Author: sanaesuzuki

When I go to Japan, I always want to go to as many places as possible, do many things, and meet as many people as possible, so my schedule gets packed, so this time, I decided to take a trip without cramming.
So instead of going to the friend we were supposed to meet that day, we took a leisurely morning, walked with Ringo-chan with Kyoko and Shigeru, and went shopping for the ingredients Eric would make for lunch.

Eric cooked for Kyoko and Shigeru for lunch using spring seasonal firefly squid. They said it was too beautiful, elegant, and delicious to enjoy eating it.

I followed my friend Kyoko’s advice to take the Shinkansen from Shin-Yokohama instead of going from Tokyo station to Kyoto, and it was right.
The transfer went smoothly, it wasn’t crowded, and Eric was as excited as usual when he saw the Nozomi Shinkansen in Shin-Yokohama.

He was filming a Shinkansen video, and the station conductor shouted at him and warned him to stay farther away, but I am sure Eric didn’t hear it, nor did he not care, so he continued filming.

Shinkansen’s ride was smooth and comfortable.
As I rode, I remembered that riding the Shinkansen to Tokyo was one of my favorite things to do when I was in high school.
At that time, Shinkansen was about 3 hours from Shin-Yokohama to Kyoto, but now it’s faster, about 2 hours or less.

So we arrived in Kyoto before we knew while I was eating Chihiro’s cherry blossom azuki buns as a snack and knitting the spring sweater that I started knitting on the plane.

I decided for us to stay at a hotel in Kyoto. Kyoto is the tourist’s number one destination, so they were fully booked.
Luckily, after searching online, I found Hotel Granvia Kyoto, which is very close to Kyoto Station, so I read up on what kind of hotel it was. It’s directly connected to the Kyoto station building, so even if it rains, we don’t have to go outside with our pieces of luggage, so I decided immediately.

When we arrived at Kyoto station, it was not as crowded as Tokyo Station, but I wanted to make sure where we were going, so I asked the way to the entrance of Hotel Granvia Kyoto.
When we got off the Shinkansen and turned right, I was told there was a hotel entrance.
We found the entrance, and after going up the slightly dark stairs at the entranceway, I noticed we were walking on a glass-covered bridge that seemed to let in a flash of light.

What is this? While saying that, I noticed we were above Kyoto Station.

The right side was the JR trains track area, and the left side was the Hachijjou guchi entrance of the Kyoto station southside. 

It’s an extraordinary view, and it’s meta at first sight that various people are walking and hurrying. We had never seen a train station from above before, so Eric was excited the second time that day and started taking videos.

 

After crossing this glass bridge, there was a row of lovely shops and an elevator to the lobby.
As I write this, I want to return to Hotel Granvia Kyoto and spend time in its surroundings.
I usually like hotels and Ryokan with gardens and traditional Japanese inns, but I was drawn to this hotel for some reason.
Our room had a view of the station on the Shinkansen side, so when we opened the window, we could hear all the sounds of the station, and when we closed the window, we could hear almost nothing. I was impressed with this windowpane. The beautiful scenery of the mountains on the south side left an impression on me.

While I was resting in our room, Eric explored and discovered a delicious yuba (Tofu skin, Yuba, beancurd skin, beancurd sheet, or beancurd robes is a food product made from soybeans. ) and homemade tofu, Kyoto Vegetables  restaurant Seppourai next to the hotel.

He came to invite me to have dinner there.

We ate to our heart’s content at the delicious yuba and tofu restaurant, walked around a bit, browsed souvenir shops and bakeries, and returned to our room.
Relax in a modern Japanese bath which Eric was excited third time that day to videotape.
Had my homemade bath salt with my garden Calendula and North Fork pine.

And we had a good night in Kyoto for the first time in 8 years.

Love, Sanae

There are many hands-on classes in Japan to learn about Japanese culture. 

On this day, I originally wanted to go to the hands-on Kintsugi class (Kintsugi 金継ぎ, “golden joinery,” also known as the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum; the method is similar to the maki-e technique.) early in the morning, but I decided to take it easy. 

Sometimes, less is better, and I believe an opportunity to learn kintsugi will come in the future.

 

After relaxing and having breakfast, Ringo-chan and Shigeru-san accompanied us to the bus stop, and we took the bus to Futako Tamagawa station.

Our first destination was our favorite glass shop, JINS (4th floor of Futako Tamagawa Rise).

JINS is a Japanese glasses store established in 2001. I found out about JINS 5 years ago on a 2020 Tokyo TV show program. I saw JINS’ mission is to provide functional, innovative, and lightweight eyewear at affordable prices for everyone. 

 

 

JINS frames are designed in Tokyo and carefully assembled with the spirit and passion of Japanese craftsmanship. 

We went to JINS in Asakusa 4 years ago for the first time. Indeed, JINS was efficient, courteous, prompt, and reasonably priced. Eric liked it very much and was looking forward to going to JINS again to get new glasses made.

This time we chose 5 glasses. If we made 5 pairs of glasses in America, we would be bankrupt here in America, but it was less than 1/4 of the price there. 

Eric chooses two cool bifocals. I have one for bifocals, one for computers, and one for craft/calligraphy.

While waiting for the glasses to be ready, we went to the “Bunkyodo” bookstore on the 6th floor for about an hour. 

* Bifocal glasses take 1 week. In our case, JINS send it to our friend in Setagaya, and she will send it to Santa Monica. If you go to Japan and make bifocals at JINS, I recommend that you go there as soon as you arrive in Japan and pick up your bifocals a week later.

 

I love Japanese bookstores. A spacious and full of things other than books, where you can find something you did not even think to enjoy. Check out the calligraphy pens, ink, and Japanese paper, browse magazines and comics, and I could spend time all day there.

I only know a bookstore like the Japanese one is Burns’s Nobel bookstore on the third street promenade Santa Monica. I was sad when it closed. 

When I was in a wheelchair, I often went there with my service dog, Kula. Checked out various magazines and books, grazed at photos of thick heavy hardcover photo books, and chose colorful stationery.

While I was focusing my viewing, Kula accommodated everyone and made them smile. 

The Bunkyoudo had the same relaxing atmosphere; it reminded me of the nostalgic good time I spent with Kura at the bookstore.

I was not looking for particular books, but I bought Snoopy’s book, “Snoopy Prepares Your Heart.”

This book explains Japanese quotes and Zen words.

 

Peanut comics, which are drawn in black and white and have blank spaces, have something in common with Zen, and the lines of the characters that appear often overlap with Zen language.

Even in silence, there is a world that is familiar to Zen.

An example given at the beginning of the book is the – Natural result.

“You just do it first and see what happens.”

This is one of my life mottos to live my life.

I learned English by reading Snoopy’s book when I was little, so I felt a connection with this book, and there was something I could learn from this Snoopy book again.

I had Snoopy’s book and Dennis the Menace’s book to study English. I also watched Sesame Street TV shows, listened to English music records, and translated the lyrics, which are fond memories.

 

Well, after the bookstore, we were hungry, and I was exhausted.

It was lunchtime, and there were long lines at all the restaurants, so when we were wondering what to do, we saw one restaurant called “Japanese Cafe Tsumugi” with almost no queues, and we thought this place might not be so good food.

We decided to eat there anyway since we did not have much time. As for the taste, the food was fresh and delicious for us to enjoy it.

Thanks to lunch, I regained my sharpness a little. We went to pick up my three glasses, then took the Tokyu Den-en-chofu Toshi Line train and the JR line to Ikebukuro. 

 

Ikebukuro station, where we were supposed to be, was not easy to find, and I got a little tired, so I was relieved to see Junko and her family.

When Junko was a student, she did a homestay at our house in Santa Monica to study English. We’ve known each other for a long time since Junko returned to Japan, and now she is married and has two children. Eric and I are so surprised to see her children grow up fast every time.

 

Our final destination and purpose for the third day were to go to Itabasshi to see Masaki, an old friend who worked as a chef in Los Angeles. We used to go to where he used to work every Fri. with other friends. The last time we saw him was almost 20 years ago in Shinjuku. Maybe I was in a wheelchair at the time. After that, he moved to Spain and New Zealand.

He recently returned to Japan and opened his new restaurant, “Space Cafe,” in Itabashi, Tokyo, and we promised to see him at his new restaurant.

Junko kindly chose where to go near Masaki’s restaurant with her husband, Hisashi, who used to live in the area. 

We went to Tokyo Great Buddha (I did not know there was Great Buddha in Tokyo). 

After some research, I found that the “Tokyo Great Buddha,” synonymous with this temple, is Amida Nyorai. The Tokyo Daibutsu Jorenji Temple in Itabashi Akatsuka, Tokyo, has a history of 600 years.

This temple was a resting place for the Tokugawa shogun’s falconry.　The height from the base is 13 meters/42.6 feet, and the head alone is 3 meters/10 feet. It weighs 32 tons.

At the time of its completion, it was the third largest Buddha in Japan after the Great Buddha of Nara at Todaiji Temple and the Great Buddha of Kamakura at Kotokuin Temple.

Amida Nyorai is the Buddha who created “paradise” to save people in a world without suffering. Please put your hands together and say, “Namu Amida Butsu.”

I have seen Great Budda, Nara Todaji, and Great Buddha, Kamakura, which are eye-opening Great Buddhas. The Tokyo Great Buddha looked softer, as if it had a gentle soul relaxing its vibrations in the busiest city, Tokyo.

We took many pictures and had a great time with Junko and her family. Her son Ikkei danced on the ground of Tokyo Great Buddha to impress how good a dancer he was to us. 

He wants to study abroad in America, so he might come to stay at our house like his mother, Junko. It’s a double memory that shares the past and the future. I hope it will come true.

 

After Tokyo Great Buddha, for my request to go to a botanical garden – they chose Akatuka Botanical Garden, a walking course blessed with nature, which was within walking distance from the Tokyo Great Buddha. 

This botanical garden was opened in October 1981 as a facility that uses the hilly area of ​​Akatsuka, which still retains the vestiges of Musashino, where nature and plants can be more familiar. 

It started to rain, so we had to shorten our walk there, but it was the gift of nature: I gained my energy back and got ready to meet more friends.

 

When we were driving by Masaki’s, the rain stopped, and he was outside looking up at the sky – he could not hear, but we called his name loudly, “MASAKI!”.  Eric quickly got out of the car to surprise Masaki.

Masaki said later to us, “It might be a rainbow after the rain, so I was outside, but instead of the rainbow, Eric came!” with his big smile!!!

 

What a reunion for the first time in 20 years!

Masaki’s restaurant opened about a week ago, so he was alone greeting customers, taking orders, cooking, and cleaning up. We were so impressed with him.

We also planned to meet up with Kuni and his wife, Kumi, at Masaki’s restaurant. Kuni used to work in Tahiti with Eric more than 30 years ago, and Kumi loves dogs, so I had a mutual connection.

We all had such a great time with Masaki’s sophisticated, tasty food! 

What a way to see old friends with good food!

 

After we left Masaki’s restaurant, Junko’s daughter, Mako, said, “How about Gelato?” 

We stopped by A La Campagne near Soshigaya Okura Station on our way to Setagaya, where we were staying. 

I didn’t eat gelato, but Eric bought me a cute bag for dessert.

There are many cute shops around. When I passed by after gelato, the flower shop that caught my eye was called “Green Mind.” The next time, I definitely want to go there, so I’m looking forward to it.

Well-planned and executed, unexpected things and plans for the future.

Ending the third day of my Spring 2023 trip to Japan was perfect!

Love, Sanae ❤️

Eric and I attended my niece’s wedding in Japan. We took this opportunity to enjoy our trip to Japan.

I share it as Japan Spring 2023 diary.

Day 1:

Eric and I arrived at Haneda Airport, Tokyo, at 4:30 am.

The flight was smooth, and the vegan meals I ordered were pretty decent, so I ate them with my brown rice onigiri.

I usually have difficulty sleeping in an airplane, so I watched two movies and started to knit my new sweater. 

We left LAX around 1 am and 11 hours and a half later, still dark outside when we arrived in Tokyo. It was a wired feeling to have the darkness for a long time, and it did not make sense to my head, but the excitement of being in Japan for the first time in four years blew away the confusion.

I was supposed to be in Japan for my niece’s wedding two years ago, but because of the Pandemic, we had to wait for two years. The long waiting gave me more excitement.

I have been using a wheelchair in the airport to rest my legs since I injured my legs from a severe car crash in 2001.  I was surprised to see a wooden wheelchair arrive for me to use. I have heard that Japan Airlines (JAL) has developed a wooden wheelchair for smooth movement within airport facilities. 

You can pass through the security checkpoint while using a wooden wheelchair. I have seen it on the NHK World News program (NHK is a Japanese public broadcaster offering local, national, and world news reports in English), but it was for the first time I used it.

I liked riding the wooden wheelchair because I felt that it was soft and connected to my body. Also, the person who assisted the wheelchair was polite, and she pushed it gently and slowly for me. I sure felt that I was in Japan.

 

Itsuko-san, who I met on the FB talk page “Body Joy” (she and Masayo are organizing the talk), was attending my class and kindly offered to pick us up at the airport. I felt this was a gift from heaven.

We did not know each other much, and it was our first meeting, but we felt we had known each other for a long time. We were talking and talking so much about Flower Remedy, Animal Communication, and more.

Eric suddenly said, “Are we going to under the water”?

Yes, we were passing Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line, a rare road between the seabed and the sea. It is a toll road with a length of about 15.1 km(9.4 miles). About 10 km(6.2 miles) undersea tunnel “Aqua Tunnel” on the Kawasaki side and about 4.4 km(2.7 miles) bridge “Aqua Bridge” on the Kisarazu side. Eric got so excited for the first time going under the water/bay road.

We all felt the ride was fast after Tokyo Bay Aqua-Line went through the countryside.

 

We arrived at Brown’s Field, welcomed by our long-time friend, Deco Nakajima, who has operated her organic rice field for 20 years.

We had breakfast and visited Matinee (Deco’s daughter) ‘s first baby.  The baby, Sui, was so precious. 

I have helped 45 puppies to be born and raised, so I have no problem holding puppies but holding a human newborn was scary for me. I could not have a baby because I had ovarian cancer.

It was a breathtaking moment!

We had Deco’s delicious homemade “Cherry Azuki beans steamed bread” there. So beautiful to see pickled Cherry Blossoms.

 

Then we went to the Kujyuu Kurihama beach, where Eric planned to Foil surf with a local Foil surfer, Jun Adegawa, who owns a surf shop, “Ted.” 

The powerful windy day for foil surfing.

I heard about the Kujyuu Kurihama beach a long time ago as a child.  Most of the beach in Japan does not have long white sand beaches like here in Santa Monica, so when I heard that Kujyuu Kurihama has 41 miles of long white sand beach, I wanted to go there someday. It was like a dream that I was there now.

Eric started to Foil Surfing almost right away.

Itsuko, her dog, Chacha Maru, and I also enjoyed the beach with the wind. It was Chacha Maru’s first time on the beach, and he had so much fun.

Eric stayed at the beach for Foil Surfing, I returned to Brown’s Felid with Itusko, had lunch at the Rice Terrace Cafe, and prepared for my Spring Flower Remedy and Medicinal Tea with Macrobiotic class.

While I was having lunch, Eric met other local Foil surfers and kept surfing for over 3.5 hours. He was supposed to finish his Foil Surfing in two hours and return to Brown’s Felid to eat lunch and help me with my class, but he must enjoy surfing so much!

I could not believe Eric could Foil Surfing for so long the day we arrived in Japan. I was so impressed by Eric, who was full of stamina. 

When he returned to Brown’s Field, he was so excited that how much fun he had with local surfers and met Jun’s family.

 

Eric also thanked me for giving him the brown rice ball I made in Santa Monica before I left the beach. He was, of course, still very hungry. I was glad that I did not eat my lunch everything so I could give him.

 

My class went very well with the help of the students. I did not teach in Japan for a long time, so I was concerned about how I teach; I carefully prepared in Santa Monica, bringing pressed medicinal plant leaves and three blended medicinal plants teas I made, etc. 

I enjoyed it a lot. 

Participants were all to learn enthusiastically and asked questions mannerly and politely. This class was also successful because of the help of Keiko-san, who took my online Flower Remedy classes last year. She is a foot massage therapist and gave me a foot massage after the class. Her strength showed how she massaged my foot; it was a special treat.

 

 

All the Brown’s Field staff and volunteers made the delicious dinner with Deco. Our favorite was bamboo balls with Kuzu sauce and Ume Shio condiment. It was heart-warming to spend time with a long-time friend, Deco-chan, and a new friend, Itsuko-san, with people at Brown’s Field.

At night, when I was lying on a comfortable futon, I heard a chorus of frogs, and I went out and sat down around 3 am.

The sky was cloudy and unfortunately I could not see any stars and the rice fields were pitch black as if my eyes were closed.

Only the sound of frogs put my mind at rest.
It was my first day of Spring 2023 in Japan.

❤️Sanae