Kids Christmas Party

jihanki

In Japan, vending machines are known as jidō-hanbaiki (from jidō, or "automatic"; hanbai, or "vending"; and ki, or "machine"), jihanki for short.

bridges

snow patrol

With the impending snow, Josh and his helper Marty will be finishing up their time at JLC and heading down to Tokyo where Josh hopes to minister to disabled people.

autumn leaves

easy and delicious

Curry Rice (カレー ライス) is one of the most popular dishes in Japan. Preparation is quite easy. All you need is rice, curry sauce, vegetables and meat. The basic vegetables are onions, carrots, and potatoes. For the meat, pork, beef and chicken are the most popular, in order of decreasing popularity.

For more info, see wikipedia.

summertime

neon ballroom

Susukino (すすきの), to the south of the centre of Sapporo, is one of Japan's largest nightlife (and red-light) districts. It is the place where a large proportion of salary-men and salary-women hit after a hard day's work.

bicycles in japan

Mama-chari is the affectionate term used to describe the bicycles frequently used by Japan's legions of housewives (and pretty much everyone else).


Derived from the English word "mama" and "charinko," Japanese slang for bicycle, the mama-chari is usually equipped with a basket to store groceries or the briefcase.

boys, be ambitious!

Dr. William Smith Clark (July 31, 1825 - March 9, 1886) was one of the founders of Sapporo Agricultural College, the prdeccessor of Hokkaido University. Although his stay was short, he led many of his students to Christ. Just before he left Japan, Clark is supposed to have said to ten or so students who came to send him off, "Boys, be ambitious!"

One of the students was apparently so moved that he remembered the phrase and later recited it in a lecture, making it the famous phrase it is in Japan today.


A bronze statue of Dr. Clark stands at the Hitsujigaoka Observation
Hill. A bust of Dr. Clark is situated on the campus of Hokkaido University.

yosakoi soran festival

Yosakoi Soran (よさこい ｿｰﾗﾝ) festival is a festival that combines the Yosakoi-Festival of Kochi prefecture of Shikoku Island and Soran Music of Hokkaido Island. Yosakoi is a unique style of dance that is highly energetic, while the music incorporates the traditional Hokkaido fishing folksong, Soran.


The choreographed dances are often performed by large teams wearing very colourful costumes. Yosakoi participants include men and women of almost all ages – sometimes within a single team.

sapporo tv tower

Sapporo TV Tower (さっぽろテレビ塔), built in 1957, is a 147.2 meter high TV Tower located in the centre of Sapporo-shi, at the entrance of the Odori Park.



The TV Tower has an observation deck which rises 90.38 metres from the ground. Below, one can see various local events as well as international events throughout the year. The whole sweep of Sapporo City spreads out against the backdrop of flowers for every season in Odori Park with the vast Ishikari Plain and the Sea of Japan in the distance.

yukata

Yukata is a Japanese summer garment. People wearing yukata are a common sight at fireworks displays, bon-odori festivals, and other summer events. The yukata is a casual form of kimono that is also frequently worn after bathing at traditional Japanese inns. Though their use is not limited to after-bath wear, yukata literally means bath(ing) clothes.

takoyaki

Takoyaki is a popular Japanese dumpling made of batter, diced octopus, tempura scraps (tenkasu), pickled ginger, konnyaku, and green onion, topped with okonomiyaki sauce, green laver (aonori), mayonnaise, and katsuobushi (fish shavings), originated in Osaka.

It is commonly eaten without rice as a snack food.



photo credit: hippoMum

okonomiyaki

Okonomiyaki is a pan-fried Japanese dish cooked with various ingredients. Okonomi means "what you like" or "what you want", and yaki means "grilled" or "cooked"; thus, the name of this dish means "cook what you like, the way you like".

sakura

In Japan, sakura or cherry blossom is an enduring symbol of the beauty and transience of life. During spring, the flowers bloom and usually fall within a week, before the leaves come out. It’s been sublime seeing Sapporo accentuated with various shades of white and pink.

Beautiful, yet all-too-brief... like life itself.

"All flesh is like grass
and all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
and the flower falls,
but the word of the Lord remains forever."
1 Peter 1:24-25

omikuji

Omikuji are random fortunes written on strips of paper at Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in Japan.


Fortunes can be any of the following:

• Great blessing (dai-kichi, 大吉)
• Middle blessing (chū-kichi, 中吉)
• Small blessing (shō-kichi, 小吉)
• Blessing (kichi, 吉)
• Half-blessing (han-kichi, 半吉)
• Near-blessing (sue-kichi, 末吉),
• Near-small-blessing (sue-shō-kichi, 末小吉)
• Curse (kyō, 凶)
• Small curse (shō-kyō, 小凶)
• Half-curse (han-kyō, 半凶)
• Near-curse (sue-kyō, 末凶)
• Great curse (dai-kyō, 大凶)

If the prediction turns out to be good, it is customary to keep the slip of paper as a talisman. When the prediction is bad, it is a custom to fold up the strip of paper and attach it to a pine tree in the temple grounds. Supposedly, the tree then bears the curse until the wind blows it away.

children's day

Kodomo no hi (meaning "Children's Day") is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, during the Golden Week period. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness.

golden week

It's currently Golden Week in Japan; a collection of national holidays during the first week of May. Some of these holidays and festivals are derived from animism or Shinto Buddhism, but much of the cultural significance is now lost amongst the Japanese. Golden Week is now commonly viewed as a few days crammed together to give the nation’s soldiering salary men somewhat of a rest.

In reality, the week-long holiday is actually only 3 weekdays - Tuesday and Wednesday are in fact regular working days.

Although Japanese people might not worship nature or the emperor these days, it's evident that they've replaced it with another form of worship - materialism. The sad reality is that Japanese (and this probably applies to much of the rest of the world) spend their lives worshiping at the temple of 'stuff' - some people spend their entire lives at the shopping mall or they spend their time in preparation for being at the shopping mall, heading home in preparation to earn more money so that they can go back for the latest clothes, furniture, sporting equipment, housing appliances, home entertainment, tech gadgets ...


cf. Romans 1:22-32

nattō

Nattō is a traditional Japanese food made from fermented soybeans. It is most commonly eaten at breakfast to accompany rice. It packs a really strong smell, akin to strong cheese. Tastes abit like cheese too, but tastes better mixed soy sauce and raw egg.

Apparently it is a rich source of protein.





photo credit: roboppy

glimpse at the field...

The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the children of the kingdom.
Matthew 13:37b-38a