Anna Mae & Maika

Here are a couple of pics of Anna and her friend Maika just before thier marching routines at the undokai.





Posted by Mark from his iPhone

First pic from Anna's Undokai

Anna Mae and her school are having their sports day today. I'll have some moe pics to post later.


- Posted by Mark from his iPhone

Godai, my co-worker

Here is a picture of Godai, my co worker. Tonight while drinking he shared his special skill with us.

Tilt Shift for iPhone

It's been quite some time since my last entry. I now have the ability to update Blogger from my phone!

I also added a simple program for editing my photos right on the phone and wanted to share some of those here. Today is my daughter's 6th birthday so here are some pics of the festivities.



Here we took another trip to Kashiwa no Ha park.









-- Posted from Mark's iPhone

Sakatagaike Park

On Saturday we went to a new park found with the secret society of Kobayashi Tenjin Mothers.  Their network of informants throughout the area and communications are second to none.  All linked via their cell phone network each exchanges information regarding parks, teachers at the kindergarten, and family activities.

Following Ballet practice Hiroko had sent an e-mail to a couple of the mothers from the class and told them we were headed to a new park they had discovered.  Sakatagaike Park is located in between our place in Inzai and Narita (Where the airport is).  Once we were there Anna's classmates also showed up one by one with their little brothers in tow.  

The Park has a great looking suspension bridge that spans a small valley below where you can spread your picnic blanket and have lunch.  There is also a real long slide that begins at one end of the bridge and slides the kids down 100 meters of track.  Most of the kids bring a box they can use to sit on for more speed since the slide is made of rollers that vibrate your brain at a steady 17.8 MHz (Just below the threshold for brain damage... I think) without something to sit on.

Also, towards the back there is a large area for big BBQ parties with multiple grills that you can reserve in advance.  Then behind that they have space for your tent to camp over night.  The park was just beautiful.  The surrounding neighborhood has some great looking and very large traditional Japanese homes that look to have been passed down many generations.  All of them nestled in rolling hills of pines and bamboo forests.   We will be going back for sure.

Kobayashi Sakura 2009

This weekend the sakura at the Kobayashi Race Horse pastures in Inzai went to full bloom. It just seems like this winter has been a very long one here in Japan. The cherry blossoms were actually a little later than they were last year due to the lower temperatures here in the Tokyo area. Yesterday, when we drove through the Sakura Tunnel, there were hundreds of people already having picnics underneath the trees.

The increase of people is mainly due to the NEW BRIDGE that was just completed in between our house and Inzai Makinohara Station. It seems like this bridge has been under construction FOREVER. Now, instead of having to walk along winding, narrow, dark, and busy streets, one can actually ride your bike or walk easily from our house to the station. I do believe that I can finally get my TREK out of our shed to make the trip to the station. Yesterday, when we rode along the new bridge, there were quite a few people from the new apartments near Inzai Makinohara Station walking across the bridge to get to see the cherry blossoms. It is a great time to live here.

Hana no Mai: Ryogoku Sumo Izakaya

On Wednesday night I was able to visit a great Japanese style bar (Izakaya) in Ryogoku right in front of the Kokugikan or National Sumo Stadium. When you first walk into Hana no Mai, You are immediatly struck by the wide and long hallway that leads to a real Sumo Dohyo or ring. The tables for the place are all around the Dohyo.

My co-workers Shiina-san and Hirata-san sat on the corner of the ring and immediately ordered some real cold beers along with brazed Katsuo (Bonito) with ground garlic and dipped in soy sauce. That was my favorite. We also ordered the traditional Sumo meal of Chanko Nabe. Ours was Miso flavored and packed with crab, oysters, and other goodies boiling right on our table.

The evening's entertainment was a group of four Dohyo singers who sang for the crowd. As a present to take home, you could hand the singers you liked a 1000 yen bill pinched in between some chopsticks and they would give you the Banzuke or sheet showing the wrestlers playing in the current tournament at the National Stadium across the street.

The place was just plain fun. Anyone coming to visit Japan needs to see this place for themselves and walk up into the Dohyo!

Cyberdyne Systems, Tsukuba

This past Sunday we went to a new Mall in Tsukuba called Iias. It was kind of a long drive but, we did not have much else to do so we thought, let's hit the road. Inside Iias Mall we found the Robot Museum run by Cyberdyne Systems. The name is borrowed from the Terminator movies, yes but these folks are making the unreal, real. The picture above is of me in front of their thermal camera. With the thermal viewer, you could touch your hand to something cold and leave an imprint of heat that the camera would see. It was very Predator vision-like.

In the second part we were able to see a demonstration of the HAL suit. This suit combines robotic servo motors with direct nerve impulse control. Basically, when the entire suit is worn, those who could not walk before can now walk unassisted with this suit. I volunteered to have an arm portion hooked up to my arm for the demo. They placed sensors on my wrist, bicep, and tricep. When I moved, the robot arm moved. When the researchers held my arm down, the robot moved. It was really freaky. When you think of the other things they could do with this technology, it blows your mind. Just think, 80 meter high robots! Japan is on it's way to creating a real Gundam robot!

Narita Air Museum

Since this was a national holiday here in Japan, I decided to take Anna to the Narita Air Museum located right next to the runways of Narita Airport. Just outside the museum were many older planes that the kids could sit in the pilot seats. In one small Cessna you are able to fire up the propeller. That was pretty fun. When we arrived at the entrance, we were surprised to see a HUGE crowd there gathering in the main display area. Some had camped out their own spaces with a blanket, coats, etc. When I asked what was going on, the staff member there informed me that they were just about to start the "Go-On-Ger" show. Kind of like the new power rangers. Anna watches the show on Sunday mornings here before Pretty Cure so we decided to stick around. Later, we headed up to the observation deck where there was a guy announcing all of the take offs and landings from the airport. The tower at the museum overlooks the entire airport and is located at the end of one of the runways. So, when a big 747-400 comes in from Europe or the USA it comes in right over your head. Very neat.

Finally, if you look at this Licca-Chan doll here you may notice that she is wearing the same uniform my daughter wore at Kidzania when she was a stewardess for All Nippon Airways.

25 Random Things About Mark Williams

It's been pretty slow lately at the Williams household Japan, and cash used during the new years has been reduced to low flow as of late. So, in liew of a real post, I thought that I would share with you 25 things about myself. This can also be seen on my Facebook page.

1. I was born in Toledo, Ohio.... but you all know that.

2. My best friends on Burnham Green were James Reed and Kieth Kujawa. Just like my sister, I am in contact with James again in Atlanta. Looking forward to seeing you there man!

3. I went to the best elementary school in the world.... Dorr Street... Go Dragons! Crissy and Holland can SUCK IT!! Can I get a HELL YEAH JIMMY 9!

4. I grew up knowing how to annoy my little sister to no end and paying for it with the law that was my Dad, Thomas A Williams. He and my mom are the reason that my sister and I did not grow up to be delinquents.

5. Best joke played on a friend was to take Steve Bruno's garage door opener and go past his house in Jeff Renner's car opening and closing his door all day.

6. Revenge was sweet for Steve Bruno when I was taking a dump at Steve's place. He had a key to the bathroom and doused me with water while on the shitter. Nothing worse than having your fortress of solitude violated when you are in such an easy place to be taken advantage of.

7. My best friends, Tommy, Jeff, and Jimmy, I met in High School. We lived our dream of making videos and imprinting our brand of twisted humor on the entire school.

8. I decided to take Japanese during the bubble economy in Japan. Because of the current economic conditions I thought it would be advantageous to me to learn Japanese at the time……. Oh……. Alright…. That’s just bullshit….. I took it because Japanese women are hot…. OK?

9. A life changing experience was learning to speak Japanese at the University of Toledo. The inspiration, meeting my friend Kenji. At a language lab at U Hall, Kenji was sitting at the desk next to mine. He asked, in broken English, "Are you studying Japanese? “Um… Yeah.” ~ Hey, I'm Japanese".

10. My first trip to Japan was to Kenji's house in Tokyo. It was a wakeup call.... after two years of class work. I could understand squat! I needed to study more.

11. I would really like to find more folks from my Japanese class at UT. So far Richard Lange is on Facebook but I’m still looking for others.

12. I became the first American member of the Japanese Student Association at the University of Toledo. Met some really good people in that group that I wish I kept in touch with more.

13. My sister does not remember this but I know she really gave up playing the piano after hearing David Ng from Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. He is truly a natural genius on the keyboard. Hear him play and you will know what I'm talking about.

14. After college I landed a job with the Japanese Government to teach English in a small town in central Japan. I did not know where I was living until I arrived in Tokyo.

15. In the months leading up to the move to Japan I was very busy getting ready for the move. When I arrived it was a blur, I remember very little of that time. The one thing I do remember is getting dropped off at my apartment in Matsusaka for the first time after everything was done. I was alone, in a foreign country half a world away and knew no one. My first thought was... "Oh shit... What the hell have I done?"

16. I met my wife at a coffee shop in the little town of Matsusaka. I originally went there to meet with the head of Matsusaka Taiko (Japanese Drums). To learn how to play and join the group. I did not end up taking any lessons but became a regular customer at the coffee shop.

17. I became friends with my wife’s family before I started dating her. This was the key to actually being able to marry her later.

18. While in Japan I broke the code of men. Sorry Kelly, you seem happier now anyway…. Who needs a F1 race queen anyway?

19. I was in Japan for the massive Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. No damage in Matsusaka but it scared the living shit out of me. Of course, my co-worker from the UK, Ian slept right through it. Yeah right…

20. I had a traditional Japanese wedding and I moved back to the USA in 1996 with the wife. I worked for a trading company before starting my career at SMC in 1998. My boss instilled me with an almost fanatical devotion to my company that survives to this day.

21. After trying for so long to have children my wife and I finally gave up. 2 weeks later she brought in the pregnancy test that she had taken many times before to show me the positive result. On September 13th, 2003, my daughter Anna Mae was born in Walled Lake, MI. She has the name of my grandmother and her name can be written in Japanese also (杏菜). The first character is AN for Anzu or apricots. The second is NA for NAPPA or greenery. My wife chose the two for the sweetness of the fruit and the green for the new green of the leaves at the end of spring, her favorite things in life.

22. My father came up from Atlanta to Detroit to see my daughter for the first time. He was able to hold her in his hands at our house there. Two weeks later he passed away from a heart attack. I think about my dad every day. This past August I bought a birthday gift for myself. It is a bear claw that I wear around my neck to remember my father, the bear. My mom has the original one on her key chain. Miss you dad…

23. In 2006 SMC offered me the chance to move to Japan and work at our Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. I took the job and have been having fun ever since. This is a great place to be.

24. My sense of humor and knowing the culture here is what keeps me sane. That and a love for beer, finding new places to drink, and wonderful public transportation to bring me home when I’m stumbling home makes me want to stay even longer.

25. I have an open invitation to my friends around the world to make the trip across the ocean to visit this wonderful place. I can be one hell of a guide.

Ise Jingu Hatsumode Video 2

Ise Jingu Hatsumode Video 1

Ise Jingu Hatsumode 2009

On January 2nd we had the highlight of our trip to Mie Prefecture. On that day we all got into our cars and headed to Ise (Hiroko's mom had a cold so she stayed behind). As we approached Ise, the cars began to back up. The police were herding all of the cars towards the "Sun Arena", a sports stadium built back in 1993 for that year's world expo. It took us a good hour to finally get to the stadium's parking lot. There we saw about 20 tour buses with more coming in behind them to pick up the lines of people waiting in the parking lot. As each bus filled up, another one lined up at the beginning of the line to pick up more people from the parking lot and drop them off at the entrance to the Ise Shrines.

The Ise shrine is dedicated to Amaterasu, the supposed first mother of all the emperors of Japan. In the Shinto religion the story goes that she was upset that a brother had burned her fields and this drove her into a cave. Since she was the sun goddess the earth turned dark. The people tried having a festival outside the cave to coax her out. Eventually she was finally brought out from curiosity by seeing her own reflection in a mirror. This mirror is housed within the Ise shrine. Of course, we all being mere mortals, only the emperor is permitted to go all the way into the shrine to see the mirror. Ise shrine is the only shrine that still practices the Shinto tradition of rebuilding the shrine every 20 years. I was fortunate to live in Mie back when they built up another shrine next to the older shrine. The emperor then came from Tokyo in a grand ceremony to bring the mirror to the other shrine. Ise shrine is also unique in that it was so important to the Japanese that it was the one place that foreigners were still not allowed to visit after the Treaty of Kanagawa between the USA and Japan in the mid 1800's.

Once we arrived at the entrance to the shrine (a large tori gate and a bridge that leads into the shrine grounds), we headed into Okageyokocho. This area was popular as a resting stop for pilgrims all over Japan who came to Ise Jingu. The residence believed that there would be good luck for their home if they served these visitors and gave them free lodging and food. Although the restaurants are no longer free, they still look much the way they did back then. The whole area is just as it would have appeared back in the 17th and 18th century. It was here that I was able to take a great picture of a rainbow that appeared over the crowds going through the town.

After a great lunch of marinated tuna sushi over rice and giant fried shrimp, we headed to the Ise shrine itself. The walk is long through the forest. The cedars, hundreds of years old, have grown huge along the gravel path. I love visiting here because, as I walk towards the shrine the forest is so quiet you begin to think about how you arrived at this instance of your life. I have told Japanese people about this feeling, and I am not alone. When we arrived fairly close to the stairs leading up to the shrine we were greeted by the mass of humanity waiting for their turn to make a wish for the new year. From that point, it was a good hour before we arrived at the top.

Afterwards, we headed to a gyoza (pot stickers) restaurant in Ise that we like to visit. Their the kids were able to enjoy fried chicken and gyoza for dinner. We were exhausted but it was a great experience.

New Years in Matsusaka

On Sunday morning Hiroko and I woke up and loaded up the car for the trip to Matsusaka. We woke up..... fairly early and packed up our stuff. Surprisingly, the trip to Matsusaka had no traffic jams whatsoever (Which is really surprising for New Years). After arriving in Matsusaka we watched the news to see that they were expecting the big rush to every one's hometown on the 30th since there were still people working on Monday and Tuesday of that week.

In Matsusaka we lived the high life. Eating great food, staying up late, and sleeping in. After getting back we all found it hard to get over our "Matsusaka Jet Lag" and get back to work. On one night Hiroko's mom bought 1.5kg (3.2lbs) of Matsusaka beef for sukiyaki. My brother in law bought Yebisu beer and we washed it all down with that. It was soooo good.

Also, on another day we got the kids out of the house to enjoy the play area at the local Apita shopping mall. It's great to put all of them together so they can play till they drop. We were able to get them tired enough to have an adult night out with Hiroko's sister and husband at the local Japanese bar across the street from their house. It was great fun.

Christmas Date In Shinbashi

With Anna away with her grandmother ahead of us in Matsusaka, Hiroko and I had a chance to go on a date on the Saturday the 27th. Hiroko had to work at Eddie Bauer until 3 so I left the car at home and took the bus to Inzai Makinohara Station right next to Big Hop. This was so we could go drinking in Tokyo and not have to worry about driving home from the station.

First we took the hour long train ride into Tokyo where I took Hiroko to Takashimaya in Nihonbashi. This is the first department store for Takashimaya in Tokyo. The building has that old feel to it. They even still have elevator attendants who are there just to tell you what is on what floor and press the buttons for you. There Hiroko tried on some eye shadow that made her eyes sparkle like morning dew. Ah.... so beautiful..... I kept thinking... what a lucky guy I am.

From there we headed to Shinbashi station for dinner at a great little Spanish restaurant called Venga Venga. The tapas there were great and the paella was just the best. From there we headed to a little bar I know next to the Concorde Hotel called the Drunken Bear. Unfortunately it was closed so we headed up to the 41st floor of the Shidome City Center Building in Shimbashi to a bar called the Majestic. There we had our own sofa and a great view of Tokyo tower and the night lights of the big city. We had allot to drink and headed home late that night. The next morning we were off early for Matsusaka.

Early Christmas Morning 2008

Ooo-Oooh Kira-Kira with Anna

Chi-Chi Ka-ka!

Merry Christmas From Japan!

This Christmas came a bit early here at the Williams house in Inzai. On Christmas day Hiroko's mom will take Anna to Matsusaka ahead of us so we decided to have Santa come on Christmas Eve morning instead of Christmas Day.

Anna woke up to find the piece of Christmas Cake that we left for Santa already eaten. She also found quite a few presents underneath the tree.

Yesterday, Hiroko had to work so I took her Mom and Anna to Ueno, the park, and the zoo. There Anna always likes to ride the little rides at the entrance to the zoo. So we bought 500 yen of tickets and let her decide what she rode.

Also, this past Sunday, Anna had her ballet recital in Shiroi. I have some videos of her dancing. Sorry for the quality of the videos. They are pretty bad. We should have a DVD that I can rip her dances off later that will look much better.

Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone! And a Happy New Year!

Anna Mae Sings Winter Wonderland