The Great Buddha (Daibatsu) at Kotoku-in Temple is easily the best-known site in Kamakura, a historic city just down the coast from Yokohama and Tokyo. Mark and I visited there in 2010, and the kids and I went there this past August. Even though giant Buddha gets the most attention, plenty of other sites in Kamakura …
Category: Uncategorized
The Neighborhood Temple
We live on a really steep slope, well above sea level. The hillside is steep enough that sidewalks to the bottom are flat-out flights of stairs. We descend 187 steps down one such pathway to reach our nearest train station, Negishi station. Twenty steps from the top sits a small Buddhist temple called Sokoji. Two religions …
Take Me Out to the 野球 Game
Baseball! We love baseball. Back in Washington DC that means cheering for the Nationals. In Yokohama, it's the DeNA BayStars. Mark's office organized a group outing for last weekend, so off we went. A short bus ride delivered us to Yokohama Stadium, where we joined 29,996 other fans to watch the BayStars take on the …
Time for a Kosutoko run!
That's Costco for you gaijin out there. Before we moved here I heard that there was Costco nearby, so I naturally assumed that it was located on the naval base and not out in town. Surely a country with apartments starting at 10 square meters (about 108 square feet) would not embrace mega-packs of 27 rolls of oversized …
The Doctor Will See You Now
When I arrived in early August, I spent my first week at an orientation class that the Navy requires for all new personnel. One of the speakers showed a dated but sobering movie about American sailors serving time in Yokosuka prison, with its forced labor, unheated cells with glass-less windows, and so on. The film producers …
Hōmu, Sweet Hōmu
We're in our house! We have been here almost two weeks now. Ask anyone to picture a Japanese house, and a few images come to mind, such as the traditional.... ....and the cramped. Our actual house is both larger and more mundane. Here it is! The house is named Takinoue House after our neighborhood, Takinoue. …
Straw Boaters
We're in our house! A more detailed post with photos and etc. will follow, but first I wanted to share this morning's commute to school and the sheer cuteness that ensued. We live about 2.5 km from the kids' school, up hill both ways. Since Tuesday afternoon the kids and I have spent each commute figuring the optimal …
First Day of School, or the Japanese Train Sandwich
First day of school! The school supplies, the new uniforms, the 75-minute each way commute.... The kids’ are attending St. Maur International School, an international Catholic school in Yokohama. Yokohama is the next city over from Yokosuka, where Mark works. We decided to live closer to the kids’ school than Mark’s work, and the plan …
Continue reading First Day of School, or the Japanese Train Sandwich
I Get Around (Wheels, Part 1)
Driving! We’re Americans, so of course we have a car! Mark arrived in Japan a few weeks before us, giving him the chance to get his license and buy a car prior to our arrival. Since importing U.S. cars is prohibitively expensive, Mark took part in the sacred ritual of overseas service: the lemon lot. …
When is Sushi Go Round like IHOP?
When it's in Japan. Here's a shot. Looks a lot like IHOP, doesn't it? It's just as bustling, too. We showed up at the 100-Yen-Per-Plate-Sushi-Restaurant-That-Probably-Has-A-Name-But-I-Can't-Read-It-Because-It's-In-Japanese and faced the first challenge--checking in. A monitor greets the customers, where you indicate how many in your party and whether you want a booth or counter. We got our ticket …
martayaki 