Japan!

Surprise! We were in Japan the past two weeks (roughly). We're home now (got home late Friday night). Our travels went well, safely, although there were a lot of delays with our flights. The flight to Japan is about 13h from Chicago. The way home is quicker at 11.5h. Jaron did very well with the flights. We brought a bunch of books and snacks for him which helped him pass the time. He slept most of the flight home. 

G and I adjusted to the time difference in Japan fairly quickly. Jaron on the other hand realllly struggled with jet lag. He woke up at 2am completely wide awake and ready for the day to start. He wasn't very interested when I made him go back to sleep. He laid in bed for a couple hours babbling to himself while I patted his back, trying to make him sleepy. Eventually he gave in and fell asleep for a few more hours. The same thing happened the next night. After about three or four days he had adjusted. Much more crying than babbling with this adjustment back to MN hours...

But, back to the trip! We had a phenomenal time. 

Our first day there, we met up with our international students from last fall, Hohomi and Yua. They showed us around Asakusa (part of Tokyo) and sponsored kimono rental for all of us for the day, even Jaron and G!

Over the course of the trip, we ate some amazing Japanese curries, a ton of rice, and a boatload of greens/seaweed/fish. Even Jaron! He loved everything he tried. 

We spent one night near Mt. Fuji. 

Ate at a delightful "small plates" restaurant. The owner didn't speak English, so she spoke into a translator that read her words back to us. She told us there was no menu; she is a Japanese mama who likes to feed people. Do we trust her to feed us? We did! And she did not disappoint. She brought dish after dish, including a whole fish. She took the bones away and brought them back a while later cooked until they were crunchy and edible. They tasted strangely amazing. 

We got ice cream at one of the parks/gardens- muscat grape and red grape twist (this area grows both varieties), and a Japanese maple and lilac.  Jaron really wanted to try it as you can see... 

Eating a Fuji apple at Mt. Fuji. So tasty! 

We ended our trip with a week in the mountains near Osaka where G's cousin Kyle runs a permaculture center (Pamimomi). They were doing a permaculture workshop for part of our time there, and even though it was primarily taught in Japanese, we tagged along for a few sessions. 

The view of the valley from the permaculture front yard:

Kimchi, making bamboo charcoal, and butchering chickens were all part of the workshop. G did a chicken all by himself so he'd be able to butcher our birds back home (the other person in the picture below is Tom, a plaster apprentice of Kyle also helping butcher). 

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen at Pamimomi. I helped cut veggies for kimchi and helped the cooks prep other food for meals. They have big windows overlooking the valley below. 

Drying persimmons and spicy peppers.

Kyle had a bunch of permaculture books, and in my downtime I enjoyed reading those outside. Jaron enjoyed napping in the 50° weather.

Pizza night cooked in the wood-fired pizza oven made by Kyle. Normally, meals are cooked over wood burning stoves either inside or outside. 

We stayed in a guest house about a five minute drive from the farm. In Japan they like to say that you always know what temperature it is outside because the temperature outside is the same as inside. They have very thin walls. The walls in the picture below are covered in paper. 

At night wooden walls slide into place on the outside of the house to help it be a little bit warmer. We had heated blankets and a kerosene space heater to keep the room warm at night. It was still pretty chilly! But we all survived. 

The table I'm sitting at in the picture below is a heated table! There's a heater centered underneath, very flat, and the blanket keeps all the warmth in. These are very common in Japan, and it seems like a lot of people practically live under them in the cold months, haha. I would love one for our house...

In the morning, The guest house host would bring us breakfast. Always a wide variety of foods, always delicious! 

G was struck by the quantity and quality of ornamental trees in Japan. So well kept! Lots of pruning! 

November and December are yuzu season in Japan. Yuzu is also known as a Japanese lemon and has a wonderful citrus flavor. G and I harvested 100kg for Kyle that were getting sold to a local juicery. 

There were probably 300-400kg still left on the tree. Kyle said it must be a bumper year! Yuzu isn't very good to eat fresh off the tree. Instead it's mostly used to make juice or jam. We love all forms of yuzu, and enjoyed it frequently in dressings on salads when we ate at Pamimomi.

Before we knew it, it was time to head home! Jaron slept most of the flights home. We had minimal delays. It's very good to be home!