Sign on subway - don't sleep on your neighbor's shoulder! Believe me, they do!
We've seen this sign ever since the disasters. Lights were dim or off, escalators were off, shops closed early, etc.
Sister
Neki and Sister
Derricott receiving some little purses that I made for them.
Sister
Neki's last day! She has been a great missionary.
Which napkin do you think was used by a Japanese? Which by an American?
This is what a typhoon can do to umbrellas!
We were invited to a Korean restaurant with the
Yoos. Here is our meal. It was cooked right at the table.
Kimhae and Luke
Yoo - such great friends. We are glad that they also have a home in Provo so we can visit them there.
Our Branch had a big party to welcome everyone back and get the new year started. It was a luau. Here we are as we arrived.
Tons of great food ...
Fantastic entertainment ...
Lots of wonderful people - members and guests - we had a huge crowd. It was held at the Embassy compound.
The children who danced were so delightful.
Nina is a member of the group and a Branch member.
The audience was enthralled!
The dancers and singers are stationed here in the military or work for the embassy.
Audience participation!
President
Wada has to do the hula!
The children stole the show!
The missionaries had a great time.
First snow on Mt.
Fuji!
This is John Taylor, nephew of Lynette and Dick Mitchell. He works as a diplomat at the Embassy up in
Sapporo. He came to
FHE with the
Grames, our Public Affairs directors. We had met his wife and daughter when we were up in
Sapporo in March. We were delighted to be able to meet John as the
Mitchells had asked us to see if we could meet him.
This was along the street one day as I was walking along. You never know what they are celebrating but it is so fun!
This is a big deal here in Tokyo and in all of Japan. The people love watching this sport. Most of the gestures and ceremonies are symbolic and it was fascinating to learn about what each move meant. These are the banners along the street as we went up to the exhibition hall.
The lines were huge and we weren't sure that we would be able to get in.
Here come some of the participants!
Young and old - everyone loves Sumo!
More wrestlers arriving.
We met the Scoffields who were also attending that afternoon - their company was paying for better seats!
Waiting in line to get the tickets.
Inching up to the ticket counter.
Murals on the walls ...
Three generations - they were nice to let me take their picture!
Oh no! But we did get in - nosebleed seats!
4 Japanese or 3 Americans could fit in a box seat!
The ceremonies begin!
I'll let the pictures tell the story.
Basically, there were 20 matches. The pomp and ceremonies took most of the 2 hours and the actual meets took about 5 minutes! Each match was very quick and if you blinked, you missed it!
Pretty soon you didn''t even notice their bare bottoms!
The judges were as interesting as the wrestlers.
Each wrestler could be "sponsored" by a product or company. People carrying advertising banners walked around between matches.
What a great "cultural" experience - or at at least experience!
We went a couple of days before the end of the tournament - it was eventually won by a wrestler who won 20 times in a row! We stopped at Friday's on the way home to eat.
It was in an area (Roppongi) where they have had trouble with "street walkers". Looks like they are trying to clean it up!
Another fun experience for us here in this marvelous land! 
