Hanami at Tadodai House

Returning to the scene of the crime, an expression familiar to mystery fans, is just what Weather Explorer and I did Friday morning. Except Weather Explorer was not guilty of any crime the last time we visited Tadodai House to view cherry blossoms. The party who imbibed three tall glasses of hot sake on a chilly spring evening in 2010 was me.

This year we experienced hanami in the morning, the weather was much more obliging, and the hot sake was noticeably missing. The only similarity between this year and last, in fact, was the Ancient Mariner's absence.  He has the misfortune to spend the loveliest part of the year floating around the Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan aboard the USS Blue Ridge. But rumor has it that he'll be back in two days to catch the tail end of this year's cherry blossoms. Be still my heart.

Hiroko, Yoko, Hisayo, Weather, Tomoko, Yuuko

Just when I was thinking life doesn't get any better than this, a group of preschoolers marched around the corner of the Tadodai House and life quickly got better than this. Their teachers lined them up under the spreading branches of a cherry tree for class pictures. The five-year olds wore blue hats, the four-year olds were in yellow, and the littlest cuties -- the three-year olds -- sported green caps.

Weather and Bossy entertain the adorable little moppets

Weather and I were expecting to head for a local restaurant with our friends after we'd had our fill of cherry blossoms. Much to our surprise, they marched us out the gate and up the next driveway to the home of the Yokosuka District Commandant of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force where Takashima-san hosted a lovely and bountiful luncheon for about a dozen current and former JAW members.

I tasted food I've never tried before -- mochi, a Korean casserole with radishes so large I thought they were potatoes, and a delicious salmon salad with cabbage and corn -- and was seated next to a very sweet lady who shares my love of books. She is the first person I've met who's read the Japanese thriller Out besides my sister and me. Simply having that book in common made me feel like I'd known her for several years rather than just an hour.

What a blessing it is to have such hospitable friends.

A Charming Day at Shinagawa Aquarium

The Shonan ladies took us to Shinagawa Aquarium this month. Aquariums aren't really my thing -- if a renegade dolphin ever decides to leap into the audience rather than through a hoop, I am 100 percent certain he'll land on me -- but I how could I turn down a chance to spend time with my Shonan pals?

To be perfectly honest, on the days leading up to this event I was so caught up with thoughts of renegade dolphins and shark tanks exploding in my face that I never stopped to think about what else I would encounter at a Japanese aquarium:  Japanese schoolchildren.
 

The yellow backpack kids nabbed the center seats.

The pink hat kids had to settle for the side sections.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

Scuba Santa feeds big flat fish while I pretend the kids and I are watching a cartoon.

Charms are not just for cell phones

A pink backpack charm on a yellow backpack - how charming!

Shinagawa Aquarium is an easy train ride from Yokosuka.  We took an express train to Keikyu Kamata then rode a local train until the fourth stop.  The aquarium is located in a lovely park two blocks from the station.  The park merits further exploration but I think I'll wait until the spring for that.

Beach-Combing in January

There's a 12-year old American girl here who reminds me more than a bit of Katie at that age: blonde, bespectacled, and bookishly quiet. She heard there is a beach across the Miura Peninsula from us where glass shards and pottery sherds (thanks, Kate) wash up on the tide.

I'd been to this beach a couple of years back so I agreed to try to find it for her and her mom. This is how I came to spend the better part of Saturday driving up and down narrow little lanes, backing slowly out of dead-end beach access roads, and being excruciatingly careful to keep my wheels aligned on rusty metal planks strewn precariously across muddy culverts. "Allow me to demonstrate a Y-turn, my dear."

The tide was in by the time we finally found the sheltered cove in question but there were still a few yards of beach to comb so we did not come home empty-handed (see left). The correct route is now etched in my memory so I hope someone else will want to collect shards and sherds soon. In the meantime, I think I'll try my hand at creating a mosaic something-or-other.