Japan!: Golden Week, Senzokuike
Today is the beginning of Golden Week, a week chock full of Japanese holidays. A lot of Japanese take the whole week off, since Monday, Thursday, Friday, and the following Monday are all holidays. Today is Showa Day, and per Wikipedia, it is: “is a Japanese annual holiday held on April 29. It honors the birthday of the ShÅwa Emperor (Hirohito), the reigning Emperor from 1926 to 1989. The purpose of the holiday is to encourage public reflection on the turbulent 63 years of Hirohito’s reign.” A lot of rough stuff went down during his reign, so it became controversial to celebrate his life, so instead it’s a day to reflect. I think that’s fascinating.
B had the day off, so we had a little adventure. But before we get to the adventure, I have to share what’s on offer at the bakery down the street.
Do you see them there, next to and below Big Apple Pie? Robert Redford and Brad Pitt are both available here. 🙂
For our adventure we went out to Senzokuike, which is where our church building is located. Near the church is a lake, and you can rent paddle boats and rowboats and go around the lake. The girls always want to get a boat, but that’s not something we do on Sunday, so we always tell them that we’ll do it another day. Well, today was that day, and they were thrilled. 🙂
The view out of our boat.
Z wanted to take a turn paddling. She found that standing up helped.
Our lovely swan boat.
The ticket machine.
The park around the lake was filled with the most beautiful flowers.
The girls had fun climbing around this tree.
I love this little shrine.
Tiny is crazy.
The girls played at a playground, and I loved the look of this peeling paint.
Tiny, the ice cream lady, is ready to take your order.
All in all, an awesome day at the lake!
Re: The Bakery. Y’know what’s funny… I read the window *before* you even wrote about Robert Redford. Just goes to show how much I scrutinize your photos of the Japanese environment. I tell ya’, I will make it to Japan one day. Well, technically I was there for 2 hours in a layover from Thailand…. but that’s not really being in Japan. I tell you I was excited just to be in the airport. It’s like there’s a whole world out there just beyond that building. I was tempted to skip a day or two… but I had to get on a plane (non-refundable tickets).
Tiny and Z are as adorable and as excited as children have a right to be — especially in a boat.
I’m also intrigued by the peeling paint on the play structure. In this day and age of hyper sensitivity to playground areas you’d think that would never be allowed. It’s nice to see that some places just allow it to be and allow the kids to be kids.
Maryanne, I don’t know a lot about Japanese religious/spiritual life; what are the shrines “to” or “for”?
And thanks for the wonderful pictures of your cute children!