Our Japanese Adventure: Feb. 23 to 26, 2012

ASIJ had a midwinter break Thursday and Friday, Feb. 23 and 24. We went to Nikko with our friends the Webbs for the break and stayed in a place called Woodsmans Village outside of Nikko. We drove out of the city late Thursday morning, following the Webbs' van. There was a good bit of traffic inside the city, but once we were out of the city, it was clear sailing. Nikko is in the mountains north of Tokyo, and Woodsmans Village (http://woodsmansvillage.com/ENGLISH-MAIN/english-main.html) is about 15 minutes away from Nikko. It consists of six cabins of various sizes surrounded by woods, with a nearby creek. When we arrived on Thursday afternoon, we decided to put the five kids into one cabin and the four adults into the other cabin. We unloaded the cars, unpacked, and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. The kids explored the woods and managed to get wet and dirty. {editorial note from Greer: Although Greer and Beth washed out the pants and hung them to dry and did various other chores for cleaning, Cooper, Ellie, and Isaac managed to somehow track in various amounts of dirt.} Whitney and I did drive into town to go to the store because they had forgotten their towels and toothbrushes. When the kids were getting ready for bed that night, I discovered my kids also didn't have their toothbrushes. Although I had helped them pack their toiletry bag, somehow it didn't make the cut when they were packing their duffels. Greer claimed she had taken it out because there wasn't room for it. She also said she had told me this, but she must have whispered it while I was in the other room. Pretty sure I would have told her to make room for it. I feel it necessary to point out that Greer did manage to pack about six scarves, a good bit of yarn, the devil sticks (a juggling toy) and her DRUMS, in addition to all her clothes.

On Friday, we drove into Nikko. The shrine that Nikko is most known for is the Toshogu shrine, which consists of over a dozen buildings, including the mausoleum of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Tokugawa shogunate. In addition, there are several other temples and shrines in Nikko. We visited many of them, which the adults enjoyed and the kids tolerated. Shrines are associated with Shintoism and temples with Buddhism. Most people in Japan do not claim a formal affiliation with a religion. However, there are numerous temples and shrines and a multitude of religious events. Religious practices are intertwined with social customs, and people do certain things because that's the way it's always been done.

On Saturday, we woke up to falling snow. We had considered another activity that day, but the snow changed our minds. Not only were we not keen to drive on mountain roads in the snow, but we figured the kids would enjoy playing in the snow. So today the kids got wet and then dry, and repeated that for several cycles. The adults took a walk, played cards, and three out of four of them napped (bet you can guess which one didn't).

On Sunday, it was time to pack up, load the cars, and clean up the cabins. Then we headed back to Tokyo. It was interesting to see a part of Japan that looks very different from Tokyo. All in all, we had a fun, relaxing vacation.

Below are several (though not all :) ) of the pictures I took on our trip. There's a lot, but I had put these pictures on Facebook, so I figured they better all go in the blog. I've promised mine and Andrew's mom that nothing goes on Facebook that doesn't also get in the blog.