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Holiday in Japan

November, 20th 2002
Emily was very excited about flying on an airplane, even though her mommy and daddy were not sure that she really knew what an airplane really was.  Papa had taught Emily to flap her arms like a bird whenever she was asked how the airplane flew.  Emily's waving arms were very cute, especially as she did her little imitation in front of a crowd of people waiting to board a huge Japan Airlines (JAL) 747 bound from Los Angeles to Tokyo.  Emily was quite well behaved on the plan for a little girl almost 2 years old and she kept papa in shape chasing her up and down the aisles all the way across the Pacific ocean.

  After arriving in Japan we rode the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) from Tokyo to Yumiko's home town of Shizuoka. Located on the coast in the geographical center of the main Japanese island of Honshu, Shizuoka city was formally referred to as "old Kyoto" due to the fact that the city was the first capital of Japan under control of the first Japanese Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa.  Shizuoka is today a leading city of Japan.  Shizuoka prefecture's mild climate produces some of the best quality green tea in all Japan. 

Shizuoka is also famous for Historyits mandarin oranges as well as many artisan crafts which were established here in previous centuries to service the needs of the Shogunate.  The castle of the Shogun in currently in ruins, but the city does contain many beautiful structures reminiscent of Japan's feudal past.


Our visit to Shizuoka was mainly to allow our daughter to meet her extended family in the small town of Yada near Shizuoka city.  Yada consists of only a few hundred people total and many of these folks are directly related to Yumiko and her family.  Pictured below is Emily with her mommy, grandmother, two great aunts and a great grandmother.  The Japanese value family relations greatly and scenes such as this are not at all uncommon.  While Growing up, Yumiko says that at one time she shared her home not only with her siblings and parents, but also with her grandmother and grandfather as well as one great-grandfather!

While in Japan the whole Suzuki family took us to a nice aquarium near the volcanic Izu peninsula.  The Izu peninsula juts out into the Pacific ocean from the base of Mt. Fuji and has long been a resort and holiday destination for the Japanese.  Izu has many hot springs (onsen) and traditional Japanese family-run hotels called ryokan. The picture at left is from the island where the aquarium is located.  If you look closely you can see a hazy Mt. Fuji in the distance.

Emily loved hanging out at home with the family.  She quickly became accustomed to the routines of a Japanese household and as any two year old will she imitated those things she enjoyed most.  Below is a photo of Emily getting a head start on the day's news with grandpa's newspaper.
Before leaving Japan we celebrated Emily's 2nd birthday with the whole family at the Suzuki home.  Great fun was had by all and this party was a great end to a wonderful holiday.

 

 

 

 

 


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