Ichi Gatsu

Konnichiwa!  Shiarashe atawashii toshi!  Hello and Happy New Year!  Happy 2012!  We welcome 2012 with open arms.  It was nearly 4 years ago that we embarked on this journey with the United States Navy...the year has arrived when we will say goodbye and venture back to the home of the brave, and the Royals and the Chiefs and of course the Jayhawks!  We cannot wait.  In the mean time we plan to enjoy our time here in Japan while it lasts.  January was another fun filled month for us.  The weather was a bit somber most of the time but the sun came out enough to keep our spirits up.

These first few photos are from January 2nd...we certainly don't see days like this in KC in January (although this year perhaps comes close).  It got close to 80 degrees and we ventured north to Cape Teniya in Higashiama Village on the NE coast of Okinawa with Ellie and Maddi for some beach combing.

Maddi cannot stay out of the water...her ears are paying the price big time

Good lookin' pups!

Katie down for an after lunch nap...on the beach...in January!

Ellie showing us her right arm

Ahhh the sunshine!!!

Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend we decided to venture up to the main island of Honshu to a town called Minakami.  Minakami is in the mountains about a two hour high speed train NE of Tokyo.  Minakami is located right in the middle of the Tanikawa Onsen or hot springs.  We are happy to report the mountains of Japan are beautiful country.  The transition happens so fast too...one minute it is 40 degrees with no snow and 30 minutes later it is 25 with three feet of snow on the ground.  We were very excited to see real snow for the first time in roughly 4 years.  We were also very excited to stay at a luxury Ryokan.  A ryokan is a Japanese bed and breakfast of sorts.  They pride themselves on service and we can attest it is usually exceptional and this time was no...exception.  Needless to say we had a wonderful time.  We had some wonderful wagyu beef, lots of uni (sea urchin) and we got a taste of the infamous fugu or poison blowfish.  Ellie got to play in the snow (which she is currently NOT a fan of).  And to top it off we had our very own rotemburo (outdoor stone tub) filled with water from the hot springs that run just outside.  The water comes out of the ground about 48 Celsius which is close to 120 Fahrenheit.  But being outside the water cools a bit to the perfect temperature for drinking wine, beer, sake or anything else you might like while just relaxing away as the snow falls.  Oh yeah...one more thing...you don't wear clothes at an onsen in Japan.  This sounds crazy to us westerners but hey...when in Japan what else can you do except what the Japanese do!  Of course it doesn't make much difference when you have a private onsen tub but they have public ones too.  In the spirit of modesty Ellie is the only one who made the blog while enjoying the onsen.   Below are several photos from our trip.

It is 6am in Okinawa, getting in the car.  Temperature outside 72

Now we hop a plane up to Tokyo...Ellie knows just what to do by  now

It is now 11:30 and we are at Tokyo Station getting on a shinkansen or high speed train.  Temperature outside 45

It is now 1pm and we are taking our 4th form of transportation up to Minakami...temperature outside 29

Finally in Minakami and the Ryokan Bettei Senjuan is picking us up...Temperature outside 25

We found these wine 'bags' if you will at Tokyo station...if you ever want some wine on the go this is it!

We can see the mountains coming...

This is Ellie sitting on the shinkansen 'just like mommy'

Minakami Station is about 1/10,000th the size of Tokyo Station

They don't use car seats much in Japan...much to Ellie's delight.

The road up to Bettei Senjyaun Ryokan

Ellie has never seen snow quite like this before

Our private dinning room for our keiseki dinner

real wasabi...not like the green stuff from a tube

Ellie loves miso soup

Japanese ryokan dinner dress

surf and turf...beef and scallop sashimi on the left side

Grilled local char...awesome!

Some more wagyu beef

Katie timidly tries her first bit of Fugu

More wagyu, more scallops in some sauce on some kind of big leaf that you throw on the coals in the background

This is a bowl of Minakami soba and konbu seaweed tea

Some more fugu...honestly doesn't taste like much

Our beds were made when we returned from dinner...don't let the cushyness fool you...the pillows in the country are miserable!

Ellie chillin' in the rotemburo

Ellie has never experienced this before

5 minutes later Ellie is now crying

We warmed up in the library with a fireplace...Ellie and Katie are writing some post cards

Seriously just before this photo Ellie asked where the beach was

downtown Minakami

The sign next to Ellie says Minakami

Gotta include a naked toddler photo...right?

We end with Ellie getting ready to board the shinkansen back to Tokyo

We had a blast this month.  Drank some more good wine...check out our growing list of great bottles (or so we think).  As of this post we officially have 228 days (or about 7 1/2 months) left in Japan (although probably will be less).  Sayonnara until next time!!