Happo-en

The office was closed on Monday for one of the many Japanese holidays.  We went to the office in the morning for a little while and then went with some of the other missionary couples to Korea Town near Shinokubo Station.  It is a little slice of Korea here in Tokyo.

The little restaurant upstairs is where we went for lunch.  The waiters spoke Korean and some Japanese but no English.  We had Japanese speaking people with us but for some reason there was a serious lack of communication and we had quite an adventure in eating.

Once we actually got some food it was pretty good.

Now it is Saturday and we walked over to Kojioinori Shrine and Happo-en gardens which are about 1.5 miles from where we live--just a short walk for us on a very pleasant fall afternoon.

Near the shrine workers were doing some work we wouldn't want to do.

This is the entrance.  The students here go to school six days a week.

Here's Carol in front of the entrance to the natural gardens.

A nice little tea house but they didn't allow any food inside.

It's a good thing there was no earthquake at that moment.  Gary might have gotten a headache.

This is a small natural lake where people used to get their fresh water.  There was once a mill on the little stream that feeds the lake.

The grounds are beautiful.  These are the bonsai trees.  Some of them are hundreds of years old yet they are only 2-3 feet tall.

Which one do you think is older?  Neither looks like a sapling--that's for sure.

These saps look a little happier!

You know these two people.  They don't look like Japanese but they feel right at home here.

Another little tea house.  Notice the roof almost completely covered with moss.

No fishing allowed!  The fish are too pretty to eat anyway.

We talked to this nice Japanese couple.  He met the young missionaries about 30 years ago and took some English classes from them.  We told them who we were and had a nice visit with them.

This little boy was so cute and he loved the fish.  I think we also thought we were strange looking because he kept peaking around at us he sat on his dad's lap.  The children here are all so cute.

The gardens are a very popular location for weddings and receptions and they are very costly.  The practice is for guests to actually pay to come to the wedding with the going rate often around $300 per person.  I don't think you would get many guests in the US if that was the case.

This is a much older shrine that dates back many hundreds of years.  It honors the emperors around 1200 AD and also during the Meiji period.

A good place for a little rest under a thatched roof.

On our way back home now and we saw these shoes on the mailbox.  

This building appears to be some kind of temple or residence.  If you have really good eyes and can read Japanese maybe you can figure it out.

This is our most frequented store, commonly known as Hanamasa.  We usually walk there (12 minute walk from our apartment) at least 3 times per week for milk, orange, juice, eggs, vegetables, etc.

This could be Gary taking his afternoon nap but he isn't that cute.  This little girl was just sleeping away as her mother walked down the street.  We see little children sleeping this way and also in bicycle seats all the time.  Makes me kind of drowsy just to look at the peaceful little face.  It's easy so see why Heavenly Father loves all the little children everywhere.  They are so innocent and pure.  That's all this week from the wonderful land Japan.