The Anniversary Adventure Trip - Day 1

Last year Ted was in the US on our wedding anniversary day, so we celebrated by taking a trip to Otaru after he returned. This year he was in the US again on our anniversary, so we took a trip this past weekend to the center of Hokkaido to Daisetsuzan National Park. Hokkaido’s tallest peak, Asahidake, is in this park.

We left about 7 am because we knew we had several hours to drive. This rest stop map showed us everything we needed to know about the area.

 

As we rose in elevation, the tree colors became prettier.  We stopped to take pictures and I took some through the car window as we drove.

 

Near our hotel/onsen there is a tram that you can take partway up the mountain. They run every 15 minutes and the cost was 5600 yen for two round trip tickets.

 

At the top of the ropeway is a small visitor’s center, then out to the loop trail.

 

I was excited to see the steam rising from the fumaroles. I’ve never been around a volcano before.

We took a leisurely hike around the trail, taking lots of pictures.

 

We stopped and ate a picnic lunch at site #5, where there were picnic tables.  Nearby was a bell memorial to a group of hikers who fell off the side of the trail and died.

 

The trail took us fairly close to the steam vents.

 

There were other hikers around, but not a lot.  It was a beautiful day and the scenery was gorgeous.

 

After our hike we took the tram back down to our hotel and onsen.

 

The hotel was a little old fashioned, but clean. Ted likes a lot of pillows and was disappointed with one tiny pillow.  There was a rotary dial phone in the room and a hot pot for making tea and  a television with three Japanese channels.  We did watch a program with ice skating. I worked on my hexagons a bit in the room.

 

We went to the onsen on the first floor that evening.  The women’s side was on the right and the men’s on the left. Soaking in the hot water was perfect after a day of hiking. In my post tomorrow I’ll tell you about what happened at the onsen the next day and what we did on the rest of our anniversary adventure trip.

Monday Morning Star Count - 131

I completed eight flowers this week and combined flowers to make five more flower clumps. Total flower count is 131.

 

If you want to learn to do this English Paper Piecing thing, check out Jessica’s Quilting on the Go book.

Japan Has Four Seasons Finish

Front

Back

Bear Encounters in Hokkaido

I read in the Japan Daily Press that there aren’t enough acorns this year to feed the bear population in Hokkaido, so people can expect the brown bears to come into “human settlements” looking for food.  Government officials have issued a warning to people who venture into natural areas this fall, looking for mushrooms or enjoying recreational activities. This special warning is to last through the end of October.  Next week is the International Exchange Society’s annual mushroom party in the nearby forest.  I’ll report afterwards if we encounter any bears.

Fall and Winter
I've put a few more stitches in my Four Seasons project. Here's fall.

Here's Winter.

Here's each season. I think I'm ready to start putting the book together.

Japan Has Four Seasons

People in Japan are very proud to tell you that Japan has four seasons. With this in mind, I’ve started a new project and so far it has been very fun to work on. Awhile back I made a meishi holder and thought I would make one for Ted also. First, I basted a rectangle, then divided it in four for the four seasons.

Using Soy Luster and chain stitches, I made a tree.  I didn’t draw anything on the fabric, I just stitched, then added more stitches.

 

The order of the seasons, from left to right, will be summer, fall, winter, and spring.  I pulled more Soy Luster in some possible colors to try out for three of the seasons.  I’ll have to use some other kind of thread for snow.

 

I put in some green leaves for summer and might add more later.

 

For spring, I made flower blossoms.

 

I hope to work on this some more today. Japan has four seasons, not just two.

Dream Come True

We had a beautiful clear day and decided to go up to the observation tower. The dragonflies are everywhere.

 

The view from the top is breathtaking.

 

Ted has several big lenses and lots of gear; I have my camera that is the size of a deck of cards.

 

As I was looking in all directions, I noticed what looked like an English Garden far off in the distance.  I think my stitching has me thinking more about English Gardens these days.

 

We took a trail down down down, in the direction of the garden and we found it!

 

 It was probably prettier earlier in the season, but there were still plenty of fragrant roses to see.

 

There is a little gift shop that sells everything with roses, including rose soft serve ice cream.

 

We saw a very large cat that was also visiting the rose garden.

The rose varieties were marked with little signs giving the name in English and in katakana.

This one was my favorite because it tells about living in Japan.

 

October Calendar and Kobe University Study on Honesty

Kobe University Professor Kazuo Nishimura conducted a survey of 15,949 men and women over the age of 19 this year to discover if they remember being told certain moral lessons, such as “do not tell a lie”” by their parents. It did not matter if they did as they were taught, just that they remember being taught these things.  The survey also asked about their annual incomes.

The findings of the survey indicate that those who clearly remember being told not to lie earned an average of 4.49 million yen a year (about $45,000 in USD), while those who do not remember, earn about 3.99 million yen (about $40,000 USD).  Other moralisms such as “obey the rules”, “be kind to others”, and “study hard” had similar results but to a lesser extent (earning from 150,000 to 290,000 more per year).
 

Other survey results include that those remembering being told “say thank you” or “listen to your parents” didn’t earn any more than the average; and those remembering being told to “say hello to people you meet” are making about 130,000 yen less! Interesting study, no? What do you remember your parents telling you?

My Favorite Quilt

I’m linking up to Molly Flanders Makerie, who is hosting a "favorite quilt" blog party.  Check out the link to see some beautiful quilts.

Quilting isn’t my main form of needlework but I have made one bed-sized quilt (that we are using here in Japan) and a number of smaller quilts and quilted wall hangings, but my favorite quilt is a tiny quilt I made for the doll house I had in the US. I had to get rid of the dollhouse when we moved here, but I saved a few small things from it.  This cross stitch quilt is almost 7” x 8”.  The backing is the same as the binding. I made it in 1992 and worked on it over my lunch hours when I was a law clerk for Judge Dodge in Cass County Michigan.