Otanjobi Omedeto means Happy Birthday

“Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday to You! Happy Birthday deeeeaaarrrr Jeeeennnny! Happy Birthday to You!!!!!” This is possibly the best song that gets sung only once a year. Now I realize that the song gets sung over and over through out the year, but each person really only gets it sung to them once a year. Friday we got to sing it to my beautiful wife Jenny. Yes on Friday, November 16 my wife turned 24. She was very excited for the big day and kept asking about her present. But I told her that she would have to wait to find out.

We started the evening by going to the store to pick up some necessary supplies. First we had to purchase some gifts for a birthday party on Saturday. Then it was downstairs to get the fixin’s for fajitas. We grabbed onions, peppers, corn chips and some beef. We were all set for fajita fun. Now all we needed was a birthday cake.

We walked down to the Andenken Bakery. Jenny had to pick out her birthday cake from an amazing array of delicious deserts. She chose a white cake covered in fruit. They even offered to write Happy Birthday on it. The real shock, for them, came when we asked if they could write it in Japanese. I am fairly sure that her jaw almost hit the floor. Then she asked again in broken English if we wanted “Happy Birthday” written in English. We assured her that we wanted “おたんじょび　おめでと” written on the cake. She gave us a worried look and hurried off to write our message. At this point we were all prepared for an evening of bacchanalian birthday fun.

We walked on home and started cooking Jenny’s birthday dinner. We had all we needed to make some marvelous Mexican food. We created a spread of foods that was quite impressive. We had steak, onion and pepper fajitas, guacamole, real cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomato, sour cream, and plenty of tortillas. It was a feast and we enjoyed each morsel of it. We then finished the meal with a big slice of birthday cake.

Then it was time to open present. Well, yes there was only one present to open. Logan and I bought a jigsaw puzzle for Jenny featuring characters from the movie “My Neighbor Totoro.” I know it doesn’t seem like much of a gift, but Logan and I wrapped each of the one thousand pieces separately. It took quite a bit of effort on her part to open the gift, and when done this way it sure seemed like she got a lot of presents. Now all she has to do is assemble the puzzle, which she spent some time doing that evening.

七五三

I suppose when your three year old son asks, “What are we going to do today Kevin?” The best answer is not “The same thing we do everyday Logan. Try to take over the world.” I say this only because at the age of three children should be expected to set and meet attainable goals. Conquering the world at such an age may just be too lofty a goal for one so small. And if we did manage to do so would he really know what to do with such great power? No, one so young should not rise so high so early. Instead we set our mind to conquering kindergarten, and that is just what we did on Thursday morning. It was a perfect start to our Shichi-Go-San celebration.

Shichi-Go-San is a festival celebrated by families who have young children ages seven, five and three. In fact that is what the name of the festival means, seven, five, three. It is a minor festival that families seem to celebrate individually. Families with a child aged three, five or seven will go to a Shinto Shrine to pray for the health, safety and happiness of their child. Sometimes the child is dressed in a traditional kimono while other times the child is dressed in their best suit of clothes. What we have seen here is that girls tend to be dressed in an elaborately beautiful kimono; while boys tend to wear more western clothing like slacks and a sweater, or a suit. While at the shrine the family will pray for their child and perhaps have the priest say a prayer of blessing over the child. The child will then be given special candy to commemorate the day.

I have wanted to visit Logan’s school and Thursday was the perfect opportunity. I had already taken the day off of work in order to celebrate the shichi-go-san holiday and now I would be able to go and watch him play at school too. We walked to school together in the morning. Logan led the way holding my hand much of the way. We got to school and Logan began by putting all of his school things in their proper places. Then he began to play with his friends. He started the day by playing house with some of the other boys and girls. They all had a great time bringing plates and cups over to me from the kitchen. I would then ask them, “Kore wa nan desu ka?” (what’s this?) They would then tell me, cake, sushi, tea or whatever it was that I was eating or drinking. I thought that it was hilarious when I asked one of the boys what was in the cup he just handed me and he replied, “Biru.” (beer) My personal inclination was that maybe ten o’clock in the morning was still a tad early to be drinking a beer, not to mention the fact that we were at school. But I drank it non the less and I even told him that it was delicious. We continued to play house with students bringing me food and me asking what it was then eating it. They brought such peculiarities as lemon juice, orange beer and corn soup. We played until it was clean up time.

Next we all had to gather for circle time. I can not decide if the sound of twenty-five preschoolers screaming/singing is cute or horrific. Right now I am leaning toward cute because hearing all of those little tykes belting out the Anpanman March was enough to bring a smile to my face. The kiddies sang two or three songs. Jenny and I watched while three of Logan’s friends all jockeyed for position trying to sit next to him. They would move their chair to be right next to his. Then when they got up to sing another student would come and move the first chair out of the way and place their chair next to Logan. It was quite comical to see them moving the competition out of the circle only to have their chair moved in turn.

After circle time it was time to head off to banana room for a special nutrition presentation. We got to learn all about the three food groups and how they work together to give us plenty of energy to play and have fun at school. What? Did I misspeak? You did not know that there were only three food groups? Alas, yes here in Japan there are only three food groups. There is the fruit and veggie group, the dairy and meat group, and there is the grain and rice group. I thought that there was another too, but I was wrong. The teachers had a story about pigs that ran out of energy because they did not eat a balanced diet. Now when Logan needs a bit of convincing to eat his veggies we remind him about the pigs that did not have enough energy to play at school. This usually does the trick and he responds with a healthy, “That’s OK I’m at home now. I’ll just take a nap.”

After the nutrition presentation it was time to go outside and play on the playground. We had a lot of fun playing. The children all wanted to show me all the fun things that they have to play with on the playground. We first went over to the sandbox where they taught me how to dig in the sand. Then it was off to climb on the jungle gym. There were many shouts of, “Rogan no Otto-san kochira wa” (Logan’s dad over here) We climbed, ran, dug and swang all over that playground. I then went over to where there was a group of kids playing in the sand and I ordered a couple of hamburgers and a coke from their “restaurant.” They had a great time making food for me. Kids would come running across the playground with a plate of sand to bring me a piece of “cake.” We had a great time playing and I especially enjoyed meeting Logan’s teacher and all of the boys and girls in his class.

After school we decided to go and get some lunch. We decided that as it was a nice day that we would get some boxed lunches and go and eat picnic style. We walked to our favorite bento shop and ordered. We then wandered toward the mountain. We found a nice spot near the canal at the base of the mountain to eat our lunch. It was a great spot to eat our food. The weather was pleasant and the view was nice. The leaves on the trees along the canal are just starting to change color so we were able to appreciate the fall colors as we ate.

After lunch we headed off to Hachiman-jingu. The shrine was all prepared for the Shichi-go-san celebration. They had placed an inflatable Anpanman, Baikinman, and Dokinchan near the Shrine to encourage families to come to the shrine for the festival. Logan and I went up to the shrine to say a prayer and ring the giant bell. I took a moment to pray for Logan’s health and happiness. Then we went down to the information booth where we got some chitoseame. Chitoseame is thousand year candy. Thousand year candy is given to children on shichigosan because it is believed to ensure long life. The package is decorated with a crane and a turtle which are both symbols of long life here in Japan. We opted not to have the priest say a blessing over Logan because we learned that the blessing would cost about fifty dollars. It was actually one of our Japanese friends who said that she thought that the price was very expensive.

We decided to cap off our fun day with a piece of cake. We went over to a cake shop near the shrine for a couple of pieces of cake. We got a caramel cake and green tea desert and went outside to eat. Jenny walked over to the vending machine and bought a nice hot bottle of milk tea and we sat on top of a rock wall eating our cake and drinking tea. It made me laugh when we were in the cake shop ordering cake Logan had said that he did not want any cake and that he was full. When we got outside and Jenny and I were eating. Logan suddenly decided that he did want some cake after all. I found it comical that he was so matter of fact about the idea that he did not want cake. Then the words came out of his mouth once we were outside and eating, “I do. I do want some cake.”

We walked home and spent the rest of the afternoon resting and enjoying the time together. We had a good day and the day made me eternally grateful for my family. Watching Logan play with his friends was a lot of fun. It made me glad to see him act like a little boy. At one point when he was at school he was using the hose to fill a tub of water when he moved the steam of water and got his friend’s shoe wet. I noticed it happen and I made him turn off the water. He then had to apologize and set her shoes in the sun to dry. Though I was not happy that he had gotten her shoe wet it did make me glad that he is learning to get along with others. He did need me to help him apologize to the little girl, but once he did she was not so mad at him any more. I am glad that we took the opportunity to go and celebrate 七五三. We had a good time and I pray that my little boy will have a long and happy life.


七　shichi　(seven)
五　go (five)
三 san (three)

Yaki Niku

Roger if you are reading I have found the perfect food for you. It is called niku. I know that you are a big fan of it and I know where to get some of the best of it in the world. Let me clear up a little bit of confusion, niku is the Japanese word for meat, and where we live, the city of Omihachiman, is famous all across Japan as having some of the best beef in the country. Omi-beef or Om-gyu, as it is called, is held in higher regard here than is the world famous Kobe Beef. Kobe Beef is the beef that is used in the ultra-expensive hamburger that I read about in the news a while back. The cows for omi-beef are hand fed big bottles of beer and given daily massages to keep the meat tender and juicy. Eating omi-beef truly is a mind-blowing experience.

On Sunday night we went out to eat with our neighbors. Our neighbor Justin organized all of the people in the building, and a few others, to have a night of Yaki-niku, or grilled meat. We met in the parking lot of our building around seven in the evening and walked about ten minutes to the restaurant. This particular restaurant is called Nishimura-ya and it is known for having some of the best and most expensive yaki-niku in town. We arrived at the restaurant after about a ten-minute walk through the cold and a few raindrops. We were guided up to a private dining room where we were able to sit on the tatami floor around a low table. In the middle of the table were two holes sunk into the table. The hole was topped with a grate that was just a little below the level of the table. Under the grill was a flame. The table is a grill where we would be grilling our own slices of meat and vegetables.

The servers came in a few moments later and took our drink orders. I of course had a beer, because what else could go so well with grilled meat other than beer? A few moments later the servers returned, not only with our drinks but also with large platters filled with small slices of beef and some vegetables. The veg selection was not the best, but we were not there to eat healthy. The vegetable platter was heaped high with large leaves of cabbage, onions, Japanese potatoes, and mushrooms. The meat tray was just as large and was filled with thin slices of bite sized raw beef just waiting to be placed onto the grill and seared and cooked to deliciousness.

The first meat that was put on to the grill was what I think must have been tongue. It was sliced thin. The slices of meat were placed onto the grill and cooked. We then removed them from the grill with our chopsticks, dipped them into the sauce and ate. Logan however did not get the meat off the grill, though he did try, Jenny or I took care of that duty for him. Other cuts of meat were also grilled to perfection.

The tongue meat was good but it was not the best that Nakamura-ya had to offer. Some of the cuts that came out next were beautiful and tasted as good as they looked. The meat was beautifully marbled with fat in a way that you can’t find in America. The meat is not low in fat, nor is it lean. The fat runs through the meat in little white streams that divide the reddish pink meat into tiny little islands of muscle. The meat, in the best spots, looks like a piece of marble waiting for an artist to sculpt a beautiful relief of a cow. I suppose this is why the fat that funs through the muscle in a slice of steak is called marbling. I made sure to place a couple of well-chosen slices on the grill for my own personal enjoyment. I did everything in my power to ensure that my carefully selected cuts were not poached by anyone else. The enjoyment was sublime. I timed everything perfectly. I peeled my meat off the hot grill and dipped it into my sauce. Then it went straight into my mouth. It was not at all necessary to chew the meat; it simply melted in my mouth. The fat had all turned into juice and flavor. I was left with the second most tender piece of meat I have ever eaten. The first being at a different, more expensive, restaurant here in Omihachiman that also serves Om-gyu called Tiffany. Tiffany served the best steak I have ever eaten in my life. It was also at Tiffany that I ate beef sushi for the first time. Yaki-niku is not steak though, and not all of the meat was as prime.

I will admit that some of the meat looked more like fat with a tiny but of meat running through it. There were even a few pieces that looked as if they were entirely made up of fat. I am not sure that I have ever eaten beef that actually looks more like bacon before it is cooked, but eat it we did. The fat usually melted away leaving tender and juicy meat to eat.
There was even a few times that the melted fat caught on fire resulting in little flare-ups on the grill. Once or twice the grease ignited as someone lifted the meat off the grill. This resulted with them holding a burning ball of meat in their chopsticks for a few moments. One of our friends, Katy, has just purchased a very fancy camera and she was trying to catch the little bursts of flame on film. We ate plenty of beef that night.

I am glad that we took the opportunity to go out with the people around us. Not only was the company good but the food was too. There will only be so many opportunities to eat food in this way. We have a limited time left here in Japan before we have to figure out what is next and move back to America. Even though the meal was expensive the experience was worth the price of the meal. We had a good time and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Om-gyu is an expensive luxury, even here in Omihachiman, and someday we will not be able to eat it. Now when we come home to our American lives we can say that we have eaten the best yaki-niku made from the best om-gyu in Japan. What awesome bragging rights we will have.

Monkey-kun visits the Monkey Park

Saturday morning after breakfast we headed off to the Arashiyama area of Kyoto. Arashiyama is the area of Kyoto that is known to have the best fall colors. Only part of this day would be about seeing the changing leaves. The majority of the day would be spent at the Arashiyama monkey park.

The monkey park is a mountain in Kyoto inhabited by about 150 wild monkeys. The monkeys roam the mountain freely. There was a nice little hike up the mountain. I expected to see some monkeys as we wild, but we did not see any until we were almost at the top.

The pathway zigzagged its way up the face of the mountain. As we neared the top of the mountain the trees gave way and there was a large clearing. We heard them before we saw them. Their high-pitched screams grew louder as we approached the clearing. At first there were a couple of monkeys along the path. Then we spotted one perched in a tree and another one lying in the sun next to the trail. Then as we entered the clearing we saw many more. There were probably thirty to forty monkeys congregated in the clearing. This was the place to be. There was a building on the edge of the open space. We looked around for a moment and then headed into the building to feed the monkeys.

The best way to describe the building is to say that it is the opposite of a zoo. The building was the cage, and the people trapped inside were watching the animals that were free to roam about. Inside the building we were able to feed the monkeys. We bought a few bags of peanuts and a bag of apple slices. We held the food and the monkeys shoved their hands through the chain link fence to grab them out of our palms. Logan had a great time. He would reach into the bag and pull out a peanut. Hold it in out between his fingers. He would say, “Here monkey-kun. Here is a peanut for you.” He fed the monkeys four bags of peanuts. He would have gladly continued feeding them peanuts but the smell, a mixture of old peanut shells, stale cigarettes, and monkey, was starting to get to me.

We went outside where we could see an impressive view of the city. We looked around and watched the monkeys play for a spell before we went to play ourselves. We wandered down to a small playground. Logan took the opportunity to play. He went up and down on the seesaw. He swung on the porch swing. And he slid down the longest slide I have ever seen. The playing made us hungry so we headed back up to the shelter to eat some lunch.

We ate our lunch of onigiri. Onigiri are Japanese rice balls stuffed with various fillings. Our favorite is the tuna salad onigiri. It is the Japanese equivalent of a tuna salad sandwich. We filled up and prepared to hike back down the mountain and walk to our next destination, the romantic train.

There is a train that takes a scenic tour of the Hozu-gawa valley. It is supposed to be an excellent way to view the fall colors. We had to walk from the monkey park to the train station. It was not a long walk, only about twenty minutes or so, and for us that is not all that long seeing as how we walk pretty much everywhere we go these days. We made it to the station and bought a one-way ticket on the last train of the day. We had time before the train left so we had a snack at the little café inside the station. We found ourselves with time to kill so we looked around the museum that was there. The museum was a combination steam locomotive and classical music museum. There were four steam engines and statues of five composers. All of them were located in one big room. It took us about ten minutes to take it all in, and that is being generous.

The time finally came and we got in line to board the romantic train. The romantic train however did not live up to its name. It was a tad less than romantic. We boarded the train and it was a very old fashioned looking train. We thought that the engine might even be a steam engine, but we are pretty sure now that it was a diesel. The benches on the train were wooden. Sitting on them reminded me of straight-backed wooden church pews. The train ride was a nice one that followed the Hozu River on its winding path.

The view from the window was incredible. The Hozu River Valley is very beautiful and I for one was impressed with what I saw, when I could see. The problem was that for all the beautiful scenery it was difficult to see because sometimes the good view was out the window on the opposite side of the train car. Sometimes it is possible to see out the window on the other side of the car, but when the aisle is full of standing people it is difficult to see through them. The other big obstacle to seeing was the fact that the train traveled through a lot of long tunnels. When the train was in a tunnel there was nothing to see. One of the tunnels was lit with some neon lights that were shaped like important sights in Kyoto. That was nice to see, if only they could all have been like that. I think that my favorite part of the trip was when a demon came on board.

At one of the stations there was a man wearing a demon costume waiting on the platform. When the train began to move I noticed that he had boarded the train and was making his way through the train cars. He was in the best Oni costume I have ever seen. The hair on the wig went all the way down his back and the mask was very scary. To keep from being too frightening for the small children he kept his demon face covered with another mask of the cartoon character of Doraemon. Doraemon is a blue cat that is very popular here in Japan. He wandered up and down the aisle of the car stopping to talk with the people in the seats. He even stopped to say that my hair was not long enough and that I should grow it out so I could wear a pink curler just like him. The train ride took about half an hour and really was quite pleasant. We got off at the last stop and walked the ten minutes to a different train station to begin the journey home. When we finally made it home we were exhausted after our long day and we all gladly dropped off to sleep.

Halloween Extravaganza

Neighbors make all the difference. We are fortunate enough to have some great neighbors in our building. We live in the Toraoka Mansion; mansion being the word for apartment building. But everyone knows the building as the Gaijin Heights. There are ten apartments in our building. Americans inhabit seven of the ten and two are home to Japanese families. All of our neighbors are incredibly nice people.



Last week was Halloween. One of our Japanese neighbors, Mrs. Fujita, wanted to take her children and some friends trick-or-treating. She invited us to join in the fun. So on Tuesday October thirtieth we gathered in the parking lot of our building to wander the neighborhood in search of candy. There were about fifteen children and five or six parents all of who live in close proximity to our home. Including two kids who are in Logan’s class at school. The group walked to each family’s home and shouted, “trick-or-treat” while standing at the door. They were rewarded for their efforts with candy and snacks. The adults were given the sense of delight that goes with seeing your child receive massive amounts of sugary candy. And the look of amazement in their eyes when they see all of the loot they have accumulated.

It was a lot of fun not only to see Logan go trick-or-treating for the first time but to witness the Japanese kids have fun doing it too. They had a great time strutting through the neighborhood wearing their homemade costumes and shouting, “trick-or-treat” at the top of their lungs. Logan had fun getting a ton of candy and walking with his friend from school named Risa.

The fun did not begin or end on Tuesday. On Wednesday Logan brought small bags of candy to school to share with his classmates. We also shoved bags of candy through the mail slots of our American neighbor’s doors. We also had the opportunity to attend a Halloween party to kick off the holiday fun.

A friend of ours here in Omihachiman is an American who owns his own English school. Every year he holds several Halloween parties. He divides the fun by age, little kids, big kids, and adults. He invited us to join the party for little kids, which was held on Sunday morning. It was a truly beautiful day as we walked over to his school. We could hear the sounds of fun, in this case fun sounds like the sound of screaming three to six year olds, as we approached the school. It was a fantastic party. Logan had a great time playing games like pin the wart on the witch and ring toss. He also had fun playing in a bucket of green slime and making play-dough creatures. After game time all the kids went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood around the school. This time as well Logan had a blast saying, “Trick-or-treat” and collecting candy.

Halloween for us was not a one-day event. It was more of a weeklong collection of fun events that led us to remember how kind and generous the people around us are. Halloween was fun primarily because of the people in our day-to-day life. Sometimes good neighbors make all the difference.

A Fire Festival?

I suppose when the travel book states that you will be packed into a train car like grains of rice then one should listen and heed the warning. We often turn to our trusted travel guide when exploring the area around us. We use it to find beautiful temples, good restaurants, shopping, and exciting events. We even have an entire guidebook dedicated to the city of Kyoto. This book combined with a compass, that always points north, except when riding on an electric train that is essentially a giant electro-magnet, has been instrumental in finding our way around this magnificent city. We read in our book about a fire festival in a town just to the north of Kyoto. The book stated something along the lines of, “If you are able to go this in one of the most spectacular events in the Kyoto area.” We decided that we would try and make it to this festival.

We plotted our route. Found the train lines. Created an itinerary and figured out the timeline. I snuck out of work a few minutes early so we could make it to the train as early as possible. We packed up our backpack with a picnic supper and headed out the door. We made it to the train station in record time and managed to get on a train that left soon after we made it to the station. We were on our way to the tiny town of Kuruma to see a marvelous fire festival where half dressed men would be carrying burning torches measuring five to six meters and weighing hundreds of pounds down the main street of the town. We made it to Kyoto Station changed trains and rode down one station where we changed trains again. We transferred to the subway and rode to the north of the city where we transferred to another line. This is where the surprises began. The trip had been uneventful to this point but it all changed at this time. We got off the subway and were confronted with a line to purchase tickets. To be honest we did not know what the line was for when we first saw it. The ticket machine was on the street level and we had to head up the stairs. We noticed there was a line of people winding up the escalator and there were guards stationed directing traffic. We walked up the stairs to and were confronted with the line of people waiting to get on the train. We had a short huddle to decide how we should proceed. We figured that we had come this far and it would be our only chance in this lifetime to see this particular festival. We figured that we should go ahead and attend. We bought our tickets and walked back down the stairs to get in the line for the train. We strolled down the stairs as briskly as we could and promptly rode the escalator back up as a part of the line for the train. It was like waiting in line for a ride at an amusement park. There were ropes that cordoned off the lobby forming a maze that the line meandered through. A train arrived and the crowd began to move toward the turnstiles. The closer we got to the front of the line the more I began to hope that we would actually have to wait for the next train. The line had seemed long when we joined the end; and now all those people were on the train. I hoped that we would have to wait for the next train in hopes that rather than being the last on the train and having to stand the entire ride we would be the first on and possibly get to sit for the forty minute journey. This was a vain hope however as we were not even to be some of the last people on the train. We clambered onto what seemed to be a very full train at the time. Jenny and Logan were very luck in that someone offered their seat to them. Jenny and Logan were able to sit for the journey. I had to stand. I was not even lucky enough to stand near their seat. As more and more people got onto the train I was pushed farther and farther away from them. The train ride itself was uneventful. We stayed on one train from the beginning of the line to the end, which is good because we could not have made it off the train before the last stop if we had wanted to.

The train made it the town of Kuruma. We made it off the train with the rest of the crush. We had little idea of where to go to find this particular festival. Our motto of “when in doubt, follow the crowd” did not let us down this time either. Of course everyone on the train was here for the same reason we were. So finding the festival was going to be of little difficulty. We followed the crowd down a path and onto a street that we thought would lead to the festival. Or at least that is what we thought. Apparently that street was the festival. One narrow street, half of it roped off with police tape was where the festival would be taking place. What seemed to be thousands of people began to walk and push along a very narrow pathway about the width of a sidewalk. On one side was the police tape and police officers keeping the street clear of people on the other side of the path were houses. We were pushed along the path, not even being given an opportunity to see what, if anything, might be happening.

We found a parking lot that had been taken over by people needing a moment of respite from the madness. We set down our tarp and used the area to have a bit of supper. Well at least Jenny and Logan did. While they ate I tried to see what might be going on. I managed to see nothing more than a glimpse of some small children dressed in traditional clothing marching down the street carrying a very large torch accompanied by their parents. After trying unsuccessfully to get a good vantage point to witness the spectacle I joined Jenny and Logan for a spot of dinner. We sat watching the crowd move along the path as we ate our curry-pan and rice balls. After our dinner we joined the fray. There were times in that crowd where we were able to walk along, most of the time however was spent being pushed and shoved. We soon ducked onto the front porch of a house to escape the crowd. Here we were able to see a portion of what we came to witness. Grown men wearing little more than sleeves and a loincloth carrying giant torches down the street. It was not long before the police asked the small group of people; us included, to vacate the porch. We were forced, once again, back into the crush of people moving steadily down the street.

The whole experience soon began to overwhelm us and we grew frustrated with being pushed along. We felt as if every minute were a fight to see something that we would probably not going to have the opportunity to see. First we attempted to go backward through the crowd, but we were warned that that was a bad idea, and that the line formed a circle leading back to the train station. We forced our way through the crowd and pushed our way to the station where we were once again confronted with a line. We would have to wait to ride the train back to Kyoto. Luckily for us the line was not too long and we were able to find a nice corner to stand in for the long train ride back to Kyoto. Again this train grew more and more crowded. It became so full that I did not think that there would be enough room to squeeze any more people on board, but they did, about five more people squished their way into the car. Then the train began the trip back to Kyoto.

This trip was rather disappointing. We knew that there would be a lot of people to confront, but we hoped that we would be able to see more than furtive glimpses of an age-old ceremony. All the pushing had overwhelmed us and prodding and we had not really seen what it was that we had gone to witness. The guidebook had recommended this festival and we took a chance to see it, but so did every other reader of the guidebook. Crowds are a way of life here in Japan and sometimes they make for fun. This night however they made time a nightmare. The crowds of people made it difficult for us to enjoy and even see the festivities. I am glad we took the opportunity but the experience that I expected to have was not the one we were able to live. I had figured on seeing a fire festival that evening, but ended up with an experiential opportunity to find out just how big a crowd can get here in Japan. The difference between expectations and reality are great. The opportunity to learn and experience life however does not change it you keep you mind and eyes open to different possibilities.

Universal Studios Japan

I am a big fan of roller coasters. I remember the first time I rode the Gemini at Cedar Point. The rush and thrill of rolling and shaking around curves, anticipation in the pit of my stomach as the car slowly climbs that first hill. The weightless feeling you get when your bottom leaves your seat as you crest that first hill. To be honest I what I remember most was crying with fright, my Dad dragging me into the car and pulling me into the seat and locking the lap bar into place effectively trapping me in the seat of the vehicle that would soon, in my mind, be hurtling me to my death. Tears streamed down my face as the car began to climb. The sharp click, click of the racheting chain pulling us up that first hill echoed ominously in my ear. We reached the zenith of the mountain and rocketed down and moments later I was a full fledged roller coaster junkie. Though it would take years before I developed a taste for any roller coaster that inverts its rider.

So when Jenny brought up the possibility of going to Universal Studios Japan in Osaka I was all for it. I took a day off of work in hopes that the park might be less crowded on a Wednesday in the middle of October. We were partially correct. I am sure that the park was less crowded, but there were still plenty of people enjoying their time at the theme park. We arrived at the park shortly after it opened and made our way into the theme park proper. I was instantly amazed at the sheer size of the park. I was shocked at just how small the park was. After visiting American theme parks that seem to sprawl in all directions; Universal Studios Japan is surrounded on all sides by the city of Osaka. In fact one of the first things that I noticed upon entering the park was that I could see cars driving along the big bridge that spans the river.

We wandered into the park and had the opportunity to enjoy a parade. There were characters from Sesame Street singing and dancing in a miniature show. Logan thought it was fun to watch Elmo, Big Bird, Bert and Ernie, Cookie Monster, Zoe and two other "friends" dance and sing as they tried to restart their "stalled" bus. We all enjoyed it, but for Jenny and I it was strange to hear these familiar characters speaking with unfamiliar voices in Japanese.

After the parade we decided to walk down the street and find a location to view the outdoor stage show. The show was called Sorciere and was a stylish stage show. Music, dancing and acrobatics were choreographed into a fun and entertaining show that was a visual delight. All of the characters were dressed in bright colorful Halloweenesque costumes such as spiders, pumpkins, witches, scarecrows, and other wild creatures. We enjoyed watching their performance.

After the show it was time for lunch. We had chosen to eat at Mel's diner. This is the fifties theme burger restaurant in the park. There are old classic cars in the parking lot, old time rock 'n' roll playing on the juke box, including Elvis, Buddy Holley, and Jerry Lee Lewis. Cheese burgers, chicken nuggets, french fries, Coca-cola and tofu donuts with pumpkin sugar were lunch. It was good. Much in the same way food at a theme park is anywhere. It was just fun to eat in the classic American style restaurant in a Japanese theme park. Listening to the King sing "Heart Break Hotel" and "Jailhouse Rock" over the loudspeakers.

After lunch Jenny and Logan headed off to visit Snoopy's Playland while I rode the one real roller coaster in the park. It was nice to see that there were two separate lines to stand in. I was able to go in the single rider line. I walked through the maze. Past other people waiting with their friends and families. In fact I walked straight to the front of the line. I only had to wait about five minutes until a group of three were ready to ride and then there was room for me to ride. The roller coaster was perhaps the smoothest ride I have ever taken on a roller coaster. It was very nice; not remarkable, just nice. A few twists and turns, big hills and small dips made for an exciting ride. I must say however that the best part was the fact that I only stood in line for five minutes or so. Later in the day I went to ride "Spiderman, the Ride" and I waited in that line for close to an hour and a half. The ride was nice but waiting that long was enough to spoil the ride making it less enjoyable.

Jenny and Logan spent time having fun in the play area. Logan broke out of Spike's Jailhouse, had batting practice with Lucy, went to school with the Peanuts Gang, and visited with his buddy Joe Cool. We all got our picture taken with Snoopy, Charlie Brown and Lucy. Logan said that his favorite part of the play area was ringing the bell in the school house. I think that the picture Jenny took of him "bending" the bars in the old west jail cell is the best; followed a close second by him holding hands with the statue of Charlie Brown.

We all headed into the Land of Oz to ride the Carousel. Logan planned on riding the horse. We had a lot of fun waiting in line talking about riding the carousel and which animal we would choose, and about the scene in the movie "Mary Poppins" where they ride the round-about and the horses leave the carousel and run in a horse race and go on a fox hunt. The thought came to me as we were waiting in line how much more enjoyable it is to wait in line with someone. The wait was more fun when you don't have to do it alone. Also riding the attraction is more enjoyable when you get to share it with another. Logan did manage to ride the horse he wanted to. I helped to make sure that he did not fall off, and Jenny rode the pig that was next to Logan's horse. Good old fashioned family fun.

Next it was time for the Sesame Street 4-D movie. It is one of the movies that is not just 3-D but has an added fourth dimension to increase the sensory experience. It was fun to see the movie. I must say that really see and experience was about all we could do, the dialogue was entirely in Japanese and Muppet voices are difficult to understand in English. The experience was great. One part of the movie had Bert and Ernie in the bathtub with Rubber Duckie. When Bert splashed and sent bubbles flying everywhere bubbles began to fall from the ceiling. The most precious thing I saw was when Ernie threw Rubber Duckie out into the crowd, and wearing the 3-D glasses made the duck appear to come right out into the audience. It was at this point that I looked over at Logan, and there he was sitting with his hand stretched out trying to touch Duckie. Later on in the movie a short bust of air shot out at our ankles and it shocked Logan so much that he pulled his feet up onto the seat and refused to put them back down. He really enjoyed the multi-sensory aspect of the movie. I am afraid that his first movie theatre experience will make it difficult for regular movies to measure up.

Our last ride of the day was the E.T. ride. We waited together to ride on the movie ride. Logan was very excited to ride on this ride because the seats and the car take the appearance of a bicycle. He was very happy to ride until the ride got to the part where you visit E.T.'s home planet. I think that this was a bit disturbing for the little guy. When we finally got off the ride he said that he was ready to "go home right now! Let's just go home." But we still had to eat dinner before we could begin the two hour trek back to Omihachiman.

We had a plethora of restaurant choices waiting for us outside the park, but first I had to stop and get some Omiyage. Here in Japan it is customary to bring back small souvenirs for the people you know and work with. I thought that It would be nice to pick up something for the people I work with. We also wanted to find something that said Universal Studios Japan as a remembrance of our day there. I found some small chocolates for my coworkers and we found a fun Jaws pot holder to remember the day. We decided to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. We all managed to find a nice Hard Rock t-shirt and had a great dinner. The train ride home was quiet and uneventful. We practically crashed into bed and fell asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.