Oze National Park

Last weekend we went to Oze National Park with our friends the Inoues. Their daughter, Mayu, is Mia's dearest friend in Tokyo.



Some quick and dirty Oze facts:

*popular hiking destination from Tokyo
*noted for wild flowers and birds
*highland marsh, over 1400m elevation
*home of Mt. Hiuchigatake 2,346m
*part of Nikko National Park until 2007
*less than 2 hours from Tokyo
*the largest marshland in Japan
*boardwalk trails over the marsh
*part of Gunma, Niigata and Fukushima Prefectures
*famous for skunk cabbage and yellow alpine lily
*spectacular mountain scenery




This was a perfect weekend getaway with kids. The trails were pretty much flat, which meant that even our 2 year old, Rhetto-kun, could hike by himself. All hiking was done on boardwalks, the novelty of this kept the kids truckin' right along.



But occasionally, one would catch a ride.



Here's Asa Inoue. She chose Oze as our destination, and what a perfect choice it was. She was in her element, fully enjoying the fresh air and open landscape. The scenery reminded me of Eagle River in Alaska.



Here's Satoru Inoue, in front of one of the huts. We spent a night at a hut. Calling them "huts" is an understatement. These huts had individual rooms, a dining hall, bathrooms, gift shop, bathhouse...



Here we are at the end of the hike. The last portion of the hike was uphill. Rhett and Mia did great and didn't grouse a bit. Aaron and I felt like we had entered a new phase in our family. A family hiking trip? Wow! Looking forward to more adventures with our kids and the Inoues.

Tower of Power!

Right before Aaron left for the states, we made a family trip to Tokyo Tower. The Japonified version of the Eiffel Tower.

The viewing deck had a cut out in the floor with a window. It was so much fun & scary to take a look down. By the end of our visit, we had got accustomed to it and we were brave enough to walk on it!



Me and the kids at the top level viewing deck.



Tokyo Tower's base is called Tower Town, where you can find shops, restaurants, and even a trick art museum.

Look! Mia's head is disconnected from her body...



And Rhett is standing next to a crocodile in the jungle!



And my little angel finally earned her wings.



No Tower Town would be complete without a Hello Kitty curio shop.




Aaron bought Mia a model of the tower. Mia loved it and spent a LONG time putting it together. Good Job Mia!



Rhett loved it too.

Life's a Zoo, Golden Week--Part 2.

The second half of Golden Week was spent camping near Mt. Fuji with our friends the Yasudas. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of our camping trip.

The last day of our trip was rainy, so we went to Fuji Safari Park. This is an outdoor park that you drive through to see the animals. Even in the rain, the animals were out in full force.

Life's a Beach, Golden Week--Part 1.

Golden Week is a magical time in Japan. They consolidate four national holidays into one week, so everyone has the week off. Most people try to go to their home town to visit their parents. Tokyo becomes vacant, so some just kick around the empty streets of Tokyo.



This year we were invited to the Kawasaki's beach house, located near Tateyama. The Kawasaki's have three boys and a dog. This is the scene from their house. The kids swam, caught fish, and explored every nook and cranny of the area.



They took us to a hidden treasure...the sand dunes. To get to them we climbed over a mountain (a small one). Here's Mia scrambling up the hillside.



Rhett gets a little help from his dad.



As a reward for all that climbing, we got to slide down the dunes. This was a blast for everyone. Coming from snowy Alaska, I never thought it possible to go sledding on sand.



Here's the view from the top of the dunes. You can see how extensive they are.



Thank you Lauren and Tats Kawasaki!

Farewell to Aaron

Aaron left Tokyo in May. Prior to his departure, there was a flurry of farewell parties in his honor. The person succeeding him at Amazon, Mike Kawachi, took us to his favorite restaurants in Tokyo called Nobu. This restaurant is co-owned by none other than Robert DeNiro.



Aaron was thrilled because this Japanese restaurant actually had many veggie options for him, including veggie sushi.



Here we are in front of Nobu's. Thank you Mike and Yuria Kawachi!

Mother's Day and Father's Day

Happy Mother's Day. This Mother's Day was bittersweet. Mother's Day was also the day that Aaron flew back to Seattle...for good. This marks the end of Aaron's life in Japan.

We decided to spend this Mother's Day the same way we did two years ago, when we had just moved here. We went to our favorite neighborhood haunt, "Shoto Cafe", for a slice of cake.



This is a family favorite because of Mac, the owner's dog. Mac was our kids' first friend in Japan. We try to stop by and see him as much as possible.



Mia and Rhett did not want to say goodbye to daddy. This was a tough day for them. Mia cried and Rhett (who has no clue about the concept of time) was consoling her, saying "Don't cry Mia. Daddy will come back after work."



Luckily, we will get to see Aaron again on June 12th. He'll come back to Tokyo for a few days of work. Thank goodness!

School Lunch in Japan

Last week, parents were invited to view their kids eating lunch, or "kyushoku". At Mia's elementary school, all kids must eat hot lunch.

The kids eat lunch in their classroom. They start the process by arranging their desks into a cluster of six. Next they lay out their placemats and get their bottle of milk.



The food is brought to each classroom. The kids serve the lunch, in their professional chef's outfits.



When everyone has been served, it's time to say grace. Itadakimasu!



If kids feel that they cannot eat all of the food they were served, they can go back to the food line and return a portion of their food (as long as it hasn't been touched). Kids must try everything offered at lunch. Even the picky eaters are required to do this.



Today's lunch was sour rice (rice with salmon and sour plum), salad, and egg drop-ham-tomato soup. Each month we get a calender of the lunch menu. The calender includes the calorie count of each day's lunch. It also has daily suggestions of what mom should cook at home each night, to offer a well-balanced diet for the day.



After lunch all kids must brush their teeth. They are also responsible for cleaning their desks after lunch. Each kid has their own personal cleaning towel hanging from their desk for this purpose.



After watching our kids eat lunch, we were invited to eat lunch. We had the same meal and were given a brief lecture about proper nutrition for our 1st graders. Oh, did I mention that fruit, juice, soda, nor sweets of any kind aren't allowed? No wonder there is not an obesity problem in Japan.