If you’re a longtime reader of this blog, you may be aware that I have a four-year-old daughter. You may also have gathered that she is a BIG fan of Anpanman, the animated television superhero who saves the world with his bean-paste-filled head. Trust me, I know it sounds bizarre, but it does eventually grow on you. Continue reading
My daughter turns four years old next week (eeek!) and my husband and I have been debating gifts for her. My husband has been lobbying hard for a set of Legos for a few months now. Our daughter likes to build with blocks but I can’t help but think the Lego push is more on … Continue reading
My husband had a business event in Oita prefecture the other day so with little on our schedule, my daughter and I tagged along too. The plan was to occupy ourselves at Harmonyland, the Hello Kitty themepark and a mecca for Sanrio fans. Unfortunately, Harmonyland happens to close on a Thursday. And we were in … Continue reading
My family and I spent this past Saturday on a day trip down to Takachiho. It’s on the other side of Mt Aso from Kumamoto City, tucked into the northwest corner of Miyazaki Prefecture. My husband and I had been before, just the two of us, but this time we took our three-year-old along and discovered … Continue reading
Four hundred years ago, the lord of the Sendai domain – one-eyed samurai Date Masamune – was looking for a way to expand his trade options. Though the policy towards outside religions was about to change dramatically under the Tokugawa shoguns, Date planned to open trade with Catholic Spain (and subsequently, Mexico) and further build up … Continue reading
Whew, did I mention “perfect” weather in the blog last week? I write my Friday Photo post early in the week when that was still the case. Come Wednesday, though, the heat ramped up and we were treated to near 90 degree temps (that’s 30 degrees Celsius for you sensible metric scale users out there). … Continue reading
My daughter is a pretty easy-going traveler, but there is a limit to how many museums you can drag a toddler to. Sometimes you just have to build in a little bit of playground time. Luckily, there are some fantastic recreational areas scattered around the islands that will entertain adults almost as much as their … Continue reading
