Yakota Air Base, Fussa

On Tuesday we stayed around base and had a massage by a tiny but strong Japanese girl. We were supposed to take an airplane tour, but the pilot was sick so we'll try again tomorrow. In the afternoon Diane walked us out and about in Fussa.

Diane and Jim's home.

tiny flowers

R2-D2 mailbox

Natamame

Okay, we're back from Kyoto and Tokyo. I have lots of pictures to post, but I just wanted to get this one posted for Wayne so he could see the giant bean my mom got him in Nara...called Natamame.

Diamond City Mall

Yesterday we looked around on the base and then went to the mall after Diane got home from work.

Diane treated us to our first authentic Japanese sushi yesterday. It was yummy and about half the price of we pay in the states.

This is just one of the several different kinds of sushi we had. I should have photographed the others too. We had salmon, tuna, sweet shrimp, fried shrimp, and the vegetable roll pictured above. We also had miso soup...my mom's had large pieces of fish in it too.

We made our own tea right at our table. Each table has a hot water tap and powdered green tea. Notice the picture of ice cream...the gray colored one is black sesame flavor.

This is an $80 (80,000 yen) cantaloupe...sometimes called a Hokkaido melon. It is meant to be given as a gift, but even the ones that weren't wrapped cost $20.

Tiny squid and a huge assortment of mushrooms...we saw at least a dozen different kinds.

Japanese toilet: There are still a lot of "squat" toilets here, but there are usually regular toilets too and every so often you'll see one of these that has a heated seat and all kinds of options. The musical note button makes a flushing sound to mask your own "sounds". :)

Diane and Jim going off to work. We promised to be good kids while they were gone!

Mt. Takao & Fire Festival

Plum blossoms

This is at the top of Mt. Takao.
With clearer skies, you'd really be able to see Mt. Fuji in the distance just over my head.

Fire crews were on standby just in case the fire got out of control.

light lunch (was very proud of myself for eating all my pickled vegetables)

wasabi

Today Diane, Jim, my mom and I went on a tour of Mt. Takao. It was a nice hike up the mountain. We first took a cable car up the first leg and then hiked up the rest. The paths were dotted with shrines, temples, statues, and vendors. It was wonderful hiking weather. The air was crisp and the sun was bright. There were a few traces of snow on the ground. We enjoyed lunch at the summit and headed back down to see the Fire Festival. We were very fortunate to witness this event- as it only occurs once a year. The ceremony lasted over two hours beginning with chanting and the sounding of conchs. The center arena was filled with fresh tree branches which were eventually lit on fire. The ceremony culminated with participants and onlookers going on a fire walk. We considered joining in for about five seconds and decided that we have much more sightseeing to do and would need healthy feet. :)

This video is for Jack...

Konichiwa! Hello From Japan!

Huge ginko tree




The hundreds of little statues are for comforting the souls of unborn children.

Seaweed drying

Sake

Sorry I haven't posted anything for a while. We've been really busy lately....and now I'm in Japan!

My mom and I got off to a rough start because our shuttle never showed up to take us to the airport. Luckily with a few adjustments, Chris was able to drop us off in San Diego. We then flew to San Francisco and boarded our nine hour flight to Narita (Tokyo). We then hopped on a bus and drove for three hours to Yakota Air Base where Diane picked us up.

After a good nights sleep we awoke before 5am and headed out for a bus tour where we visited Kamakura and Enoshima. The weather was perfect. Although it had been chilly before we arrived, we had nothing but sunshine today. Along the way up the coast we saw farmers harvesting and drying seaweed, large birds of prey, the sumo champion's house, and Mt Fuji in the distance. We arrived at the island of Enoshima and enjoyed viewing the shrine (with the Amida Buddha), gardens, and sights from the lighthouse. We then headed down to Kamakura where we saw the Daibutsu- A 38 ft. bronze Buddha figure (a Japanese national treasure) and temple. We also witnessed a traditional Shinto wedding and sampled some of the local fare. We arrived back at the base around 7pm and will be going on another adventure tomorrow to Mt. Takao. Oyasuminasai! (Good night)

First Week of Auntie Daycare

Getting a Laugh