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Published: January 20th 2008
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Jess at Oginos
Here's Jess with her kimono on at the Oginos' house. The New Year in Japan meant celebrations galore and new opportunities to experience Japanese culture for Jessie and me.
Our friends here in Minami-Alps City treated us to experiences including searching out local monkeys and visiting the Mt. Fuji area.
One question we’re asked here quite a bit is, “Is Japanese winter cold for you?”
We try not to laugh, but say, no, it is not too cold. In fact, it’s been in the 40s and 50s here for a high most of the winter, and although the coldest is yet to come, we’re not too concerned. We miss a lot of things about home, but slick roads and frozen extremities are not among them. And, surprisingly, you get used to the kerosene heater smell pretty fast. Or maybe the fumes just kill your olfactory-responsible brain cells.
Because it’s been so nice, we have been able to spend Jessie’s time off from school traveling with friends and by ourselves, unintentionally hitchhiking to train stations and simply exploring the area by any means possible. Yes, life is different without a car!
When we want a carefree trip, we find someone with a car, or rather, they find us and we agree to
Both in kimonos
Mr. Ogino let me try on an extra male kimono he had -- much more simple than the ladies kimono. go with them.
One of my students invited us to take part in a traditional New Year celebration at midnight at the local Shinto shrine. The experience was complete with dancers in elaborate animal costumes and people standing in line to pray. We think we'll remember some of those images forever.
One day one of our American friends said he was taking us “monkey hunting.” We were thrilled and had been hoping to see a monkey ever since our arrival. And did we ever. As our excursion wound us around the local foothills, with cameras poised, I spotted one and yelled at our friend to stop the car. As we clamored out of the vehicle, we began to see more monkeys, and more monkeys, and all of a sudden we were looking at dozens of them. It was a herd of monkeys crossing the road to get to the leaves and such on the other side.
The monkeys here are the most plentiful of the larger wildlife to be found. When you add up the land area of Japan, it’s the size of Montana - only really crowded. And because much of its land area is mountainous, it takes a
Tea ceremony
Mrs. Ogino taught us how to do the tea ceremony -- quite a treat. flexible animal to survive, and the monkeys do just fine. The babies are the size of large rabbits and the adults are the size of large dogs - imposing figures that you’re not supposed to look in the eye, at the risk of physical confrontation.
But that danger was the furthest thing from our minds as we tried to sneak up on the little guys, although they knew exactly where we were and what we were up to.
We must have looked pretty hilarious to the locals. Three white people tracking monkeys that probably live right in their neighborhood. Nothing like drawing attention to ourselves: that’s something we will never need help with.
On another less spontaneous occasion, a nice couple named the Oginos brought us kimono shopping a couple weeks ago. I tagged along as they whisked Jessie off to find a traditional Japanese ceremonial garment. We knew the challenge would be finding one long enough, especially at a used kimono shop. New kimonos cost thousands of dollars, so we went the second-hand route! To make a long story short, in a shop filled with hundreds of garments, we found three that were her size, and one that looked
Fuji lake reflection
We had very nice weather for our trip to the Fuji area. really good on her. So, the decision was an easy one. The shop owners tucked and prodded until Jessie’s kimono fit her just right, and after thanking them profusely for their help, we were off. Her kimono was made in Kyoto and is very old, but it's silk and hand-stitched, so it would have been a few thousand dollars new.
One thing about this experience we just can't get over, even after five months, is our celebrity. Any time we duck into a local shop or ask someone for directions we’re pretty sure they’re planning how they’ll tell their friends about their encounter with the Americans. In fact, upon asking a couple for directions to a small train station, they figured it would be easier to just drive us there.
We’re still not used to the giggles and the gawking, but we’re going out and experiencing so many things, from a weekend retreat with our friends from church to a trip to Fuji with a Peruvian-Japanese guy we know.
Lastly, on a more important note, I was told the other day that I look just like Bruce Willis. Yes, he was completely serious, and I'm clutching on to that bit
By the lake
The photo for the 1,000 yen bill was taken from around where we're standing. Johji was very proud of that fact. of flattery for dear life.
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joie
non-member comment
hahaha
so super excited about the monkeys :)