Tokyo Disney Sea & Disneyland

This is a postcard from the Mediterranean Harbor at Tokyo Disney Sea. It is an amazing place!

Last week, Little Brother and his friends, all age 13, arranged a 2-day trip to Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea. They went (with parental permission) to a travel agent and made plans by themselves. They paid for the hotel and the tickets at the travel agent. They went by train and spent the first day at Tokyo Disney Sea. Papa met them at closing time and stayed overnight at one of the hotels with them. Papa dropped them off at Disneyland the next day and went to work. He picked them up and drove them home.

They had a great time. They weren't able to go on the new Monsters Inc. ride because it was so crowded. Little Brother especially liked the current show at Tokyo Disneyland. The castle showers water on the spectators!

Little Jam Jars?

No, they're jars of sorbet. Little Brother's friend's grandmother gave us this box of sorbet as a thank you gift for Papa's help with the trip to Disneyland.

Cold Green Tea

When I first came to Japan over 20 years ago, I wanted to put sugar in my green tea. Papa was horrified.

"We don't do that," he said.

Over the years, things have changed. Green tea latte with milk and sugar is now served in restaurants and sold in cartons and individual cups at convenience stores.

Here is a carton of cold green tea (no milk, no sugar). Usually, we drink cold mugicha in the summer. We also drink cold oolong tea or milk tea or lemon tea. Milk tea is black (western) tea with sugar and milk. Lemon tea is black tea with sugar and lemon.

This was the first time I had tried cold green tea. It was good!

Moon Flower

Our moon flower bloomed yesterday evening. Moon flowers bloom at night.

Lotus

It was a bright and sunny day at Jindai Botanical Gardens. Click on the pictures to enlarge them!

These lotus buds have not bloomed yet. That is a seed pod near the base of one of the buds. The seed pod is located in the center of the lotus flower. The petals have fallen away from this one. Click on the label below to see more photos of lotus. You'll see that I have only gotten one photo of a lotus in bloom. I've been missing their bloom time!

Summer Gourds at Jindai Botanical Gardens

This gourd is so heavy it needs a sling!

This is the name plate for the gourd in the photo above. The first symbol is kanji for dai, tai or ookii which means "big". The rest of the name is written in hiragana and can be transcribed as daruma hyotan (long o).

The name plate says that these gourds are called tsuru kubi hyotan (long o).

Kids Web Japan-- hiragana
Kids Web Japan-- kanji

Another Gourd

This was big.

Kanpyo.

Vehicle

I saw this at Jindai Botanical Gardens today.

You can't tell how big it is

until someone sits in it! Click to enlarge the photo.

Coming Soon-- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

This movie may already be showing in the United States, but it's coming to our theater September 19th. It is based on one of Little Brother and Big Sister's favorite books. It will be in 3D.

The top word in red is kumori,"cloud". The word in white is toki doki, "sometimes". Underneath it, the word "meatball" is written in katakana, the script for foreign words.

Check www.kumori-tokidoki.jp

Kids Web Japan-- katakana

Little Brother and I picked up this ad when we went to see Night Museum 2. We enjoyed the movie. It was pretty crowded. It was in English with Japanese subtitles. People laughed a lot especially at the scene with the guard, Brandon, and the scenes with Hank Zakaria.

The Neighbor's Grapes

This photo was taken at sunset in low light. That's why it's blurry. I'll try to go a bit earlier to take another one. If it's too bright, it'll be too hot and there will be glare. I'll try.

More Sun Needed

Morning glories are an important part of summer in Japan. Ours are not doing well this year. The sun came out today but we've had many cloudy or rainy days this summer. The typhoon missed us but hit Taiwan. We wish them well. They are having a hard time.

Check the label below for more information about morning glories and typhoons.

Summer Planting

The truck farmer is planting leeks in the field behind our house. Deep rows are needed fro leeks. Click on the label below to see Japanese leeks.

P.S. I didn't feel any earthquakes today. The typhoon passed us by.

Canned Bread

"Pan" is pronounced like the Spanish word for bread. This is canned bread, but this bread looks more like crackers. Kan Pan is the main staple of emergency food supplies. Everyone has Kan Pan in their emergency supply shed or bag.

This is what it looks like. The packet and the salt rock are de-humidfiers. The top of the can shows you how to open the can. Nowhere on the can does it tell you how to eat it. Kan Pan is hard as rocks!

Earthquakes, Typhoons, and Supplies---OH MY!

We had an earthquake last night. The shaking went on and on and on and on and on. Click on the link below to see more about it.

Then this morning we had a downpour of rain! It came from the typhoon that hit China.

It's too wet to check the earthquake supplies in the shed outside. I peeked in and found some of the food has expired. OH MY!

Wall Street Journal-- earthquake in Japan August 9th

Emergency Food

This is a packet of emergency food.

Can you figure out how to make this pork and garlic rice dish? Sounds good. Too bad it has expired. Usually, I replace the food packets before they expire. We have "camp food nights" and eat the food before it expires.

Anniversary of the Bombing of Nagasaki

Today is the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. Baba is from Nagasaki, but was not there that day. She was in Tokyo and her family had escaped to the mountains.

This is the season of o-bon. It is a time when the spirits of the dead return to visit their relatives. It is common for the living to visit relatives and their hometowns, too. Big Sister, Little Brother, and I are usually visiting family in the United States in August. This year we are here.

I bought flowers for the family altar. These are white and yellow chrysanthemums with a red carnation. This is the usual combination sold for the family altar. Every flower shop has at least one bucket full of pre-packaged bouquets like this one.

Kids Web Japan-- anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Kids Web Japan-- o-bon

Click on the labels below, too, for more posts.

Eye Chart

These are samples of questions or tasks used in an eye test here in Japan. Usually, there are rows of circles with a piece missing in each. You must tell where the missing piece is. Top, bottom, left or right. The doctor may point to the circle and ask or the doctor may tell you the line to "read". The doctor would then say "next" after you tell about each circle.

Small children hold up a finger and point where the gap is. They point to the ceiling if the gap is at the top, to the floor if the gap is at the bottom, etc.

This sheet shows some hiragana, one of the writing systems for Japanese. The character next to the top circle is yo. I have been given an eye test with hiragana. I think the circle test is more accurate. It is almost impossible to guess where the missing piece is. I remember being able to guess the letters in an American eye test.

Can you guess what the letters are in an eye chart even if they are blurry?

Children's eyes are checked at school. If there is a problem with the results, they are given a slip of paper recommending that they see an eye doctor for a more thorough test. So far, Little Brother and Big Sister haven't had any trouble passing the school eye exam. Recently, I get my eyes checked at a frame shop where they use a machine that automatically measures my eyesight.

Check this post to see a complete eye chart that is used at the doctor's office. It was used in an ad.

Kids Web Japan--language

Anniversary of the Bombing of Hiroshima

August 6th is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. There is a ceremony at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial every year. The mayor read the Peace Declaration in English this year.

Here is a link to Kids Peace Station at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum.

Kids Web Japan-- anniversaries of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Click on the labels below for more posts.

Eye Chart At the Station

When I looked across the train tracks from the platform at Harajuku station, I was surprised to see the eye chart used in doctors' offices. Click on the photo to enlarge it. It is an ad for a store. The name of the store is near the bottom. Can you see the ad slogan?

Click here for an explanation of the chart.

Solar Powered Sign

This sign was on the other side of the platform at Harajuku Station.