New Year holidays

Hubby and I had been to our home in Ichinomiya City during the New Year holidays and after returning back to Yurihonjo, I had not been keeping well due to the extreme cold weather. Now I am a bit alright and back to blogging. I will write about the New Year holidays in this post. I should mention here that there are still a few places or events hubby and I visited in 2015 about which I have yet to write. I was actually thinking of skipping writing but hubby feels that this blog is a sort of our web diary, so I decided to write about those places and events after this blog post.

30th December 2015

During the New Year holidays, hubby and I went to hubby’s ancestral home in Ichinomiya City of Aichi prefecture and also met a few of our relatives in the city. On 30th December, we left our home in Yurihonjo City at 12.30 pm and reached Akita Airport after about 45 minutes of car drive. Our flight to Centrair Airport in Aichi prefecture was at 4.30 pm. We still had a lot of time, so we had lunch at a restaurant and bought a few souvenirs for relatives from a kiosk at Akita Airport. After about an hour of flight, we reached Centrair Airport. From there we took a train and reached Ichinomiya Railway Station after another 45 minutes. My father-in-law and his wife were waiting for us at the station and we directly went to a restaurant and had dinner. Finally we reached our home in Ichinomiya at about 9 pm. We were rather tired due to all the travel, and went to bed immediately.

About to board the air plane at Akita airport

Hubby and the air plane

We took a train from Centrair Airport and are on our way to Ichinomiya Railway Station

31st December 2015

On 31st December, father-in-law, his wife, hubby, and a few other relatives went to play golf at Springfield Golf Club in Tajimi City of Gifu prefecture. They left home at about 6 am. I am not at all interested in golf, and so I preferred to stay at home and relaxed all day. In the afternoon, hubby’s sister and her two daughters visited our home. It was nice to chat with them, play some card games, and try to solve Rubik’s cube. At about 5.30 pm, hubby and father-in-law returned home after playing golf. Later in the evening we all had dinner at a Chinese restaurant located near our home.

Hubby’s sister and her younger daughter at our Ichinomiya home

Hubby with his nieces watching some program on television

1st January 2016

On 1st January 2016, hubby and I just relaxed and enjoyed being at home. January 1st is considered to be a very auspicious day in Japan, and is best started by viewing Hatsuhinode which is the first sunrise of the New Year. Hatsuhinode is traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. So awakening before sunrise is considered important to view the first sunrise of the year. However an apartment complex blocks the east side of our home, and therefore I watched television networks broadcasting live the first sunrise breaking at various locations in Japan. In addition, a couple of days ago, we made preparations to display several Kagami Mochi at various locations inside our home. Kagami Mochi is a traditional New Year decoration which is supposed to ward off fires from the house for the following years. It was nice to look at the display of Kagami Mochi while watching Hatsuhinode on television. When I greeted hubby in the morning, he just did a ‘V’ sign lying down in bed itself and again fell sleep soon afterwards. I guess he was too tired from playing golf the entire day the previous day. We had a late lunch of noodles and rice at home. Then we watched some movies on television. Furthermore, challenged by his younger niece the previous day, hubby tried to solve the Rubik’s cube. After about an hour or so he could finally succeed. It was the first time ever that he succeeded and he himself was very amazed. Afterwards we went out and had dinner at a nearby restaurant. While returning home, we bought some Daifuku sweets from a convenience store and had them at home. Daifuku is a sweet made of Mochi, and Mochi related items are very popular must-eat items during the New Year. The first day of the year passed just relaxing and being lazy at home.

Hatsuhinode I saw in a television program

Mount Fuji and the first sunrise of the year I saw in the same television program

Hubby greeted me with a ‘V’ sign on the first morning of the year. Soon afterwards he fell asleep again.

One of the Kagami Mochi displayed inside our Ichinomiya home

Hubby having his first lunch of the year at home

Hubby trying to solve the Rubik’s cube (1) and (2), and displaying various sides of the cube after succeeding (3) and (4)

Hubby having dinner at a restaurant

Hubby having Daifuku sweets

2nd January 2016

On 2nd January, father-in-law, his wife, and hubby again went to play golf at Springfield Golf Club in Tajimi City. They left at about 6 am, and I stayed at home and relaxed all day. In the afternoon, hubby’s sister and her two daughters again visited our home. In fact sister-in-law came to drop off her daughters who stayed overnight with us. It is always nice to chat with them. Hubby returned home after playing golf at about 4.30 pm. Then we all had snacks and tea, and played some card games. Soon afterwards sister-in-law left and both the nieces started doing their school related homework. Hubby and I were really amazed to see them do their homework earnestly without anyone telling them to do so. Later in the evening, father-in-law, his wife, nieces, hubby, and I had dinner at a Sushi restaurant located near our home. After dinner, we all played bowling for about two hours at a bowling alley located near the restaurant. I played bowling after almost 2 decades and it was really so much fun. Additionally, hubby and father-in-law practiced baseball batting at a batting center located inside the bowling alley building itself. Finally at about 9.30 pm, we returned home from such a nice family outing. Afterwards both the nieces took bath and soaked in the bathtub for quite some time. They looked very relaxed and fell asleep by 10.30 pm.

Hubby, his sister, and nieces having snacks and tea at our home

Playing some card game

Nieces doing their homework

Having dinner at a Sushi restaurant

Older niece, father-in-law, and his wife having dinner

Hubby and younger niece having dinner

Younger niece bowling

Hubby bowling and older niece just finished her turn bowling

Father-in-law bowling

Hubby took several photos of me bowling

Hubby (left) and father-in-law (right) practicing baseball batting at a batting center located inside the bowling alley building

Younger niece and hubby look tired after returning home

3rd January 2016

After getting up from sleep the next morning, both the nieces immediately started playing with their uncle. The girls eagerly waited for breakfast but I was unable to make any as we did not have fresh vegetables and meat at home. This is because, during the first few days of the New Year holidays most of the supermarkets are closed in Japan. So we had breakfast at a nearby restaurant. Afterwards, we went to a shopping mall named Kisogawa Aeon Mall where we bought a few gifts for the nieces and had lunch at a food court located inside the mall. After lunch, the nieces were eager to go to a shop named Popondetta located inside the mall itself. The shop has a wonderful railroad model diorama and the nieces played with the diorama for quite some time. We returned home at about 5 pm and soon afterwards sister-in-law came to pick up her daughters. It is always a pleasure to have the nieces stay at our home.

Immediately after getting up from sleep in the morning, the nieces started playing with their uncle

Both the nieces playing with their uncle

Nieces having breakfast at a restaurant

Hubby and a railroad model diorama at Popondetta shop inside Kisogawa Aeon Mall

Nieces playing with the railroad model diorama

Happy girl

Nieces loved playing with the railroad diorama

4th January 2016

On the morning of 4th January, hubby and I visited my late mother-in-law’s grave located near our home, and offered our prayers. Hubby cleaned the gravestone with water, offered flowers, and lit some candles and incense sticks. He also lit many mini-candles at an altar in front of many stone statues of Jizo Bosatsu located inside the graveyard. In the afternoon, we visited a shrine named Masumida Jinja located in Ichinomiya City itself. It was our first trip to a shrine this year, and it is a sort of annual ritual and tradition for us. Such a tradition of visiting a shrine or a temple during the New Year is known as Hatsumode. Hatsumode festivities are held at practically every shrine and temple across the country. I will write in details about our visit to Masumida Jinja Shrine in the next post. After returning home, I made Ozoni soup for dinner. Ozoni is a popular traditional New Year’s dish prepared with Mochi and other ingredients that differ based on various regions of Japan. It is said that Ozoni has its roots in Samurai society cuisine. I made Ozoni soup with Dashi stock, soy sauce, Mochi, and spinach. The soup topped with dried bonito flakes tasted simple and delicious. We enjoyed the hot Ozoni soup while watching some television program.

Hubby offering flowers at his late mother’s grave

Hubby lighting candles at the grave

Lit candles

Mother-in-law’s gravestone cleaned with water and arranged with flowers

Hubby arranging mini-candles at an altar in front of many stone statues of Jizo Bosatsu located inside the graveyard

Hubby lighting the mini-candles at the altar

Hubby very peaceful after lighting the mini-candles

Lit candles at the altar in front of the stone statues of Jizo Bosatsu

I am standing in front of the gate of Masumida Jinja Shrine

Hubby having Ozoni soup for dinner

5th January 2016

On 5th January, hubby and I left our home in Ichinomiya at about 12 noon, took a train from Ichinomiya Railway Station to Centrair Airport, from where we took a flight back to Akita. We reached Akita Airport at about 4 pm in the evening. Immediately after getting down from the air plane, we realized that we were back to cold harsh winter of Akita. It was too windy and snowing heavily that time. In fact, during the car ride from the airport to our home in Yurihonjo City, it snowed the entire way and there was snow all around us.

Hubby having some snacks inside a waiting area at a platform of Ichinomiya Railway Station

Waiting to board this air plane at Centrair Airport

Too cold and windy at Akita Airport

Snow in front of Akita Airport building

Our car and snow in front of the airport building

Snowing heavily and snow everywhere on our way back to Yurihonjo home

This year hubby and I had a relaxed fun filled New Year holidays with our relatives. In the next post I will write about our visit to Masumida Jinja Shrine.

Relatives

During New Year holidays, hubby and I visited his relatives in Ichinomiya City of Aichi prefecture. We went by our car. On 29th December, we left our home in Yurihonjo City at about 8 am and it took us almost 10 hours of car ride to reach Tokyo suburbs where we stayed at a hotel for the night. The next morning there was heavy traffic jam almost all the way up to Nagoya and so it took us another 9 hours of car ride to reach Ichinomiya City. We checked in at a hotel in Ichinomiya at about 7.30 pm. Hubby was tired due to driving for two days and he retired to bed immediately.

Hubby sleeping at a hotel room in Ichinomiya City

On 31st December, hubby got up at about 5 am, got ready and left the hotel room to go for playing golf with his father and a few other relatives. I preferred to stay and relax all day in the hotel room. In the evening, hubby and I had dinner with several relatives at a Japanese restaurant. We went to the restaurant with my father-in-law and his wife at about 6 pm. Hubby’s sister and her family reached the restaurant a short while later. We were all hungry and ordered a lot of food items. We had shabu-shabu, tempura, sushi, sashimi, salad, soup, rice, and dessert. The dinner was very filling and satisfying. We all had fun catching up with others. My sister-in-law showed us an album with pictures of her two beautiful daughters taken during a Japanese ceremony called Shichi-go-san held in November 2012. The professionally taken photos of the girls were so perfect. We all chatted and had a nice relaxed evening.

Hubby and relatives enjoying dinner

Relatives having shabu-shabu

Hubby chatting with his younger niece

Younger niece tying the strings of her uncle’s hoodie

A few professional photos of nieces clicked during Shichi-go-san ceremony

January 1st is a very auspicious day in Japan, and is best started by viewing the first sunrise called Hatsuhinode of the New Year, which is traditionally believed to be representative for the whole year that has just commenced. So awakening before sunrise is considered important to view the first sunrise of the year. Although it was a bit cloudy, hubby and I watched the sunrise from the 14th floor room of the hotel where we stayed. It was a unique experience. We also watched television networks broadcasting live the first sunrise breaking at various locations in Japan.

Hatsuhinode as viewed from our hotel room

Hubby viewing the first sunrise of the New Year

My father-in-law’s home is being rebuilt since August 2012. Hubby and I are also making our home adjacent to father-in-law’s home. The two separate homes are designed in such a way that it looks like only one home from the outside. The two homes are interconnected by a closed passageway. Both the homes are self contained and have separate entrances. Construction of both the homes was almost completed during the New Year holidays. In the morning on 1st January, hubby and I went to see our home. My sister-in-law and both her daughters also came to see the homes. It was nice to take a look around our new home along with my sister-in-law and discuss about the interiors. We also had a fun time playing with the kids.

Sister-in-law inside our new home

Hubby and I inside our new home

Younger niece and I

Hubby playing with his elder niece

Hubby playing with his nieces

Later in the afternoon on 1st January, my father-in-law and his wife, sister-in-law and her kids, hubby, and I visited the home of father-in-law’s eldest brother who lives nearby. It is the main ancestral home of ‘Nagata family’. They have an amazingly exotic family altar where we all prayed and read sutras for peace and health of our loved ones all year round.

We all praying at the family altar

On 2nd January, hubby and I again visited our newly constructed home and took a few photos that I will upload in the next blog post. We purchased a few household items for the home and arranged them.

On 3rd January, hubby and I visited hubby’s aunt Tatsu-chan (formally Tatsuko-san) in Okazaki City of Aichi prefecture. Tatsu-chan, my late mother-in-law's younger sister, has been a source of great influence and important fixture in my hubby and his sister’s life. We were visiting Tatsu-chan and her family after almost four years and were very excited about the visit. Tatsu-chan’s home in Okazaki City is located about 75 kilometers southeast of the hotel we stayed in Ichinomiya City and it took us almost 3 hours of car ride to reach her home due to heavy traffic jam on the expressway. While driving on the expressway, we got a stone chip on the windshield of our car. The crack is about the size of a 100-yen coin and the sound was shockingly loud. I was stunned to see the windscreen crack right in front of my eyes (literally, at the eye level) and was really shocked when hubby’s mobile phone rang very sharply exactly at that instant. It was my sister-in-law informing that she and her kids were also on their way to Tatsu-chan’s home. Anyway, we are yet to repair the crack.

Stone chip on the windshield of our car

As always it was a pleasure to meet Tatsu-chan, her husband, and her daughter. Tatsu-chan’s eldest son and his family, who live in a nearby city, were also visiting that day. After the initial greetings, we all had lunch as the kids were rather hungry. That day there were eight visitors to Tatsu-chan’s home, and it was impossible for all of us to sit at the dining table for lunch. So we formed two different groups and had lunch at different tables. Tatsu-chan had prepared mouthwatering dishes like fried chicken karaage, nikujaga, sashimi, sushi, chawanmushi, miso soup, salad, and dessert. Rolled sushi called makizushi was the main dish, and we rolled it ourselves while chatting with others. We all had a lot of catching up to do along with a lot of gossiping. It was really a nice relaxed lunch time for all of us. The food was so delicious that hubby and I overate. Later we all chatted for some more time and played with the kids. Hubby and I left Tatsu-chan’s home at about 5 pm and drove up to Shizuoka City where we stayed overnight at a hotel.

Various food items for lunch at Tatsu-chan’s home

Delicious food

Hubby, Tatsu-chan’s husband, and Tatsu-chan (left to right) eating and chatting

Hubby’ cousin, hubby, and Tatsu-chan’s husband having lunch

Relatives and kids having lunch at a different table

Kids playing after lunch

I am posing with hubby’s cousin brother and cousin sister

It was nice to meet our relatives during the New Year holidays. I really enjoyed meeting Tatsu-chan and her daughter. In the next post, I will write about our new home.