Zach awry in Japan

14 May 2012 A Day at the Races

Horse-racing is big in Japan, much more popular than it is in America. This weekend we went down to the horse-racing track in Yodo (south of Kyoto) with our friends the Kamadas. I had never been before, and was surprised at how family-friendly the whole place was. There was a big area where you could picnic while watching the horses, and both ponies and a playground for the kids. It was somewhat like big park that just happened to have horses thundering past every half-hour or so. The only iffiness visible was inside near the betting booths, such as a few people whom I wanted to admonish not to bet the last of their welfare checks.

Genbo playing with Masashi
full exif

I like this picture of Maki and Kamada-san
full exif

Zoe’s turn to roll down the hill. By pure coincidence she had received these second-hand cowboy boots from a cousin just a couple days before.

full exif

Entranced by the spectacle
full exif

Everyone watching the race
full exif

Awww…..
full exif

It was interesting to me that Genbo felt compelled to pick (seemingly at random) some horse to root for. Acculturation or the Y-chromosome acting up?

full exif

Much more impressive in person than on the screen
full exif

Stopping to look dashing on the slide
full exif

Don’t worry, he’s scheduled for a haircut this Tuesday at 4
full exif

Kamada-san fixing Genbo’s bird
full exif

Ikuko-chan arrives
full exif

Stuffing our faces with yummy o-nigiri
full exif

“Daddy, how could you be so silly?”
full exif

Ikuko watching with the kids
full exif

full exif

This is the “paddock” area, where the horses are displayed before the race. The guys under the immaculately manicured tree in the middle film the horses going around in a circle for the TV broadcast.

full exif

Watching the ponies, waiting for her turn…
full exif

But never above hamming it up. This is her new face this month.
full exif

Surprisingly, the line for the ponies was not that long. We went on Saturday, but apparently it’s much more crowded on Sunday.

Having fun riding “Black Pit”
full exif

Thank god for those cowboy boots!
full exif

This is her second turn
full exif

Finally Genbo gets in on the action
full exif

full exif

7 March 2012 Zoe in Ballet Dress

Zoe has only been doing ballet for a few months, but it has already become a huge part of her life. She’s perpetually dancing, it seems, and whenever there’s any music, anywhere, she’ll start. Her ballet school has a big performance of Sleeping Beauty in a couple weeks, and they’ve been having lots of special rehearsals to get ready for it. Today they were practicing in their costumes, so I took the opportunity to snap some shots.

full exif

full exif

full exif

full exif

full exif

full exif

full exif

24 December 2011 Whereupon I Post Way Too Many Pictures of My Family Eating Xmas Dinner

Today was Christmas Eve, and we enjoyed it eating a nice dinner together cooked by other people.

full exif

full exif

Zoe got a new ballet leotard today, which she wanted to show off as soon as we got home.

Very composed
full exif

Followed by a graceful bow that somehow went wrong…

or Not So Composed
full exif

“Christmas cakes” are a big tradition in Japan. Do people do this in the States as well?

I have no idea what Genbo is doing or thinking
full exif

full exif

full exif

full exif

5 December 2011 Zoe and Me

I don’t know why, but I like this shot of Zoe and me, taken by Genbo. Maybe because it does a good job of revealing Zoe at what I think is a sort of tipping point in her development. Up to now she has been the quintessential “little girl,” but now she is getting into ballet, learning how to read, learning how to write…All things that are taking her into the next stage of her life, which is poignant for me to watch and take part in.

full exif

full exif

8 April 2011 First Day of School

Today was Genbo’s first day of school. Or, technically, his 入学式, or ceremony to start the beginning of school. First day of classes is on Monday. Everybody around him has been excited about it, but Genbo has not given any indication of caring one way or another. Unfortunately it was a gray day today, and shortly after I took these pictures it started raining.

Here he is at the school gate, wearing his uniform and a randoseru. The school technically has uniforms, but you don’t really have to wear them. Lots of kids do, but anything in relatively subdued colors is fine. Basically, anything that’s not gold lame or sequined is fine. The randoseru (taken from the Dutch, according to that Wikipedia link), is a weird Japanese phenomenon. Genbo’s cost upwards of $500, which is maybe a little pricier than average, but not by much. The cheapest they go for is about $350. It’s a highly-fetishized leather object in the culture that marks a child’s entry into school. They are used for the full six years (which is how long elementary school lasts in Japan), and they are built to last 60 if need be. Does that justify the price? Not in my opinion, but since when is that relevant?

Crossing the threshold
full exif

Now getting a little excited
full exif

School yard and gym, flanked by Mi’i-dera, a major temple in the area
full exif

Checking out the board to see which class he’s in
full exif

Notice everybody with their bright, shiny new randoseru, strictly color-coded according to gender, ’cause this is Japan
full exif

Another shot of the cherries and the temple up on the hill. Not a bad view for a playground.
full exif

I liked this rack of unicycles, which are popular in Japan for young children.
full exif

Now we come to his classroom, 一年生2組, or the second class (out of four) of the first-graders. His yellow hat, which only first-graders wear on the way to school, and various text books await him in his assigned seat. (I recently learned that even college students have assigned seats!)

Waiting for use
full exif

I love this next picture. He’s been in his chair less than 30 seconds and he’s ALREADY BORED! And, in grand Braverman tradition, not bothering to hide it. Notice the hook on the desk so the randoseru doesn’t get sullied by being put on the floor.

“When’s recess?”
full exif

These two are already friends, and he’s feeling a little left-out
full exif

His first teacher: Nagatani-sensei
full exif

I had to leave a little early to do some work, but everyone else went to the gym for a series of long and I’m sure excruciatingly boring speeches. Here are Genbo and his new classmates filing out of their room together for the first time.

full exif

The school abuts the canal (疎水) which brings water from Lake Biwa to Kyoto and then down to Osaka. Here is a shot of a cherry-lined section of the canal right near his school.

full exif

2 April 2011 First Graduation

Genbo graduated from daycare on March 19. It was a much bigger deal than I can imagine occurring in the States, with local petty politicians, representatives from local schools, etc. in attendance (and taking up the best seats).

Receiving his “diploma”
full exif

Here is mommy waiting for him to present the diploma to her and say “Thank You” (a tear-jerker moment)
full exif

Zoe took the opportunity to get dressed up
full exif

3 January 2011 Hatsu-moude

We went up to Maki’s parents’ house in Fukui for the first few days of the new year. It’s a lot colder there than it is here, so Genbo and Zoe were looking forward to playing in the snow. One of the first things we did was hatsu-moude, or the first visit to a shrine to wish for good health and happiness in the coming year.

All of us, together with Maki’s sister and niece
full exif

The first thing to do is stand in line to throw some money in the box for the resident spirits.

“Some filthy lucre for the Shinto deities please, mom”
full exif

Those thick ropes are attached to the bells, which you ring to wake up the spirits to watch you throw money in, clap your hands together three times, bow your head, and wish for good things.

Wakey, wakey, narcoleptic Shinto spirits
full exif

Here Genbo has just purchased some good-luck animistic schwag, this time in the form of a blessed arrow that will grace our home for the year and hopefully keep away the eviiiiiil spirits.

Genbo really liked the arrow and all the violence it represented
full exif

I was the main target.
full exif

Unfortunately, his arrow-inspired antics were severely impinged upon by…

…Severe Slush
full exif

I have no idea what the horse signifies, but the picturesque building in the background is the kura, or storehouse of the shrine.

full exif

All in all, I really like this shrine, called お総社 (“O-souja”). It’s kind of small-scale, old-fashioned, and down-home. Only people from the area come here, but they do so a lot. I think Maki used to play in the grounds when she was a little kid.

1 January 2011 1/1/11

Or, as they say in Japan, 11/1/1. Either way, happy new year!

Here are a couple shots from our balcony. We got record amounts of snow dumped on us on December 31, making for a beautiful new year’s morning. Even late at night on the first, most of this is already gone already…

full exif

full exif

7 December 2010 Dinosaurs and Oceans

A couple weeks ago we (Kids, Maki, mom, and I) went to a dinosaur exhibition at the Asia Trade Center in Osaka. It’s so funny watching Genbo accumulate a vast store of dinosaur-related knowledge when he knows so little about the rest of the world. Just yesterday he was able to correctly identify a scene on a BBC dinosaur documentary as occurring during the　Cretaceous because there was some kind of minor dinosaur around I had never even heard of, and that dinosaur, he knows, was from the Cretaceous.

I won’t bore you with a lot of dinosaur bone photos, but I kind of like this one, and was impressed at the 2500 ISO performance of my new D7000.

full exif

Dr. Dinosaur
full exif

Not one to be left out of the dino-action
full exif

Maki and I were surprised and delighted to see this ferry in the harbor. This is the one we took six years ago when moving from Oita to Kyoto. Boy was I happy to get out of Kyushu. I remember waiving the place a very enthusiastic goodbye from that boat.

A veritable Ark
full exif

We then walked across the street to the Osaka World Trade Center, the second-highest building in Japan at 55 storeys. We went up the observation deck, but the whole place was deserted, with an eerie ghost-mega-complex feel to it.

full exif

Genbo gives a dinosaur impression, while Zoe indulges in a little ear-feeling, finger-sucking, comfort-seeking
full exif

Now there are two!
full exif

full exif

That round building is the Osaka Maritime Museum, which actually looks pretty cool.

Literally, in Japanese, the “Osaka Sea Time and Space Building”
full exif

On the way home we stopped in at a local favorite of ours, with a couple tables and a counter. We started out at a table, but Genbo and Zoe liked to watch them prep the food from the counter, so they sat up their themselves, conversing with the proprietors and other patrons, while Maki and I sat back and laughed quietly.

One charmed proprietor
full exif

30 May 2010 Exposing the Kids to Theatre

On our trip to Kobe last Golden Week we went to a little amusement park on top of a mountain, which will be further explored in an upcoming post. Here I just want to share these shots of Genbo because they’re so precious. Because it was Golden Week and the place was packed, there were live shows all day. The two we took in were a clown show and a Shinkenja (Power-Rangers clone) show. These were of course completely boring for me, but I loved watching Genbo’s face go through all sorts of transformations, from gleeful to intent to semi-scared, and then back to gleeful again.

Japanese clownsThey were, I have to admit, pretty good
full exif & map

If only Genbo concentrated so hard when I try to explain something important…
full exif & map

Pure, unadultureated joyFunny, he doesn’t look like that when I play shakuhachi
full exif & map

full exif & map

Next came the Shinkenja, which Genbo picked up a thorough knowledge of despite the fact that we never watch these shows at our house. Here they are using the same sword as the one that he received for his fifth birthday, pictured at the end of this post. (Zoe got scared during this show and had to be taken away by mommy, although that didn’t stop her from stating her preference for the pink one.)

Good defeating evil(as always)
full exif & map

Literally a nail-biter for Genbo
full exif & map

Finally, I had to insert one cute shot of Zoe. This one is out in front of the Suma Aquarium.

full exif & map

24 May 2010 Play on the beach

Here are some pictures from the beach on our Golden Week trip to Kobe, first described here. This was really Zoe’s first exposure to the ocean as a full running, squealing, laughing human being, so it was fun to watch. And, Genbo was as unconsciously graceful in play as all 5 year olds unleashed on the world should be.

This one definitely captures Zoe’s assertive, indomitable style
full exif & map

full exif & map

A rare moment of rest
full exif & map

Run to waves. Run back. Repeat……indefintely
full exif & map

That exhausted but satisfied look of a parent watching their children playing

“Finally we can relax and let them go crazy”
full exif & map

full exif & map

full exif & map

full exif & map

20 May 2010 Zoe Turns 3

Yesterday was Zoe’s birthday. Being Wednesday, Maki had the day off, which was nice. We had thought long and hard as to what to get her for a birthday present, and since she is such a tomboy (being interested primarily in trains, Ultraman, and dinosaurs), we decided to give her a doll. Partly out of curiosity; partly desperation. She took to it well enough, which isn’t surprising considering that she does love babies, but I’m still skeptical as to whether or not it can hold up to brachiosaurus (her current favorite) in the long run.

Anyway, when we woke up she was happy to get the doll, but was much more excited about digging into her birthday cake. As it happens, it had been in the refrigerator since the day before. And, we didn’t have anything really good for breakfast anyway. So we threw all parenting norms out the window and had birthday cake for breakfast. Don’t tell anyone or they’ll take away our Wholesome Parents certificate. That is the reason this post is devoid of picturesque candle-lit images and heavy on the just-got-out-of-bed look. I’m glad I was behind the camera instead of in front of it.

Getting ready to blow out the candles(I think Genbo was saying “Not yet. Wait for mommy”)
full exif

For some reason she wanted a snowman cake
full exif

Her “I’m really happy” pose
full exif

(So cute it defies captioning)
full exif

Genbo in his Sausolito nightshirt
full exif

No petite or polite cake-eating in our house
full exif

For dinner we had ikura over rice (next to birthday cake, her favorite food).

full exif

9 May 2010 In Which My Kids Stick Out Their Tongues

This past Golden Week (the 5-day or so vacation at the beginning of May), we went down to Suma, which is right near Kobe on the coast. I wasn’t feeling particularly good the day we left (allergies or cold, never figured out which), and I was debating whether or not to take the camera at all. I settled on just taking my small little 35/1.8 lens. I’m pretty happy with this, both because it was light and forced me back into the prime lens way of thinking, in which you have only one focal length to frame your shots and must therefore get a little more creative.

These shots are on the train platform on the way there.

First Zoe…
full exif

Then Genbo…(Looks kind of special there, doesn’t he? )
full exif

Very impressive, honey……but it’s upside-down
full exif

Showing her current age: 2Definitely NOT the ubiquitous annoying Japanese peace sign. They know we don’t do that.
full exif

Her soon-to-be age: 3
full exif

Yes, I have a large-aperture lens, and abuse it at will(Last night I dreamt I bought the new $2,200 24/1.4 Nikkor. A good dream…)
full exif

11 February 2010 Keburikawa Onsen

As I explained in the previous post, Maki and I used to go to hotspring overnights in Kyushu a lot when we lived there. These places invariably only had 10-20 rooms, although with excellent service and food. I would be hesitant to take a 2 and a 5 year old to such a place, however. So, for this excursion, our first such overnight since Genbo was born, we chose a larger hotel. The onsen, Keburikawa in Kameoka, was in fact bigger and more institutional than both of us expected. At first I was a little disappointed by this, but our room was still excellent, and the size of the place meant that we didn’t have to keep Genbo and Zoe on such a tight leash (reducing stress). I was extremely glad that we decided at the last minute to spring for the room with its own outside bath; it really made the trip for us.

Here’s the balcony off our room, with its private bath made of shigaraki pottery. In Japanese it’s called a rotenburo, which Genbo still thinks is an English word because he learned it at a friend’s house in the States where there is an outside hot-tub. It’s hilarious to hear him pronounce this very Japanese word with an American accent.

“Roten-buuurrow”
full exif & map

Here’s our room shot from outside on the balcony. Very nice and spacious.

“Japanese modern” was the style of the decor
full exif & map

Wearing yukata, or simple kimono, is one of the pleasures of any onsen. Here is Zoe in hers, while Genbo waits in his skivies for his larger size to be delivered (he is, to put it mildly, taller than most Japanese 5-year olds). I particularly cherish this picture because Zoe, being a little bit more reserved than her brother, doesn’t often give the camera her full-wattage smile.

full exif & map

Much frolicking was had…

Where’s Zoe’s head?
full exif & map

…and jumping too and fro…

I used to do the same exact thing in hotels, I remember.
full exif & map

Finally, Genbo’s yukata arrives.

Reporting for silliness, Sir!
full exif & map

Onsen exist just as much for the food as the baths, and the fact that you pay by the person instead of by the room attests to where much of your money goes. Although at smaller onsen you usually eat in your room, here there was a restaurant, where everybody was knocking back beer and sake in their yukatas. You had a choice of three different meals, and we chose the wild boar, which is apparently a local specialty.

So glad I’m not a vegetarian
full exif & map

Before dinner we had gone to the large public (gender-divided) baths, but after dinner we filled our own private one. It was raining outside, which just added to the atmosphere.

Just big enough for two large and two small
full exif & map

It was a long day for Zoe, who curled up in her favorite place before bed and didn’t even have the energy to bat my camera away or shield her face.

Comfy
full exif & map