Today is girls day, or Hinamatsuri, in Japan. Hinamatsuri means Continue reading
March 3 Hinamatsuri
03 Monday Mar 2014
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in03 Monday Mar 2014
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in02 Thursday Jan 2014
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inStories abound here of people losing things or leaving things on the train…wallets and purses, money, cameras, phones, etc. And the stories usually have happy endings, with the item returned with money/belongings intact and undisturbed. I witnessed something at a mall this week that illustrates the general integrity of the Japanese people.
To set the stage, we are in the midst of a Japanese Holiday – the biggest and most important Japanese Holiday – New Years! Many, dare I say most, Japanese people are off work for about a week and a half and this year will return to work January 6. So it was New Year’s Eve and my husband and I were at a very crowded, very busy mall. We got lunch at the all-too-familiar mall food court, although it Japan the food isn’t all that familiar to us. The food court was packed and people had to stand and wait with food in hand until tables were vacated to sit down and eat…except for one lady. She waited until a table was empty, put her purse in the middle of the table and walked half way across the food court to place an order. We were astounded. We watched for awhile and never saw the lady come back to the table (the lines were very long), but neither did we see anyone take her purse. Where I come from (sadly), that purse would have been gone in just a few minutes.
Then today, I was looking at the Facebook page of a group I am involved with when I saw this exchange:
• (PERSON 1)
Last night at XXXXXX I left my jacket, pink iphone 5C and wallet. The jacket is a long pea coat with purple, black and white plaid. If found please contact me at XXX XXXX XXXX. Thanks in advance!
(PERSON 2)
You might try checking in with the local police. It’s pretty common for lost items to actually get turned in off base. I’ve know quite a few people who’ve lost/misplaced their wallets, purses, entire lives/etc on trains/bars/random places in Japan — and 9 x’s outta 10, they’ve been able to pick it up at the nearest police station! Good luck!
(PERSON 1)
Thank you! I filed a report but didn’t hear anything back but luckily someone brought back the jacket and belongings yesterday. Nothing was tampered with. I appreciate everyone’s help though (:
WOW…another one of the many reasons I love Japan!
02 Monday Sep 2013
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inTags
aquarium, beach, Buddha, cuisine, Enoshima, flowers, garden, Holiday, island, Japan, Kamakura, Katase, lighthouse, Sagami
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Boarding our tour bus at 6:30 a.m., my husband, granddaughter and I were looking forward to our day visiting Enoshima aquarium and island. Little did we know we would do more sitting than visiting…sitting on the bus, that is. Shortly after leaving the base, our tour guide explained that we should expect crowds, because not only was it Sunday but also a Japanese holiday…called “beach day” or something similar. My first thought (besides wondering how we could escape) was, who in their right mind would plan a tour on a Japanese holiday called “beach day” to the beach that is closest to the most populated city in the world? But, there was no turning back at that point.
Enoshima means “island of the river” which refers to its location at the mouth of the Katase River in Sagami Bay. The trip took about 3 1/2 hours one way and the closer we got to our destination, the more congested the traffic became. The last 30 minutes or so we drove along the beautiful beaches of Kamakura (also home of a giant Buddha statue that we have yet to see). We did notice that the beaches were crowded, but when we got to the aquarium, the crowds were unbelievable. We did get to see some pretty incredible fish, and my granddaughter got to do some souvenir shopping, but due to tour time limitations we had to return to the bus to take the short ride (probably a mile at the most) to the island.
Heading to the island on a 2-lane bridge, traffic was at a standstill much of the time. When we were able to move, it seemed like only inches. During our seemingly endless 1-mile ride, we did enjoy the parade of several shrines with people dressed in kimono and playing drums. Of course we could look to the right or left and see people of all ages enjoying the beach. It took us about two hours to travel this short distance, leaving little time to explore this beautiful little island. We did walk up the main shopping street, with dozens of souvenir shops on either side. The walk was all uphill and we only made it to the red tori gate of the shrine. We did see some incredible flowers along the way and did manage to get some ice cream and "Dippin' Dots" (good ole USA product) in lieu of lunch. We passed on the various fish-on-a-stick offerings that were displayed in front of several restaurants along the way. I particularly wanted to see the gardens and climb to the top of the island lighthouse, but we just didn't have time. We had to catch the bus back to base, which was another 3 hour trip. All in all, we spent about 8-9 hours on the bus that day. (Just for the record, I did ask for my money back, to no avail).
I will say that the island was very beautiful and I would love will return another time, maybe in fall or spring but definitely NOT on "beach day."
30 Tuesday Apr 2013
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inWith no specific plans for Saturday, we decided to hop on the train to Mikata to find a specific location that we would be visiting Thursday next week. The trip involved not only riding the train, but also a city bus which we had never done before. We also wanted to time our trip, since our excursion next week would involve a specific appointment time.
Knowing that Golden Week (a national holiday in Japan) would begin on Monday, Continue reading
07 Monday Jan 2013
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Our final stop on New Year’s Day was the city of Hachioji, which is south of Yokota Air Base and has a population of about half a million. When we arrived, it was late in the afternoon and the station was packed with folks who were dressed in what appeared to be business attire and had that intent-on-getting-home look that we have all experienced. I am a little confused though because I know that New Year’s is a very important holiday for the Japanese but most people in the station appeared to be going home from work.
Like in Tachikawa, there were many upscale restaurants and shops in the station. You could pick up a few grocery items (pretty pricey though), have a meal or select from one of many beautiful traditional Japanese cakes. As we stepped outside and rounded the corner, I stopped in my tracks and I think my jaw even dropped (not cool, I know). It seemed like we were surrounded by huge buildings with bright lights from street level all the way up 9 stories or more. One of the buildings – all 8 or 9 stories -was entirely video games/gaming!
We made our way to a shopping district, where the street was closed to motorized traffic. We saw all kinds of clothing stores, noodle shops and restaurants. In one little store Danny purchased (fried) chicken on a stick for us and it was hot, juicy and generally yummy. Finally we came across an honest to goodness karaoke club where a person reserves a small room for a small group of people, where dinner is served and you and your guests can karaoke to your hearts content…maybe next time??? karaoke club