Christmas Eve in Tokyo - 2012

One of the best things about moving to Tokyo was the fact that the move came with an instantaneous circle of friends and I was automatically welcomed into it.  There are about 25 girls working in Trey's office here in Tokyo and from the moment I landed here they have offered me their friendship, welcomed me into their community and most recently they have celebrated Christmas Eve with us.  They are beautiful, outgoing, smart and funny women and so a good time is guaranteed anytime they are around.

the house is ready...

Trey and I decided to stay in Japan for the Holidays this year.  With his busy work schedule and all the traveling he has done this year, the last thing we wanted to do was to pack again!  Of course, the decision was not easy as we both agree the Holidays are more meaningful with loved ones around.  Trey and I have a good time together just the two of us, but the Holiday spirit has to be shared and spread to the masses :o).  So we decided to surround ourselves with loved friends this year.  Christmas is not widely celebrated in Japan/Tokyo...I mean, the city is decorated and there seems to be a shopping frenzy in the last 4 weeks but in general they don't put up Christmas trees or exchange Christmas presents at home.  That didn't stop the group from joining us on Christmas Eve and celebrating the Holiday as it if was their own.

Our 6 guests (all girls; Trey and Huey (our puppy) were the only boys and they stuck together the whole night!) arrived with gifts...and by gifts I mean alcohol and sweets mainly :).  They say Japanese women have 2 stomachs, one for regular food and one for dessert - if that's the case then I can easily pass for Japanese!  We got sparkling wine, traditional Japanese cookies, cheese and crackers, ice cream (12 individually packaged ice cream servings in 12 different flavors), more cookies (ginger bread cookies & sugar cookies), flowers and the cutest miniature "bakery display" handmade by the mother of one of the girls - by the way "the girls" have names - Yuki & Yumi, Makoto, Yuko & Yoko and little Mayu - Yuko's daughter celebrated Christmas Eve with us.  They are awesome!

they are here!

Trey surrounded by Japanese beauties...

We had very non-traditional appetizers and dinner followed by home made brownies, cookies, ice cream and apple pie while a Nat King Cole CD packed with Christmas classics played in the background and The Polar Express played on the TV silently - I love that movie!  I bought the apple pie in an attempt to treat our guests so at least a sliver of American tradition only to find out - upon closer inspection of the box - that it was "Hecho en Méjico" - hahaha!!!!

pasta, salmon & broccoli for Xmas dinner....hmmmmm

Somehow as the night progressed and the sparkling wine AND non-sparkling wine AND the beer supply was depleted, we ended up jamming to Don Henley and the Eagles...not very Christmas-sey but a lot of fun!

Christmas Eve in Tokyo - 2012 lacked most - actually all - of the elements of how we traditionally celebrate Christmas back at home, but it was full of warmth, friendship, good chatter, great company and a lot of laughter - a VERY special Christmas thanks to this group of VERY lovely ladies!

Merry Christmas!  メリークリスマス! (Merīkurisumasu!)

New Year's is next!  I am excited for 2013...Actually the beginning of a New Year is always exciting...a clean slate and fresh start.  A new set of 12 months full of endless possibilities!

This will most likely be the last posting of this year so I want to wish you all a 2013 full of love, happiness, unexpected magic and good health!

{ PICTURES } to see more pictures from Christmas Eve and to meet, Yuki, Yumi, Yoko, Yuko, Makoto and Mayu, click here.  I posted them on Simply Mad Jewelry's page on Facebook :o)

Next time, I will tell you about New Year's in Tokyo (Bonenkai) - which they DO celebrate.  Until then, enjoy your holidays, and go out and explore an place you have never been to.

Kamakura, unexpected colors and celebrations!

K A M A K U R A…I love saying that word.  K-A-M-A-K-U-R-A is about an hour southwest of Tokyo.  I had never heard about K A M A K U R A until this past spring.  Hydrangeas – my favorite flowers for how perfectly symmetrical they are…round bunches of pretty – anyway, they bloom in June during rainy season and apparently K A M A K U R A (ok, ok! I will stop typing it like that, I will just call it K from now on) is the place to go to see these pretty things bloom.  With nothing but wedding plans in my head June came and went and I never made it to Kamakura.   Then, fall came – my favorite season – and again I was told Kamakura was the place to go to see fall foliage.  I had already missed my favorite flower; I wasn’t about to miss my favorite season!

I did a little research about K, decided what sights I wanted to visit, told Trey to get dressed (hahaha!) and we headed out to the train station.  We took the 1-hour ride to Kamakura; we got off the train and stopped at the info desk just to make sure we were heading in the right direction.  The lady behind the desk pointed to a large "torii" (if you read the last entry you know a "torii" marks the entrance to a shrine:o)) framing the beginning of a narrow street and said: “you can start there, it is the main shopping street and it will lead you to blah, blah, blah” – I lost her after shopping.  Did she say shopping?!?!?  All of a sudden I forgot about the gorgeous brown, golden, deep red, orange colors I had travelled an hour to see.  We had to start with the “shopping street” surely we were bound to bump into some tress.  Well…not so much! 

We walked the quaint narrow street, looked in the shops, bought some knick-knacks when all of a sudden we were at the entrance of a shrine.  A shrine surrounded by trees, trees and more trees – all of which were the healthiest and shiniest shade of green and had every leaf still attached – WHAT?!?!?!?!  It was November 18, I mean we are 2 months into fall…do these tress not know it is time to turn colors and lose the leaves?  I was disappointed but just for a second because….

From the green trees we looked down to see, not fall colors, but the most colorful display of Japanese cuteness!  Every little girl at this shrine – and there were many! – was wearing a tiny kimono with the brightest colors contrasting beautifully with their dark hair.  Small boys were wearing traditional Japanese ensemble as well.  Unbeknownst to use we had just stumbled upon Shichigosan.  Shichi means 7, Go means 5 and San means 3; 7-5-3.  Odd numbers are considered lucky numbers and so every year in mid November girls age 3 & 7 and boys age 3 & 5 are celebrated, they get dressed up and taken to the shrine.  In the shrine, parents give thanks for their children and their health and pray for their protection.  I love festivals, rituals and traditions and this one will be without a doubt one of the most memorable ones.  Just look at those pictures!!!

As if Shichigosan wasn’t enough, after taking all the colors and harassing every 3, 5 & 7 year old in the shrine for some photos, we stumble upon another unexpected sight…a wedding…A Japanese wedding!  It was my lucky day!  Gorgeous bride dressed in a gorgeous and perfectly white traditional wedding gown.

We caught the end of the ceremony which meant we were able to see them walk out to the open area of the shrine where I stalked them to take their pictures…well…I had to show you!

After so many celebrations, beautiful colors and excitement we were hungry people!  We just picked a random noodle place…Lunch was interesting - a foreigner from the table next to ours was surveying every table to se what they were having.  The problem was she didn’t speak Japanese and aside from Trey and I EVERYONE in the place was Japanese!  For the love of God lady! Order some noodles and let everyone else eat in peace!!  Just pick a picture you like on the menu, point at it and make the #1 with your index finger and then bow your head in gratitude.  Ay ay ay!

Once our bellies were full and happy, we headed to the Great Buddha of Kamakura (Kamakura Daibutsu in Japanese).  They were not kidding when they named it “Great” it measures 13.35 meters/43 ½ feet high. 

It has a loooooonngggg history and something really interesting about it.  It was cast in the year 1252, that was…hmmm….760 years ago!!! And here is the interesting part; when it was first built it actually sat inside a temple not out in the open space like it is today.  But the temple’s buildings were destroyed after a typhoon and a tidal wave in the 14^th and 15^th centuries and the mighty Buddha has been sitting there without shelter (and survived mind you) since 1495.  Stuff like that just blows my mind away…how some buildings, paintings, etc can stand the test of time.  I always find it fun to picture what the area or city looked like that many years ago, in this case I pictured lovely ladies dressed in Kimonos, holding parasols and strolling down narrow streets – all in black and white of course.  Soooo cool!!!

K was an unexpected surprise with so many colors and joyful celebrations…Kimonos are just awesomely pretty but when you shrink them to the size of a 3 year old what you get is just pure adorable-ness!!!  K A M A K U R A…quaint and charming town and for sure I will NOT miss the hydrangeas next June should I be lucky enough to still be here in Japan!

Tell me about your travels…what places have you been to?  Where would you like to go?  What kind of traveler are you?  History, food, culture, shopping…what interests you?

To see more colorful pictures from Kamakura, click here.  Follow me here for more from Japan and a little bit of everything else!!!

Next:  Bonenkai, year-end party!  Until then…go out and explore a new place!

Mad

Shrines vs Temples; what are the differnces?

A few weeks ago (sorry it has taken so long for this “follow up” posting) I blogged about Ueno Park and how my visit to the park sparked the curiosity to learn the differences between Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples – both of which abound in Japan.  Shinto, original Japanese religion and Buddhism, imported from China in the 6^th century, are the two most practiced religions in Japan – or at least they were in decades past.  Nowadays, it seems a very small % of Japanese follow or practice any religion at all.

My quest to find answers to my questions and identify the differences between the two began online but then I got smart and ask my friend Miyuki if I could “interview” her. What follows is a compilation of Miyuki’s contribution, coupled with bits and pieces found in www.nihonsun.com, www.mustlovejapan.com and (of course) www.wikipedia.com.

Here it goes…

Let’s pretend it is a beautiful fall day in Tokyo and you are out and about for day of discovery.  You have just finished an “oishī” (delicious) lunch with sushi and miso soup, and now you are in search of temples and shrines, shrines and temples. 

Torii...gate to a Shinto Shrine...not found in Buddhist Temple

Walking down the street you go until you see what looks like a temple or, wait a minute!  Is it a shrine? You are not sure and that’s the very reason you are exploring!  Well, if you are standing under or near a gigantic gate (called torii - usually red) then you have entered or are about to enter a Shinto shrine.  If you look a little closer you will also see statues of lions or dogs flanking main structure.  As you go further into this shrine you will see a large washbasin with long-handled ladles.  Time to purify yourself!  You MUST wash your hands and mouth before you continue. 

  

Washing your hands purifies your body and washing your mouth purifies your soul.  After you are pure, then you are ready to proceed and go all the way in and reach the statue of ….hmmmm…..well….a higher being  (kami in Japanese) – for lack of a better term.  There seems to be some discrepancy about whether these statues are gods, spirits, elements of nature or ancestors or all of the above.   You will not see our jolly-big-bellied friend Buddha anywhere near a Shrine…Buddha lives in temples.

wahsbasin to clean hands and mouth...purify!

Now that you have purified yourself, it is time to pray but WAIT!  Do not press your palms together and bring them to your chest…that’s not what a Shinto worshiper looks like.  Instead you will stand in front of the kami statue, you will bow twice, clap twice to wake up the kami and make sure he is listening (I am not making this up), then bow once more…WAIT you are not done yet!  After that single bow, look around you, you will find a box with what looks like a grill on top, do you see it?  That’s where your much appreciated donation goes…so chop, chop…produce some coins and make a contribution.  NOW, you are ready to pray!  Tell kami all about your dreams and whishes, ask for what you need and want and do not forget to say thank you for what you have.

"saisen-bako" - donation box...do NOT skip this step!

incense burner

Now, you are done at the Shrine, take a few pictures and enjoy the scenery – Shrines are usually surrounded by great natural beauty.  As you continue your journey of exploration, you are sure to come across a Buddhist Temple.  How do I know?  Well, there are many so you are bound to see one even if you don't want to, but you do, right?  How do you know you have encountered a Buddhist Temple, you may ask?  Aha!  Well, for starters there is no red gate/torii visible.  Buddha doesn’t require purification so you will not see the washbasin.  It seems Buddha is always on duty as you will not see any Buddhists clapping their hands to wake him up either.  You will, however, find burning incense believed to have healing powers.  Get beyond the incense and you will see a, most likely, ginormous statue of Buddha.  Most Buddha statues I have seen around here don't look like the jolly, big-bellied figurine my mother used to have and whose belly she used to rub for good luck.  

incense burner

Once in front of the statue DO press your palms together and place them against your forehead, this is the time to say your prayers.  If there are other statues in the Temple make sure you say a prayer to all of them so no one gets upset but always start with Buddha.  In case the towering statue of Buddha is not enough confirmation that you are in a Buddhist Temple, look around and up to find a large, huge Chinese bell or a Chinese gong or a Chinese drum or all three for additional confirmation.  Buddhism came from China, remember?

statues of Buddha

    
Both Shinto Shrines and Buddhist Temples have “ema” & “omikuji”.  “Ema” are thin wooden blocks where people write their prayers and wishes.  “Omikuji” are pieces of     paper with “fortunes” written on them.  They are folded and tied to a tree or a string.  You are meant to take one and unfold it to reveal your fortune, kinda like a fortune cookie without the cookie.

"ema"

omikuji

One last thing, if you have the fortune to witness a Japanese wedding, then you are in a Shrine.  If you come a cross a funeral you are in a Temple.  Not sure why, but weddings are held in Shrines & funerals in Temples.

Hope you found this interesting.  Something to talk about around the water cooler tomorrow or at the dinner table tonight ;)

Please feel free to share comments, questions or pictures…

Next: Kamakura: unexpected colors & celebrations!

Until then...go explore a new place!