Tomorrow is Another Day

Gerontology

2012-01-22T10:08:00.000+09:00

Gloomy Sunday morning. Looking back yesterday, I'm wondering what makes such big differences?

At the family-get-together lunch, being celebrated her 83 year birthday, my mom in law was very vigorous and cheerful. She was very pleased with the flowers we prepared.

After the lunch, hubby and I visited my mom (85 years old) in the hospital. It is about 3 weeks since she transferred to this hospital and seemed much weaker compared to the last time we visited her. Now she can hardly recognize me. I expected her descent to somw extent, however the reality is much severer than that.
Again I wonder what makes such big differences between them. That's why I'm interested in gerontology, I guess...

Recently I read the following books.
Aging with Grace
Disguised

Happy New Year of Dragon 2012

2012-01-02T20:10:00.002+09:00

Whatever happens, time never stops.

We Japanese experienced an unprecedented catastrophe last year and still so many challenges and difficulties ahead despite of a massive rebuilding effort done so far. However we must go on...

May the year of dragon brings hope, good health, and happiness to everyone in the world!!

Saying good by to the year of rabbit and hello to the year of dragon.

Our annual event. :D

The dawn on the New Year's Day.

The shrine, I usually stop by while walking every morning,

is ready to welcome the New Year.

Momo, our granddaughter was born in November last year,

which was the most joyful thing for my family.

She is now 2 months old. As you can see, she loves bathing a lot.

I will do anything I can for this little fingers.

Christmas Lunch

2011-12-25T16:46:00.000+09:00

Christmas lunch now. Just like the gloomy weather today, I'm not in a Christmas mood actually because in a few days my mom is going to be transferred to another hospital, which will probably be the place for her to spend the rest of her life. But annual events should be done anyway to make me rise. Broccoli tree was made by hubby but simpler than the one made last year. :D Happy Holidays!!

Idaho Christmas in 1995

2011-12-24T01:19:00.000+09:00

At this time of the year, I always remember the very special and precious 10 days we spent in Idaho.
Our daughter was studying there as an exchange student then and hubby and I visited her at her host family's. She turned 17 that year, and now a mother of a little baby girl. Time flies...
Viewing the video clip, various feelings vividly came back to me, our daughter's homesick, hospitality and warmth the host family showed to us, and the crispy air that night... This video clip was shot on the way back home from the Christmas party held at host mother's sibling's place.

New Born

2011-11-02T09:18:00.000+09:00

My daughter gave birth to a baby girl at 4:00am, November 1, 2011.
It was an easy delivery that took about 6 hours.
Both the mom and the baby are good in health.
I guess she takes after her mom, which reminds me of my delivery experience 33 years ago.
Time flies and I just can't believe that I have become a grandma!

Looking at the Moon Last Night

2011-10-02T08:21:00.000+09:00

I'm not sure if there is any relationship between the times when babies are born and the lunar cycle, but it is said that more babies are born around the full and new moon.
According to the information I got from the Internet, more baby boys after the full moon and more baby girls after the new moon.
How about our first granddaughter? Her due is November 4, but she might be coming to us around the new moon this month, which is 27?

Meaningful Victory

2011-07-20T00:23:00.001+09:00

Nadeshiko Japan members came back to Japan this morning. I have seen their best and brightest smiles over and over again on a TV screen since then. Their splendid achievement of winning the FIFA Women's World Cup Championship gave us a tremendous encouragement and hope for sure.

It is already more than 4 months since March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster, but we are still struggling in the long way of reconstruction and forced to live in an invisible radiation fear every day due to our ineffective leader and his government. Not only I but also many other people, I believe, have been getting disappointed with our own country. Nadeshiko Japan's triumph far better than our expectation made us realize again how beautiful our flag of the rising sun is. Through world sports events, we build up nationalism, patriotism, or strong love toward our country if I put them in plain words. In that sense, their victory at this time is quite meaningful.

Their resilience against the last ditch was awesome! Without such a miracle in the penalty shootout, they couldn't have made such a fairytale victory. They remind us of never give up mind that we Japanese have deep in our soul.

Congratulations!

Retirement Life

2011-06-10T18:06:00.002+09:00

My friend came and visited me at my condo yesterday. We enjoyed catching up with each other over a big lunch. She is a year older than I, and her husband retired a few years ago. Now they are leading Everyday-is-Sunday life. I'm very curious about what their new life style is because my retirement life is not so far away from now. Through the conversation I sort of figured out what is important and what is not for a positive retirement life.

I'm not sure if it is true for everyone, but for me having my own pleasure as well as enjoying shared interests with hubby is one of the keys after his retirement. Being together at 24/7 basis for the rest of our lives is quite some time, isn't it? Of course I love my husband but it might be needed to keep an appropriate distance from each other for a good relationship.

And what is not important for me, which is also a very personal view though, is a periodical health check-up. With consideration of my age, as long as I feel fine with my body and soul, I don't want to be forced to find out a disease that I haven't had symptoms of yet.

Appropriate amount of money, good health with positive mind and something you can enjoy yourself...
I would like keep them in mind to make the final stage of my life fulfilled as much as possible.

Dinner Tonight

2011-05-19T22:09:00.000+09:00

"I don't eat meat for a while," declared hubby.

The day before yesterday, in the midnight, he felt dizzy due to the high blood pressure.

Reading of 140/100 is not serious but bad enough to make him depressed.

OK. Then I made a Japanese cuisine without meat.

Pumpkin is rich in Kalium or potassium in English, which is good for hypertension.

I prepared kiwi fruit for dessert that was also rich in Kalium.

Beer? Of course not. It may be more difficult for him to keep away from booze than meat, I guess. (wry smile)

Motherhood

2011-05-15T18:06:00.000+09:00

The day before yesterday I picked mom up at the nursing home and took her to the hospital for a monthly check-up. With the consideration of her age, the result was favorable. Her dementia is slightly worse but not as bad as I thought. Having lunch together at the restaurant on the sixth floor of the hospital over a nice view, I wondered how much time was left for us to get together and have such a peaceful time.

This morning I received a picture book from Amazon. It was a surprise present given by my daughter. Every page reminds me of the hectic but very precious parental days. Time goes by... Now she is expecting her first child. I just can't wait to see him? her?

I'm a daughter, mother and going to be a grandmother this fall.

We Pull Through...

2011-03-24T19:50:00.002+09:00

It is 2 weeks since we experienced a devastating megaquake followed by a big tsunami in the northeastern Japan. Still aftershocks on and off... Worries over the leakage of radioactive materials are growing due to the damaged Fukushima No. 1 plant.

We have to cope with the challenge we are now facing. We have to pull through this difficult situation.

Can we make it? Then I remember we Japanese got through a very severe situation in the past.

After completely defeated by World War II, it seemed to be almost impossible for Japan to recover and re-stabilize her economy to the same level of the pre-war years. However owing to a special procurement boom brought by the Korean War that broke out in 1950, Japan had a chance to make a dramatically rapid growth 1955-73 later called the EAST Asian Miracle despite the popular belief that sustainable growth after the procurement boom was skeptical. In those days we got together looking at the same direction.

Now we should make another Eastern Asian Miracle! We are a nation of people with persistency and diligence, aren't we? I hope, pray, and believe that we will surely be able to get over this crisis because more than 100 countries in the world are strongly supporting us with lots of love this time.

I would like you bloggers to know that the disaster-stricken areas were such beautiful places before the catastrophe. Sorry captions are all in Japanese.

Pray for those innocent victims

Spring has Come

2011-02-06T01:01:00.001+09:00

Good news one after another recently.
One of my young friends gave birth to a baby boy.
Mom moves to a newly-built nursing home that is supposed to be completed this April.
The last one is a really good news to me. My friend's son is going to be registered for the cardiac transplant waiting list!!

Spring has already come to my mind.

The Year of Rabbit

2011-01-09T03:30:00.002+09:00

It is already a week since we opened the door of 2011. The older I get, the more I realize that time flies.
During New Year's holidays, our daughter, son in law, and her best friends (along with kids) from her high school days came to visit us. We ate a lot, chat a lot, and enjoyed reunion a lot.

This is our New Year's table. Precisely speaking, this is not a typical Japanese New Year's food but the style like using gorgeous tiered boxes is very traditional and still popular in these days.

2011 is the year of rabbit in Chinese astrological calendar.

I was born in the year of rabbit. And this coming autumn, I will turn to be 60 years old.

60th year of one's life is considered very meaningful and important in Japan. It is a new beginning of the latter half of life as one's life expectancy, if fulfilled, is considered 120 years in eastern point of view. Usually on 60th anniversary celebration, people get something red as a present. If possible I would like a cool scarlet hat. Maybe I should ask hubby or my daughter or even my son in law (wry smile) beforehand.

Merry Christmas to You All

2010-12-25T19:53:00.001+09:00

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~ Burton Hills

Silent Christmas with hubby at home. Cooked together, ate together, and had a nice talking together.

Such a peace Christmas afternoon.

Not in the mood yet

2010-12-14T16:16:00.000+09:00

It is already December and people are busy getting ready for coming Christmas and the New Year. But I'm not in the mood yet. I still have 2 more weekend classes ahead along with a little complicated and energy-consuming work deadline looming. Christmas is coming anyway. Hope I will be able to get everything done before Christmas.

Seasonal display for our living room. It is almost 20years since this Santa Claus came to us from the U.S. Annually he plays the piano and sings Christmas songs specially for us although he has a slight disability with his left hand.

Christmas cards I bought for my overseas friends. In the cards season's greetings are written in several languages. Unfortunately Japanese isn't there though... I'm sending them to the people I love.

Cookies in a cute Christmas bag. My friend gave it to me when I saw her at Amnesty charity concert.

Box Lunch

2010-11-22T15:47:00.000+09:00

"I want to bring a box lunch to the office everyday if possible..."
It was at the end of September when my husband asked me euphemistically.
"All right. I will make one every day," I responded without hesitation. Box lunches might contribute not only to his healthy life but also saving money.

Almost 2 months have passed since then. So far I've made 33 box lunches.

Where is her birth family?

2010-11-03T12:47:00.001+09:00

Several years have passed since I started studying Korean language.
The more I learn about South Korea by doing so, The more I realize I don't know about the country. But it is always intersting for me to get to know the neighboring coutry's various cultures. Some of them are similar and some of them are quite different.

Recently I became to know about Korean overseas adoption program through 2 movies, one was "Une Vie Toute Neuve," or "A Traveler" in English and the other was "Take Off Trailer."
Then I have encountered a woman in real life via twitter who is currently looking for her birth family via her blog, twitter and facebook.
Her online name is red pants and no shoes because she was wearing red pants and no shoes when she was found by the Yeongdeungpo police station in Soeul.
I do really hope that she will be able to get a lot of information and be reunited with her birth Omma and Aboji (mom and dad). I just would like to share her story with you.

http://redpantsnoshoes.blogspot.com/

Ｈａｎｅｄａ　Ｉｎｔｅｒｎａｔｉｏｎａｌ　Ａｉｒｐｏｒｔ

2010-10-22T21:08:00.000+09:00

Yesterday Haneda Airport inaugurated a new international terminal and has become a 24-hour grobal aviation hub. The news, which have been repeatedly broadcasted, reminds me of my first trip to the United States from the airport almost 40 years ago. Back in those days Haneda was the only one international airport in Japan, and I still vividly remember the scene I waved to my parents and sister who came to see me. It surely was an adventure for a young girl to go abroad alone to study then. Such a sweet and sentimental memory...

Time flies.My father died in 2007 and now we have 3 international airports. If I have a chance some day, I would like to fly to the US again from Haneda Airport although Air Siam, the first international flight I took from Tokyo to Hawaii, ceased its service in 1977.

The Best Season for Reading

2010-09-26T08:09:00.001+09:00

I have a slight back pain this morning. Better not go for a walk.

Hubby has just left for work though it is Sunday today, so I might stay home all day long reading "Mortal Memory" written by Thomas H. Cook.

I have finished about 1/3 of it and now I guess I know how the story ends. Still it is interesting for a psychologically minded people like me because it depicts each character precisely and mysteriously on the other hand through the lead character's memory, who was the only survivor from the tragedy.

The best season for reading, isn't it? Don't have to cook dinner? Yes!!!! We have leftover Oden from yesterday.(*^.^*)

Early Autumn 2010

2010-09-23T04:01:00.015+09:00

Hubby and I went to Kaida Kogen in Nagano pref. in the first weekend of September. The weather was much cooler than Kansai region, giving us a sense of the upcoming autumn. Our favorite place, my favorite season...

We left home at 1:00AM and arrived there around 6:00.
The sun was just about to show up.
The temperature was 16 degrees Celsius.

Saury, an Autumn Taste

2010-09-20T23:09:00.002+09:00

Dinner a few days ago.
We usually eat sanma or saury in English cooked in Japanese style, but the other day we enjoyed Italian style.
According to newspapers, we Japanese consumers face higher prices for sanma this year due to the extraordinarily hot weather.
However I got them 100 yen per each. Viva sanma!!

From Trio to Quartet

2010-07-15T04:01:00.011+09:00

Matrimony - the high sea for which no compass has yet been invented.

Heine's saying is absolutely right, isn't it? (wry smile...)

It was last September, I remember...
My daughter's boyfriend, now her husband and my son-in-law naturally,
gave me a mobile text message reporting that he had just asked our daughter
to marry him. A pictorial symbol of a ring in the message showed how delighted he was.
Hubby and I burst into a big laugh, wondering if anywhere in the world does exist such a man who reported his biggest venture (right after he did) to the mother of his girlfriend.

Even though we had a sort of expectation, it was still a bit surprising, as we knew that our daughter had never taken marriage so important in her life. She used to say "I can't figure out what the marriage is. I'm not confident enough to make sure that the guy next to me is the right one or not only by seeing each other for one or two years."

Then what made her change her mind? The answer was very simple.
The guy next to her has something common with her dad. Actually they are different in appearance and personality as a man, but when it comes to husband and wife relationship and facing their partner as a husband, they look exactly alike, which makes me pleased and
delighted.

About a month after the big decision, they had their marriage registered, and then the wedding ceremony was held in Bora Bora, Tahiti in January 2010.
And the post wedding party was held in May. Hubby took motion pictures from the beginning of the party to the end and recently he has finally completed editing them into a DVD. Now we have another precious family keepsake.

The new couple seems to have been getting along with each other very well.
From time to time we get together for dinner.
A trio family for 30 years has now changed to a quartet family.
So far so harmonious, I guess...

How to Survive Scorching Days

2010-07-04T14:18:00.003+09:00

Beautiful fan given to us by our daughter and son-in-law.
It's too beautiful to use!!
We can feel some cool air just by displaying it on the wall of our Japanese room.

Scorching days go on...

Rainy Season

2010-06-21T13:36:00.004+09:00

As usual I woke up at 5:30 and did an hour walking.
The sky was gloomy and it was going to rain any minute. Typical rainy season weather...
Most of the rice fields along my walking course were already planted with rice. Although I hate rainy season and its humidity, I love to see rice fields with rice seedlings.

We have 10 days left for June. Scorching summer is coming soon.

April in Japan

2010-04-10T23:47:00.004+09:00

Again it is time for cherry blossoms.
April is the beginning of the school year and many companies' fiscal year. And we see many freshmen attending entrance ceremonies held by schools and companies here and there in this season.
The cherry blossoms, usually at their best in April, are therefore the symbols of a new life and a new start. That's why we Japanese have some sort of special feelings for cherry blossoms.

Last weekend we went to Koyaguchi Park, located in my town with an hour walk from our house. The park is very famous for it's beautiful cherry blossoms. About 500 Someiyoshino there, the most common type of cherry trees in Japan, were at their best.

Many people, mostly families, sat wherever they liked, enjoying Saturday afternoon. The weather was fine, and gentle breeze sometimes let the petals flutter to the lunch box, hubby's jeans and my shoes. What an elegant view! Cherry blossom viewing is one of the typical ways for us Japanese to enjoy spring.

We were there for about 3 hours just sitting and viewing cherry blossoms. Time went very slowly...

Year 2010

2010-01-10T19:38:00.003+09:00

The older we get, the faster time flies. It is already 10 days since the Tiger has taken over the role of the Ox.

So what do you expect for 2010?

The year 2010 is the great unlucky year for my daughter as she will turn to be 33 in October.
In Japan climacteric ages in one's life are 25, 42, and 60 for men, and 19 and 33 for women in the old system of counting age.

So I do hope my daughter will let this particulur year go past without any misfortunes.

With Father's Love

2009-12-29T18:58:00.004+09:00

Specially made by hubby.
These rice bowls, only 2 in the world, are wedding gifts for our daughter.
Matured woman in her early 30s now, our daughter is still fond of Snoopy.
She may be an innocent small girl even now in hubby's mind.
Although the drawing is not good (said by hubby), he made them for her and her husband with all his heart.
We are looking forward to how our daughter reacts when opening the box.

Over Christmas Dinner

2009-12-25T19:45:00.006+09:00

Hubby came home late yesterday, but as planed we had a bit special dinner.
It should have been a merry time but a TV news I saw the other day made me gloomy a little.

The TV news is...

A pupil came into the nursing office seeking help for his starving.
Asked if he has had dinner the night before, he weakly denied. He confessed that almost every day he could only have school lunch provided by school.
Only one meal a day?
The scene that he bit into the leftover bread given by the school nurse brought tears to my eyes.

It is said that such pupils are increasing in these days due to stagnating recession.
Most of their parents are unemployed, or if not unemployed, facing dramatically decreasing working hours.

According to the recent announcement by government, unemployment rate in October is 5.1%. Severe reality hit a lot of children in many ways.

On Christmas Eve children go to bed with excitement and a big expectation. I wonder if the pupil above got something nice on Christmas day.
God bless such children all!

Late Autumn in Japan

2009-12-07T17:06:00.003+09:00

At the end of last month hubby took me to Negoro Temple, a 30minutes drive from our house, to see beautiful autumn leaves.

I had several things to do that day but couldn't refuse the temptation.

The weather was fine and turning leaves fulfilled my expectation, a bit early for their best though...

We stayed about an hour strolling in the temple. It was a weekday and not so many people were there.

Does It Come True?

2009-11-16T18:19:00.009+09:00

After a very short stay in Japan, President Obama left for Singapore to attend APEC meeting.

While his first visit to Japan, President Obama mentioned a possibility of his visit to Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki during his tenure in office, which reminded me of my trip to Hiroshima with my American friend 8 years ago.

The following is from my journal right after the trip.

The sun was smiling to us but the wind was against when we got off a streetcar. We had to walk back to Genbaku (A-bomb) Dome despite of such a cold weather !! At the entrance of Peace Memorial Park, where located between Motoyasu River and Ohta River, we saw a man distributing leaflets. He was a member of a group that was trying to make an appeal for an apology from the president of the United States of America for dropping A-bomb.

I asked Glee (my American friend) if she got a gist of what he had said. "Yeah, I think so. But it was a war..." The situation must have been very uncomfortable for her, I guess...

I felt sorry for her as I knew she had a pure mind as a human being and that's why she wanted so eagerly to visit Genbaku Dome as an American citizen .

I have a similar experience. My mom and I visited the Pearl Harbor Memorial in Hawaii several years ago. Being surrounded by many Americans, it was a very uncomfortable atmosphere for Japanese (just 2 of us there) listening to narration about how they had been attacked and interviews of those who had survived. I remember I felt a deep conflict between the US and Japan.

Genbaku (A-bomb) Dome, which used be the Prefectural Industry Building, stands there as a symbol of disaster for more than 50 years to let the whole world know what exactly happened at the end of World War Ⅱ. We took several pictures there. Glee told me that it was a good part of Japan to keep this kind of thing as a witness of war history, although the city made such a rapid recovery on the other hand.

By and large we Japanese have a favorable impression of President Obama. This article is a good example. (http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20081106a3.html)

Another good example is a scare craw I found near our house. The title is "A Friend of President Obama." Isn't he cute?

I do hope some day President Obama will visit Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki.
Can he make it come true?
Yes, he can!!

Leaving for Seoul

2009-10-28T07:51:00.002+09:00

I'm leaving for Seoul this evening. This is the 5th visit. My first trip to Seoul was in winter, 1995 and I took my mom with me then. For the next 3 visits, my daughter was the travel mate. But this time I'm going with hubby. For him this is the first visit to Seoul. How exciting!
Whether he will like it there depends on how well I introduce such a fascinating and modern city still having traditional atmosphere at the same time to him, doesn't it?

As hubby seems to be a little tired due to busy days, I will take him to Buochon Hanok Village with traditional houses and culture. In this season it might be very relaxing to walk around there. Hope he will be able to forget about everything about his work while we are there.

Another purpose in this trip for myself is to find out whether my Korean language has been forward or backward. I believe that I can handle Korean needed for traveling. This time I would like to know if I can make myself understood in random chatting using Korean as perfect as possible, particularly in grammatical matters. I'm looking forward to have a chance to talk to local people.

Before everything, I now have to do packing!!

October, Such a Special Month

2009-10-11T02:25:00.003+09:00

As some of my bloggers know, autumn is my favorite season. Especially I love October because precious anniversaries in my life are all in this month.

Born in October, got married in October, gave a birth to my daughter in October...

Now... I'm very happy to add another anniversary.

Our daughter finally accepted a marriage proposal from her boyfriend after seeing with each other for 2 years, and they had their marriage registered yesterday, an auspicious day on the Japanese calendar.

They said that they would have a wedding ceremony in Tahiti in mid January next year followed by a post-wedding party in Japan.

Bride is 31 and the bridegroom is 32, matured enough to build a happy home.

As long as I know, my newly son-in-law is a nice person with sunny personality and loves my daughter so strong as to change her mind.

An ideal wife is any woman who has an ideal husband.

And vice versa... I think.

Anyway they have just begun their new life.

Toilet Lanches

2009-08-11T09:33:00.007+09:00

What do you do in a toilet cubicle?
I know everybody answers in a flash, "Relieve myself, of course!" That's quite natural.
However the things in Japan have changed in these days, particularly in university toilets.

According to an article in Asahi weekly, a tabloid paper, students, having difficulty in communication with people, prefer to shut themselves inside toilet cubicles to eat.
They are actually isolated on campass and thus have no friends to eat lunch with.
Then why don't they eat alone at the cafeteria? They don't want to do it just because they don't want themselves being watched while eating alone.

Hmmm, strange phenomenon...
I wonder if many young people find it difficult to socialize with people. If so, that's a problem.

This is a plate lunch I had yesterday.
I can't imagine myself eating it in such a small space where people reliese themselves.

President Obama

2009-07-24T16:16:00.006+09:00

It is about 6 months since he became the 44th President of the United States and moved into White House. Although recent approval rating for him has decreased due to his policy for health care reform, he is still a much better leader than our prime minister.

Recently I sometimes listen to his speeches while walking as a daily routine. It is very interesting, convincing and helps me to brush up my listening ability in English.

According to the newspaper, it is likely that he is coming to Japan this November.
Our leader, Prime Minister Taro Aso dissolved the Lower House recently, setting the stage for an Aug. 30 general election. I don't know if the DPJ finally wrest power from the LDP as many people expected. No matter who takes the Prime Minister's chair, I hope the first talk with President Obama will be fruitful.

In these Days

2009-07-23T09:01:00.016+09:00

According to the calendar, today is "Taisho," or the hottest day in summer.

That's why it's been very hot and humid since even in the early morning.

I know I have to prepare for the end-term test starting this coming Saturday, but this scorching weather makes me lose my drive. Sigh...

Yesterday people were attracted by the total eclipse of the sun, visible in Japan in 46 years. Everybody looked up in the sky to watch a dramatic spectacle in the universe. I myself couldn't see it but I remember I was an elementary school student 46 years ago, watching the total eclipse of the sun with my classmate in the playground of our school.
Next total eclipse of the sun visible in Japan is in 2035. I will be 84 years old then. May I live so long? I doubt it. Instead I may be able to observe the next annular solar eclipse in 2012. If so, I want to see a romantic sun's ring!

The day before yesterday my niece visited us with her son. We enjoyed lunch together.

This is for 2-year-old boy. It was very difficult to make Anpanman vivid. Anyway I'm glad that the boy recognized the animation character and ate them up. (laugh)

This is for grown-ups.

Side dishes.

Dinner Alone

2009-06-18T10:35:00.005+09:00

Father's Day is coming closer. On the day, many daddies will probably be given a biiiig hug with love, nice presents and precious time together with their sons and daughters.

Our daughter invited hubby to a special date the day before yesterday, though it was a little earlier. They spent the whole day together and hubby stayed over night at out our daughter's. Actually I was invited, too. I did appreciate for her offer but declined because I wanted them to spend time just two of them alone so that they can cement a close bond of father-and-daughter affection between them.To make up for my lonely night, I made Korean dinner.

Korean food culture is very attractive. Particularly I love their way of eating meat, wrapping it up with veritables. In this way we can eat a lot of vegetables. I guess it is their thought that medicine and food come from the same source.
Chamisul is very strong to me and I got drunk that night. (laugh)

Another Masterpiece

2009-06-12T19:11:00.003+09:00

A salad bowl made by hubby.
Why masterpiece? Because he has put in quite a lot of money for the pottery class tuition and materials in the past. :-P
When he made a pair of rice bowls last time, some pot clay was left.
So he utilized it and made this bowl. A little smaller than expected but it is fun for me to think about various dishes to be served in the bowl.

By the way, WHO finally declared Swine Flu as a global pandemic today due to the fact that human-to-human infection was confirmed in Australia, in the southern hemisphere.
In Japan, compared to the last month, the situation currently is calmed down. We can get masks easily at any drag stores. So far 566 cases have been reported.

Got married

2009-06-09T15:05:00.023+09:00

Not my daughter (wry smile) but my niece got married at the end of May. Wedding ceremony was carried out at a small church solemnly, followed by a cozy reception in the evening as the bride and bridegroom had planned.

At the ceremony, despite of my anxiety, my brother walked down the aisle without stepping on the wedding dress, escorting the bride proudly but looked somewhat lonely which was a common feeling a bride's father had. He shed a lot of tears of joy mixed with loneliness in the ceremony and the reception.

A pair of rice bowls made by hubby as a wedding present for the brand new couple.
They were displayed on the welcome table at the entrance of the reception hall.
Eating is very important for one's healthy life, not only physically but also emotionally at the same time. We hope those bowls will contribute to create a happy dinner time day after day.

Bouquet toss

Bouquet toss has been a very popular wedding custom for years even in Japan. However the custom is nowadays taken a bit differently by single women around 30. Recently I've found an interesting article about it on the internet. It says that single women around 30 claim that the custom is a kind of sexual harrasment. When asked, they spoke out how they felt when their names were called loudly and were forced to be in front of the bride for catching a bouquet. Most people at the reception don't realize their reluctance. As a result those women become hesitant to show up at a wedding reception.

I don't know who got the bouquet my niece tossed that day. It is certain at least that it wasn't my daughter :-D

Decision Has Been Made

2009-03-17T02:55:00.003+09:00

I have been watching this case with concern.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp:80/mail/nn20090314a1.html

Although public opinion tends to support the family in the light of their situation, from my very personal point of view, the decision made by the Immigration Bureau is quite natural.
In the first place the parents entered Japan illegally. No matter how long they have lived in Japan, no matter what hard workers they have been, once illegal entry is found, I think they should be deported.

The most concerned issue in this case is about their daughter. She was born and raised in Japan, influenced a lot by Japanese culture. She doesn't even speak her mother tongue. She must face a lot of difficulties if she goes back to the Philippines. The authorities are very considerate to let her stay in Japan as a special case. I think it's very reasonable from a humanitarian standpoint. It's not good for the family to be away from each other. However the daughter is in her mid-teen, not a baby and her aunt, who married to Japanese, will take care of her.

Law is Law. One exception leads another then another.
Of course I feel sorry for them but the decision is the best and reasonable under the current law.

Changeling

2009-03-11T19:15:00.009+09:00

I was drawn to this movie because it was a true story. A true story is always very convincing. Another reason I picked it up, after having been away from American movies for a while, was that Clint Eastwood directed it.

As expected the movie was just wonderful. No wonder it was nominated for Academy Award.

Last month Angelina Jolie came to Japan, with Brad Pitt and their 6 children, for the movie promotion and had a press conference in Tokyo. I saw her interview on the internet last night and was very impressed with her strong affection toward her family. Needless to say, she must have imagined if it had happened to her children and naturally used this imagination to build up the role. Slow but decisive tone, straightened back and red rouge express her strong desire to get her son back. 20's costume was successful for creating the mother's character, too.

In the interview she mentioned the Japanese abductees kidnapped by North Korea in the 70s and 80s. She said she had learned the fact recently. The families of those abductees have been fighting against the authoritarian state for an excessive amount of time simply to get their beloved ones back just like Christine Collins, the heroine in the movie.

Clint Eastwood nowadays is known as a director rather than an actor. After having been away from the screen for a while, he came back and played the leading role in his latest movie "Gran Trino." I saw the preview at a theater. I would like to see it, too.

2009-03-04T10:21:00.007+09:00

March 3 is the Dolls' (or Girls') Festival and my hubby's birthday.
We celebrated both over a bit luxurious lunch.
Our daughter took her boyfriend and I made a cake-like Sushi
for the first time. Most difficult part of it was turning the round cake pan
to take the Sushi out. Anyway it turned out to be much more beautiful
than I expected.

My hubby is now 52 years old.
When I first met him, he was 20, so young and so immature...
Looking back to the old days, I realize how far we have come along together.

80th Anniversary and Annual Family Trip

2009-02-09T09:37:00.011+09:00

Life span is getting longer and longer. It can be said particularly in Japan.

According to the announcement by Health, Labour and Welfare Ministry in 2007, average life span expected for men and women are 79.19 years and 85.99 years respectively.

My mom in law celebrated her 80th anniversary last month. She is quite healthy and active, moreover still very young in mind.

She shows her affection to every member of the family by giving chocolates on Valentine's Day every year.

The one she gave me this year is very beautiful. Isn't it art? This is exactly her taste and I like it very much!

We took a family trip to Kushimoto in the end of last year, in the southern part of Japan, where it is famous with delicious seafood and hot spring.

Nothing special but spending time together in a resort area gave us an opportunity to thank that everyone in the family were good in health and able to welcome another new year.

Delicious food always makes us cheerful and talkative!

The weather was just wonderful. I like this picture as the red gateway to the shrine sets off the picture.

Hashikui Iwa, one of the best scenic places in Nanki area designated as a national natural treasure. More than 40 strange shaped rocks are in a raw, rising from the seashore of Kushimoto toward Oshima Island, 850m away from the seashore.

This strange scenery has an anecdote.
In the ancient times, Amanojaku, one of the Japanese evil spirits famous for mimicking and reading man's mind, asked if Kukai, a famous Japanese monk, could construct a bridge from Kushimoto to Oshima Island overnight.
It wasn't a difficult task for Kukai and he started construction. However when he completed construction of the posts, Amanojyaku cheated Kukai by mimicking a rooster call. Kukai thought the day broke and stopped construction. That's why the scenery is as if only bridge piles have been left. Did you enjoy the story?

Tiny Shoes, A Great Step

2009-01-16T18:23:00.004+09:00

My best friend has become a grand mother.
She brought last fall the joyful information to me via telephone.
Sounded very busy taking care of the newborn and new mother, but her voice was very vivid and filled with happiness.
After wondering for a while, I chose a pair of shoes as a present.
I just can't wait to see the baby girl with the shoes make a small but a great step toward her future. It is about a year ahead though...
I don't really know what becoming a new grandmother would mean because I don't have grand children yet but I'm sure it is the most rewarding gift a son or daughter can give.

Play for Prosperity

2009-01-11T07:54:00.004+09:00

Hubby went and worshipped at an Ebisu shrine near his office.

Every year from January 9 through 11, Ebisu shrines in Kansai region hold "Ebessan," an event playing for prosperous commerce for the year, collecting many businessmen and merchants.
This year we suffer from an unheard of economic downturn, and it is expected that much more people visit the shrines compared to the past.

Hubby bought a bamboo rake decorated with plenty of charms.

We put it up on the front door wall, hoping a prosperous year for our business.

Isn't it gorgeous?

The Year of the OX

2009-01-04T22:36:00.005+09:00

It is already 4 days since the year of the rat handed the baton to the year of the ox. Time just flies.

Looking back to 2008, the sluggish domestic economy triggered by the US economic crisis was the most concerned issue. As is usually the case, economic stagnation creates a lot of jobless people. According to the newspaper, many laid-off workers even don't have place to sleep, having no choice but to run into a temporary tent village set up in Hibiya Park in Tokyo to spend the new year's days. The situation is becoming worse. There are so many other people who are seeking for a shelter. How do they survive in such a freezing cold?

I'm deeply grateful for the current peaceful situation I'm in. At the same time I do hope the year of the ox will bring hope and vitality to the people to go through the difficulties.

The Early Bird Catches the Worm

2008-12-03T18:55:00.004+09:00

It is about 2 weeks since I begun a brisk walking early in the morning. Usually I leave home before dawn and explore the neighborhood for about an hour. As we live at the foot of Mt. Koya, one of the World Heritages, we have several temples related to Kukai. So far I visited some of them. While walking at a quick pace in the crisp air of the late autumn (early winter already?), I am often lost in thought. I think about anything and everything, from the serious to the silly. Rare but I can get some very important solutions how to get out of a never-ending cycle or make myself step forward. I enjoy my new daily routine.

Some Sort of Telepathy?

2008-11-12T11:59:00.002+09:00

A few years ago, hubby started a new business project. Since then he has been busy and even on weekends he often goes out for work. I fully understand his situation and also have many things to do that made me busy both officially and privately. I never ever worry about how to kill time all by myself.

However somehow I can't get rid of lonely feeling in these days.
The day before yesterday hubby suddenly asked me to go out for refreshing.
I didn't know he took a day off that day. Is he a good mind reminder? (laugh)

Really? Where are we going?
He proposed visiting a temple just a 30 minute-drive from home.
Can we enjoy beautiful turning leaves at this time of the year?
With willing haste, I made lunch with what was in the fridge.

There were only a few small groups, perhaps retired people, in Kanshinji-Temple. Very calm and comfortable... It was a gloomy and cold day but I enjoyed a good smell of the air in the spacious temple pricincts. Leaves have just begun turning red. In a few weeks they will be at their best. Shall we come again around that time?

Unique Relationship

2008-11-09T09:11:00.005+09:00

When Mr. Obama and his supporters were exploding in exultation over his landslide victory in the presidential election, another Obama, a small town in the archipelago far from the vast continent, is also very exited at the big news.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20081106a3.html

Is this ridiculous? No, if anything, it certainly is amusing.

A few days later, over a telephone talk with our leader Aso, Mr. Obama mentioned that he felt a sense of closeness to Japan as he had visited there many times. What surprised me more is that he took up the town of Obama in the conversation and showed his intention of visiting the town if the future situation permits.

I'm not sure how the relationship between the US and Japan will develop. I hope this trifle common point will help the both countries make their relationship more steady and friendly to contribute for the better world.

Change can happen? I hope so...

Here I would like to share the lunch I had with my daughter on the day of the presidential election. We talked about the election a lot that day, assuming Mr. Obama's victory as a historic president. Pad Thai reminds me of a Thai restaurant in Forest Hills, New York.

Autumn Eating

2008-10-07T23:40:00.004+09:00

I love autumn! We can enjoy various kinds of delicious food, as it is a harvest season.

Last Sunday I made teapot soup because hubby wanted to eat Matsutake mushroom. Although domestic Matsutake gives a rich aroma, we, as ordinary people, can't afford it, as it is very expensive. Instead we usually buy Korean-grown Matsutake, which is affordable for us. However we chose American-grown Matsutake this year for the first time. It is even more inexpensive than Korean-grown one. As for aroma, it isn't even equal to domestic one, but we enjoyed "autumn eating" anyway.

The pot contained Matsutake, chicken, shrimp, pike eel, ginkgo nut and mitsuba leaf.

Three Months Left

2008-09-29T08:18:00.003+09:00

This is "Annual Schedule '09," presented by one of my favorite mail-order catalog books.
Isn't the color combination beautiful?
It goes very well with the yellow fountain pen, which is also my favorite.

In the first page, it says, "Yourself in 2009," followed by several questions.

With whom and in what place do you live?
How is your daily life?
How much do you have in your savings?
Do you keep in shape?
What type of fashion do you enjoy?
Have you taken a trip to somewhere?
What do you enjoy as a hobby?
Have you challenged anything?
When do you feel happiest and most fulfilled?

I will answer the above questions at the end of this year and check how many of them will have been accomplished at the end of 2009.

We have only 3 months left this year. Life goes on...

The Japanese Like Rice Balls!

2008-07-30T09:38:00.009+09:00

According to the recent survey, we Japanese people like rice balls.
The survey result shows that 97.7% of the poll respondents like rice balls and those who don't like them are up to only 0.3% on the other hand.

I'm not sure when convenience stores started selling a rice ball, but it is now very popular and as a matter of fact, one of the flagships. Even in hot summer its sales never declines.
A rice ball stuffed with salmon is the most popular, followed by cod roe, tuna and mayonnaise、Mentaiko、seaweed and pickled plum.
I myself am fond of salmon most, just like other people. I happened to eat one for lunch yesterday at college between the end-term exams.

The survey reminds me of the unforgettable rice balls in my life, which were made by my late father. It was in June 1974. I was about to leave for the United States to study. On the morning of the day I left, my father made 2 small rice balls for me without uttering a word. I knew his mixed feelings of anxiety, loneliness and even expectation.

The rice balls, just in the best size and very finely salted, were so delicious that I suddenly burst into tears, feeling his deep love. Time flies and he isn't here in this world with us any more, but I never forget the rice balls he made specially for me.
I wish I could eat them once again...

In These Days...

2008-07-27T07:18:00.006+09:00

I've been preparing for the end-term exam, which is going to start this coming Tuesday. Although it is interesting to get into psychological field, I hate to take exams, just like in my youth. (Wry smile)

This term I'm taking Personality Psychology, Counseling in General, Cognitive Psychology in General, Information Society, Basic Clinical Psychology, Field Social Psychology and School Counseling.　I'm not confident yet to face all those tests but the contents of the lectures and textbooks are very intriguing, particularly Field Social Psychology.

For the mid-term assignment, I wrote about adaptabilities of those who have come back from overseas. I'm very interested in this theme because my daughter, having spent her latter teens and early 20s in the United States as a student, had to go through a very hard time to get accustomed to life in Japan again. She was born and raised in Japan, but her 7 years in the United States influenced her much more than my hubby and I, as parents, and even herself expected.

Some people get back to where they once belonged very easily and some don't. What the difference between those 2 kinds of people? If I had a chance, I would like to practice a fieldwork in this theme.

I don't have much time now but I would like to do as much as I can for getting better grades on the exams!

Scorching Days

2008-07-17T12:45:00.003+09:00

Day after day the mercury in the thermometer tells me that we are in the midst of the hottest season. According to the weather forecast, we got out of Baiu, or the rainy season a few days ago.

Anyway hot, scorching hot...

I know I have to go back to work, but I think I'm losing my energy due to the heat.

Well I shouldn't have had such a long chatting with my friend on the phone yesterday afternoon.
She told me that she had just finished her Korean language course, which is for beginner with 10 lectures. She told me that she had been influenced by me and started studying the language.

Is it OK with you now? She asked.
No problem! I replied. As a matter of fact I had just started a bit difficult translation work though...

The water has gone under the bridge. Sigh...

The Most Beautiful Moment in Life

2008-07-13T07:42:00.009+09:00

In one's life, there are many happy and beautiful moments.
For women, wedding ceremony is surely one of them. You know what it is like, don't you?

Yesterday I got my hair cut. I don't want to go on crowded weekend, but I had to cancel my previous appointment (last Thursday) and changed it to Saturday yesterday.

Ms. K, my beautician for about several years, seemed to be very busy, having taken care of plural numbers of customers quickly and responsively. She is one of the top beauty specialists at the salon.

Hi, how have you been?

She started cutting my hair with a calming smile. Everything went as usual, except important news given to me.

She told me that she had had a wedding ceremony. It was last month. June bride...

I knew that she had had her marriage registered in advance, but have been wondering if she should hold wedding ceremony.

In the photo album, which she showed me despite of the busiest time at the salon, I found a very beautiful and sublime bride in each and every scene. Although it was a small ceremony with only siblings and precious friends, I got the gist of what is important.

"I guess it was my right decision to hold a ceremony. Thank you for taking a look at my wedding pictures," said she at the entrance door where she saw me off.
Her smile was filled with happiness and content. She couldn't be happier now, I thought.

On July 7, the Star Festival

2008-07-07T15:30:00.009+09:00

Once in a month, my mom visits us and stays a few nights with us. Yesterday, as usual hubby and I went to the nursing home to pick her up. The innocent smile of mom, given to me after 2 months as I couldn't make it last month due to my poor health condition, made me happy and relieved.

On the way back from the nursing home, in the car, I happened to see a TV program titled "Life, an extraordinary odyssey," which focuses on famous people in various fields. Yesterday's guest was Chie Ayado, a middle-aged jazz singer.
She has a powerful mind with very positive thinking, humor, and pure soul. I love her powerful and soulful singing, and further more, I love her personality

Her talk was very interesting and full of words of wisdom, which made me encouraged very much. It owes a lot, I think, to her hard time in her marriage life with an African American in the United States. After all, she divorced and came back to Japan with her son.

I'm deeply impressed with the song she sang at the end of the program.
The song, both music and lyrics, was made by her to encourage her son when he suffered from bullying at school because of his different appearance from other Japanese students.

Here I would like to share the lyrics with you. Hope you will like it.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Get Into My Life

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　One day my boy asked me
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Why I am your child?
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　With a little surprise
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　I said God decided

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Then he asked me why
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　That God made you my mom
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　His words made me stop
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　To think for a while

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Honey, I carry on and on
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　And never give up,
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　So now I'm here to be your mom
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　And this happening made me sure I need you!
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　For us to be tied together

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Get into my life
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　You came in to my life
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　So smoothly, so naturally
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Get into my life
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　You came in to my life
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　So smoothly who wanted, maybe both

Would you like to preview? Go ahead.

Father's Day

2008-06-15T02:01:00.007+09:00

It is 2 o'clock in the morning. Today is Father's Day.

According to Wikipedia,
Father's Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherfood and male parenting, and to honor and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving to fathers and family-oriented activities. In 2008, it will be celebrated on June 15th in most countries.

My father passed away in January 2007 and father-in-law did in 1995. Now I have no one to celebrate on this particular day. Strange feeling...

Anyway Hubby and I will go to the graveyards, where they rest in peace, late in the morning to show them our love and then go to the nursing home to pick up my mom. I haven't seen her for about a month. I wonder how her condition is and hope that she still remembers me.

Our daughter is in Tokyo on business for this weekend. Yesterday she sent her father emails with pictures of Tokyo Tower and vivid-colored drink, telling that she will celebrate her father later on. (laugh)

Goya, A Bitter Ground

2008-06-01T06:56:00.003+09:00

This is Goya and Tofu salad I made for the first time. According to the recipe, printed with a picture in a calendar pinned up on the fridge, Goya contains a lot of vitamin C scarcely lost even by heating. Hubby liked it a lot and ate most of them (laugh...)Tomato, eggplant, green pepper, cucumber, pumpkin, green soybean, okra, white gourd-melon...There are a lot of healthy summer vegetables. I wonder what dishes to cook using those ingredients, surviving coming hot summer.

Not Confident Yet

2008-05-27T08:35:00.002+09:00

I wonder how I can determine someone's rest of life even though he/she has committed a crime.

We have less than one year till the government introduces a citizen judge system. The survey conducted in 2005 showed that 70% of the nation hesitated to take part in a trial. I'm sorry but I'm one of them. Of course I willingly get days off and spare time for a trial as far as it is citizen's obligation though...

In the US they also have a jury system and what jurors have to do is to determine innocent or guilty of the defendant. However what our citizen judge system require ordinary people, randomly chosen without specialized knowledge about law, is not only determination of guilty or not guilty but at the same time we have to determine an appropriate punishment including death penalty. Isn't that too much requirement? I don't think I can make such an important determination.

In those days, maybe over the past decade I think, we have had numerous vicious crimes and security in Japan has become poorer and poorer rapidly even though Japan is ranked fifth in recent "world security" ranking survey.

In the procedure of a trial we may be obliged to see a bloody murder weapon or even a dead body as need arises. In such cases people's emotional state after seeing those evidences is of particular concern. As I'm studying psychology, I really worry about it.

Probability to be a nominee is one out of 330 - 660 people and to be a citizen judge is out of 4000. I'm not ready yet and I have no idea how long I need to be confident to participate in a trial.

Koyasu Jizohji Famous with its Beautiful Wisteria

2008-04-30T10:20:00.009+09:00

It is in the middle of Golden Week throughout the Japan archipelago. One of my cyber friends has left for Fiji. I envy her a little bit but I also had a nice time with mom and hubby at Koyasu Jizohji yesterday. As you see in the title this temple is very famous with its beautiful wisteria. Since it was a holiday yesterday, many people visited there to see beautiful flowers.

Shading of purple color is just beautiful.

Mom, 83 years old this fall, went up the stairs by herself vigorously. Isn't it amazing? However her condition of dementia has progressed a little. I wonder how long I've got for having her visit us and spend time together like this.

Wisteria trellis reminds me of my good school days. I used to sit on a bench under a wisteria trellis and had a chat with my classmates. That was long time ago though. (laugh)

This bell was once brought to Kure factory in Hiroshima during the war for mental recovery. We found a hole used for material testing then. I'm glad to see it came back to the place where it should be belong to.

There are 25 temples famous with their beautiful flowers in Kansai area, or western part of Japan. Kouasu Jizohji is one of them.

It was such a beautiful day that we enjoyed being surrounded by nature.

Enjoy Springtime

2008-04-04T07:45:00.014+09:00

The new fiscal year has just begun. Many drivers rushed to gas stations for filling gas into their tanks as the temporary surcharge on gas tax expired. On the other hand various daily necessities such as soy souse, milk, public utility charges were increased. I wonder how such no-can-do situation influence those who has just got into their new school life or working society.
As for me April is a busy time. A new school year has begun. This semester I have 7 off campus classes along with 3 on campus ones. In addition my assessment work is currently at its busiest time. I wish I had 30 hours a day. (laugh) However despite such hectic schedule, I would like to make my private life fulfilled, too. The following pictures show how I enjoyed spring in these days.

One day in late March, hubby, our daughter, her friend with 2 kids and I went on a picnic. Weather was fine and cherry blossoms are almost at their best. Being with the prince and princess- so innocent, stubborn and cute as well anyway,　hubby and I had simulated experience as grand parents for the future mission.

Dinner at the end of March. Main dish was grilled cherry sea bream. At this time of the season, sea bream prepares for spawning and thus turns its color into pink. That's why it is literally called "cherry sea bream." We chose Chateau Janon '05. It was long time ago that hubby and I took a wine lecture and thus I can't think of any witty remarks but it was dry and just about my taste. We had a comfortable chat over the spring dinner.

I happened to see a korean wedding couple on the way back from work. I wanted to say "Congratulations!" in Korean language, but they and people surrounding them spoke fluent Japanese, so I kept my mouth shut. The bride in the ethnic wedding dress was so beautiful that I pressed the shutter button before I knew it.

Spring Rain

2008-03-14T18:58:00.005+09:00

In the morning, I went out for an errand despite of rain. Basically I don't like rain but spring rain is exception. I can smell spring through a gentle rainfall, which makes me feel calm.

In the afternoon I received a parcel from my friend whom I haven't seen for about 20 years. Every year, at this time of season, she sends me "Ikanago-no-kugini," or sand eel in English boiled with soy sauce, sugar, ginger, etc. She lives in the area famous for this unique cooking. If you visit there in early spring you can smell good soy sauce flavor from houses here and there. Every home has its own taste and I love hers.

Besides Ikanago, she included handmade cake that I also loved very much. As my translation work had been pended, over cake and coffee, I went through the materials for my assessment work the day after tomorrow. Time seemed to run slowly. I think it's a nice afternoon...

My hubby is away on his business trip. What shall I do tonight? Movie? Might be good.

Beautiful Night View

2008-03-04T22:44:00.004+09:00

My husband is now in Tokyo for his business.
He often gets in touch with me when he is away from home.
The picture below was taken by him and sent to me just a short while ago.
Tokyo is a very sophisticated urban city and provides such a nice night view.
However why is the Statue of liberty there?

Mind and Body

2008-03-03T09:35:00.006+09:00

“I’m not sure if I should tell you this…” said a beautician hesitantly when she was cutting my hair. It was a fine day in autumn more than 10 years ago.

I looked in a big mirror timidly and found a circle as big as 500 yen coin in the back part of my head, which made me really shocked as it was not until she mentioned that I realized it. I didn't know when I developed the alopecia areata (I looked into the dictionary for this difficult technical term) but there were good reasons for that.

In summer that year, my father-in-law died of a sudden heart attack and exactly 2 weeks later my daughter, 16 years old at that time, left for the United States as an exchange students. Those big loss and anxiety must have given me a heavy stress subconsciously. As I retained my composure little by little, the big circle became smaller and smaller and finally disappeared. Then I realized for the first time that when mind became unbalanced, it would try to let us know what’s going on deep inside the mind by resorting to the body.

When people have a too big anxiety or difficulty, it will eventually come to the surface. Headache, dizziness, autonomic imbalance, tic etc. are of psychosomatic origin and alopecia areata I experienced was one of them. Neurotic symptoms are emotional disturbance, social phobia, depression, paranoia, hallucinosis, and so on. In addition we see biting nails, stuttering, eating disorder, school refusal and others as behavior disturbance.

I've led relatively a busy life continuously but now I know how to deal with uneasiness, anxiety and exhaustion I feel from time to time. Cokking is one of my solutions. Sometimes I invite friends easy to get along with for lunch. It is very refreshing for me to chat with such people over dishes I have made. The pictures were taken when I invited a friend of mine last month.

Recently Crown Prince Naruhito celebrated his 48th birthday. At the press conference he answered briefly to an avoidable question about Crown Princess Masako, which was very delicate matter but the nation concerns most. It’s been for quite a while since she was diagnosed with adjustment disorder and away from her official duty. As far as I knew through the press conference, Crown Princess Masako still has a lot of barriers to overcome in order to go back to the way just like she was in her foreign ministry days.

In her case I believe that the circumstance factors are the most important key to break through the situation. The Ground Steward of the Imperial Household Agency previously claimed that Crown Prince’s family should visit the Imperial Palace to see his parents more often. I don’t think it was an appropriate statement. It looks as though Princess Masako has the whole imperial world against her. Nothing but deep understanding of people surrounding her is required for the first step. However Prince Naruhito, the only person who she can completely believe in and rely on, has been very supportive, which I think is very encouraging. It might takes a long time to fix a favorable circumstance for her, but I sincerely hope that she never give up and some day gets back peaceful mind and sociality.

The year of 2008 has just begun.

2008-01-06T20:32:00.000+09:00

Peaceful and calm New Year's days we had. One thing different from the last year is that we didn't have to visit my parents' house because no one lives there any more. My father passed away in January 2007 and my mom with dementia now lives in a nursing home. Instead of visiting we invited my mom to our house to spend New Year's days together. I believe (hope) she enjoyed being with us.

The long holidays are over and my husband is going back to work tomorrow. I'm also going back to a normal life, first of all maybe as a student. I have to prepare for the term-end exams, which are scheduled to begin in the end of this month.

2008 is the Year of the Mouse. According to a fortune telling, I will face some sort of changes in my life. I have no idea currently what changes are waiting for me. I just hope they will be good ones.

56km/h

2007-12-20T09:22:00.000+09:00

In the beginning of this month my husband and I went to an annual Christmas Concert held at the church my good friend and her family belong to. It was our third time and we enjoyed ourselves as much as the last 2 times.

Before the concert, one of the priests said a few words of welcome and there was something persuasive in his talks.
Actually we were little late due to a traffic jam and therefore I didn't listened to the whole story but his saying went like this...

People are proceeding on their journey of life at the speed of their age. When you are 50, you are going on at 50km/h, and when 80, days are passing at 80km/h.

Time… it is impartial to anybody but we never be able to regain. We feel that the older we get, the faster time passes. To me, since my father passed away all of sudden in January, time has just flied. Maybe because I've started a new job as an assessor and also become a college student. Every day I have so many things to do. Here in my blog, less postings compared to the last year. Not only physical circumstance but also emotionally speaking, I feel as if I were watching a DVD on fast-forward.

I'm now proceeding my journey of life at 56km/h. I wish I could sometimes slow down a bit to look back or glance around me.

Time goes by...

2007-11-29T06:30:00.000+09:00

November 24. The sky was clear and it was a calm Saturday.
My niece’s wedding went off smoothly.

Despite my anxiety, my mom, suffering from accelerated dementia, served as a bridesmaid (she is young enough in heart) admirably. She didn't know what's going on when I took her to the bride, but once stood by the bride and got everybody's attention, she straightened her back and escorted the bride for changing costumes. When her special mission was almost over, at the door of the reception room, my mom nearly stepped on the bride's dress, which made me in a cold sweat, however thank God, she somehow managed to avoid it.
I followed them and got out of the reception room to find them holding with each other with joy. My niece strongly wanted her grandmother to be bridesmaid and I think to my mom, it was such a joy to meet her granddaughter's desire.

My niece, the bride on the day, and her sister used to visit and stay with us every summer when they were kids. Every day we went to a swimming pool in the afternoon and spent a long hours in water. It was such a long time ago that I was young enough to put them and my daughter on my back by turns and stayed under water for a while just like a turtle.
Time goes by... The tomboy those days turned out to be a very beautiful bride. But her charming eyes and innocent smile were still there, maybe the best smile of hers I've ever seen.

I took my mom's hand and asked my niece,

"How do you like being escorted by Grandma?"

"Very happy!!"

Her voice was filled with happiness.

Nightfall

2007-11-03T20:17:00.000+09:00

From the balcony of our condo at 5:30pm

In autumn night falls suddenly

Ready to Start?

2007-10-31T05:07:00.000+09:00

My daughter is leaving for Tokyo this morning. After having a month job training there, she will come back to Osaka to start her new career life.
In 30 minutes I will take a shower and get ready to go to the station to see her off. I have seen her off at the airport so many times, but this is the first time (I think so,) for me to see her off at the station.
I made a box lunch with Korean Sushi Roll so that she can have late lunch when she arrives at her apartment.
Hope everything goes well for her and I'm looking forward to visiting her in Tokyo in the middle of next month.

Seoul trip in autumn 2007

2007-10-24T09:39:00.000+09:00

My daughter and I took a 4 days and 3 nights trip to Seoul last week. Her 3rd and my 4th trip was as exciting as the previous ones or even more fulfilling. The better my Korean language becomes, the deeper I appreciate the country, its culture and people. Generally speaking, Korean people are very kind and helpful, which we Japanese are rapidly losing in recent years unfortunately. In fact I met a lot of good people in food shops, sightseeing spots and the subway during our stay. It's only a week since we came back from Seoul, but I'm so fascinated with the city that I would like to go back there as soon as possible.

Gyeongbokgung

Once you step into the palace, you feel as if you were in the ancient time. In contrast with the buildings outside, time seems to go by very slowly here.

Vivid colors and the precise workmanship are just beautiful.

The change guard ceremony. It demonstrates once every hour from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. Explanation is announced in Korean, English and Japanese. The weather was very fine. Good day for sightseeing.

A ballerina who fell in love with B-Boy

A nonverbal dance performance that my daughter really wanted to see. The show is a fusion of hip-hop dance and ballet.

Korean Food

Rice Porridge with vegetable. Good for your health. We had it for breakfast.

I don't know what they call it in English, but it means a whole chicken. We ate for the first time. We love its rich taste. Long green onion, Kimchi (Korean pickles), garlic and red peppers are added to the soup when it gets boiled. It's very spicy and rich taste. After eating up the whole chicken, we put noodles and enjoyed the noodle soup.

The last day of the trip happened to be my birthday and therfore I ate seaweed soup at the airport, observing Korean custom.

Getting into 30s

2007-10-14T15:16:00.000+09:00

My daughter, KOKO (one of my younger friends) and I got together last night. It's been a while since the last time and we really enjoyed being together over a French dinner. KOKO is the only daughter of my intimate friend and I taught English when she was little.

KOKO is the same age as my daughter and they are good friends, too. From my point of view they have a lot in common. Even in their working fields, which seem to be quite different from each other, they find many factors in common. KOKO is a pediatrician and my daughter used to be in airline industry. It is very interesting that they find it somewhat similar psychologically to deal with sick children's mothers and passengers.

My daughter will move on to another working field (education industry) in the beginning of November for better conditions. She said she just wanted to step up before getting into 30s. KOKO currently sees someone special and thinking of marriage.
Getting 30s is one of the turning points for women?
3 hours of dinnertime just flied. Are we getting together again, maybe including KOKO's mother around Christmas time?

KOKO gave me a pair of beer glasses and a tray for my birthday and 30th wedding anniversary.
"I'de better not select a pottery because there is a great potter in middle-angel's family," she said with smile.

My Favorite Season!

2007-10-02T10:42:00.000+09:00

Extraordinary hot summer, having lingered around here, finally and all of sudden left, and autumn, my favorite season, has come in a flurry. Now I can sense it by breathing the morning air and looking up the clear sky. Autumn, or more precisely October, is a very special time for me. I was born in October, got married in October and gave a birth to our daughter in October. 3 big events in my life occurred this month.

Well I haven't visited here for a long time, actually the whole September. I was a kind of busy both officially and privately. Now at the beginning of a new and the special month for me, I would like to look back the last month.

Officially I did translation and job interview. They are very different in nature from each other, but I like both. The former job requires accuracy especially in dealing with various clinical data and research or preparing official documents. I always sit in front of PC and doing my task sedulously. It's a very lonely work and requires one’s concentration. On the other hand, the latter job gives me a chance to meet a lot people. It sometimes very difficult to assess one's competency in a limited time of interview, but I really like the job because I am by nature a lover of man watching. It is always nice to see some one new. In September I spent the whole Wednesday and Saturday for the job.

What about my private life?
As some of you know, I'm now studying psychology at college. In the middle of September I got my grades for the first semester, 2007. I took 3 psychology classes and 1 Korean language. After all I got A+ for Korean language and 2A and 1B for psychology classes, which were better than I expected. Then I took Korean Language Proficiency Test held by Korean Educational Organization. The result will be sent to me some time in December. I'm not sure if I did good enough to obtain the first grade (beginner's level). A kind of “pound-pound” condition right now. (laugh) Well I will see...
In my school life, the second semester has just started. 5 psychology classes and 1Korean language seems to make me very busy, but I'm interested in all of them and want to attend as many lectures as possible.

At the end of September my mom visited and stayed with us for 3days. Her condition was not bad. This time our daughter came back at the same time, and thus we had a happy dinnertime. I guess my mom has been returning to a child little by little. Her smile is just like an angel and I think she is cute.

One fine Sunday, my husband and I went to Yoshino, Nara Prefecture again. After one hour driving, which was moderate for us, we arrived there and enjoyed being in the suburb and a stroll around the temple. I like the atmosphere there, which always makes me peaceful. We happened to find a unique plate at the entrance of a souvenir shop. It is ceramic; about 70cm in diameter, and “Welcome” in 3different languages (English, Korean and Japanese) are interesting.

This month I have plenty of plans privately. We will celebrate our 30th anniversary in Ryujin Hot Spring this coming weekend, besides taking a four-days and three-nights trip to Seoul with my daughter 2 weeks later.
I don't know why but in October I'm always very energetic and positive.

Fresh Corns！

2007-08-28T08:34:00.000+09:00

Last weekend my husband went to kaida Highland for fishing.
I expected chars but what he brought back were some fresh corns!
He told me that he had met a man who had a big cornfield.

I soon boiled one of them. Very sweet and tasty.

Invitation

2007-08-23T02:23:00.000+09:00

My neice is going to get married in November.
The other day I received an invitation card for her wedding ceremony and party.
In the card my mother's name was listed along with my family.
I hope she will survive this scorching summer and be able to present at the ceremony and party with us.

The picture was taken at the wedding ceremony of my freiend's son 2 weeks ago. I was very impressed to attend the ceremony held at the same church where he was baptized and his parents also vowed their eternal love 31 years ago. I'm glad I witnessed the both ceremony.

Fish Power?

2007-08-17T18:47:00.000+09:00

Is a siｒen wailing?
Fire?
It was just after midnight and the sound was so far away as I was half asleep.
I thought I was dreaming...
But it's not.

Hubby got me up and told that a house near our condo was burning. I immediately went to the balcony to find a blazing fire not so far away from us but not too close, either.

For about half an hour or so, we were watching the fire from the balcony of our room on the 11th floor. Then soon it got under control. Relieved...

With a big yawn I was going back to the bedroom and then glanced at the fish pendant hung on the wall of our living room. I suddenly remember the fire that broke out in our condo in 1995.

The fire broke out in the next-door room upstairs. At first I didn't take the fire alarm seriously because it was Saturday afternoon, and besides, there were frequent false alarms due to children's prank at the time. I was alone at home and so scared when I saw a big blaze broke out of the balcony window of the room upwards.

Oh, my God! What am I going to do?
Anyway I got out of my room and saw the neighbor just coming out of her room, who was also alone at home and looked in panic.

"Hey, middle-angel, what we should bring out?"
"I don't know. Let's get out of here, anyway!!"
Hand in hand we went down to the first floor using stairs, not elevator.

Should I call hubby? Yeah, I should!

Then I made a call on his cell phone. He was driving back home; our daughter was sitting in the passenger's seat. Later on he said, "Your voice was shaking."

I don't remember exactly how long it took to extinguish the fire.
I went back to my room, using escalator this time and opened the door timidly.

Thank God!!!
Nothing has changed. My room is exactly as it was before I left.

What about the house in which the fire started? Completely destructed by fire.

What about the next door of my room, which was directly under the origin of the fire?
Terrible! Water flooding everywhere. Smoky smell everywhere. Bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom, everywhere...
Later on the insurance company assessed the damage as "total collapse."
I felt very sorry for the neighboring family and couldn't think of any good words to encourage them.
Water flooding spread to 7 floors downwards and damages by smoke ranged 3 neighboring doors to the east, which is the opposite direction of our room. Damages of the fire were much worse and bigger than I thought.

Thankfully our room survived undamaged. What happened if the fire spread? What happened if the wind blew to the west at the time?
Everything went favorable to us. Why so?
We thought the fish pendant protected us as the fire broke out from the upwards of the wall on which the fish pendant was hung.

I'm not sure if it is true or not, but fish is regarded to have something to do with the god of water and thus it is often used for an adjustable pothook hung over a hearth in the floor, quelling the fire underneath.

Maybe we were just lucky. That's all. But I still think the fish pendant protected us.

62nd Anniversary and Korean lunch

2007-08-15T19:29:00.000+09:00

It's been very hot particularly this summer and mercury skyrocketed day after day.
I'm sure we have to do something with the current heat island phenomenon.

Today we marked the 62nd anniversary of the end of World War II. I happened to read an article in the Japan Times on Line about a US photographer who took pictures of Hiroshima right after A-Bomb dropping. I'm very impressed that after retirement he suffered without complaint from disability caused by the radiation exposure he had suffered while photographing Japan after its surrender.

However time passes so rapidly that the number of the living witnesses to the war is getting fewer and fewer and for me (maybe for many other people, too) August 15 is the only one of Bon holidays rather than the historical day.

As we do every year, during the holidays we (including our daughter) visited our ancestral graves and made offerings of flowers and incense. We also had lunch out with hubby's mom and brother, and then visited my mom at the nursing home. At this time of last year my dad was fine and led a normal life with mom, therefore I never expected to visit him at the graveyard this year then.

Today (the last day of the holidays) we enjoyed Korean lunch. Sam-Gyup-Sal (Grilled Pork strips) was so tasty and as our daughter left earlier than expected that hubby and I ate too much. One of Korean food culture is rapping. In this way we can get a lot of vegetables besides meat, which I think is not only tasty but also healthy. Even so, eating too much is not good, of course. I guess I should keep doing exercise with Billy Blanks! Billy's Boot Camp is currently very popular here in Japan and I started the exercise yesterday.;-)

Cat, an animal with an extra sense?

2007-07-28T10:27:00.000+09:00

While reading news in English on the Internet, I found a very interesting article about a cat with a special gift. As a cat-lover, I used to live with several cats at different times in my life. Through my experiences I believe that the cat has some sort of instinct that we don't have. Maybe we did have that in ancient times but gradually lost it with the development of science. Did Oscar give peace to the dying people by spending the very last few hours with them? I hope he did.The article didn't mention how old Oscar is, so we don't know how many dying people he can foretell from now.

You Are My Sunshine

2007-07-25T03:10:00.000+09:00

Based on a true story.

Do-yeon Jeon from "Shoot for the stars" and Jeong-min Hwang from "A Bittersweet Life" played the leading role. Do-yeon Jeon, whom I really like, won the best actress award of Cannes Film Festival, 2007 for her latest movie "Milyang."

In preperation for the role of Seok-joong Kim, a unsophisticated and single-minded man, Jeong-min Hwang gained 15kg and it was successful, I think.

True story is always persuasive and touching, but this movie has something more. What is it? It maybe, I believe, a strong love despite of all the difficulties and negative background. I wept so bitterly at the scene of the visiting room in the jail that my husband gave me a tissue box. I'm sure he was weeping behind me, too.

I have no suitable words to express my feeling for the movie at the moment, so please let me quote the words of Dr. Yasuhumi Nagoshi (psychiatrist) I found in the pre-view.

Love makes people tremendously simple. Just thinking of him/her night and day.

From clinical point of view however, there are very few people who act up to their true love to the very end.

Miracle without God's advent. The movie shows such a miracle.

I'm deeply, very deeply impressed with the movie.

I guess it's very effective.

2007-07-17T09:17:00.000+09:00

It was the end of last month when a bottle of flower essence was given to me by one of my cyber friends, who is currently studying it. 3 kinds of essence selected specially for me by her using remote dowsing were "life force," "Eros," and "optimal learning." They were mixed and dispensed in a small brown bottle.

Life force: When in a difficult situation, it removes the seriousness and arouses vitality, impressionable nature, life with pleasure, and lighthearted humor.

Eros: Effective for beautiful skin, rejuvenation, charm enhancing, hormone balance and removing menopause problems.

Optimal learning: Effective for enhancing brain functions, realization of potential power, information collection, apprehensive power, and avoiding making same mistakes.

4 drops at a time directly on the tongue or cup of water, usually 4 times a day, the description said. I followed it precisely and paid attention to the "Notes" that described "dos and don'ts." I'm not sure if it was owing to the essence, but I think I did my job as an interpreter last week much better than I expected.

As a matter of fact the task was beyond my competence a little bit. The client was a clinical laboratory which was asked by government to give a lecture about clinical laboratory's role in the medical industry along with a laboratory tour to people from various countries like China, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Turkey, Vanuatu and Viet Nam.

It took about 3 hours and with the well-directed support by the coordinator from the government, I managed to complete my task as a mediator. The picture is a tourism brochure given to me by a participant. The country is very attractive and if I have a chance in the future, I would like to visit there.

I still keep taking essence (only half a bottle left now) and hope it also will be effective for the coming term-end tests starting in the end of this month.

3 babies so far...

2007-06-18T11:52:00.000+09:00

It is called "Baby Post" in Japan. With an incubator, the controversial baby hatch , just like a shelter for unwanted newborn babies, was installed for the first time in Japan at Jikei Hospital in the city of Kumamoto on May 10. Since it started its operation, 3 babies have been left. To put it more precisely, 2 babies and an infant who is assumed 3 years old and able to say that he was brought there by his father.

The public opinion over the equipment has been split. Some say it saves unwanted newborns at the edge of the life from being killed or left in coin lockers, and others say it may encourage thoughtless young people abandon their babies without hesitation or regret.

I'm confused… Both opinions are convincing. However whatever the advantages and disadvantages may be, I just can’t accept this system emotionally. Something is wrong or missing in this system. I can’t explain it plainly but it’s the matter of human feeling, sentiment and heart.

My friend, passed away in April, 2000, had been brought up in an orphanage. He was 2 or 3 years old when his mother abandoned him in front of a pachinko parlor. It was right after World War II and Japan was under American occupation. His father was American and mother was Japanese. He never met his mother since abandonment and his father in his whole life. I was very impressed to hear that he had a very dramatic and fatal encounter with his twin brother long afterwards. I wrote about his story in Japanese several years ago and would like to do it in English, too some day.

Owing to or due to “Baby Post,” at least 3 babies (again precisely 2 babies and an infant) are obliged to live away from their true parents.
Thinking of my late friend, I'm still confused...

It's not just a pot.

2007-06-16T09:05:00.000+09:00

Last weekend hubby and I went to Kiso despite of heavy rain.
Our friend, with whom we have enjoyed river fishing together over the past 7 years, had his second house completed, approaching retirement only 2 years away.
The house was very cozy and quiet, surrounded by trees and he said that cuckoos and squirrels often visited them. Unfortunately we didn't encounter either one of them during our stay.
We selected the pot in the pictures below as a housewarming present. It was made by hubby's pottery teacher. It's not just a pot, but also a pottery lampshade. Isn't it beautiful? How the light coming through the shade is certainly beautiful.

I love Seoul!

2007-06-12T09:39:00.000+09:00

The more I visit Korea, The more I get absorbed in there! Although western people can’t tell a difference between Korean people and Japanese in appearance and we both use chopsticks and Kanji (Chinese) Characters, but whenever I visit Seoul, I find something different from us Japanese and they are very curious. For the language-learning beginner, Communication with a bit of (sometimes a lot of) difficulty is really exciting and fascinating. Through brief conversations with various people, I learned something new about the language, people and the country itself. 3 days and 2 nights trip was too short for us. We are thinking of visiting there again by the end of this year.

Korean characters are cute! There is no time difference between Korea and Japan, but Korean peninsula geographically locates a bit to the west of Japan, and therefore sun sets later than Japan, which is about 8 o'clock in this season.

We ate a lot of Korean Food during our stay. "Rimon," the restaurant in the picture has been providing Sol-Long-Tang (Rice and Beef Noodle Soup) for more than 100 years. The healthy light soup is good for breakfast.

Soon-Doo-Boo Chi-Gae (Spicy Soft Tofu Stew) is very hot and Heml -Jeon (Spelling might be wrong, sorry.) is a Korean Style Seafood Pancake. We are really fascinated by variety of Korean Food. Many of them are very hot but so tasty that we always end up overeating.

Bi-Bim-Bop (Beef and Mixed Vegetable Rice) and Sam-Gyup-Sal (Grilled Pork strips)

I bought a cooking book and a picture book as souvenirs for myself. Focused on various Gim-Bop (Korean Sushi Roll), "Gim-Bop Encyclopedia" gives me an opportunity to learn cooking and the language at the same time and the picture book is so cute and the Korean characters themselves are even like illustration. I can enjoy it just by looking at it.

Asiana Airlines offers a comfortable flight and good service. 2-hour flight always takes us to the fascinating neighboring country.

Through this trip I confirmed how much I have achieved with my Korean Language and a strong tied mother and daughter relationship.

Upheavals?

2007-05-28T04:53:00.000+09:00

According to astrological forecast in Asahi Weekly, for Libran, this week would be...

"The full moon brings unexpected upheavals in your life. Upsets, surprises, disruptions - anything's possible. The most startling turnabout could be a drastic change of image.
Downside: secrets resurface, or you may be separated from a loved one.
Upside: something or someone, from the past reappears.
Lucky color: violet
Lucky number:4
Lucky day: Tuesday, May 29. "

I'm leaving for Seoul today.
I wonder how a trip of three days and two nights with my daughter will turn out to be. Something upheaval happens?
This time (the third visit to Seoul) I would like to find out how much progress I have made in my Korean language over the past 3 years and enjoy Korean food as well.

Yesterday ANA (All Nippon Airways) had a big trouble in its computer system, causing 130 domestic flights cancelled. I just hope my flight (not ANA though) will leave KIX on time.

Babel

2007-05-08T06:48:00.000+09:00

Hubby & I chose this movie to spend time together one day in the holiday-studded week. As I'm now a student, I can take advantage of student discount on movie fare, but in Japan we have a special discount for married couples, too. If one of the couple is 50 or older, they can get a ticket at 1000 yen per each, which is more reasonable than paying for one student ticket and normal adult one. Getting old is not always bad. (laugh...)

If we had only one common language in this world to communicate with each other, could we solve some of various issues we've been suffered from? I don't know exactly how many languages we have on this planet, but surely language is one of the biggest communication barriers. Although we have Esperanto, actually English is definitely recognized as a world language. It is very convenient for those who speak English as a mother tongue. However for those who use other languages including us Japanese, using English as a communication tool is a burden to a greater or lesser degree.

The theme of the movie is "communication." It consists of 4 stories developed in different continents but connected by a gun accidentally used to seriously injure an American wife traveling in Morocco. All the 4 stories are about communication between family members, husband and wife, father and sons, father and a deaf daughter and aunt and nephew. We have several other communication ways (eye contact, body language, face-to-face atmosphere, etc.) to support language but sometimes, even very closer relationship, we fail to convey our true feelings no matter how hard we try.

I enjoyed the movie. It is well organized and each story has an unfolded part, which I think has a deep message in it. Brad Pitt was excellent and Rinko kikuchi was even more. As a matter of fact I'm deeply impressed with the Mexican nanny who takes care of 2 children of the American couple. (I didn't know the little girl was Dakota Fanning's sister!) In order to keep a secret (illegally working in the States), she had to tell a small lie to a border guard, which caused a big trouble later. I wonder what happened to her nephew... And also I wonder what was written in the memo Rinko kikuchi handed to the police detective...

The director Alejandro González Iñárritu said, "What creates a border is not language, culture, race or religion, but something inside us." Yes, indeed...

An Appropriate way of Spending Holidays

2007-05-01T07:50:00.000+09:00

Kohzuke Park is only about 15 minutes drive from our house. It is a rather huge park with baseball fields, playground equipments, a pond and other outdoor facilities.

A young family we've known for a long time visited us on April 29 (Greenery Day) and we spent time together in the park for the whole day. At this time of the season, specially in the midst of Golden Week, it is very pleasant being in the nature with people we love. Fine weather and a refreshing gentle breeze welcomed us.

Their 2 sons, the elder was 7 and the younger was 3, enjoyed themselves by playing with a ball and bat or feeding ducks in the pond. Grown-ups enjoyed catching up with each other over a big lunch.

This is an appropriate way of spending holidays.

I should have gone with him...

2007-04-28T23:58:00.000+09:00

The picture hubby sent me through email enticed me. "Hey, middle-angel! Why don't you get out of your boring work and come here for refreshment?" The fish wispers. I wish I could escape from work and enjoy river fishing with him at Kaida Kogen.
Golden Week has just started.

Moth or Butterfly?

2007-04-21T11:35:00.000+09:00

This beautiful Phalaenopsis Orchid was sent to us by one of my hubby's friends. They often go river fishing together and I also know him a lot.
I don't know the reason, but it is always delighted to receive such a beautiful present all of sudden.

The code for the flower is purity and it comes originally from India, Taiwan and Indonesia. Phalenopsis is Greek meaning mos-like and thus it is called Mos Orchid in English. On the other hand we Japanese take it as butterfly and call it "Kochoran," in Japanese meaning Butterfly Orchid. As everybody knows it is a very popular flower and used for a bridal bouquet or corsage.
In that sense, I think "butterfly" is more suitable.

Isn't it interesting that we can find the difference between the western and eastern sensibility through the origin of the name of a flower?

In these days...

2007-04-15T07:57:00.000+09:00

April is the beginning of a fiscal year and I've just started my new school life. 4 clasees per week ( 3 psychology classes and one Korean language) besides work put me in a pretty hectic life. It was a good decision, I think, to have chosen the University of the Air. I can attend the most classes through the air. I have to go to campus only about 20 times this year. So far I've been enjoying the classes. Studying about inner world of human being is profound and thus better I know, more interesting it becomes.

The other day I saw 2 movies, "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" and "Effroyables jardins"; the theme of both movies is human love. Under such extreme situation as World War II, how people can manage to keep their basic humanitarian way of thinking? I'm very impressed with the old man who died for the 2 responsible for explosion and 2 given a bad wrap, and his wife was also wonderful, having inherited her husband's strong will. In these days I often see Korean movies and TV dramas for my language study (good excuse, isn't it?), but western movies are good once in a while.

Despite of busy days, I managed to have time to make presents for my young friends in the States. They recently gave birth to lovely baby boys. In Japan we have Children's Day (May 5) celebrating and praying boys health and well-being. The carp family and the worrier's helmet are the symbols for the festivity. Although I'm not satisfied with how they turned out to be, I hope they will like the 8-inch square handwork.

Deja Vu

2007-03-06T16:46:00.000+09:00

One rainy night last week, I saw a preview of the film with my husband.
Since I started a new job in the beginning of January, it's been a kind of difficult to have such a time with him, and therefore the tickets our daughter had given us created a comfortable time for us.

Contrary to my expectation, the movie was more like a time travel story rather than deja vu. I've seen several Jerry Bruckheimer's films, such as Pearl Harbor, Gone in 60 Seconds, Armageddon, Con Air, The Rock, Top Gun, Flash Dance, and I liked most of them. However as long as Dejy Vu is concerned, to me its time traveling theory was very confusing and even though Tony Scott's quick camera action gave us the feeling of being there, Denzel Washington (I love him!) showed an excellent performance as an investigator of the ferry tragedy, and the deja vu I found in the latter part of the story were well linked to each other (red dress, message in the answering machine, message on the board, blood-stained cloths, etc.), I would like to give the film three stars out of Five. It will be released in Japan on March 17

By the way what is deja vu? As the movie said, is it memory from the past? Or from the future? From my very personal point of view, it is memory from one's previous existence. I don't know about statistics, but I believe many of you have at least one or two such strange, unexplainable, even somewhat nostalgic experience. As a matter of fact I myself have it once in a while.

Speaking of a strange and unexplainable experience, the dream I used to see was just like that, too. I had the dream over and over again for a certain period. I don't know why I kept seeing it and why all of sudden it ceased. Now let me tell you the story. It goes like this...
I stood on a busy and well-lighted street waiting the traffic light to change. In front of me was a wide road and in contrast to the street I was standing I could see nothing but darkness across the road. Another middle-angel inside me repeated, "Don't go across the road. Don't go!" But when the light changed, I started crossing the road decisively.
When I came to the middle of the road, I noticed myself sit informally and floating in the air. By the time I reached at the end of the road, I was floating far above in the air and found a very old temple down below. Through the window of the temple I saw a bonze at the sutra desk writing something. After some hesitation I slipped through the window and entered the temple. Thank God, to the bonze I was invisible person. Then I realized something black behind me. I wanted to look back and see what it was, but I just couldn't do it due to some kind of tremendous fear.
I dashed (precisely flew as I still sit informally and floating in the air but now maybe 50cm above the floor) to the end of the room to escape from the unknown black (I thought so) object. A fusuma, a papered sliding door with gorgeous painting opened automatically, and helped my escape. I just kept running away desperately from room to room, one with a lot of sutra book, another with many images of Buddha, and many many other rooms with various things in them. How many rooms are there in this huge temple? I have no idea. When my fear and fatigue reached the utmost limit of my endurance,　I came out to a huge garden. Again I'm floating very much higher in the air. I saw many bonzes working busily far below. I heaved a big sigh of relief because what I should do to succeed in escape was just fly away. I was impatient as the black object was right behind me. Then I looked up and astonished to find a ceiling, just like one you see in a domed baseball stadium. How could I escape? I woke up then...
The whole story was always same except the one I saw last time.

Oh, I've gotta go. I will tell you about the dream I saw last time maybe sometime in the future. Sorry to keep you waiting.

Mom, Did You Enjoy It?

2007-02-14T16:00:00.000+09:00

Mom came to visit and stayed with us over the last weekend. With worsened mental deterioration, she showed an odd bit of behavior from time to time, but most of it was very humorous as if she turned to be an infant, which made me laugh and smile a lot. I don't know what's going on in her brain, but she often took me as her sister or a friend of hers. She seemed to be happy and her innocent smile made us happy, too. We decorated Hina Dolls together, went to Kamuro Daishi Temple together. After all I really enjoyed having had her with us for 3 days.

It is said that holy water from the faucets, on both sides of Kukai heals any kind of diseases. We drank a cup of it. I wish her condition will be better or at least stay as it is now and never turns for the worse.

Lots of "Ema," or votive picture tablets. Some are for recovery from deseases, some for success in the entrance examination, some for a good match.

May his spirit rest in peace

2007-02-03T07:58:00.000+09:00

One's life expectancy is determined and limited. Once born one must die. I thought I fully understood the inevitable fact but...
Almost 3 weeks have passed since my father died. It was a bolt from the blue to my mother and us 4 children. Although he was 81 years old, he led a normal life until the day of his death, taking care of his wife with a slight mental deterioration. The cause was sudden heart failure. According to the doctor who examined the cause of his death, he died around 1 o'clock on the morning of Jan. 16. My mom found him dead around 8 o'clock, which means he had been dead for about 7 hours. That's just like his way of saying good-by to us, without any word to anybody.

My father was born in 1925 as an only son of my grandparents. He spent his youth during World War II, joined the navy and became a training pilot for an amphibious plane at the end of the war. If the war had been continued longer, he might have become a member of "Tokko," a special attack corps of suicide pilots called "Kamikaze." I'm glad the war ended before that. Otherwise I don't exist in this world. Neither does my daughter. I guess his memory of the war was not all bad. He has become fond of airplane and made a lot of good friends through the extraordinary experience. Those survivors from the war including my father has kept in touch with each other for a long time and enjoyed reunion once in a while. I put a wooden model zero fighter, he had put on the wall of the living room, into the coffin, hoping he would fly to heaven with it.

My daily life has dramatically changed since his death. I visit my mom 3 times a week and spend the whole day with her because her condition has turned for the worse. She seems to be very confused and isn't ready to accept the sudden death of her husband. Even to me, it is hard to face up to reality. However grief and loss will be healed with time. I learned it in the mid-summer of 1995 when my father-in-law passed away also of sudden heart failure.
The picture is ox tail soup in Korean style, which my father really liked. I don't know why but I happened to make it just the day before his death. Did I feel something by intuition? Anyway from now on I will think of my father whenever I make an ox tail soup.

Ebisu, the god of wealth

2007-01-12T10:10:00.000+09:00

Ebisu is well known as "Ebessan" in Kansai area of Japan. Many Ebisu shrines in western part of Japan holds Ebisu Festival from January 9 through 11 every year. Since he is the god of wealth and commerce, those shrines are crowded on the days with lots of merchants and people who want to be "well-to-do." My husband runs a small company with his bother and therefore annually he visits one of Ebisu shrines near his office and gets a bamboo rake, wishing his business flourishing.
The picture is what he got for us along with the bigger one for his office for the year of 2007. He said that the bamboo rake with many good-luck articles cost 4500 yen, which I think was quite expensive. I'm not sure if it brings us wealth (I really hope though…), but the Ebisu shrine definitely made a large profit just for 3 days!

A Wonderful and Miracle Story

2007-01-07T17:37:00.000+09:00

I know it might be a bit too late but want to share the following wonderful and miracle story with my cyber friends. The story is written on the back side of the letter sent to us by a family in Idaho. As the host family for our daughter when she was an exchange student, what they provided was much more than just a place to stay and eat. It is more than 10 years since I saw them last, but we still exchange season's greetings once a year.

The Tablecloth

The brand new pastor and his wife, newly assigned to their first ministry, to reopen a church in suburban Brooklyn, arrived in early October excited about their opportunities. When they saw their church, it was very run down and needed much work.They set a goal to have everything done in time to have their first service on Christmas Eve. They worked hard, repairing pews, plastering walls, painting, etc, and on December 18 were ahead of schedule and just about finished.

On December 19 a terrible tempest - a driving rainstorm hit the area and lasted for two days. On the 21st, the pastor went over to the church. His heart sank when he saw that the roof had leaked, causing a large area of plaster about 20 feet by 8 feet to fall off the front wall of the sanctuary just behind the pulpit, beginnibg about head high. The pastor cleaned up the mess on the floor, and not knowing what else to do but postpone the Christmas Eve service, headed home.

On the way he noticed that a local business was having a flee market-type sale for charity so he stopped in. One of the items was a beautiful, handmade, ivory colored, crocheted tablecloth with exquisite work, fine colors and a Cross embroidered right in the center. It was just the right size to cover up the hole in the front wall. He bought it and headed back to the church.

By this time it has started to snow. An older woman running from the opposit direction was trying to catch the bus. She missed it. The pastor invited her to wait in the warm church for the next bus 45 minutes later. She sat in a pew and paid no attention to the pastor while he got a ladder, hangers, etc., to put up the tablecloth as a wall tapestry. The pastor could hardly believe how beautiful it looked and it covered up the entire problem area.

Then he noticed the woman walking down the center aisle. Her face was like a sheet. "Pastor," she asked, "Where did you get that tablecloth?" The pastor explained. The woman asked him to check the lower right corner to see if the initials, EBG were crocheted into it there. They were. These were the initials of the woman, and she had made this tablecloth 35 years before, in Austria. The woman could hardly believe it as the pastor told how he had just gotten the tablecloth. The woman explained that before the war she and her husband were well-to-do people in Austria. When the Nazis came, she was forced to leave. Her husband was going to follow her the next week. He was captured, sent to prison and she never saw her husband or her home again. The pastor wanted to give her the tablecloth; but she made the pastor keep it for the church. The pastor insisted on driving her home - that was the least he could do. She lived on the other side of Staten Island and was only in Brooklyn for the day for a housekeeping job.

What a wonderful service they had on Christmas Eve. The church was almost full. The music and spirit were great. At the end of the service, the pastor recognaized from the neighborhood continued to sit in one of pews and stare, and the pastor wondered why he wasn't leaving. The man asked him where he got the tablecloth on the front wall because it was identical to one that his wife had made years ago when they lived in Austria before the war and how could there be two tablecloths so much alike. He told the pastor how the Nazis came, how he forced his wife to flee for her safety and he was supposed to follw her, but he was arrested and put in a prison. He never saw his wife or his home again all the 35 years in between.

The pastor asked him if he would allow him to take him for a little ride. They drove to Staten Island and to the same house where the pastor had taken the woman three days earlier. He helped the man climb the three flights of the stairs to the woman's apartment, knocked on the door and he saw the greatest Christmas reunion he could ever imagine.

True Story - submitted by Pastor Rob raid

New Year Holidays

2007-01-03T16:58:00.000+09:00

Nothing special, but my New Year's holidays have passed very peacefully so far.

On the morning of New Years Day, hubby and I saw the first sunrise of the year and visited both of our parents'. Family gathering is always pleasant and a bit tiredsome later on.
Mom in law is going to celebrate her 78 birthday late this month. She is extremely fine and enjoys practicing Japanese dancing. She even appears on the stage once in a while. As a daughter-in-law, I'm very happy to see her quite hale and hearty.

My mom, now 81 years old on the other hand, has developed a mild dementia since grandma passed away 2 years ago. For the present she can manage an ordinary life with the aid of my dad. Her condition varys from day to day but I assume that it is getting worse little by little. Dad is as old as mom and certainly getting old, too. I don't know how long they can live by themselves. I want to help them whenever they are in need of me. Too much aid accelerates their aging, but too little aid won't be good for them, either. It seems difficult to put the right aid on the right time. This would be one of my tasks for 2007.

On January 2, the big department stores reopened for business, holding their "fukubukuro" (lucky bag) sales to kick off the new year. Neither hubby nor I like a crowd and so we stayed home all day long, just reluxing and watching a 10-hour TV drama " Chushingura (Forty-seven Ronin)," a very famous samurai revenge story.

On January 3, which is today, we went to see "Letters from Iwao Jima." During the holidays theaters are crowded, but as far as this movie concerned, we saw fewer people than I expected in the theater. The movie, based on a true story, was good, actors (particularly Kazunari Ninomiya) did an excelent job and Clint Eastwood as a director deserves special mention! The movie is all in Japanese and Clint Eastwood's point of view is always that of a third-party throughout the movie. Therefore I entirely forgot while I was seeing the movie that it was directed by an American. Dealing with war, such point of view is very important and essential, I suppose... In that sense I should see the other movie "Flags of Our Fathers," too so that I can have more detailed knowledge and fair perspective on the war of Iwo Jima.

Tomorrow is the last day of the holidays for both of us. We may go to a shrine or just stay home and relax. Hubby will start his work on January 5 and I will start mine Monday next week.
Are we ready to go back to an ordinary life? Not yet... :-(

Good-by 2006, Hello 2007

2006-12-31T20:43:00.000+09:00

No matter how regrettable the passing year is, we never be able to go back and restart all over again. So let's just say good-by to the year of 2006 and welcome the coming year.

In 2007 several new things are waiting for me both officially and privately. I'm looking forward to them with a little anxiety and a lot of expectations. Step by step, little by little I want to go forward.

2007 is the year of wild boar in Chinese astrology. I love these new red and white wild boars. They are so cute, aren't they? I wish all of you a very Happy New Year!

Annual Event

2006-12-26T15:00:00.000+09:00

It was a silent night this year, too.
Our daughter couldn't make it because she had a party with her colleagues that night.
When she was a child, hubby was busy in preparing presents as Santa Clause only and specially for her. I don't remember exactly how old she was when she found the reality, but till then she was always so excited about the night when her Santa Clause's visiting her.
"Is Santa Clause coming to me?" she asked many times every year, and I always repeated, "Yes, he surely is as long as you are a good girl and believe in him." She also wanted to see him so eagerly. Her Santa Clause however was wise enough never to show up in front of her. Although we are not Christian, Christmas was used to be one of the happy family events. Well that was a long time ago.

On the morning of the Christmas Eve this year, We wanted to see "Letters from Iwo Jima" directed by Clint Eastwood, now shown at theaters in Japan, but we overslept and missed the first show. Maybe we will see it some time during New Year's holidays.

In the afternoon we went grocery shopping together, cooked together and had dinner together. Recently we have been trying to eat and drink alcohol a bit less (Hubby has lost about 6 Kg so far!) but I think I drank too much that night.

This is the Christmas card hand-made by Glee, one of my good friends in the US. She is a person who really loves nature and the card, I think, nicely showed her personality. I like the card and it reminds me of her wedding ceremony held in the woods. (If you are interested in, please review my posting "Travelog" in August, 2005.)
In this October she gave a birth to a baby boy and the card said that she and her family were enjoying every moment of life.
Time flies!

Exhausted!

2006-12-24T08:23:00.000+09:00

I finally managed uploading pictures to blogger.
I tried so many times to upload the pictures below only to find none of them on the internet. Therefore I made another blog using google account so that I could use blogger's new function. I uploaded the pictures (soooooo easily), copied their addresses and pasted them to my current (or old?) blog. I should have made my current blogger transferred to a new version instead, but so far they haven't offered me the service yet. Until it becomes available; I hope it will be soon, I follow the above procedure to upload pictures.

Well anyway now I'm satisfied with my last posting and I think I will be able to enjoy Christmas Eve with my husband without worrying about blogger any more. (I hope…)

"Life," the Kanji of the Year

2006-12-18T05:27:00.000+09:00

Recently another friend of mine has become "grandma."
Altogether 3 friends now have pretty grandchildren. Me? Not yet. Our daughter is still singing a praises of single freedom now in Japan.
Anyway in the beginning of this month hubby, our daughter and I went to see the newborn baby girl. The baby's peacefully sleeping face and her parents’ joy were worth 12-hour drive to get there and back. Oh, yes! Newborn babies always have such a strong power to make people around them happy.

According to the recent newspaper the kanji (Chinese) character for "inoci" or “life” in English, was selected as “The Kanji of the year.” Annually The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation seeks submissions for “The Kanji of the Year” from the public and majority of the entrants selected “inoch” as a character best representing this year.　
It is still fresh in our minds that Princess Kiko gave a birth to a baby boy in September.
The newborn prince, who is now third in line to the Chrysanthemum Throne under the current Imperial Household Law, has set us free from worrying about the succession issue for the time being and also stimulate hesitant young couples to have babies, which surely contributes somewhat to boost the slowing birthrate.

On the contrary the year of 2006 was full of bad news about “life.” Particularly I’m concerned with the news of young people's life and death. Lots of young people killed themselves due to bullying at school. Scarcely a day passed without hearing somebody abandoned his/her precious life. Some were high school students; some were middle high and even elementary school students chose suicide to solve their problems. Some principals also killed themselves taking responsibilities what had happened in their schools.
The increase of serious juvenile crimes is another problem. Many innocent lives were ceased because of them.
The murder case happened in Nara Prefecture was miserable. A high school boy set a fire to his house, causing his mother in law, younger brother and sister’s death. His father is a doctor and strongly wanted his son to be a doctor, too. The son always studied hard to meet his father’s expectation but his pent-up stress finally exploded. The direct cause of the incident was his fear of letting his father notice his bad test results though…
In these days not only adults but young people including infants also have various problems. Bullying at school or at home is one, and studying night and day at cram schools to pass entrance examinations of competitive school is another. Their stresses are piling up. It might be too much to say, but I think it is the matter of life and death for the nation. We have to reconsider education reform and social framework more deeply and wisely for our future generation.

A few days ago the Upper House passed the bill to amend the education law to instill patriotism in schools, which Mr. Abe was very eager about since he started his cabinet. I’m not against amendment of the education law, but I don’t think it is appropriate to teach (or force) patriotism in schools. Such thing is not something to be taught in schools. It should be cultivated in homes. I lived in the States in my early 20s and being treated as a foreigner there, I think I learned something about patriotism very naturally.

For any nation patriotism is essential in some ways. If it is however related with militarism, it has gone too far or in the wrong direction. Since the Upper House passed another bill to turn the Defense Agency into a ministry at the same time, I felt a bit uneasy. I just don’t want our nation to turn into the one described in “The Children’s Story” in order to keep such pure eyes in the above picture in peace.

Vibrant Autumn Leaves

2006-11-25T03:29:00.000+09:00

Mt. Yoshino, Nara prefecture is very famous with its cherry blossoms in spring, and it is also a good spot to enjoy vivid colors of turning leaves in autumn. In recent years the season for autumn leaves has started later due to global warming.

On the way home we bought Kakinoha Zushi, square-shaped sushi with mackerel on top and wrapped with kakinoha (persimmon) leaves.

My Favorite Plates

2006-11-23T23:47:00.000+09:00

As robi asked about the plate in the previous posting, please let me show you my favorite plates. It was about 10 years ago when I found them at a small shop dealing with imported goods. They are made in Mexico, about 10 inches in diameter. Although a bit expensive for me, the plates were so attractive that I just couldn't leave the shop without them.

Cinnamon Bread

2006-11-21T22:38:00.000+09:00

Hubby has gone to pick up our daughter and I baked cinnamon bread.
It is 11:00 pm now. I guess our dinner will be about midnight.
I'm starving! I could eat a horse for sure.