One last Sayonara party, this one organized by Andrew and Hiroe on behalf of Takahashi san and his wife Yasuyo. 

Yasuyo is a licensed kimono-ist, she dresses women for speical occasions, as well as teaching the art of it.  It's quite a process, as I can now attest!  She came to our place to outfit me in a kimono for dinner.  Not just any kimono, but one she had chosen especially for me, shoes included.  Fortunately the summer kimono is less of a project than the winter one, and I found it to be rather more comfortable than I had expected, even with a piece of cardboard in the obi to keep it rigid.  What a gift!!

The "Thanks for Everything" cake really should have been from us to all of them, they have done so much to make our stay amazing. 

Another Sayonara party with another group of business associates.  Most of them had been up at 3:30 am to watch the Japanese soccer team play (and beat) Denmark but their social graces were intact, and then some. 

They kept saying how beautiful I look, "...like you are in your thirties...we couldn't berieve when Massew san told us your age!" (I can pull this off only as long as I maintain a minimum distance and a maniacal grin, which explains the cheesy smile in all my photos, hee hee) 

"Massew san so lucky, and you lucky too.  He is such smart man and very good guy and so handsome. You are like  movie stars." 

The fact that they decided I looked like Celine Dion put a bit of a dent in their credibility, but I figured I'd just go with the flow.  It's not often I get such a thorough and sustained ego boosting.  Plus a brand new Fuji camera as a hello/goodbye gift.  What hospitality! 

Even without the camera and the flattery they would have been wonderful dinner companions.  We are meeting such great people here.

Kitano san had hand-picked and sent two shirts from Fukozo, a clothing company he has a hand in.  I consider this quite an honor.  We went home from lunch that day feeling well-gifted, to be sure.

Last weekend,  a feast and kitchen karaoke at Yokoo and Chie san's apartment, my first time in an actual Japanese home.  As you see, there is no wall decor, and precious few knick-knacks of any kind.  Apparently this is fairly typical, although not universal.  Behind the various sliding doors there lived a wealth of gadgetry--sound systems, movie projectors, giant viewing screens...

The lady sitting on her heels is Yokoo's mother, Kitano-san's sister.  I asked her how long she can sit like that.  She held up a finger: "One day." 

Yokoo san is in the food importing business, and after a meal comprised of so many courses I lost count, we were sent home with a giant bag full of salmon, pollock roe, and shrimp.  Also mochi, a  traditional treat made from gelatinous rice pounded into a silky smooth confectionary. 

The smell of the forest and the rain was intoxicating.  And the Forest Adventures folks were ever so friendly.  What a great way to end (almost) our trip.

"It's just rollers...how wet can it be?"

When I heard we were coming to Japan I didn't once imagine myself swinging through through the trees in the deep dark woods! 

What a great day we had yesterday, a rainy Forest Adventure ropes course that was a lot higher off the ground in real life than it appears in these photos. 

Miku-san had told me we would see people carrying Duffy the Bear (Mickey's pet, apparently) at Disney.  I thought, "Who would want to encumber themselves like that?" 

Well, I would say fully half of the Disney-goers had some incarnation of Duffy the Bear on their person.  From key-chains to St. Bernard size, Duffy was there! 

There are some things I am just not going to understand.  Maybe because I am so fond of the idea of comfort.  Comfortable shoes, comfortable clothes, and no sticky furry fake animals weighing down my arms.

I'm such a wimp!

DisneySea may give the the illusion of being in different seaboards, but one glance at the gals left no doubt that we were in Japan.  Only here is "dressing the part" elevated to such a level, and by so many.  The clothing is almost secondary to the accesories--bracelets, cell phone charms, polka-dot anything, Tinkerbell handbags..you name it, they will cart it around for 8 muggy hours on hot asphalt.

There were a few guys sporting Mickey Mouse ears as well, but only if they were with a girlfriend.  Still, they didn't look at all sheepish about it.  I guess the guys who could be cajoled into the ears were still in that besotted stage where they would happily parade around in their underwear if the objects of their affection willed it.

If you're starting to get the feeling we were at some sort of theme park, you're onto me!   Tokyo DisneySea Tokyo, adjacent to Tokyo DisneyLand.  It was a visual feast, something our friend Sarah (who had a hand in its creation) is justifiably proud of. 

...We also went here.  Any guesses? 

We didn't go to Kyoto after all.  Instead we went here....can you figure out where it is?

...and the hydrangeas are like soccer balls!  I've never seen such plentiful, robust hydrangeas, not even when we lived in Oregon. 

Big. Fat. Juicy. More like hydrangeas than orchids!

The umbrella-in-a-bottle is a good idea in that it solves the problem of not having a soggy mess in your handbag.  Apparently though it won't do you much good if you find yourself in a typhoon.  Or a gun fight.

Japan v the Netherlands was quite the craziness in Tokyo last night. 

We thought we would get to Paddy Foley's Pub early on so that we might get a seat.  Ha ha!  As you see in the lower photo, the Japanese contingent had full occupation of all available space long before we arrived.  The arms in the air may well be people signaling their need for oxygen.  The toilet in Paddy's is a one-seater for each gender--I wonder how that panned out towards the end of the evening.   Matthew pointed out the number of seats was moot, as nobody would be able to make their way back there in the first place.

The Dutch had planted themselves firmly in front of the outdoor screen, and they weren't about to give up their places for love nor money nor even beer.  I overheard a Japanese comment that "If they were small like us at least we could see the game."  They WERE big, most of them a good few inches taller than Matthew, so we were obliged to watch the game as a reflection in the window.  It was hot, it was muggy, it was smelly, and who would have it any other way?  (Us, actually.  We had been on our feet for a good 6 hours already that day so after having absorbed a goodly amount of ambiance we set off in search of other venues and ended up on kind of a walking tour of the game, finishing up in the comfort of our own home.)