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Coming Soon: Hiragana at Home!!

February 8, 2023

I’ve been keeping a secret!!

We are excited to announce the upcoming release of a brand-new home education resource:

Hiragana at Home!

As a mother living in Japan and a second-language speaker of Japanese, I longed for a home education resource for exposing young children to Japanese language in a way that was gentle, simple, play-based, and not time-consuming or filled with busy work.

Home-educating a bilingual child should not mean that their language skills have to suffer!

However, there are few home-education resources available for people who desire to teach the Japanese language to young children (including overseas), and little support is available to families in Japan who decide not to enroll their child in preschool.

Eventually, I realized that if I wanted a home education program for our family that met my expectations, as well as would allow our children to thrive without losing out on their language development, I would have to make it myself – and so, I did!

**Note: this post was updated on March 24th, 2023, to reflect updates regarding the spring 2023 release!!**

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Purchasing an Akiya in Japan

September 3, 2022

Photo: sunflower fields in Saiyo, Hyogo

It has now been a little over 2 months since we moved into our new residence!

Our “new” fixer-upper home located in rural Hyogo, Japan, was an akiya, a Japanese word used for homes that have been unoccupied or abandoned for some years.

In the past, Japanese houses were thought to have a “lifetime” that could be used up.

Older houses often fall into disrepair after their owners pass away and younger generations choose to remain in the city (resulting in over 8 million unoccupied houses in Japan!!), and newer houses, similar to housing boom suburbs in the U.S., frequently have weaker building standards than traditional houses and are often not built to last.

However, while newer homes and apartments are still generally preferred by consumers, reforming old houses is gradually becoming more popular in Japan.

There are many reasons to buy an akiya instead of a newer home!

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Eating Overseas

August 11, 2022

When I first moved to Japan, navigating the grocery store was a huge challenge.

I struggled with reading food labels, and had no idea what people ate on a regular basis, what food was available seasonally, or how to make a meal out of the random ingredients on the shelves.

I had plenty of experience cooking, and my mom made sure that I knew the basics of making good food and shopping thriftily.. but it took several years of living abroad before my language skills and foundational understanding of Japanese food ingredients matched my abilities in the kitchen and with a calculator.

The first few months of living overseas I had no idea that I was shopping at an “expensive” grocery store that closed early in the evening, and that there was an affordable, 24-hour grocery store just across the street!!

(Granted, the cheaper store was underground inside a shopping center so not super visible, but I would have had no clue without the tip-off from one of the ladies in my sharehouse!)

The first few weeks of my overseas life especially, I had very little money as I was 23 years old and had just bought the things to supply my basic living needs. I didn’t know when food went on sale, and often rushed into the grocery store after work just before closing time, grabbing whatever random pre-cooked items were left and hoping that they tasted okay.

As time went on, I began to realize the flow of sale times, what tasted good, and locate familiar ingredients and read basic labels. Slowly – very slowly – the grocery store became less intimidating, and I knew how to navigate the aisles, and even use the self-checkout machines using the Japanese language setting.

Eating became much easier (and tasty!)!

Yet, this was only the beginning of my overseas food journey!

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Early Potty Training

July 19, 2022

When you talk about early potty training, there are often several negative responses.

You shouldn’t potty train early, you’ll harm your child.

You have to wait until toddlers show “signs of readiness” and are developmentally ready to train.

You can’t train a child before they can talk. Why force your child to potty train early?

There is no rush. It’s not a race to grow up.

And so on..

The truth is that there is NO one way or perfect timeline to potty train a child, and every child (and family) is different.

A child is not “better” or “worse” for starting potty training later or earlier. However, it is also incorrect that early training is harmful, forced, or reflects a parent’s desire to “rush” childhood milestones.

In fact, early potty training can be gentle, relaxed, fun, and have many benefits.

Our son started early potty training in January 2022 at 10 months of age.

Below we share our experiences with early potty training as parents still currently in the thick of raising a toddler: the method we are using, how it’s going so far, and answers to some questions about early training for those who might be interested in trying it with their child.

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Cloth Diapering in Japan

July 18, 2022

Our son has used cloth diapers since about 3 months of age.

We love that cloth diapers can be gentle on baby’s skin, cost-effective (especially for families that hope to have more than one child), leak far less than disposable diapers, make transitioning to toilet training easier, and have the potential to be environmentally friendly, depending on how you launder them.

While cloth diapering is not for everyone, we have had a great experience so far with cloth diapering our son (now 16 months), and are excited to share what we’ve learned!

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We Are Moving!

May 12, 2022

We are moving!!

This meaningful update has been in the works for a while, and a process full of hopeful anticipation and prayer.

We are so excited to finally share the news!!

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Keeping Warm in Rural Japan

January 23, 2022

When I tell people that it snows in Japan, they are often surprised! They seem to imagine that Japan is a warm, tropical island locale full of bamboo and monkeys.

In reality, Japan is geographically diverse, and has four distinct seasons and a multitude of climates. The scenery varies widely, from pristine beaches and fields of lavender to crowded cityscapes and deep forestbamboo and monkeys included!

For example, the area where we live in Hyogo has been said to resemble Germany or Switzerland. The mountains are covered with towering evergreens that are blanketed with snow for much of the winter season.

Yet, unlike 90% of Swiss residential areas, homes in Japan do not normally have central heating, and the walls can be thin and lack insulation. This is perfect for allowing wooden beams to breathe naturally, and has many benefits including decreasing damage during earthquakes, as well as increasing air flow and reducing mold during Japan’s humid summers. However, it can make for some very, very chilly winters indoors!

To learn more about just how cold it gets during the winters in Japan and the traditional (and not so traditional) ways to keep warm in a rural home without central heating, read on!

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Overseas Travel With An Infant

January 13, 2022

Overseas travel looks NOTHING like it did a few years ago. My husband and I are both seasoned travelers, having been to a combined total of more than 10 countries.

However due to the continually changing travel guidelines, under the pandemic that has stretched on for over 2 years, overseas travel has become a completely new experience.

There are still long queues, longer flights, and an array of pre-flight preparations to consider. Add to this extra regulations, unbelievable layovers, and the wildly unexpected, and you have today’s travel experience.

While single or married this might present its challenges, but add to the mix an infant, and everything has the potential to become just a little more overwhelming!

While traveling overseas with a baby does require more careful planning, it is manageable if you are willing to be flexible (and can deal with the possibility of temporary sleep deprivation – which most parents of infants are experts at already!).

Our most recent travels overseas took over 20.5 hours of flights and layovers from Japan to the U.S., and over 34.5 hours on return (that is not counting driving to and from the airports both ways!).

Based on our overseas travel experience, here are our tips for traveling with an infant overseas.

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Our International Love Story

July 31, 2021

In honor of our 5th wedding anniversary on July 30th, it seems like the perfect opportunity to share our love story with our readers!

The post below was originally written in February 2017, and appeared at a previous blog that is no longer in use. The title then was “Raindrops and Shared Umbrellas: On an anniversary and the story of a year’s happiness”.

Now firmly out of “newlywed” territory, I can say that marrying Masashi is something I would choose again and again a thousand times, and all of the challenges we have faced together have made our marriage even stronger and more beautiful than it was in the beginning.

Our love story is no longer just a story of a year’s happiness, but five years of numerous experiences and emotions, sickness and health, grounded firmly in love.

I enjoy revisiting what it was like at the beginning, and am thankful for how God brought us together.

To reminisce with us, please read below!

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