Kahori and Ischin in California~

Kahori, Ischin and Zen, with Taka and me, at Mr. Toots Coffee shop, near our home in Capitola, California.
A beautiful day...only a few with Ischin and Kahori there together...

Not a whole lot of sight seeing... but some good Food and Drink!!! Uncle Lynn recommended Ischin try this lot of ten beers to taste test (we helped him of course). I'm afraid that was enough beer for the rest of Ischin's life?!

And a night before I had to leave them for a short trip to Japan, we got to have Lorraine, Grandmom, Uncle Lynn over to our apartment for a Japanese dinner.

We have been using Grandmom's great big dinner table, so we all fit in and enjoyed FAMILY and of course good food!!!

Once again, within the month, back to Japan

I needed to get back to Japan to finish tax work, but the more wonderful event will be our daughter, Sheon-chan, her Coming of Age Ceremony, SEIJINSHIKI...oh, what's the kanji?

成人式? All the kids who turned twenty years old last year take part in this. And do they get decked out!!! It's also sort of a reunion for them as well~

The morning the day before the ceremony, I went with Sheon to this rental clothing shop, where Naomi had also gone for her SEIJINSHIKI.

Surrounded by kimonos, Sheon-chan. waiting for the woman to bring her OBI, the belt Sheon was renting to wear with her kimono.

Below, the woman showing us how the OBI looks with her kimono

Sheon told me, the day she went to choose one OBI to match her kimono, she was exhausted tired, and didn't take the time to choose carefully. Sheon dreaded that she'd chosen the wrong design and colors to match, so had even begun thinking she would give up going to this ceremony because of this "mistake".

However, the women commended her, and with smiles they set about trying it on casually. Not putting it on seriously yet. That will be another woman being paid the morning of the ceremony to dress Sheon properly.

So, here, casually and on top of what Sheon was wearing the woman shows Sheon how it's going to look basically.

Tying that OBI in the back too muscle!!! I missed taking a photo of the woman getting into quite the stance to pull through the ends of the Obi to make a loose fitting tie. Muscle!

And Sheon-chan looking happier!!

Yes, real fur, borrowed! Compliments of Kahori (Thank you so much Kahori for helping our little girl get everything together!!! )

The woman had a nice list to check with Sheon that she had all the proper pieces and ties in this case, also borrowed from Kahori. And then one special accessory from Sheon's Oba-chan. Oba-chan and Oji-chan, her Japanese Grandparents. They were with our older kids for this special day, but they have both passed away. Sheon has this from Oba-chan to wear though. A special set of hair pieces.

Paying to borrow that OBI, more than $100.00.

On the way out, a display... I've been informed, it's just to show off whatt this tie will look like on the BACK, though at first I thought they were dressing young women with it looking like THIS on the front!

I left Sheon, she went off to finish getting her nails done...go to a tanning salon...shop for more hair pieces, get her hair done, and then the ceremonial day will begin the next morning!

Me, I raced off to see a basketball game! Got there for the fourth quarter to see YUTO! And his coach Kitabayashi, the last quarter of a tournament game, where Yuto played wonderfully, along with other old teammates of Zen's.

After the win!!

My First-Born's in the U.S. for New Year's!!

Taka and I went to SF airport 12/31/09 to meet Ischin-kun and Kahori.

Is it only SF Airport that has these cool cameras to see people getting through the exit doors from Immigration and heading out to all of us waiting to pick them up?

Ischin's GREEN SWEATER!!! FINALLY, after waiting almost two hours the computers went down for the foreigners. So, Ischin with his U.S. passport could get through,
but he had to wait for Kahori to get through

Ohhh, the dear tired buggers made it!!

We whipped them out of there to travel out of the airport. 11am. Their flight for the countdown in Las Vegas was at 4:30 pm

We took them to Golden Gate Bridge!!!

At Fisherman's Wharf, to get a bite to eat and a little shopping in, where we parked was this beautiful woman cop on a horse posing for everyone brave enough to stand next to that big powerful horse.

Then back to the airport, to watch them wearily proceed onto their next leg of the trip.

The day before we got to visit with Victor, Aria and Rue at the final game of a three day tournament which Zen's H.S. team was in.

Rue and Zen. Looking like SUCH the brothers!!!

California Christmas '09

Taka and I, in front of our little living Christmas tree, Grandmom lent it to us again this year.

Our Christmas presents from Ischin and Kahori for us!!! Can you tell? I'm blowing them a kiss~~

Dinner at Uncle Lynn and Lorraine's with everyone

Back to California and right into Basketball

I left Japan December 10th.
Noon.
And flew into San Francisco December 10th, 8am.
Taka came for me, and I got in an hour nap before the start of a yearly basketball three day tournament called The Dad's Club.
Zen's team, Santa Cruz High, won the first game.
The second game was against a rival school, which they lost to last year by one point.
This year... well can you see the news?

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/ci_13983539?source=most_viewed

These were the two last shots Zen made, to win the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSpVTHqam2g

Here's their team:

The last jobs and "last meal" in Japan

We have had a basketball hoop for Zen on the road by our school-house for years. The last typoon knocked it over (thank goodness not onto Ischin's car!). But then we knew it was time to say "good-bye" to the much appreciated and well used equipment.
I had the job of disassembling it.
I worked at figuring out how to pull out the rusted bars and screws, using Japanese style WD-40 (called: "5-54", Taka doesn't know what it means!) and screw drivers and hammer (I've always LOVED using tools and doing that kind of thing! When I was in 8th grade I asked to be put into woodshop, NOT home-ec with all the girls! I was the only girl in woodshop- SO COOL!!!)




So, I managed to get it apart into three large parts. And then I had an old friend, actually old student, now friend, Yasuyo. who would come in a little Japanese pick up to help me take it to the recycle center.
It was a race to get there before they closed, but they all were waiting for us (a photo of them would have been awesome to show you!!!). They finished tearing parts apart and we were waved away to leave.

Efficiency at it's best as they say! xoxoxo
It had been part of our home for the past five years.Helping Zen to master the sport.











The other work I wanted to show you Is how I've tried to manage
knife sharpening.
Not as incredible as it may sound, but for "simple" kitchen knives, I've learned how much more sharp Japanese knives are. I come back to America and am so shocked by the dull knives. My ex-mother-in-law always sharpened her knives on a sandstone and they were seriously dangerous.


I'm ashamed to say, I can't read Japanese after 23 years, but I can study pictures rather well. The drawings of "what to do next" are explanation enough, really. Well, should be.

And who can't love how amazingly well a knife can cut?!

The last night for me in Japan with Sheon, next to me, and next to her Kahori, and Ischin.

In the back ground, Hiromi and Naoki, both students, and the teacher for the school and her husband.

Then I went home to finish packing. For departure the next morning.

To see my son, Zen, in his school's first season game. This is his team's photo in Oakland Coliseum after they played and beat a league team in a preseason game recently, by about 30 points.

Akko-chan's baby! The Work of that and other work

Akko-chan's baby was born November 14th I think. We visited when he, Teruma, was 10 days old. Akko-chan, at 28.
With her first AKKA-CHAN 赤ちゃん("baby") and Naomi

Naomi and me getting a baby dose. No, I don't feel it in me to be a grandma myself yet. Even though my oldest boy is almost 26 and Naomi's 23. It's not in the air yet.

So, another sort of "work". Here is one of our classes, at a cram school, at 9:30 pm the new teacher for my school Elaine, finishes teaching perhaps the most challenging class we have. But, they look innocent enough! Well, the most innocent are the girls who wouldn't turn around for my photo. The owner, Miyuki Kurono, on the right, an amazing woman teaching for kids all year round late into the nights.

And on the homefront, Sylvester does his thing~ the real work is keeping mice out of our kitchen. Outside he wants to practice on birds though.