it's not life that matters but the journey...

Before I post a few more pics, I thought I'd answer today's writer's block question since it's Christmas Eve here in Japan:

If you celebrate Christmas, what will you do this evening? If you don't will you still do something festive, or is it just another night?

Well, for many reasons, Christmas Eve is just another night for me, and it has been for many years. I do enjoy Christmas decorations, and I send out cards (most years), and I even love some holiday movies (like Elf !)... but I haven't been into giving gifts or doing the whole Christmas celebration for a long time. For me, Christmas only has meaning if I'm with my family in America, and only if I'm able to just enjoy being with them, and not obligated to buy gifts. I'm not stingy - in fact I love giving gifts to friends and family - but I just don't believe that Christmas should be a commercial holiday. It should be about sharing good times, love, and good food with our loved ones - it shouldn't be all about buying stuff that people don't want or need. For the last three years, I was not with family for any holidays, as I was living in Chicago. And this year, we're back in Japan, so I won't be with my family for Christmas or New Year's. Of course Christmas doesn't have the religious meaning in Japan that it does in other parts of the world (although I would argue that the holiday has really lost it's religious significance in western cultures lately as well); but sadly Japanese people have absorbed the "kitsch" of Christmas into their culture, and you can find holiday decorations, lights, and horrible "muzak" versions of Christmas songs in almost every store and restaurant. Lots of houses are even decorated with lights and reindeer and Santas, and of course some younger people, especially couples, celebrate Christmas by making or buying Christmas cakes. We had our own little mini celebration tonight, though - we decided that we'd been eating too much cake lately, so instead of cake, we asked Masahiko's mom to buy sushi. We we ate delicious sushi and chicken and miso soup for dinner, and I'm so full and satisfied!!

New Year's Day (正月 O-Shogatsu) is a much bigger celebration in Japan, and has much more cultural significance. My mother-in-law will be making Mochi and we will probably be eating Soba Noodles . Most Japanese people visit a shrine or temple, and it's also the time of year for house cleaning (like our spring cleaning in the states).

And speaking of New Year's, most people also send 年賀状, nengajō (New Year's cards), to family and friends. I finally sent my cards out today (29 of them!) - I had meant to send them yesterday, but it was a holiday (the Emperor's birthday). So, please let me know when you receive your cards:)

I'm planning to write some posts in the next few days about Japanese living, and my house, etc., but for now I'll leave you with a few more pictures I took when I was walking today and yesterday. The weather has been gloriously warm and sunny, and I had to get out and stretch my legs and get some exercise. It hasn't looked much like winter lately - sorry for all you folks in snowy parts of the world (unless you love the snow!)... anyway, here's some pics:



Here's the grocery store called Max Valu that was recently built near our house. The food is really inexpensive. This company, Aeon, just built a huge mall in Fuji that looks like an American shopping mall. They're taking over Japan, like Wal-Mart in America!:



Here's a string of vending machines on the street near the grocery store. The first three are just for cigarettes!:



Here's a Kinkan tree (in English it's called a kumquat) - these fruits resemble lemons, but Japanese use just the skin for cooking. it's very bitter:



And here's an example of Christmas "kitsch" - Santa Claus is trying to get into this unusual house that resembles a mountain cabin:



and finally another picture of Mt. Fuji:





Happy Christmas everyone! I'll be around a lot the next few days - nothing to do!!