Aki Thanksgiving!

Aki means Autumn or Fall in Japanese, and Fall means no more sticky cloud of humidity curling and frizzing my hair whenever I step outside.

Pretty much my hair after a 30-minute bike ride

  It also means gorgeous trees turning colors in the various parks around the city.  There are bigger areas of trees, but seeing them is kinda only possible by taking a train or car, so basically we have to leave town to see serious foliage. A great guide to seeing leaves in Japan is found on this link.  We are going to Osaka and Kyoto next week and will hopefully get some great pictures with the kids.

 Apparently even a TEENSY cluster of dead leaves on the city sidewalks or streets is unacceptable here, so they actually have crews of men that appear to be the official Leaf Patrol.  I only wish I'd had a camera the day the Hiroo Leaf Patrol team arrived. A crew of roughly 30 uniformed, helmeted, VERY SERIOUS "Leaf Men" set up cones around every tree on our pretty little tree-lined street.  

Japanese "Helmet-Police" on the lookout

Round hard-hat helmets are a staple here.  Our policemen look like little stormtroopers in their white helmets and tight little vests.  Not fair, because there is another group on the streets with helmets and I can't read, so I don't know if they are law enforcement or maybe construction workers, as something is always being repaired.  To be safe, I do the polite low-bowing and backing up maneuver everyone does here...but whenever I do this I'm pretty sure I look like a hen pecking for corn in the barnyard.

My bowing technique

Anyway, the police directed traffic around the tree-cones while Leaf-teams of 3 scurried up ladders to remove, by hand, every leaf on the trees before the colors really even had a chance to develop.  No fallen leaves anywhere in THIS town!!!  

I was about to snag a fallen leaf as a memento, but the unsmiling Leaf Police looked at me and I panicked.  I think leaf-collecting might be a crime here.

  

Wren-san (me) would not be happy in the Japanese bird cage.

The patrol is still out standing guard this week, carefully watching the rebel leaves in the very tip top, where the ladders wouldn't reach.  This is a very serious Patrol team.

Fall began for us rather suddenly, like someone flipped a light switch and turned off Summer...no bouncing back and forth with temperatures.  

Cool air blew in and now our days hover at 60, with occasional jumps to 65.  Nights range between 45 and 50.  We get a lot of wind now and it rains at least a little almost every day.  We are in our peak typhoon season right now, which is later than usual this year, running roughly from late-September through all of November.   So, yeah....rain.  I stay under my blankie as much as possible....which means rarely.

We always find time for fun with friends though!

Our Fall started out with JE attending a cool craft-making birthday party.

October mostly means Halloween, of course, to the children.  Halloween is different from what we were used to at home, but still fun and a very big deal to the Japanese.  There was a huge parade at the school followed by campus wide trick-or-treating and a full day of class parties and festival games.

JE and friend PJ

First hand to answer teacher's question! Mine always has something to say!

Someone loves being the center of attention!!

Awesome ghost cupcakes!!

JE and a lot of her friends went Trick-or-Treating at the American Compound (military family residency) next to the American Embassy!  Military families have access to the big decorations and massive quantities of HUGE American candy options, so the kids find familiar looking treats here.   I am still trying to figure out a way into the Compound so I can buy groceries at the base!!!  They have BACON!!!! They have CRACKERS!  THEY HAVE PO-BOYS and BARBECUE CHIPS!!! They have real CEREAL!!!  I covet.

JE and her "peeps" out on the prowl


The Japanese families have embraced the Trick or Treat tradition only in the last decade, having observed our customary celebrations taking place in the American expat community.  The Japanese parents put a lot of effort into their children's (and often their own) costumes, and there are elaborate parades all week, with thousands of people participating.
 In typical Japanese fashion, Trick-or-Treating here is very organized, with a precise beginning and end, and all that just seems to be "understood" as there is no rule book or enforcement needed.  The trick or treating Japanese children start arriving (with a parent) at 5:00 pm and all trick-or-treating stops promptly at 7:00pm.  That two hours was exhausting...droves of little children arrive into American residential areas from areas far and wide.  The older (and also VERY polite) kids come out, but not so many of them, with most of the teenage girls looking like gorgeous runway models.  The few teen boys that participate lean toward Disney characters, athletes or no costume at all.  

Grant and his crowd at a friend's house before their Trick-or-Treating began...
Somehow at the end of the evening, my son finagled the Tigger costume and wore it home!
Why? He said he wanted Tigger because Tigger was warm!!!

Scary costumes aren't popular here and we did not see any (except on Americans)...the little children dress mostly as cartoon or Disney characters, princesses or little policemen, ninja and samurai. Their mothers beam as their shy tots carefully and politely pronounce "Trick or Treat" and then, MUCH more important to the mothers, they say "Thank you very much" to EVERY participating family.  If that step is not heard by the mother, the child is calmly escorted back to show the appropriate appreciation.  They are not used to the massive quantities of candy our children expect, nor can they fathom eating a King-Size anything, so they are thrilled with a lollipop, but squeal with delight for cool candy bars and M&Ms.  I handed one child two pieces of candy so he could give one to his baby-sister sitting in her stroller.  His mother walked back up the hill to our house to return the extra one, saying "Too many pieces....so very sorry."  Wow.  The Japanese children loved seeing the American decorations, astonished by the small glowing Jack-o-Lantern my friend Stephanie had carved.  It was so nice to see every effort so rewarded by their happy little faces!!!

That must be a Plain M&M, because my kid is the NUT!

This still seems like just yesterday!

PROJECTS

     Okay, so what am I doing in this lovely weather?  Well, on Fridays I volunteer for a Feed-the- Hungry campaign, so I ride my bike to the church to make onigiri with a great group of people from all over the world.  The church distributes onigiri to the homeless 365 days a year so the onigiri cakes are prepared daily and deliver starts around 5:30 the next morning.  The church also gives out fruit on the weekends and hand warmers (hokaron) in the winter months.  Gloves and cookies are given out on Christmas Day.  Additionally, the church collects airline and hotel amenity kits with razors, toothbrushes, etc. for distribution throughout the year.

      Onigiri are little cakes made of sticky rice, and we make ours with a pickled little plum in the center.
Onigiri cakes are usually triangular, but can be round, and are often wrapped in nori seaweed. Fillings vary and can be a piece of salmon, or pickle, or egg...whatever is preferred.

Our church group makes onigiri cakes with plain rice.  The cake above is onigiri I bought for JE, as she has become quite addicted to this local favorite!

After our team makes at least 200 cakes, the onigiri are neatly wrapped and handed out the next morning in Oeno park to lines of patient, polite and extremely grateful homeless men.  Between 100 and 200 men are served per day.

Of course, our produce stand has also seen changes with the arrival of Fall.  My little grocery stand has been displaying an abundance of what I hoped were an old and missed favorite of ours...sweet potatoes!!!  However, I baked one and was crushed when it had the consistency of sandy Play-Doh.  I guess they fall more into the "yam" category.  I had several, and at these prices we do NOT waste, so I was determined to make this thick, paste-like tuber into something my kids would eat.  Being from Georgia, naturally I decided to fry it!  Turns out a thin slicing and some salted brown sugar turns this critter into a crispy salty-sweet side dish that even my sweet potato-hating son would eat!

A pale, dry and grainy center....ewww.

Thinly sliced, then tossed into already warm saute pan over medium heat with a drizzle of olive oil,  a sprinkle of brown sugar, sprinkle of white sugar and a little Kosher salt.

Turn after a little browning begins

Served warm with just slightly crispy edges...YUMMY yam chips!

Maybe just pelican food to those of you that live near a Publix...but this is survival food when you are the Japanese Backpack Contessa!!!

I am no better with plants in Japan than I was in the States, but I keep trying....

About 1/2 teaspoon of each at this point.

My peppers are begging me to take them off life support.  Pretty sure all hope is lost.

I have also been trying to get back to my regular workout routine.

Although that is going about as well as the gardening...

Grant's latest happy project was the update of the Teen Cave.

With the help of his friends, G was able to make a nice soccer jersey display and trophy room!

In keeping with our Fall season theme, this is "Maman", the Giant Spider of Roppongi Hills.   She is a well known landmark and convenient meeting spot for groups to find each other.

Our group met for a quick expresso in Akasaka Station, and then we were off to get a sky-high view of Akasaka. (Look closely and you can barely see Mt. Fuji in the center of the horizon!)

After that we were walked to Hie Shrine, a notable site not on the above list.

Turns out we picked a great week to visit the shrine, as November is the month of Shichi-go-san celebrations.  

Shichi-go-san is a Japanese festival celebrated for children aged 7, 5 and 3. The literal translation of Shichi-go-san is 7-5-3, and for the 3-year-old children this marks their first official visit to the local  shrine, and they are dressed in traditional and elaborate Japanese clothes for the occasion. 

A shy smile from a precious 3-year-old girl

 Thousands of children are at the shrines every weekend, being photographed by their families, and of course, by tourists!  All the beautiful smiles and kimonos in the parks and on the subways will really brighten your day!

We saw this adorable 5-year old boy celebrating his big day!

Shichi-go-san is again celebrated when boys are 5 and girls are 7. For the boys the celebration is known as "hakamagi-no-gi". This is the first time they will wear their official "hakama", formal Japanese trousers.

For girls, the second time they celebrate 7-5-3 is when they are 7 years old. Traditionally this event is known as "obitoki-no-gi". The girls wear the traditional "obi" for the first time around their kimono rather than simple cords.  They will also get one of their first tastes of the glamorous side of being female with hair and make-up being part of the ritual. 

Hie Shrine was not very crowded, as we went on a Friday, but we were delighted to see that a few families were there with their adorable children.

After our visit to the shrine, we ate lunch in Akasaka at the Cascade Cafe.  A beautiful restaurant in a Western style hotel.  The excellent buffet had all kinds of salad, meat, veggie and dessert options...but really, for me it was the girls, not the food that made this one fun.

Cascade Dining Room

Cascade Kitchen and Buffet

Cascade Fruit Buffet with White and Dark Chocolate Dipping Fountains

Jumping pack to the United States again, Fall means parties to my American children (okay, also Spring, Summer and Winter, but hush, I have a theme going here).  While A doesn't call unless I beg, and E only calls when the bank account hits zero (so at least once a week), I do occasionally get pictures worth sharing.  This one gives me a much better understanding of why my husband is always dying to go visit our son's campus...

WOW. I never looked like this in high school...I'm STILL trying to look like this.

For those of you who wanted sweet puppy updates, here is Ella, now living in Montreal, Canada, with her loving foster family.  She has adjusted beautifully under their care and is LOVED!!!!!  Makes her mommy very relieved to know she is okay.  We miss her and can't wait for the family reunion!!!

Ella (being camera shy) with her new sister  Gabby in the background.

So, Happy Aki Thanksgiving to all of our American friends.  This is my VERY FIRST year away from my parents...I honestly only just realized that and know now why this one was so emotional for me.  It is also the first Thanksgiving in an incredibly (I won't even say) long time that I am not making a feast for my entire wonderful family.  I can't even get access here to all the ingredients I want, so I have opted for a hopefully fabulous trip to Osaka, Kobe and Nara, about a 2-hour train from Tokyo (so no bike) over the holiday.  You will hear all about that.  I plan to eat sushi while your enjoy your turkey!!!  And for the first time in decades, my daddy and I will not be washing 2 hours worth of dishes together!!!!  

We wish you a wonderful holiday with your families.
I will enjoy my memories and look forward to seeing everyone soon!!!

Thanksgiving, 2011...my dining room in Atlanta

And special hugs from G and JE to their Granbob!  We love and miss him very much this year and hope he has a wonderful Thanksgiving.  See you soon, Daddy!!!