Author: Heather Farrell

July 29, 2021

Sake Hike

Sort of like a ski weekend, but not….. So apparently the lengths, or should I say heights to which we will go for Sake are great! This annual event is sponsored by a local Sake factory in which eager participants merrily hike up a mountain to a sacred, fresh water spring in order to fill a jug…

Sumo!

The National Sport Of Japan A 41 minute trip on 3 trains to Tokyo and we were at the dedicated Sumo Arena where the Grand Championships are held. One tournament takes place over 15 days and there are six per year, one month on, one month off. Sumo dates back 1,500 years and is believed…

Shonan International Marathon

This time last year we ran the 10km segment of the Shonan International Marathon here in Japan.For me that was my 3rd official running event, all of which were 10kms.I remember how nervous I was to be running that particular race because it seemed much more official than the previous two with crowds of well over 23,000…

Christmas to New Year in Japan

As many of you may be aware, Christmas is not celebrated in Japan where the majority of the population observe the very intriguing religion of Buddhism. The ‘Christmas Illumination’ is beautiful and the displays spring up everywhere. Transforming buildings, streets and parks into Christmas markets and beautiful winter scenes with Christmas decorations and light displays…

Chiyoda Shrine Walk

Among the many fascinating traditions in Japanese culture is one us Westerners call ‘The Shrine Walk’. One time per year many corporations will get their Shrine out and walk it around the neighborhood, or should I say ‘rock‘ it around the neighborhood! It is proudly carried by teams of employees who get time off work…

Yokohama Spring Oktoberfest

Yup, that’s right! Oktoberfest in April/May! Apparently they will have another “gong show” in the Fall when Oktoberfest is traditionally held….. The location of this event is proving to be an extremely busy, active area. It is known as the Red Brick Building (even though there are two) which were originally erected in 1913, but…

C h i n a t o w n ! ! !

Happy Chinese New Year 2012 Year of The Dragon Jan 23-Feb 6 Chinatown in Yokohama is the biggest we’ve seen yet, and we have been to quite a few. Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are two of the most impressive we have seen, until we walked approximately 1.5km to our very own “neighborhood Chinatown”. We always…

Moving Day

A picture says a thousand words, doesn’t it? Having gone through many, many winters in Calgary I can say this is not a lot of snow, at least not for Calgary. I also went through several winters in Vancouver (back in the 80’s) where the city came to a stand still every time the flakes…

The New Digs!

Wow did we ever luck out. After arranging for our agent, Shiro-san to drag us out to over 45 units, we finally found “the one”. In the beginning we did not know which district we really wanted to live in and the search was based more on suitable apartments than location. After about 10 days…

My First Cherry Blossom Season

We had a massive storm in Yokohama about 2-3 days after the first buds blossomed and many people were worried that the intense weather would drastically affect or stomp out the season by blowing away the buds and flowers, happily it did not. It did however wipe out power in parts of Tokyo for nearly…