The Navy would not take him so we crashed their party

It is ball season in Misawa.  Misawa is a joint base: Air Force, Navy, Japanese Air Defence, and a few Army members as well.  The Air Force birthday is in September and the Navy's is in October.  We have two opportunities to dress up and go out to the club for a ball.  I have always enjoyed going to the Air Force Ball.  I love to wear formal dresses and Josh's mess dress is pretty handsome to me.  Josh likes to collect a new challenge coin and take off his coat to show off his party shirt. 

 

Friends the Trefflich's and Allen's

Josh applied to the Navy two times before actually being accepted to the Air Force.  The first time was shortly after he completed his graduate degree in Social Work in the hopes of finding a way to pay off his loans to the University of Denver.  The second time was a period of job insecurity.  Both times he was turned away as the Navy was only hiring contractors to provide Social Work services for the Navy.  We sometimes wonder how our journey might have been different if he had been accepted to the Navy the first two times.  We are happy in the Air Force.  

We had heard that the Navy balls were better so we decided to crash the party.  They had an impressive display of flags lining the walk into the ballroom.  There were a lot of jokes about the baby Air Force (71 years to 243 years) and some ceremony around inviting the distinguished guests into the room.  There was a cake cutting just like ours, food, and dancing.  They did have a general that was flown in for the event to speak.  The Air Force ball speakers in Misawa have always been pulled from the airmen serving here.  They also had raffle prizes which the AF does not have.  So, there were some differences between the two.  I cannot say that I liked the Navy Ball better.  I knew less people, but this is a small base and we certainly were not the only Air Force members in attendance.  I just like to wear my fancy dresses and dance with Josh, so I was pleased with both evenings.

Anniversary Get-Away in Misawa

Josh and I have been married 17 years and we decided to have a little get away right in Misawa.  15 min from the base is a beautiful hotel called Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya.  It is a Ryokan hotel with two onsens.  When we arrived, our bag was taken in a cart pulled by a pony.  It was the cutest thing.  

We were greeted at the door ushered to a sitting area where we were served some apple juice in an apple cup.  The hotel employee checked us in while we sipped and then led us to our room where she proceeded to tell us all about the hotel.  We felt like royalty!  

Our room was Western Japanese style, so we had a sitting area with a dropped floor so that we would not have to kneel, and the mattresses were on a raised step but directly on the floor.  We took off our shoes and were given slippers and clogs to wear in the hotel.  We were also given robes or yukata to wear during our stay. The best part was that we were able to stay the night without children.  The kids were being watched at home by a college student in our ward.

We started out by exploring the grounds of the hotel.  Directly behind the hotel is a lake with a walking path.  It took about 40 min to get around because we stopped to look at the lighted terrace, shrine, pony stables, and bridge.  We also enjoyed foot bath near the lake.  

Then we went downstairs where the hotel was holding an Apple and Scallop Festival.  We sat in the scallop sofa, had two different kinds of apple juice from the tap, walked through the apple lantern corridor, and enjoyed the Jawamengu show with shamisen and shovel performances.  Our hotel stay included dinner and we enjoyed a Japanese buffet.

Writing wishes for this year

Apple lantern corridor.  I love all the lights and lanterns of Japan!

After dinner we changed into our Japanese robes and went back downstairs to enjoy the onsen. Let's talk about onsens! It took me two years to venture into an onsen or Japanese bath house.  Since Japan is a volcanic island, the Japanese people benefit from a lot of natural hot mineral springs.  In ancient times, onsens used to be considered a medicinal treatment.  Today it is used as an opportunity to get relaxed and healed mentally and physically.  Japanese children grow up being taken to the onsen with their mother or father and there is a method to cleansing the body and enjoying the waters.  Being from the West, it is unnatural to bathe naked with strangers or even in front of your children.  I definitely had to get over that mental hurdle.  Now that I have, I thoroughly enjoy the experience.  I love the warm bubbly jetted pools, the cold pool helps my circulation, and the electric pools ease my back and sciatic pain.  All summer long as the kids and I would play at the beach, we would enjoy the onsen afterward to clean up and warm up from the chilly northern ocean.  The onsens are separated by gender so Bub got adept at a solo experience and I would have the girls.  Over the summer, I felt that the girls, especially Bear, lost some of their body issues and became comfortable in their own skin.  Josh is a little slower to the love of the hot water soak but indulges us in our desires to refresh and relax.

The onsen at the hotel is called Ukiyu and it is reserved for hotel patrons.  The onsen was lit for the evening and the room was wood panel lined.  It was a very soothing atmosphere.  It also had a lit outdoor area looking into the lake.  It was beautiful and the water so warm and relaxing.  I just felt pampered all day long. What a great Japanese anniversary!!

At the entrance of the onsen- a blue curtain for men and a red curtain for women

Japan Festival Season

One of our favorite things about Japan is the festival season, in our area starting at the end of July and running through August.  This is our last year for many things and I refuse to dwell on things being the last.  I think that would make for a melancholy year.  Instead, I would like to enjoy all the wonderful things that Japan has to offer.  This festival season, we visited a few of our favorites and tried out some new favorites. 

In Misawa, the Tanabata Festival starts off the season.  Tanabata is to commemorate the romantic story of two lovers represented by the stars Vega and Altair who are only allowed to meet each other once a year as long as the skies are clear.  The streets of Misawa are filled with lighted lanterns and delicious festival food.

The first week of August is filled with regional festivals in many of the towns/cities in Northern Japan.  We focused on some of the festivals that we had not seen in previous years.  We attended the Hirosaki Neputa Festival where Neputa is said to have originated from the event Nemuri Nagashi, a traditional event to banish the invisible sleep demon who makes people drowsy during the summer when farm work is at its busiest.

We like to show new friends and arrivals the things we love about Japan.

This was my favorite float of the night

I love the warm lights of the festivals and the energy of the Japanese people cannot be beat

The Goshogawara city Tachineputa Festival is a summer festivalheld annually between August 4th and August 8th. Along with Aomori Nebuta Festival, Hirosaki Neputa Festival, and Kuroishi Yosare Festival, it is known as one of the four largest festivals of the Tsugaru region. It was my favorite festival that we saw this season. I felt like we were celebrities at this festival.  It seemed that when the float holders noticed a family of Americans, they drew attention to us by cheering, pointing, and carrying the floats our way.  I loved the attention!

The beautiful floats towered above us!

This style of float reminded me of the Nebuta festival in Aomori

Obon is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of ones ancestors.  Chochin or paper lanterns are hung and displayed to guide the spirits.  Families meet to have reunions at the graves of relatives.  Obon is one of Japan's three major holidays. We traveled to Aomori to enjoy Obon at Showa Daibutsu.

The last festival of August is our very own Misawa City Festival.  They have many parades and lots of great food vendors.  We enjoyed the Mikoshi Parade.  A Mikoshi is a portable Shinto shrine.  Shinto followers believe that it serves as the vehicle to transport a deity in Japan while moving between main shrine and temporary shrine during a festival or when moving to a new shrine.

With love, from Misawa Japan