6th January 2026年1月6日

🔵 I wake up in the middle of the night. My feet are freezing. Socks, that’s what I need now. Hiking socks 🧦!

But why is my room so cold? I think of that photo I posted last week. Of the wooden framework of a new house being built. Japanese houses do not have central heating 🤔. When you enter a cold room you just flick on the air conditioning unit, which doubles as a heater in winter. And a very effective one at that. A completely different concept of heating compared to that in Europe. It makes sense.

🔵 Since New Years Day Japan has been in a holiday modus. Look: here is Japanese man enjoying his Austin Healey Sprite…….

Everyone has time – to eat, to drink, to take a walk, to go shopping – to relax in other words. Time to wear a kimono,time to bring the children on an outing. Time for the family. And I notice how strong that latter tradition is.

🔵 Let’s start with New Year’s Eve.

At my host family’s house in Hoshikawa, relatives, guests and friends are all gathered………

It’s a make your own sushi job…..first grab some Nori (rolled out seaweed)……add some rice and off you go…..yummy!

I lost count of the courses……

Yu-san seemed to be in charge of the sake, which flowed freely……

Whilst Bibi, Isabell and Lavi share a joke in one corner…..

🔵 Before the stroke of midnight we all had to eat Soba noodles. It’s a tradition…….

🕛!

Then it’s coats and shoes on and off to the Shinto shrine……

🔵 It’s at Tennocho, only about 10 mins walk from the house. We shuffle forward in the long queue, passing under the sacred Tori gateposts…..

The moon looks down from above…..

🔵 We finally approach the shrine. Here, two by two, we shake the thick bell rope, throw in our offering, bow and clap hands together. We wish for good fortune in the coming year….

🔵 At the stand nearby we collect a yummy (free!) sake from a tent and huddle around a big warm fire. I notice that the local Yokohama fireman have taken over the responsibility here. I feel privileged to be a part of this really rather intimate old Japanese tradition.

🔵 The next day, New Year’s Day, the celebrations continued. With a very special meal, using tableware brought out only once a year…..

……and bearing the Kanakura family crest – a cross formed by two feathers….

A special teapot…..

Lavi helps by making a sweet brocade egg cake called Nishiki Tamago (錦玉子)……

Thank you Misako-san for all the delicious cooking 👏👏👏!

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🔵 Yes, the nights are cold. But the days are bright, dry and sunny.

I need to get out and take in the fresh January air. With a benevolent air of politeness, cleanliness and punctuality, the Tokaido Line train deposits me in the coastal town of Odawara. It is a charming place, with a pretty castle, a wide open beach and a busy fishing port. It also happens to be on the route of the Ekiden – an annual running event. Spot a runner…..😅

The castle is easier to spot…..

You enter the inner ramparts via a bridge over the moat…..

…….and pass through one of the imposing gates..

🔵 Soon you can see the heavy toll that the 1923 Great Kantō Earthquake  had on the place. At one point a whole section of rampart simply slide down the hill and has been there ever since…

But thanks to restoration and rebuilding the clean lines of the Edo-era castle can be appreciated….

Early plum blossoms near the inner moat….

…a display of wattle and daub….

…the impressive main keep rises up at the centre of the complex….

🔵 Usually there is very little to see inside these buildings. There are lots of very steep stairs and slatted windows. You climb up to the top for the view of course. But today the holiday crowds had formed a long queue at the entrance, so I headed down to the sea instead.

🔵 Whimsical manholes were set into the pavements……

And even the drains received artistic attention….

Ignoring google maps, I found a way under the main road to reach the beach….

…a beach not unlike Brighton in Sussex….

With a Wiltshire touch..(bizarre!)

……someone had built little stupa to adorn the scene….

….and at one point, in one of nature’s flourishes, a fresh water stream meets the ocean…..

I headed for the harbour.

🔵 When I first came to Japan I had a naive image of a land where ladies played the koto or strolled in their kimonos under parasols. Of ancient wooden houses nestling in valleys, neon flashing cities and, and, and, and. All this is still there.

But I was not prepared for the daring civil engineering – a necessary skill in a country where roads and railways have to use the limited space available, especially along the coast. There is beauty here aswell……

…..which sits cheek by jowl beside the traditional…..here a fish restaurant …

…a boat enters the harbour undeterred…..

It is a day boat,. The fish market has already dealt with todays’ haul….

…and a young heron perches on the roof eyeing any available left-overs….

🔵 Being a tourist can be hard work, and sometimes you just need to sit down, open your rucksack and enjoy whatever it was you bought at that convenience store……in this case a dorayaki…mmmm….https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorayaki

But the boats never rest…

whilst the birds circle above….

Time to head home…..

Thank you for reading, and feel free to forward on to anyone who might be interested.

読んでくれてありがとう！。ご興味がある方にはお気軽に転送してください。

See you またね 🙋‍♂️

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The End

終わり🏯