Category Archives: Family

A little outing with LP1

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

For a couple hours on Sunday, TLG and MB were at a piano lesson and LP2 was down for a nap, so I took LP1 with me to go to the orchard and see how the trees are blossoming. Many … Continue reading →

Posted in 田舎暮らし, Family | 1 Comment

School Ground Cleaning

Posted on May 13, 2012 by

Today was Sunday, Mothers day, and also the day for going to my son’s elementary school at 7:00 a.m. to participate in the periodic grounds keeping event. You see, here in Japan the schools have no “janitors” or things of … Continue reading →

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Another busy week

Posted on April 2, 2012 by

The weeks are flying by. I can’t believe its been more than a week since I posted! But a lot has been happening around here: 1. Spring Festival at my inlaw’s neighborhood. They have a much bigger shrine and a … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, culture, 田舎暮らし, Family, Farming, 古民家 | 1 Comment

Spring Cleaning and Kabosu Pruning

Posted on March 24, 2012 by

Last week I visited a friend in a neighboring community who moved down from the Kanto region after the Tohoku earthquake. They have adopted an old farm house and have been living in it and fixing it for about a … Continue reading →

Posted in 田舎暮らし, Family, Farming, 古民家 | 5 Comments

Spring Festival

Posted on March 18, 2012 by

A lot has happened in the last few days, and I’ll break it all down into chunks: 1. The House: Demolition work has begun in earnest after the full extent of the Termite problem was discovered. I had to completely … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, 田舎暮らし, Family, Farming, 古民家 | 2 Comments

Can you eat it?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by

Every Japanese person I have known for any length of time has delighted in a game I call, “Feed Unusual Things to the Foreigner,” and my in-laws are no exception to this rule. Since I first started coming here I … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, culture, Family | 4 Comments

Walking for snacks part II

Posted on January 15, 2012 by

1. “Dagashiya” This is a little store that sells candy to the neigborhood kids. The house is in the Machiya or “Nagaya” style that was typical of Japanese towns from the before the Edo period all the way up until … Continue reading →

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Usuki Castle (and walking for snacks)

Posted on January 5, 2012 by

Around 3:00pm the kids are accustomed to having a snack. Today I thought I would make them work a little for it, so we left the house and took a walk through the center of town, to one of its … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, 田舎暮らし, Family | 1 Comment

Ki wo tsukau, Ki ga kiku…

Posted on January 3, 2012 by

A couple of definitions for those that don’t speak Japanese: 気を使う (ki-wo-tsukau): to pay attention to another’s needs, to attend to, to fuss about, to take into consideration 気が利く(ki-ga-kiku): to be thoughtful, to be tactful, to be sensitive (esp. to … Continue reading →

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In the interim

Posted on December 26, 2011 by

I was hoping my next post would be about securing The House. But we are still in negotiations with the owner and I think it may take some time to settle. In the mean time I have been keeping busy … Continue reading →

Posted in Community, 田舎暮らし, Family | 2 Comments