My day always starts with a great breakfast made by Kozue. The same thing Susumo and I practice our English and Japanese. I am enjoying my time with them but soon it will be ending. Everyday Kozue takes me in to Teresa's apartment to spend the day with her. I generally arrive any where between 7:30 and 9am. This morning on the way to work I saw a bus stop to pick up a Kindergarten student. In Japan the only students who ride a bus are the Kindergartners.
Everyday I also check on the cherry tree lined road we travel down hoping the trees will start popping there beautiful flowers. Season is so late this year due to the cold weather.
I have arrived at the Big B Apartment building where my friend Teresa lives.
Go in and type in her apartment number and she opens the doors so I can come up. I always enjoy my cup of coffee when I arrive at her house and I generally always call hubby and have my morning chat with him :-) We are leaving after my short chat with hubby for the day. We are headed to go get the car washed from the China dirt and sand that has blown in all over Japan. Teresa then gets out of her car and pays to get the car washed.
There was even a rack with fresh towels to dry your car and a spray bottle with tire cleaner and small mop to clean your tires.
We have finished the entire car inside and out. Ready to leave and go to Yamada store to look for bottle that is shaped like a fish of red wine from Italy. As soon as we get on highway, it started to rain. Never fails the minute you wash your car it rains. LOL
Yamada store is very unique as there are many specialty items you can find in there.
Noticed some items that I have seen in USA but never would I buy this cheap meat for the price they wanted at Yamada.
The store was out of the wine I was looking for so now we are on our way to look for cherry trees to see if any are blooming yet. Teresa drove us to a location that is famous for this huge cherry tree that is lit up at night when its bloomed. On both sides of the shrine are 2 gold statues and in front of the statues on the sidewalk are the foot prints of the Gods.
Once I peeked through the doors of the shrine I was the beauty that lay ahead. Pink blooming cherry trees and a bud-ah and a set of stairs leading to the cemetery.
On the funeral day the body is cremated. The guests take a small meal during that time in the crematorium. Afterwards, the relatives pick the bones out of the ash and pass them from person to person by chopsticks.
The actual funeral ceremony is then held by Buddhist monks according to Buddhist rituals. Many guests are present at this ceremony. Each of them will pay about 20,000 yen to the relatives and receive a small gift in return. After the end of the ceremony, another meal is held among the close relatives.
The urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (special 12 hour sticks for the night exist). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After 35 days, the urn is finally buried in a Buddhist cemetery.
Japanese are required to wash their hands and mouth in a natural spring or rock-hewn pool before entering a shrine. Visitors to the shrine use a ladle made from bamboo to wash both hands and then pour water into a cupped hand to wash their mouth.
It is believed that the higher the person is towards the heavens the faster they will get there, therefore hince the high staircases.
Finally we have reached the top of the cemetery and there are some beautiful cherry trees starting to bloom.
Wow glad we stopped here so very beautiful place.
Now its time to go pick up Valerie and Kensho. They are waiting for us just like always :-) So happy to see there smiling faces. Today we are starting off our adventure at touring around the building that surrounded a castle at one time. The weather is looking dark and the wind has picked up sure hope this rain passes. Our arrival at the castle as I call it was just as nice as I remember it. This is the location that Teresa and I walked the first time I saw her in Japan.
Never thought there would be anything great about a car wash in Japan but oh yes there was. First of all you park your car and the entire building with the scrubbers in them move back and forth and clean your car and dry it. No standing building was different than USA. 
When the car wash was finished Teresa and I got out and she was taking the floor mats out of her car. She told me there was a machine that cleaned them all she had to do was load them into the machine. (only in Japan)
Yamada store is very unique as there are many specialty items you can find in there.
Noticed some items that I have seen in USA but never would I buy this cheap meat for the price they wanted at Yamada.
The store was out of the wine I was looking for so now we are on our way to look for cherry trees to see if any are blooming yet. Teresa drove us to a location that is famous for this huge cherry tree that is lit up at night when its bloomed. On both sides of the shrine are 2 gold statues and in front of the statues on the sidewalk are the foot prints of the Gods.
On the funeral day the body is cremated. The guests take a small meal during that time in the crematorium. Afterwards, the relatives pick the bones out of the ash and pass them from person to person by chopsticks.
The actual funeral ceremony is then held by Buddhist monks according to Buddhist rituals. Many guests are present at this ceremony. Each of them will pay about 20,000 yen to the relatives and receive a small gift in return. After the end of the ceremony, another meal is held among the close relatives.
The urn is put on an altar at the family's house and kept there for 35 days. Incense sticks (osenko) are burned there around the clock (special 12 hour sticks for the night exist). Many visitors will come to the house, burn a stick, and talk to the family. After 35 days, the urn is finally buried in a Buddhist cemetery.
Now its time to go pick up Valerie and Kensho. They are waiting for us just like always :-) So happy to see there smiling faces. Today we are starting off our adventure at touring around the building that surrounded a castle at one time. The weather is looking dark and the wind has picked up sure hope this rain passes. Our arrival at the castle as I call it was just as nice as I remember it. This is the location that Teresa and I walked the first time I saw her in Japan.
Absolutely Beautiful! You could also become a photographer! Loved it!
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