Our setup for an agape dinner on the last Sabbath of 2024.

In December, we wondered what we could do as a team with the local church to mark the end of 2024 and beginning of 2025. We tossed around a few ideas, then decided to do an agape dinner after the church service. (For those who may be unfamiliar with the term, "agape" comes from a term in Greek for love.) We divided up food responsibilities with the church members and took care of a good chunk of setup beforehand. The room where the fellowship meal is held after the service is small, but we just managed to squeeze the tables into a cross shape. Caitlyn and Hiroko went shopping for decorations and made some origami cranes.

The dinner was a blessing to all of us. We had a more traditional meal of soba noodles (buckwheat) and mochi (rice cake) along with bread and grapes to remind us of communion and Christ's work for us. While we ate, we passed a microphone around the room, and each person shared something from the year that they were grateful to God for. It was a blessing to be able to come together, fellowship with one another, be grateful, and, of course, enjoy some good food together.

#japan #agapedinner #fellowshipmeal #happysabbath

A huge assortment of ガチャ (gacha) machines found in a mall in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi.

ガチャ machines, also called ガチャポン (gachapon) / ガシャポン (gashapon), are a popular little vending machine popular all over Japan. You can find them in train stations, malls, and many other places. Some stores are full of exclusively ガチャ machines, and the entire business is built off of them.

What is a ガチャ machine? Well, it's essentially a luck-based vending machine. You put in some coins, turn the knob, and out pops a toy, stress ball, key chain, toy car, trinket, sticker, mini-instrument (like would be used in a kid's toy set or similar), and more. Each of these is in a small, plastic orb of one kind or another.

Pictured here is a small ガチャ machine area off the side of a toy store in a mall in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, along with a more close look at two of the machines. Fun facts: We sometimes eat the real-life, red-bag Calbee cereal, and we own one of the kids books in the series with the keychain ガチャ machine! A Calbee cereal chain costs 300 yen, or about $2.00. The kids book name is パンどろぼう, which means bread thief. The first book in the series is quite humorous. Each one of those keychains will set you back 400 yen, or about $2.60.

There were probably well over 100 different ガチャ machines in this small little area!

#japan #gacha #gachamachine #vendingmachine

A 食品サンプル (pronounced "show-coo-heen-san-pu-rue") in front of a restaurant in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, Japan.

食品サンプル (literally, food sample) is a staple of many restaurants in Japan, especially those found in malls or in places with more than one eatery. These are replicas of the items served in the restaurant. There are replicas for desserts, curries, veggies, tofu...if it's a food served at a restaurant, there's probably a 食品サンプル of it somewhere in Japan!

The idea of a 食品サンプル is to give you a good visual of the food before you eat it so you can see what's in it. This is not just helpful for the obvious reason of giving you a preview of the food, but for us as vegetarians, it's also an easy way to spot which dishes might be, well, vegetarian! It's also a lot easier to look at a bunch of samples of the food than go through a menu. All in all, it's another aspect of Japan that we really enjoy.

In this picture, you can see 食品サンプル of some desserts (parfaits), some curry dishes, some rice, and more.

#japan #foodsamples #japanrestaurant #food

A tiny pack of tissues won at the local mall.

Especially when it's sniffly sneeze-on (aka sniffly season, aka winter), when walking around common areas near train stations or in malls, you'll run into someone handing out little mini-tissue packs with, oh, probably around 10 tissues inside. They're small, convenient, and fit well into your pocket. The little tissue packs usually have an advertisement of some kind, either for a store, a political candidate, a local restaurant...the list goes on. The person handing out the tissue packs will graciously offer you one as you walk by. The tissues are helpful, of course, and having these little packs on hand is always wise!

The tissue pack shown in the picture was won at a local mall raffle. The name of the mall is "you me", a play on "you and me" and "有名(ゆうめい)" (pronounced "you-may", meaning famous). We had some made some bigger purchases, and with that came a raffle entry with prizes all the way from, well, tissues, to a roomba or more! We...well, we won some tissues.

#winter #japan #japanlife

A flower's worth of omiyage in Shin-Osaka station, Japan.

Omiyage (お土産) is quite a popular thing here in Japan. What is omiyage, exactly? Well, it's a small gift or souvenir of some kind - often food, but not always, that you give to your friends, family, and coworkers after a trip. If you travel or move from one location to another, the expectation is that you will bring these gifts from your destination(s) back with you. For example, if you travel from Tokyo to Osaka for a few days, you might grab some local Osaka omiyage (of some kind or variety) back for your family, friends, or coworkers.

At many train stations and towns, there are omiyage stores that specialize in selling a large variety of types of omiyage. Many will even ship your omiyage for you for a small fee if you can't transport it yourself. There are often local specialities in these shops, and usually the omiyage itself is quite fancy in one way or another.

Pictured here is an arrangement of one example of omiyage from a store in Shin-Osaka station. The omiyage is the flower-like cookie and insides, and the other large berries are just for extra show. To show all the types of omiyage found even at this one station would take quite a number of pictures!

#omiyage #japangifts #shinosaka

Awaiting the arrival of a train home in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, Japan.

You'll find train stations of every sort in Japan. The one pictured is a few stops away from our current, local train station. Those in the Tokyo/Yokohama/etc. area are busy and bustling with people and stores, and trains are frequently coming and going. In our new prefecture, however, the train stations are much smaller. Some are just a few rooms and a train platform or two. Others have a few minor shops or things to see, but, generally speaking, the amount of things to do or see at the train station is quite a lot less compared to the capital area. Our local train station only has one or two trains heading each direction per hour, so you have to be careful and check the schedule before you miss the train and end up waiting 45 minutes or more!

For comparison, it would be straightforward to arrive at Yokohama Station (south of Tokyo) at 10 AM, go shopping, eat lunch, do more shopping, eat dinner, and do some more shopping/browsing before heading home — all without leaving the station or seeing the outdoors. If you miss a train, no problem — another one will probably be showing up in 15 minutes or less heading the direction you want to go.

This is not to say, of course, that small train stations are bad - not at all! We love where we are at, and we are slowly learning how things are the same - and different - here in our new area.

Side note: Look at all the bikes parked on the right! You'll see this at most stations — people will bike to/from the station and park their bike while they are out of town, then bike home after they return.

#japan #trainstationsofjapan #kudamatsueki

The Hōrai Bridge in Shimada, Shizuoka, Japan.

The Hōrai Bridge is the longest wooden pedestrian bridge in the world at just under 900 meters long. It allows people to walk from Shimada over the Ōi River to visit a nature/walking/Shinto area on the other side of the river. It costs a small fee of 100 yen to cross — about 65 cents.

This was another place we visited while on our move out west. We visited with a local pastor friend of ours. It was super windy, and a little chilly, but pretty good exercise. Oh, and of course, the scenery was really nice, too!

As you end 2024 and look across the proverbial bridge into 2025, remember that there is a God who loves you, who cares for your needs, and who will be with you no matter whether you are going through easy times or hard times — no matter what 2024 may have been for you, and no matter what 2025 may bring. The bridge may look long from the start, and you may not even see the end, but God can carry you through.

#japan #bridgesofjapan #horaibridge #shimadajapan

Osaka Castle towers above visitors in downtown Osaka, Japan.

We wanted to visit Osaka Castle in early 2023, when we visited Japan for the first time, but unfortunately our plans didn't work out at that time. So, when we were traveling through Osaka again, we decided to make another attempt at visiting this historical landmark, and the weather did not disappoint!

Osaka Castle was built in the late 1500s by Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The castle and the surrounding areas were hotly contested between the family of Hideyoshi and the Tokugawa shogunate in the beginning of the Edo period of Japan, which lasted from 1603 to 1868 or so.

Inside the castle is a museum that takes a couple hours to go through and covers the history of the castle. We were also able to get some great pictures from the top of the castle overlooking the city.

#osaka #osakacastle #japan #castlesofjapan

Kinkakuji on a rainy, fall day in Kyoto, Japan.

Kinkakuji (金閣寺) was originally built in 1397, although it has been rebuilt several times over the years. Located in Northwestern Kyoto, it is partially covered with gold leaf, hence the color. We visited here during our move out west after sharing a great meal with a wonderful friend of ours who lives in Kyoto. Although it was raining, we enjoyed seeing the surrounding nature and viewing another one of Japan's cultural landmarks.

#japan #kinkakuji #fallcolors

Sumiyoshi Taisha

A bridge at Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine in Osaka, Japan.

The bridge in the picture is part of Sumiyoshi Taisha Shrine, a Shinto shrine in southern Osaka that was founded in the third century, before the introduction of Buddhism to Japan. Because it is so old, and because it was around before Buddhism, it had some differences from the other, more modern shrines that are spread throughout Japan.

We wanted to visit this shrine during our two-week trip to Japan in February 2023, but unforeseen circumstances kept us from seeing it and a few other places. So, during our move out west, we spent a few days in Osaka near Shin-Osaka station and got to see a few more things in both Osaka and Kyoto that we had wanted to see before. It was good to take a break after a busy year of language school, packing, and other things to go and see some cultural sites in this area of Japan.

#japan #sumiyoshitaisha #shintoshrines #bridgesofjapan