Anri and Sara by the keyhole tomb
Yup, we did it again! For the second time in as many weeks, I took the kids up to the mountains for some exercise and a nice, rewarding view. This time we went to the Mori Shoguzuka keyhole tomb, a place I have taken the kids many times before.
This keyhole tomb sits on a mountain top near Anzu no Sato, where Tomomi grew up. It was a ruin until the a decade or two ago, when an effort was made to restore the site to its former glory and make it part of a historical park. Now, it makes for a great hike that even small kids can do, if you take the right course.
And that is the old trail up the mountain, not the new one. The new trail, while nicely built, is too much for a two-year-old like Sara to handle. It is made mostly of log steps that are far too steep for her little legs. Even five-year-old Anri would hae a hard time on these steps. The old switchback trail, while steep, is more manageable. Sara got tired and asked to be carried a few times, but she walked up most of the way.
The kids having a little picnic at Mori Shogunzuka
At the end of the trail is the main keyhole tomb, surrounded by smaller mounds in the earth that were lesser tombs. Some of these are downhill and make a great picnic spot — though I don’t know if having a picnic there is really allowed (nobody has scolded us yet). From our picnic, we enjoyed the view and even got to see a few shinkansens passing below.
The day we hiked up to the keyhole tomb, there was a small children’s fair being held on the lawn next to the little recreated Jomon village at the base of the mountain. We ran into a few of Anri’s friends and some kids I teach there. Lots of people got a kick out of seeing us geared up for climbing, with Noah as luggage!
with each character for each syllable of the name. The name Noah was chosen because it is a Biblical name but can also be written easily in Japanese. The characters in this name, in order, mean “hope” and “us”.
Anri and Sara had a great time playing with Grandma, Grampie Bob and Duffy (although Duffy’s antics occasionally freaked out Anri!) The kids also loved playing with their cousins. It was our first time seeing Nicholas and Matthew, and we were very happy to finally meet them. Anri had a blast with her cousin Emily. The two were inseparable during their time together and Anri’s English ability was noticeably improving by the hour. Isaac was great to see too, and I sat there marvelling at just how much he looks like his Daddy. During our stay, we did a ton of shopping for supplies we can’t readily get in Japan. We went to the States with two suitcases and returned just within the baggage limit with 6. Anri had her first experience skating and took a ski lesson for the first time. We all had a great time and now that we’re back, we’ve been busy unpacking and getting back into our usual routine. We have over four-hundred photos from our trip, whcih can be viewed 
Japan has a labor-related national holiday around the same time, and this year, the holiday was on Friday, so we did our Thanksgiving a day late. Altogether, there were 14 of us, all crowded around short tables in the living room. The guests: Shizuko and Akira, who went to Maui the same time as we did last February, our friends Udo and Tomiko and their kids, Vera and Lukas, Tomomi’s cousins Megumi and Kiyomi, Tomomi’s aunt Katsuyo, and Megumi’s husband, Hayato.
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