Koinobori (World Record), Oya, and Wicked..

This weekend we (Me, Warren, Liam, and Colleen) headed to Tatebayashi to see the world record for most koinobori (koi streamers).  In total 6066 were on display.  It took us around 1 hour to get there from Takanezawa by Diva...  We drove to the town and then lucked into finding it.  I was only about 5 minutes away from asking someone where it was when we ran into it.  There was also a park with many blooming Azalea on display.  We payed around $18 for 2 adults and 2 children to ride a boat to the park the $18 included admission to the park.  From there we walked along the river looking at the gardens and shops until we made our way to the koinobori.  First we were greeted by this trellis with Wisteria blooming on it.

Then on to the boat for the ride to the park.

After arriving at the park we were saw tons of blooming Azalia.  They were huge bushes and most were in full bloom.  It was very nice to walk through the park on our way to the Koinobori display. 

As we were walking we crossed this manhole cover.  Typically the manhole covers are very elaborate and different for each town you enter.  I will have to get some pictures from others around the country.

After walking for maybe 1/2 hour we made our way to the Guinness record display of Koi streamers.

There were streamers of all shapes, sizes, and colors on display.  The weather was nice and it was really enjoyable to take our time walking and looking at all the streamers.  Currently I am trying to convince Kate we should pick up a streamer for each member of our family, but she is not yet convinced of the shear awesomeness of this idea.

On Sunday we went to the Oya stone quarry.  The stone that comes out of the quarry is somewhat soft.  We have seen it in older farm buildings in the area.  It is also carved into a number of different shapes for yard decoration.  There is a giant statue carved out of stone next to the temple.  Encylopaedia Britannica says the "Peace Kannon (a manifestation of the goddess of compassion) is an 88-foot (27-metre) statue that was carved on the wall of a quarry between 1948 and 1956"  You can see the children running up the steps.  They give a size reference.

Actually as you get close to the site it is easy to find.  The statue sticks up above the buildings in the area.

This view shows the overall grounds with the statue.

There is also a temple and quarry that can be toured.  We are saving that for another day when we have more time to spend there.  Oya is only about 30 minutes from our home in Takanezawa. 

While we were going to the sights above, Kate went to Tokyo for a fair well party.  She got to see Wicked at the Dentsu Shiki Theater.  The play was all in Japanese so it was a little difficult to follow but enjoyable. Dinorah was familiar with the play so she helped as well as the English synopsis she got before the play.

After the play she went to a baseball game at the Jingu Stadium.  The game was between the Swallows and the Carps.  The Carps symbol is similar to the Cincinnati Reds.  I downloaded a picture of their logo.  I would agree it looks like the reds.

Kate didn't know who won so I looked it up on line, looks like the Swallows won 1-0, sorry Reds, I mean Carp fans.

While in Tokyo they also went to Ginza for some sight seeing and had a great meal at Pizzeria Matteo.  She said the Pizza was delicious.

That is all for this week.  We will be out taking Grandpa to the airport and on Vacation next week so I think I will miss the weekly update.  Have a good week...

Hanami, Nikko Temples...

Finally the cherry blossoms were in full bloom this week.  There are cherry trees all over Japan and when they are in bloom it is beautiful.  The road on the way to work is lined the entire length with cherry trees.  This week I took the camera with me on my bicycle and took some pictures.  I also intentionally rode slowly to take it all in.  The blossoms are only around for about a week so it is important to enjoy them while you can.

The first picture is looking down the street.

And looking up the street from the same spot.

All around there are cherry trees blooming.

Hanami, sakura matsuri, or cherry blossom festival is a big deal in the spring.  It is a little difficult to exactly explain if you haven't been before.  We attended two different celebrations this year.  One was in a park by work and the other was downtown Utsunomiya in Hachiman-yama park.  From my observations there are a number of important components that make hanami enjoyable.  Of course cherry trees in bloom.  The second ingredient is a tarp or blanket that marks off the spot that you will be enjoying the day from.  Next it is good to have family and friends to enjoy the day with.  It is also good to pack a lunch and bring drinks for the day.  Of course if you forget you can get a variety of food and drinks on site from the vendors that set up shop.  Our family brought food and drinks, but we were more than happy to get some tako yaki, yaki soba, etc from the shops behind us to supplement our packed lunch.

Another important component are crazy people.  These gentlemen decided to dress as women to enjoy the day.  They were more than happy to pose for pictures with Kate and two other real women.  I am certain they were having fun throughout the day.

It is also good to have the lanterns hanging around to illuminate the area when the sun goes down.

Why is sitting around watching flowering trees fun?  Because that is not really what is going on.  This event signifies that everyone made it through the winter.  It is also an opportunity to get out and connect or re-connect with people.  The adults can sit around and talk, play games, barbecue (Japanese style), relax in the sun, etc.  The children get together and play.  The park is safe so they can go off for a little while to have fun.  The atmosphere is somewhat carnival like, but without the scary rides.  I will say some of the food stand workers did have that carnival flavor to them.  Of course the flowers are nice to look at, but...every one is out with the same goal, enjoy the day.  That is why you get the crazy costumes, vendors, families......If you do ever get the opportunity to come to Japan during this season I would advise participating in one of the festivals.

This is also the season for families to fly the carp streamers (koinobori).  The streamers are flown from April until May 5 (children's day).  The top streamer is a very colorful windsock.  Then the black carp signifies the father, an additional streamer is added for each son in the family.  They are to wish the sons a healthy and strong life.  There are many homes flying these streamers and some of them are quit large.

This weekend we decided to go back to Nikko.  The last time we went to see ice sculptures.  Since it was cold we didn't go to the temples.  This time we decided to see as many of them as we could.  I am posting a number of pictures on here, but they do not really do this place justice.  The temples are huge as well as the trees.  When you take pictures of them it just can't put things in perspective.  

Nikko has an entire complex of temples and shrines.  We still did not get to see all of them on this trip.  We will also have to go back to see the waterfalls that are in the area.  It only takes about 45-50min. to get to Nikko by car from Utsunomiya.

The temples are amazingly intricate.  There are many stone sculptures, steps, and retaining walls.  Wood carvings and wooden structures, as well as metal ornamentation.  So far this is the largest of the temple/shrines we have been to.  I can't imagine the amount of work it would have taken to create this complex.

There were also a number of gardens on site.  There is a lot of effort put in to shaping the trees and landscape to make it nature and beautiful.

As we walked around we got both thirsty and hungry.  We picked up coffee from a guy set up in a van that should have had an ISO9000 certified sticker on his car.  He weighed every ingredient as he put it in the cup to guarantee it was the same every time he made it.  He also had thermometers to keep all the liquids at the proper temperature.  The cafe mocha was excellent.  Next time we go back I will have another to see if it really tastes the same.

Sticking with the guy selling goods from a van theme we hit up a Japanese Rastafarian for what he called chicken kebab.  My description would be more like a gyro but made with chicken.  What I can say is that it was all kinds of delicious.  He told me he would make it extra good.  It had 2 layers of meat, lettuce, onion, and two kinds of spicy sauce.  I think we will probably hit up his shop again in the future as well.

We stopped at a shop in Nikko to look at some traditional Japanese items (bowls, chopsticks..etc.)  While there we decided we would stop back after the temples because we didn't want to carry anything we bought the entire time.  The owners told us when we came back we would have tea together.  We did stop back in and sure enough they prepared tea for us.  They also took the time to sit and talk for a while.  The one gentleman is 80 years old.  It was a very nice experience.  I can name a number of times already that people have gone out of their way to make us feel comfortable.  It was actually a very enjoyable visit.

Another thing I enjoy about going to Nikko are the view and roads in the area.  I can always tell when I start driving too fast on the roads, not from the squealing tires or roar of the engine, but from the subtle sigh that seams to come from the seat next to me.

Here is one of the roads around Nikko.

This is for some of the guys at work.  It is one of the few Elements sold in Japan and it has Volks with off-road tires on them.  Actually looks pretty good I must say.

Grandpa arrives, Yellow belt, Hanami (kind of)...

This week the weather has continued to steadily improve.  We are now consistently in the 60's and next week looks like we may just creep in to the low 70's.  The cherry blossoms are just starting to bloom in Tochigi.  I headed down to Narita Airport to pick up Warren (Kate's dad) at the airport.  The ride down on the train was nice and it looks like Tokyo is in full bloom now.  I had to change trains at Ueno and it was crazy with all the people.  From the train I could see many beautiful cherry trees.  Grandpa brought a lot of luggage, mostly packed with assorted things for us.  It was fun getting the luggage through all the trains, but we made it with no real concerns.

From now Grandpa will have the opportunity to get to enjoy daily life in Takanezawa Japan.  We have already dragged him along on our journey to acquire  the elusive McHotDog.  This time we had success.  Now we may not go back to McDonalds for the rest of our stay in Japan, unless we see advertisements for something else new and exciting.

Here is a picture of the McHotDog Set.  It comes with the hotdog, a hash brown, and coffee.  I think this was the first time I have ever had this combination before, and for breakfast.

So what does it taste like?  Well....like a hotdog for breakfast.  The dog has a skin on it, a little like a salens (sp.?) New York hot dog.  It has ketchup and a light relish on it.  Pretty much a regular hotdog, but with coffee and a hash brown.

This week Liam had a test at Karate to determine if he would be allowed to move up in his belt.  The participants have a set routine that they do.  The routine is different depending on the level you currently are and the belt color you are trying for.  Liam did fairly well.  Everyone starts out as a white belt and then progresses from there.

After the routine the participants are judged and it is determined if they are at an acceptable level to move up.  Liam was able to move up to a yellow belt.  He was awarded a very nice certificate, and one of the other boys that moved up in rank gave him his old yellow belt.  It was a very nice gesture on his part.

Originally we thought that the cherry blossoms would hit our area this week.  Maybe due to cooler weather that was not the case.  Tokyo is now in full bloom, but it looks like next weekend will be our big Hanami (cherry blossom festival)  Yamase san recommended go to work to see the flowers.  There is a park next to our office that is very nice.  There are some trees blooming now, but they are not all blooming.  Definitely a good spot.  There are many cherry trees, easy parking, nice play area.

I will have to take more pictures next week and in the day time to show what it really looks like.  There is a great playground at the park.  The children really enjoyed playing on.  I also joined in a little.  It is all made out of metal, the way it should be..huge and with a variety of ways to get hurt.  The kids loved it.

Here is Liam and Colleen on top of it.

The vendors are already set up and ready to go.  They are just waiting for the people to come.  I asked the tako yaki vendor when they will finish and they said next sunday so we can go back next weekend and enjoy the festivities under full bloom.

We did decide to have a few of the treats since we had stopped.  The children had Choco Bananas.  Kate and Warren had something like a pancake with cream or chocolate inside.

I decided to have the ika(squid) on a stick.  I have had the squid before in a number of different ways, but this was the first time I have had it on a stick.

 

Here is a closer picture of it.

It was just OK.  This one had a bit of an oder to it.  The flavor was mostly like the other squid I have had, but the sauce on it reminded me of the taste of ocean water.  I am not a big fan of ocean water, so it was not my favorite.  So far I think my favorite way for the squid is in curry sauce.  At work sometimes you can get a seafood curry that has the squid in it.  It is quite tasty.  Next week we will go back to enjoy the flowers in full bloom and the festivities.  I will probably skip the squid, but I plan to tear up a few tako yaki balls.

Finally for this week.  The children's school collects the used juice box and milk containers that the children use during the school week.  The boxes are sent off to a recycling center and is then turned into toilet paper.  Then rolls are sent back to the school as gifts to the children.  This is a great way to show the children how recycling works and that something beneficial can be made from their trash.  You can see in the picture on the roll that juice boxes and toilet paper are good friends.  In case you were wondering the toilet paper feels just like any other...

OK, next week should actually be cherry blossoms...