More videos

Hanna in Rika's handbag.



Hannah in a playful mood after her bath.



Eating everything she can get her hands on..



Just when you thought it was safe to back into the nursery.



This is the first time we saw her roll over from front to back. I think Hanna was a surprised as we were.



Playing with me and Sasuke



And in case you think it is always idyllic, the same scene a few minutes later..... As you can hear, she now has a cry like a buzz-saw.

Crawling

Hannah is now mobile. She can roll-over from back-to-front at will and get around using her 'hungry caterpillar' action. She now likes to spend time on her front checking out different objects.

Saturday night dinner. Hannah seems very interested in our food so we are wondering when to start her on solids.

Family Weekend

Family Evenings - more videos

Some more videos of Hannah at home in the evening

Hannah is now at the stage of trying to put into her mouth anything that she can reach. In fact in the evening, she seems to enjoy settling down with a nice tasty book. If a toy isn't available anything else will do.

Most of the time when shes awake, Hannah doesn't like being left alone to amuse herself. So we generaly have to carry her around with us - which is exausting for Rika during the day. In the evening its nice to sit her on my lap and and have a chat or a play.

Gems of Japlish - 2007 Top 10

One of the delights of living in Japan is Japanese English, or 'Japlish'. English is often employed in brand names and slogans to add a little "je ne sais quoi''.

Japlish generally isn't aimed at native speakers, so copywriters can use English more freely and creatively. For example we have a brand of chocolate bar called 'Meltykiss' - a terrific name that would probably never be used in England. So 'Japlish' is often quirky, sometimes poetic and occasionally funny.


Here are the top 10 gems I've spotted in 2007.

#10 Wako Planning company (Yoyogi, Oct)



#9 'Gash' Maid Cafe (Akasaka, Aug)
This 'Maid Cafe' near my work is just a normal coffee shop where you can have a coffee or lunch served by young ladies dressed as Victorian maids . The other USP is that the staff can chat knowledgeably with their 'otaku' ('geek') clients about their favorite comics or collections of action figures. All very normal and innocent. The unfortunate name was probably inherited by a previous occupant of the premises, probably a very different type of establishment.

#8 Pizza Hut Deli. (Aug)
"It makes you smile and be happy....You will surely say 'Great' and want to buy it again". And I did - until I tasted it.

#7 'My Bombe' Gas Cannisters (Maruman Supermarket, Nov)

These cannisters power the table-top gas cooker we use for stews or sukiyaki.

Your dinner party is sure to go with a bang!

#6 Dental Labour "Gross" (Yoyogi, Mar)
A cosmetic dentist specialising in large Germans?

#5 Gentry Brand Soup (Maruman Supermarket, Sep)
Ths spirit of Bassho lives on at the Gentry Soup Company.

#4 Leah's Kissing Ameba (Shibuya Mark City, Dec)
Christmas display outside the Mark City shopping mall. Ameba is actually an internet blog company.

#3 Boobs Boutique (Kinchicho, May)

#2 TOSS bin. (Rika's Mums house, Ikadaba, Sep)
What every teenager needs next to their computer!
"Simple and Feel A Useful TOSS We have to think about more simple lifestyle"

# 1 Wanka Chocolate (Tokyu Hands, Dec)
Who needs flowers when you can say it with chocolate!

And a special commendation for this classic sign from a Japanese Love Hotel. From the Guardian on-line edition.

Another milestone: Rolling over!

Hanna has a learnt a new skill. She can now roll over by herself.

Apparently this doesn't normally happen until around 6 months. So I was feeling pretty smug about how clever Hanna is.



Then I remembered that at the same age Minimi was teaching me to play fetch by getting me to throw a toy mouse down the hallway and then bringing it back to me! And he only has a brain the size of a walnut! On the other hand Minimi hasn't shown much interest in books.

Photos from the weekend

I think Hanna looks good in this brown outfit. It was a gift from a friend.


Minimi and Hanna.


One time when I was minding Hanna, Minimi muscled his way onto my shoulder and demanded a cuddle. Its nice to be wanted...


Saturday walk in the park. The autumn leaves in Yoyogi park have been just lovely.





Christmas shopping in Takashita dori, Harajuku.



I spotted this sign, in Takashita dori. Looks like the womans pro wrestling association is now a boutique selling 'maid' type outfits. A sign of the times? Perhaps it won't be long before the men's pro wrestling goes the same way....



We bought Hanna this 'Rudolf the reindeer' hat. When she wears it in public she gets so much attention that it is almost scary. Every 50 m or so a stranger will come up and say "kawaiiii!!" ("how cute!").



Bath time.

Playing with Masa

These videos were taken a few weeks ago in Ikadaba when Masa and Yasuyo were playing with Hanna.

Masa is an real expert at making Hanna laugh!

O MiyaMairi

About 2 weeks ago we put on our best clothes and visited Meiji Jingu (Meiji shrine) for Hanna's OMiyaMairi ceremony. This is a ceremony to introduce her to the shinto gods and pray for her health and wellbeing.

Japanese parents normally do this when the baby is 1 month old, together with their (paternal) grandparents. But we thought it would be too hot in summer, so we did it in November. Rika's mum came up from Ikadaba specially, with a family baby kimono for Hanna to wear.



The ceremony was held in a a hall just to the east of the main shrine. The ceremony was really interesting. It lasted about 20 minutes. For the first 10 minutes the priests chanted prayers for each of the children in turn. This was in archaic japanese so I understood as much as Rika did!. Then they performed music with drums and flutes and 2 priestesses danced a sacred dance. Hanna cried during the chanting, but she stopped crying and watched quietly when the music and dancing started.

This is Rika and her mum with Hanna outside the hall after the ceremony.


Hanna with her gorgeous hat decorated with cranes (represents long life because they are supposed to live 1,000 years).



After the ceremony we took photos in the grounds of the shrine.




Meiji Jingu was also having a harvest festival so it was decorated with produce like cabbages and pumpkins. This is the display from the Japan Agriculture association (Tokyo branch) of a ship made from vegetables. I was particularly impressed by the sail made of leeks.

Visits with Friends

Over the last 2 months we have had visits from friends from London.

Paul and Katsu visited in October. This is Paul with Hanna.



They were very busy doing business research so it was very nice of them to make time to visit us.



We don't have any photos of Katsu because he is too shy.



Last month Ryosuke and Lisa visited. This is us at Sangubashi station.



And Ryosuke with Hanna.



We also took Hanna to visit my work. This is Hanna with my colleagues Ueno-san and Sharlyna.


Hanna enjoying time with Sharlyna.

Memorial Service

Last weekend we went down to Ikadaba to visit Rikas mum and attend a 1 year memorial service for Rika's Dad.

The service was held in Rika's mums house and was attended by about 40 relatives and neighbors, who all managed to fit in the main room sitting on cushions (the sliding doors of the 2 main rooms were removed to make one large room, demonstrating the practicality of the traditional Japanese house.)



The service was led by a Buddhist priest from the local temple, known as 'go-zen-sama' (literally 'honorable at the front'). It consisted mainly of chanting sutras, starting with the Heart Sutra, then the Shushougi. During the chanting the priest would occasionally stop and let us carry on so you had to keep up!

The priest also gave a small sermon, pointing out that one of the teaching of buddhism is that nothing stays the same forever, and life goes on, for better and worse. And on the bright side there is a new baby in the family, and the gaijin seems well behaved. (Go-zen-sama also kind enough to bring some information for me on Soto zen temples in Tokyo that teach in English, which was very thoughtful of him).



After the service everyone visited the the family grave to pay their respects. And then most people went on by bus to a local restaurant for a family meal together.



The meal itself was quite lavish with nice sushi, fish, tempura, a little stew, shellfish, soup, desert... The lady sitting opposite is Mrs Yamada, the mother of Masahiko (my brother-in-law in-law).

It was a good opportunity to take Hanna round and introduce her to the various relatives. This is Suzuki-san, Rika's dad's younger brother. (Hes name is Suzuki not S. because he took his wife's surname).



This is Rika's mum's sisters Yata-san and Obigane-san, and Miamoto-san, Rika's mums older brothers wife.



As you can see my halo was particularly strong that day. This is Miamoto-san, the youngest of Rika's mother's 9 brothers and sisters.


After the meal, we returned to Rika's mum's house, for some more chat and playing with the baby. This is Hanaoka, Rika's mum's older sister. I think Hanna looks a bit like Hanoka-san.



This is Mrs Suzuki and Hanaoka-san.



This is Mr & Mrs Sagai (Rika's fathers younger sister).



Hanna was in a good mood throughout (except when we neglected to change her). I think she brought some happiness to what was otherwise a fairly sad day for everyone.