April 2011 Archives

May 5 is Children's Day, when families celebrate the healthy growth and happiness of children.
Last weekend, I went to the shopping center to buy "Kabuto" with my family. Kabuto is the traditional Japanese Samurai Helmet.
In the shopping center, there were many kind of items. There is a wide range of prices, ranging from $500 to $5,000.


We were exhausted afterafter looking around several shops here and therewhile cradling my eight-month baby in my arm.

Finally we decided to see the kabuto pictured below. This is the kabuto of "Uesugi Kenshin". He is one of the samurai I respect. He lived an interesting lifethat is why he is extremely popular in Japan.







The picture below shows the Koinobori. My wife's parents bought it for us. It is a wonderful!
The large Carp is the father and the middle is the mother. The smaller Carp(s) are the children:D　(Unfortunately, there were no mother carps yet before. But these days, we have red carps which we regard as mother. )

"Hanami" is the japanese traditional custom of the enjoying the viewing flower. In this case, "flower" means cherry blossoms("Sakura").

The other day, I and my wife went to hanami with our baby(8 month baby). This event is his first experience.

We enjoyed sitting on the bench, eating wife's homemade dish, drinking tea and talking. We are lucky enough to get good weather that day. It is very short time for beautiful Sakura(two or three weeks in spring).

These pictures were taken in the neighborhood of our home. We love this town :)







Hanami at night is called "yozakura".