Mom and Dad in Tokyo

Mom and dad made it to Tokyo and have been blessed with lots of blossoms remaining on the trees and relatively beautiful weather. It's a bit cold, but mostly clear skies yesterday and today (so far).

The biggest challenge has been for them to live in our tiny apartment with us - and the birds who don't have a cage. We have no beds, no comfortable chairs. I ran out to the used-junk shop last night and bought a nice, cushy, reclining office chair last night for 2,000 yen to reduce my stress of seeing them sitting on the straight back kitchen chairs all night after a long day of walking through the city and parks.

They will get a chance to compare our spartan lifestyle to the most modern of the modern lifestyles next week though because our application was accepted to stay a night in Panasonic's concept home - complete with all the newest high-tech, so-called "eco" products, such as the enormous theater-screen-size TV seen at the bottom of this page.

I think we'll rent some Japanese movies with great scenery shots to watch that night. If anyone knows any good ones with English subtitles on the DVD, let me know. For now I am anxious to show them "Cha No Aji" (The Taste of Tea). Tomoe has her mind set on "Memoirs of a Geisha", but I think it would be such a waste to show them a crap Hollywood film when there are so many good Japanese movies to choose from here.

To give ourselves a break, Tomoe and I sent them out on a bike ride from Nakanosakaue to Iinogashira park today with a map of Tokyo and a compass. I have a few hours left before they call me to come lead them home. Then later tonight it is off to eat at Gaya, the Macrobiotic restaurant (Happy Cow review)where Tomoe has been working part-time and learning from the head chef told her that based on her skills and knowledge as a "beginner", she could reach his level in about a year.

Cha No Aji From the IMDB:

A truly beautiful film full of wonderful imagery and comic moments that made the almost 2 and a half hours fly past. It really needs to be seen in a cinema where you can totally integrate yourself in the atmosphere and you feel like a fly on the wall, watching the family and their situations without interrupting their flow. Visually nature plays a huge role, not just the human side of it (which is simple and uncomplicated) but the countryside, the river, the wind, the cherry blossoms, the rain etc etc. It really is beautifully filmed and the characters are all very touching, very funny and very normal really (except perhaps the psychedelic singing uncle),in their own quirky little ways. There isn't a real story line, we just follow the family over a seemingly short period of time. Some moments in the film may seem relevant and some may not, but they all do seem to fit in somewhere along the way and they are all such a pleasure to watch. I came out of the cinema feeling as though my karma was on a high and I still do.