For her third birthday party Emily decided that she wanted to be a pretty princess.  So mommy and aunty Yoko went shopping with Emily one day and returned with a lovely blue and white Cinderella dress.  Emily was in heaven!  A few accessories later and Emily was all ready for her big birthday party at the lake!

On weekends Emily and daddy frequently visit a small lake owned by the Emperor of Japan.  The lake and surrounding forests were once used as a hunting and fishing retreat by the royal family.  The lake is now open to the public and is a favorite fishing site and destination for hikers.  Emily and papa usually enjoy lunch together at a small restaurant on the shore which is owned by a family friend.  After lunch we sometimes hold hands and walk along the shoreline to visit a small Shinto shrine nestled on the far bank.  If the weather is pleasant then we may rent a small boat and row along the shoreline looking for ducks and turtles.  If we are lucky we might sometimes see big fish jumping or even catch a glimpse of a rare and secretive heron.  Sometimes we row to the middle of the lake where we sit and talk and admire the huge mountains and beautiful scenery surrounding us.  Emily and papa love their visits to the lake and after asking permission of the restaurant owner the family decided to hold Emily's third birthday party at the lakeside restaurant.

The day of the party was overcast and bitter cold.  Not at all like a few days prior when Indian summer had brought warm clear skies and incredible views of Mt. Fuji topped with a fresh dusting of snow.  The cold morning made us briefly consider postponing the party, but in the end we decided to give it a try.  Emily's birthday princess court this day was to consist of mommy, daddy, aunty Yoko, grandpa and grandma as well as Emily's uncle Takeshi and cousin Ryo.  After meeting at grandma and grandpa's house in the morning the whole gang piled into two cars and headed for the hills.

Shizuoka city (where we live) is surrounded by the beautiful and historic Suruga bay on one side and rugged mountains everywhere else.  This protective geography was one of the features that made this area so popular with feudal kings and shoguns of past.  The lake where our party was to be held is nestled in a small valley at the foot of the mountain range with contains the Southern Japanese Alps (where Mt. Fuji resides).  Cold streams cascade down steep valleys to feed the lake which is filled with a wide variety of interesting game fish as well as huge and colorful Japanese koi (giant goldfish basically).  Though the city of Shizuoka is crowded and busy, it only takes about 20 minutes by car to escape the city into the verdant green valleys of the Japanese Alps.  So after a relatively short drive our little caravan had left the city behind and was soon standing at the shore of Emily's party lake.

The owner of the lakeside restaurant where we held Emily's party is a recent friend of Kurt's named Shotaro-san.  Shotaro and his mother operate the small restaurant and fishing store which doubles as their home on the second floor.  In addition to serving lunch and selling fishing supplies, Shotaro and his mother also lease (from the emperor) dock space where they rent small boats to fishermen and other visitors to the lake.  The party was to begin with lunch at Shotaro-san's restaurant.  Everyone enjoyed a great meal consisting of some tasty Japanese lunch time favorites, such as katsu-don (pork cutlet and egg on rice), hamburg teishoku (hamburger patty with yummy seasoning and sauce plus rice and shredded cabbage with dressing), onigiri (rice balls filled with dried and shredded fish, seaweed or salty pickled plums) and ramen noodles (perfect to warm the tummy on a cold November day).  Lunch was followed by cake time with Emily blowing out her three little birthday candles without any help at all.  Though the cake was small there was plenty for all including the restaurant owner and his mother.

Emily opened her presents at the restaurant and was delighted to receive many nice gifts, including a lovely necklace with a blue topaz (Emily's birthstone) pendant from aunty Yoko as well as gifts from her grandmother in America, neighborhood friends and even the owner of the restaurant.  From mommy and daddy Emily received a small and very pink princess vanity complete with a little stool and a lighted mirror, plus lots of little girl cosmetics and pretty-up stuff which she loves.  Emily insisted that we open the package and assemble the vanity at once so that she could try it out right there on the shore of the lake.  After putting the thing together it was all we could do to get our little princess away from it, and it wasn't until someone suggested a boat ride on the lake that she finally agreed to let us put the vanity in the car.

We rented two boats shaped like giant turtles and operated by bicycle-like peddle action.  After stuffing three people to a boat with the kids driving we enjoyed turtle-boat drag races up and down the middle of the lake.  The boat with Takeshi, Ryo and Yoko should have won (younger and stronger) if Kurt hadn't cheated and pushed their boat backwards in order to get a head start.

After boating we thanked our friends at the restaurant for their hospitality and great food and piled into our two cars to drive to a nearby waterfall.  The hike to the falls was through a peaceful and quiet forest where late deciduous trees dropped their leaves like colorful snowfall.  The falls were beautiful and it felt good to dip our hands into the cold mountain water.  Next to the falls is a small Shinto shrine where the family stopped to offer prayers to the god of the waterfall.

After the waterfall hike Emily was a bit tired and fell asleep on the car ride home.  In the evening though the family got together again for dinner at grandpa's favorite soba noodle restaurant, Iwaichi.  Grandpa first started going to Iwaichi over 40 years ago and it's tough work to convince him to eat out anywhere else.  One visit to Iwaichi though and anyone who likes soba noodles will know why grandpa always wants to go here.  Iwaichi is another family-run business with everyone including the restaurant family's grandma and grandpa chipping in behind the counter and serving customers.  When you go to Iwaichi you will likely be greeted with a pleasant "irashimase" (welcome) from the charming and lovely mother of the family who makes it her business to ensure that your visit to Iwaichi is so pleasant and satisfying that you will want to return time and again.  Our family are regulars at Iwaichi and Emily especially is always greeted with many smiles and pleasantries.  We all enjoyed a wonderful meal of soba and udon noodles followed by birthday fruit plates and ice cream complements of the house.

After a wonderful birthday party we all returned home somewhat tired but very happy.  After Emily's bath she insisted on putting her princess dress back on in order to play some more in front of her little Cinderella vanity.  She was having so much fun that mommy and daddy let her break her normal 8:00 PM bedtime and stay up until almost 10:00 playing with her new toys.  After Emily finally fell asleep, Yumiko and I wondered together if she would dream of the day's fun. And we reflected on how lucky we are to have our little princess and to help make special and memorable days for her.  Is it too early to start planning for next year's party??   More photos below...

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