Ho Ho Ho

Growing so Fast

Asakusa

The last day of the visit was spent at Asakusa. It's one of my favorite places in Tokyo. When you're there you really feel like you're in Japan. Most of the shops sell traditional goodies and wares. This was taken in front of Senso-ji Temple. I believe it's Tokyo's most famous temple.

Hozo-mon Gate

This giant incense burner is inside the temple complex.
People waft the smoke over themselves with the belief it will keep them healthy.

Nikko

We took a trip to Nikko, which is about a two -three hour drive from Tokyo. The town is most famous for the Toshogu, a huge shrine complex which is a World Heritage site. The picture below was taken outside one of the buildings inside the complex. The area is known for wild monkeys, but oddly inside the structure is a horse which was given to the shrine as a gift from New Zealand.

The area is also known for it's many waterfalls and beautiful scenic views.

Kai's Baptism

Along with introducing Kai to Buddism through Omiyamairi we also had him baptized in a Catholic church. The outfit he is wearing is a traditional christening dress crocheted by my grandmother.

Mt. Fuji

During my parents visit we took a trip to Mt. Fuji with Naoto's parents. This was the view from our hotel.

Shiraito-no-taki (White Thread Falls) near Mt. Fuji.

Mema and Pepa's Visit

November was a very busy month for us. Kai met his Mema and Pepa for the first time. It was wonderful to see him smiling and laughing with my parents. He's really an amazing little guy. For the most part he was very agreeable to whatever was going on. He was taken to the shrine for Omiyamairi, baptized at a Catholic church and was generally shuffled all over Japan.

Omiyamairi

This was taken after the Omiyamairi ceremony, outside Meiji Shrine. He had a bit of a hard time during the ceremony (which we weren't allowed to photograph) mostly because of the sounds. He seemed to get very frightened every time the large gong was hit.

As always we were running late but were lucky enough to be the last ceremony of the day. Unfortunately, by the time the service had ended it was nearly dark out and the shrine was about to close so we really had to hurry along our photos.

Kai had pretty much had it by the time he was handed off to me for the final photos. I love the way his little lower lip quivers when he cries. Even when he's upset he's still so cute.

The babies are traditionally held by their grandmothers (usually the husband's mother) during the ceremony.

Kai's baby kimono is absolutely gorgeous. Since his name means an open frontier, my mother-in-law chose a ship sailing the open seas. She wanted the sailboat to represent the beginning of his journey into this world. The symbols on the top are the Ikeda family emblem. If Kai had been a girl then the emblems would have been Naoto's mother's maiden name. When we were married the kimono my mother-in-law bought me had her family emblem on it. I love this tradition. It's just such a special notion.

Happy Halloween

Kai Prepares for Omiyamairi

Kai received a special gift from his Jiji and Baba to prepare for Omiyamairi, a ceremony here where newborn babies are brought to a shrine for the first time to be introduced to the gods and are given a special blessing for good health. The ceremony is typically performed when the babies turn a month old but since my parents will be coming in less than a week my in-laws wanted to wait to share the experience with them.

His miyamairi-gi (baby kimono) is absolutely gorgeous. This picture in no way does it justice but Kai's little expression is just so cute I couldn't resist posting it. We wanted to wait for the actual ceremony to really photograph it. Traditionally children are brought back to the shrine for another blessing where they will wear their same kimonos again at age 3, 5 and 7.



He also received his first pair of fancy shoes. Although I'm sure he'll be fitting into them in no time, since he seems to be getting bigger and bigger everyday, their way to precious to ever allow him to wear them. You can't tell from the picture but each of the shoes has a little sliver plate, one with his name and the other with his birthday.