Sydney's Christmas in Japan

Some Things Are Universal
Even though we are far from home, December has been a busy month. We have been getting ready for our first Christmas in Japan. The biggest difference from "Christmas as usual" is that we had to start shopping rather early to get our gifts to the U.S. and to make sure our mail orders arrived before Christmas. But otherwise, things here are pretty similar to an American holiday season--except sadly we are not near family, of course. Surprisingly, Japanese stores have many Christmas decorations, which is fun to see. It also struck me that the Christmas music playing here is especially religious, whereas in the States you don't hear such religious music anymore for fear of offending non-Christians. Well, it is heartwarming to hear the classic songs half-way around the world, even if "I'll be Home for Christmas" is a sad reminder to the contrary.

However, people living abroad stick together, so we have been to some fun holiday celebrations so far. The first weekend in December, we went to the Children's Christmas party for the hospital staff. It was technically Sydney's second encounter with Santa, although at 6 weeks I don't think she really noticed the first time! Don't you agree?!

But this time, there was no question about it. Luckily, Santa arrived near the end of the party and we had had a good time before Santa ruined Sydney's mood! But it struck me that screaming on Santa's lap is a rite of passage and that most American children, even in Japan, get a chance to do just that. And somehow I felt a little closer to home in that thought...if only for a moment. We miss you all!

Sydney in Kyoto
Our little tour guide...

Kyoto by Train, Subway, Bus, Taxi...
While in Kyoto, I think we took every form of transportation possible to get around the city. We wanted to make sure we saw as many of the famous Japanese "National Treasures" in Kyoto as we could possibly see! Here are a few highlights from our trip:

The Golden Pavilion is Kyoto's most popular temple and its garden is one of the most authentic Japanese gardens. Particularly important to Japanese gardens is the beautiful reflection of nature in the water. The pagoda is actually covered in gold leaf.

The Imperial Palace was the Emperor's residence from 794 to 1869.

Heian shrine has a famous garden where the movie Memoirs of a Geisha was filmed.

Then we walked to Gion, the Geisha district of Kyoto and along a street lined with a lot of shops including big names like Tiffany's, Cartier, Gap and Brooks Brothers.

Saturday, determined to see the rest of the many famous sites in Kyoto, we set out on a city bus to visit the Ryanji Temple, famous for its Buddhist Zen rock garden. Although it was created with 15 rocks (because this is considered a perfect number), from any vantage point you can only see 14 (because humans are imperfect). You are supposed to sit and meditate and figure out what the rocks mean to you--this took only about 30 seconds for us! I think Sydney was particularly inspired and I know she was hoping to get her hands on the gravel!

Then we went by taxi to Toji Temple, which is famous for its 5-story pagoda since it is the highest pagoda in Japan measuring 187 feet.

From there, we walked to visit the 1,001 statues of the Buddhist deity "kannon," which are housed inside the Sanjusangen-do Temple, which was quite a site. This building is the longest wooden building in Japan and the statues are made of Japanese cypress.

Then on our way to Kiyomizu temple, I shopped for some pottery that is from Kyoto, called Kiyomizu-yaki. Kiyomizu means "clear waters" and the temple is situated above water that is said to have healing powers if drunk. The terrace of the temple was built off of a cliff with no nails (only pillars below) and was crowded full of people when we were on it! People used to jump off the terrace and it was said if they survived, their wish would come true and that they were bold. Well, in a "gaijin moment," Brian told our Japanese tour guide (a college student studying English) that they weren't bold, they were stupid!

Seeing Kyoto in Someone Else's Shoes
We had a wonderful time in Kyoto over Thanksgiving weekend. The historical temples and shrines were beautiful set among the autumn leaves. The first day we took a half-day sightseeing tour, which was a great way to orient ourselves to the city. Our first stop was Nijo Castle, which was built in the early 1600's by Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. (A shogun was in charge of samurai or warriors.) Interestingly, the castle, although ornate with paintings, was very empty of material things and they sat and slept on the floor and ate off of trays as opposed to tables.

Well, like many places you visit in Japan, we had to take off our shoes before entering the castle and place them on one of many shelves for everyone's shoes. As we toured the castle, we learned about the wood floors made of Japanese cypress, which were called "nightengale" floors due to the fact that they squeak with every step. This was done on purpose so that no one could sneak up on the shogun to attack.

I guess another tourist was so enthralled with this castle that he grabbed the wrong shoes. So, when we went to get our shoes, I found mine and Sydney's (yes, even Sydney had to take off her shoes) right where we left them. But Brian was left standing there in his gold toe's with no shoes to be found! The tour guide was sympathetic, but said I should "convince him" to wear these other shoes that were left behind...obviously they belonged to whomever took Brian's! They should sell shoes at the Handicraft center where the tour ends! Needless to say, Brian was hesitant to leave his shoes again...although deep down I think he hoped he might end up with a better pair at one of the other temples or shrines we visited!

Day Trip to Enoshima Island
Today we visited Enoshima island, which is a small scenic island not far from Yokosuka. Soon after crossing over a small bridge to get onto the island, there is a large red "torii" that marks the beginning of the shrine complex. Hetsumo-miya shrine, the central shrine, was built in 1206. There is also an octagonal structure which houses a statue of nude goddess Hakula-Benzai-Ten.


As you walk around the island, there are many souvenir shops and restaurants. The top part of the island can be reached by outdoor escalator, but we walked up many, many steps. We visited a Tropical Garden and an observation tower at the top of the island, which provides a panoramic view of the coastline and even Mt. Fuji--can you see the tip in this photo?

There are some of the nicest beaches in the area on the island. So much so they are dubbed the "Miami Beach of the East."

On the southern side of the island, there are natural sea caves with two main caverns, one that is 152 meters in length and the other that is 112 meters. It is said to be the place where the belief in the goddess Benten originated. Because the caves are dark, they provided us with candles to hold to see our way through the cavern. They pointed to our heads when they gave them to us, and at first I thought they were trying to tell us to put them on our heads! (I don't know! It didn't seem that odd since in front of shrines Japanese people are often clapping and bowing in a certain sequence...) Anyway, it wasn't until we were all the way in the cave that we realized they had tried to tell us the candles were so we wouldn't hit our heads...not to walk around with balanced on our heads!

Our First Persimmon
Sydney, Brian and I had our first Japanese persimmon today! I guess they sell them in the states, too, but I'd just never had one until now. It looks like a yellow tomato, except that it is very firm. You peel the skin off. It's texture on the inside is sort of like a plum except it is very sweet--not at all tart like plums can sometimes be. It was "oishi" (Japanese for delicious)!

Mitch Takes Brief Self-Guided Tour of Japan
I thought American people loved their dogs...but apparently Japanese people love their dogs even more! Almost everyone has a dog, although the average Japanese dog weighs 10 pounds or less. So, people take them everywhere! They have baskets on their bikes especially for their dogs. They are allowed in stores, most of which sell dog clothing of all sorts and more treats and toys than you can imagine! There are even dog parks in our neighborhood where at 5PM daily people gather with their dogs to socialize.

Well, there is one rule only when it comes to dogs. They must be on a leash. Especially 45-pound dogs like our Mitch, who could eat most Japanese dogs as a mere snack. We already knew this rule, since the same is usually true in the States. However, Mitch decided to test it this week! Mitch was outside in our small fenced yard, and as usual, he would bark loudly as dogs walked by along the path by our house.

Before I knew it, I heard our doorbell ring and stepped out onto the balcony to see a Japanese neighbor standing at our front gate with guilty Mitch by his side--on the other side of the fence, of course! I shouted out, "gomen nasai, which means "I'm sorry" and ran downstairs to get him.

I immediately let Mitch inside the gate and kept saying, "gomen nasai" and "arigato" (thank you) over and over. I glanced down the length of the fence and realized that Mitch had jumped up on our old, rusty fence and had pushed open a piece of it and jumped down to the path. As I surveyed the damage to the fence, the Japanese neighbor was lecturing me in Japanese. I finally said to him, "I don't understand." He paused for a minute while thinking and said, "Your dog...(pause)...free. Not allowed." I said, "I know, I didn't know he got out. It won't happen again."

Mitch's self-guided tour of Japan was short lived! He's relegated to the balcony for a while. He almost looks remorseful! So, I guess we won't make him wear any funny dog clothes afterall.

Don't Sing Too Loudly in Japan

I've mentioned how close the houses are situated in our Japanese neighborhood. I had no idea just how close until Sydney's first birthday, this past Monday. It's still warm, in the mid 70's in October, so we have our windows open. We were talking on the webcam to Sydney's grandparents and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her...little did I know we had an audience!

Later in the afternoon, the doorbell rang. It was one of our Japanese neighbors with a fancy gift box of fruit from the department store Saikaya. She said it was for "baby Norwood" for her birthday. "It's not cake, it's fruit," she said and laughed. I was obviously pleasantly surprised that she knew it was Sydney's birthday and that she brought us such a nice gift, so I said, "Thank you! Had I told you it was her birthday and you remembered?" She said, "I heard this morning." Well, Brian wasn't home, so I assumed he had run into her and told her in the morning.

But, later when I asked him, he hadn't seen any neighbors that day! So, we assume that she heard us loudly singing "Happy Birthday" out our window, which faces her house. It certainly makes us think twice now before pumping up the volume on the new TV! Not to mention the fact that she didn't speak much English when we met her, but turns out she knows how. Another lessson learned in Japan!

Our First Overnight Trip to Tokyo
Sydney and I drove to Tokyo with our friends (Kathleen and her daughter Sydney) to stay overnight at the military hotel, The New Sanno. It is about 1 1/2 hours from Yokosuka and we just went with the intention of scoping it out, since Brian is away for the week. It is quite a luxurious hotel and we had a lot of fun, despite the rainy weather. The pool and the good food were the highlights. But we also enjoyed walking around the neighborhood and can't wait to return for a longer--less cloudy--visit. We've already been to Tokyo Tower (like the Eiffel Tower only red and a bit taller), but we could see it clearly as we drove away from the hotel. So, stay tuned...we plan to master the Tokyo subway at some point to see "Ginza," the upscale shopping neighborhood! And many more sights!

Sydney in Japan
Back by popular demand, here are a few more photos of our girl enjoying Japan.