Here’s a short pictorial overview of some of the great stuff we’ve been upto here in Japan from when I got here in mid-December up until New Years Day 2010.

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When I first got to Japan, after the drama of my flight being cancelled by Jetstar (and ruining a bunch of plans), we had a combined welcome party for both myself, and the latest JET program teacher and his family who were visiting.

His girlfriend came a few day later and we had another party, with Japanese curry for dinner.

As Christmas was coming and my mum had given the family a gingerbread house as a present, we, together with a friend, built our very first gingerbread house!!

And a triumphant group after finishing!

We had Christmas dinner at a Japanese restaurant. Lots of fun!

Fun for everyone!

After christmas we gave the doghouse a makeover and painted it pink!

It suits her!

My birthday was up next. We went to a nearby hotel where we went for a hike in the beautiful mountains and used their onsens, which faced the mountains and the bay.

We also had a special blowfish dinner (yes the poisonous kind the chef needs a license for). Yum! And we’re still alive

And the birthday cake! When it is cut, it makes little heart shapes! Cute and smart (and tasty!)

We then went to Matsue in Shimane and stayed at a hot spring hotel, Cho rakuen (長楽園). This place has the largest natural outdoor onsen, and it is mixed bathing, which is fairly unique for Japan.

It also has great food. Here’s us having a special set dinner.

We’re in our own special dining room.

Great food and drink.

And here’s the food. This was the first course. There were several other courses as well consisting of lobster and fish.

And the Sashimi platter. Did I mention Sashimi? YUM!

And after all the eating. This is the entire family, including grandmother and great-aunt.

We had a cold change come through and it started snowing!

One other great thing about the hotel is that we were staying in the suites. Which had their own private onsen per room.

I loveeeee hot springs. At our overnight stay I went 7 times into the hotsprings. Which is quite a lot, but it’s soooo good!

Driving back was a little scary with all the roads snowed over. Several feet of snow in places!

And a family photo as we were leaving.

We came back on New Years Eve, in time to have some soba and sushi for dinner, as well as watch the special NHK New Years Eve TV show.

New Years Day is big in Japan. We went to the temple and then came back for brunch.

And everyone welcomes in 2010.

Including shin-shin.

2010 has just begun. A new chapter with lots of new and exciting adventures awaiting.

Wishing everyone a safe, prosperous and happy new year for 2010.

Shikoku, meaning literally four countries/regions, comprises of four prefectures, and during feudal times, four provinces, is often most well known for its 88 sacred temples, and the pilgrimages that were frequently undertaken.

Until the late 1980′s, access was limited to ferries and it was apparently rather precarious to visit the island, which is buffeted by strong winds and storms. That changed with the building of several bridge systems, meaning we could drive there within a few hours. And even in the safety of the car, we could still see and feel the massively strong winds that scourge the island.

I like Castles. So we had to stop by and visit Matsuyama Castle. We took the chair-lift to the top. If only it was snowing =(

The scenery from the top was simply amazing, you could see the ocean gleaming in the distance in one direction, and mountains on the otherside, as the city sprawled underneath.

The castle was relatively impressive. Himeji still takes the cake.

We had perfect weather. It was actually snowing lightly randomly throughout the weekend, which was cool, but I want snow drifts!!! Snowmen etc!

And here’s us!

Funky tree

And a random camera view from the second or maybe third floor of the castle.

And we all know that we all love samurais. And ninjas. This guy was the fourth lord of the castle. And probably some rings too.

And this is where I became a samurai. I think I need some better fitting armour, and perhaps a few decades of training first though. We also drank some amasake, which is an AWESOME drink specially made from brown rice. YUM!

We then went to the hotel.Did I mention it was 5-star? All the female staff inside wore kimono’s, there was valet service, the onsen was actually a private onsen, so that it was never too crowded, and we didn’t have randoms coming off the street.

I went into the onsen/hot springs four times during our one night stay, which was apparently impressive, with most people doing only 3 times. The onsen is just amazing. The water temperature is around 42 degrees. You wash yourself first, then go into the hot spring. I could only last around 15-20 minutes each time, but that was because I like to submerge myself totally into the water.

There are no photos of the onsen, mainly because we’re all naked inside, and a guy taking a camera inside…well, I’m not quite sure people would understand.

The hotel is also apparently known for origami, which is dotted around the hotel and rooms.

For dinner, we went to a restaurant inside the hotel. You have to book ahead, and they only have 7 rooms/groups per night. The food they have is arguably, so I’m told, some of the best food in Japan. Everything they gave us was fresh, was carefully arranged and it was soooo tasty.

Have I mentioned I like sashimi? Everyone knows it, so I managed so score some extra abalone and fish.

This is us enjoying our food! We were actually in the hotel to celebrate grandma’s birthday.

Fresh squid. I hate to admit it, but before I got to Japan, I didn’t actually know there was a difference between squid and octopus. I thought they were two words for the same thing.

We wore yukata’s that they gave us. It’s handy, and only Japanese Japanese hotels allow you to walk around in them.

And the flower picture.

Japanese Beef. mmm. yum. It’s a lot more expensive than imported Australian/other beef, and it’s darn tasty. This was wagyu beef.

Fish! Fresh and yummy!

Then fried fish!

And a traditional Japanese Breakfast in the morning.

I forgot to take a picture when the room was all neat and tidy, but here’s a sneak shot of the room. They also came and made tea for us when we arrived and in the morning.

Dougo is the oldest onsen in Japan, and this is one of the famous public onsens. We walked past at 6am, when they opened, and about 30 people were already queued up to get in!

And a clock. It tells the time.

Some funky art at one of the shops in the shopping street.

There’s a bit more about Ghibli, but I’m going to leave that for its own post!

I really want to go to onsens more! They are awesome!! Wish there were some onsens in Sydney.