person sees to drive)

furry

themes, like this Minnie one, are common

I think this cat is from Disney's The Aristocats?

I would not want to be a passenger in this car

Bento Bonanza

If you have a Pinterest account, you most likely know to what "bento" refers.  For anyone unfamiliar, they're the little Japanese lunch boxes with food arranged in an artistic or cute design.  They've gotten kind of popular in the US, mainly with the types of people who spend way too much time on Pinterest (myself included).  Way back in the day, I did a post about a nearby take-out bento place.  I can report that we ate there last night and it is much the same as it was then.  It's fun for me to read that post now.....oh, the days when everything was exciting and new....

Anyway, this post is going to be specifically about the basic bento-making supplies available here.  When I found myself with a toddler I became a little bit more interested in the idea of making bento-type lunch presentations.  In my opinion, bento-style lunches and toddlers go really well together.  I don't get too crazy with the artistic presentation but I did go on a search (at the local department/dollar stores) for tiny cookie cutters.

Imagine my fascination when I found the following....

a kit to turn your rice into penguins

a fancy gizmo to cut the bread off of  sandwiches

millions of cute skewers

elaborate kits to put faces on rice balls

picks, tweezers, punches, oh my....

more skewers

my personal favorite....turn your rice into
the Shinkansen

turn your wienies into sea creatures

tiny, oh so tiny, sauce bottles

Folks, this is just a small selection.  I like to imagine how excited American bento-Pinteresters would be if they could get their hands on this stuff.  And then I like to imagine what many American moms would do if they were expected to make penguin-train-octopus masterpieces every morning....yikes.

Anyone ever seen bento-making supplies anywhere in the US?  Other than cookie cutters?