The Little World of Man

Back in August, Jay and I went to this "amusement park" which consisted of 15 countries represented by miniature villages with buildings shipped over from those countries. It was called the Little World Museum of Man, and its aim was to represent the different types of architecture and culture from countries such as Peru, Japan, Germany, France, Italy, Thailand, Samoa, South Africa, Korea, Taiwan, Alaska (?), Indonesia, etc. The name sounded creepy, but we were pleasantly surprised and quite enjoyed ourselves. For anyone going to Gifu, Japan, Little World is a stop not to miss.

Picture Fun

Click on the pic to see it closer...

Saturday Night Dinner Club

Me, Jay, Elder and Sister Marlowe, and Linda in the picturesque restaurant section of the Nagoya Main Station


The Japanese basil "pizza"

Dessert time!!

Kamejima 2-chome Festival

One night I was pulled from my early evening nap by all sorts of people shouting "wa shoi!" and whistling outside my front door. I threw on my kimono and ran out to see. There was a little "parade" going by, and they beckoned for Jay and I to come. Little did we know that we would be sucked into the Fall Festival for our "neighborhood" we live in, Kamejima 2-chome. They thought it was SO great that we were there...there was some photographer there who made us pose with the men carrying the "omikoshi"




But it wasn't over yet...they wanted us to get all dressed up in hapi coats and join them in carrying the omikoshi.




Jay had to do a lot more carrying than I did...as the man behind me kept his hand on my shoulder so the beam didn't sctually touch me. And since I was carrying it, I couldn't get any pictures of me, but I did get quite a few of Jay.


Jay and the omikoshi



Jay readying himself for the hoist



Jay at the head (Check out the dude's fingernails with the pink towel on his head...)


Needless to say, we found an instant family in the Kamejima 2-chome 'hood...and they made sure we were in the family pictures...


Primping for the picture



The whole Kamejima 2 chome family



My favorite whistle-blowing man



Our #1 fans (ha ha...get it?) They followed us when we were carrying the omikoshi and fanned us


The decorations


Lanterns by day



By day...



And by night...

Biker Balls

Me and the Honda



Helmeted love...



...and non-helmeted love.

Atsuta Jinga Shrine

Well, I didn't actually take any pictures of the shrine, because, this being Japan, they don't actually let you go near it. BUT...we did meet the nice guard outside who offered to take our picture. We thought he was coming over to take my camera away because we were taking pictures on the sacred grounds or something, but he was just being nice and wanted us to be in a picture together. Being white, we don't usually get a lot of people being nice to us here in Nagoya, so it was a nice change...




Me and the friendly Jinga guard


There were lots of people walking around the huge grounds, and a large number of them were in kimonos. We saw a baby who had just been "blessed," and we saw the place where marriages take place. I thought these little girls were too cute to pass up taking a picture of:





Ritualistic washings

Osu-Kannon Temple

Osu-Kannon Temple



Flags at the entrance

The Suzuka Grand Prix

Last Sunday was the Formula 1 Grand Prix here in Japan. It is the last year it is being held at the Suzuka Circuit, as next year they are going to start using a track at Mt. Fuji, apparently. Now, this is not information that I have on my own. I've never seen, or cared to see, a race in my life of any kind of vehicle. I didn't know that marrying Jay would mean I was sucked into the world of cars and motorcycles. He hates NASCAR, so I assumed that meant any kind of car racing. But no. The minute he heard when the Grand Prix was, he had it on the calendar to go. We live about 50 km from the circuit, so it wasn't too far of a ride for us, and so I agreed to go.

We couldn't actually get in to see the race because they don't sell tickets on the day of. So we rode around the outside of the track to see if we could catch a glimpse inside.


The view from the road


If we stood on top of the guardrail, we could actually see the cars. Not that you needed to see them to know that they were there. They were LOUD. You could hear them from kilometers away. It was nuts.




Apparently, everyone else had the same idea. But with binoculars.







We cruised around to the other side and found an area ten feet away from the actual track where Fuji TV had set up a big screen. So we were sitting watching the cars on the screen, with the cars roaring behind our heads. It was crazy, and tons of fun.

Villagio Italia, Japanese-style

In Nagoya there is an Italian Village that Jay and I visited after going to the Grand Prix in Suzuka. It pretty much consisted of shops and restaurants, but the Japanese people LOVE it.





The mini-onsen all the people were dipping their feet in



They have gondola rides in their canal there, but it was too cold, I think, so they weren't running them



Beautiful Jay and the beautiful Italian landscape

Chunichi Dragons Game

Jay and I went with some of our co-workers to a Chunichi Dragons baseball game at the Nagoya Dome. We have heard about Japanese baseball for quite some time, so we wanted to check it out for ourselves. Unfortunately, it was a crappy game, and the Dragons lost to the Hiroshima Carp 4-1. I always forget that I don't like baseball that much, so I continue going to games. But this time, the crowd was the most entertaining part. As is par for the Japanese, they only do things that are organized. There weren't any hecklers, no one whistling. It was either dead silent, or roaring loud if someone started one of their "cheers." Everybody knew these songs, and everyone sang them together. So we "sang" along when we got the hang of it, but we just mumbled things in the sound of the words and it seemed to work out just fine.

I guess this crappy game for the Dragons was just a fluke, because they went on to become the League Champions, of whatever league they're in over here. Go Dragons.


Dragons Diamond


The never-ending sea of Japanese heads after the Dragons game

The Ball BBQ

Jay and I wanted to host our first dinner as a married couple at our apartment here in Nagoya. We thought we would try out our miniature BBQ skills on our friends from the ward. Several weeks ago, we bought a small hibachi-type grill at the local grocery store for ¥1,000 (about $10), and in the weeks following, have honed our yakitori skills. We had an American-style feast with hamburgers, salad, corn on the cob, yakitori (not quite American) and of course, s'mores.


The BBQ Crew on our front porch



S'mores...Mmmmmmmm....


Sister Yamashita's first s'more



Jay and Sister Baxter at the grill


Linda


Sisters Marlowe and Yamashita