Here is a photo taken a few years ago of Ayako with her mother and grandmother:
Showing posts with label Japanese Relatives. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Japanese Relatives. Show all posts
Friday, August 20, 2010
Passing Away
So far this August, the weather has been hotter than previous years. Unfortunately, it's been hard on the elderly people we know with one of our neighbours passing away last week. A few days later, Ayako's grandmother also passed away after going for a walk outside. She was 96 years old and so she had 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. We attended the wake and the funeral this past Tuesday and Wednesday.
Here is a photo taken a few years ago of Ayako with her mother and grandmother:
Here is a photo taken a few years ago of Ayako with her mother and grandmother:
Monday, May 10, 2010
Barber Shop in Iwata
Ayako's sister and husband opened up a barber shop a month ago in the city next to us (Iwata) and so we could enjoy a visit with them and I could get my hair cut as well:
Here's a shot of Sumiko and little Sana, who is growing quickly:
After the haircut, we got to look around their new house, which is connected to the barber shop:
We could also get some photos with Sana:
Sumiko's family is now living with her aunt and grandmother. Here's a photo with grandma, who is 96 years old now:
Neo and Ryo returned to the house later on and so it was nice to spend some time with them too:
Here's a shot of Sumiko and little Sana, who is growing quickly:
After the haircut, we got to look around their new house, which is connected to the barber shop:
We could also get some photos with Sana:
Sumiko's family is now living with her aunt and grandmother. Here's a photo with grandma, who is 96 years old now:
Neo and Ryo returned to the house later on and so it was nice to spend some time with them too:
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Our first niece
Ayako's sister, Sumiko, gave birth to a girl on Friday, October 16 at 3:06 pm. She is healthy and weighs 3.13 kg. Today, Ayako and I went to visit Sumiko and her daughter (no name yet):
Sumiko was quite tired and so wasn't feeling up to having her photo taken. She had said that the day before the birth, she was craving macaroons. Because of this, we thought Macaroon or Mako (common Japanese name) would be good name for the baby, but we'll have to wait and see.
Sumiko was quite tired and so wasn't feeling up to having her photo taken. She had said that the day before the birth, she was craving macaroons. Because of this, we thought Macaroon or Mako (common Japanese name) would be good name for the baby, but we'll have to wait and see.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Japanese funeral
Last month, we went to see Ayako's grandmother since she was sick and only had about a month to live (see post here). Unfortunately, she passed away Thursday night. There was a wake at the house on Friday night which Ayako attended and the funeral was on Saturday.
Ayako's grandmother (Yoshiko Odo) had been living with her daughter. The morticians had prepared the body at the house and when we arrived, we entered the room where her body was lying on a futon on the floor. We bowed to the relatives and then lit incense that was in front of her. When everybody had arrived, the mortician guided everybody in a ceremonial preparation of her body for the funeral. Each person helped clean the feet, hands, and face (which surprised me to be as cold as ice). Then close family members put slippers and gloves on to prepare her for the voyage from this earth. Next she was carried downstairs to a casket.
There were about 70 people for the funeral and so a bus was brought to the house to take many of us to the funeral home, while a few people drove their cars. It definitely reduced the number of cars going to the funeral home. The funeral home was very modern, although a traditional Buddhist ceremony was done. The Buddhist monk who led the ceremony was the local monk from the temple near our house where the family's grave site is.
The funeral started off with three monks chanting and playing various musical instruments. I found it a bit boring since you couldn't understand what was being said...er, chanted. Afterwards, each person went in front of the casket to bow to the grandmother and to burn some incense. The last part was gathering the flowers that had been sent to the funeral and each person was allowed to lay flowers beside the body and say a final goodbye. I found that there was much more touching of the body than in a western funeral. The close relatives were touching her face or straightening her hair quite a bit.
We then got on the bus to go to the crematorium. It was about a 20-minute bus ride towards downtown where a very large crematorium is. There were many doors (like elevator doors) where the bodies would go inside. There were enough for 14 cremations to happen at one time. After the Buddhist monk did some chanting and the body was put inside, we were shown to a waiting room where there were snacks and drinks for us. We had to wait 1 ½ hours for the cremation to finish. The body was not reduced to ash, but to brittle bones. The family then gathered around the body and two people at a time moved some of the bones (using chopsticks) into a porcelain container. Once the main bones were done, people were told to use their hand to finish moving the rest of the remains into the container. Again, it was very hands on and many people commented on the bones such as how large her Adam apple was or the dental work that could be seen on her teeth.
After this, we returned to the funeral home with the remains. Usually, there is another ceremony after 3 days and then 7 days. Since many relatives came from far away, it's difficult to hold these ceremonies in modern society, so there were done at this point. Once again, we went to burn incense in front of the remains. After this, we went to a banquet hall in the funeral home for a very large, delicious dinner. When we finished dinner, we were given large bags with many drinks and treats in them, which were to thank us for coming.
Finally, we all returned to the house to relax and have some drinks. In total, it was a 9-hour funeral day. It was interesting for me to watch this for the first time. I could see that by having many times to say goodbye during the ceremonies that people were more cheerful by the end of the day. In the house, the grandmother's daughter found some treats that the grandmother had hidden in her room. It was funny that the treat she hid was dried squid. While that was the end of the funeral, her remains will stay in the house for 49 days, after which, they will have another ceremony when the remains are taken to the family burial at the temple near our house.
Ayako's grandmother (Yoshiko Odo) had been living with her daughter. The morticians had prepared the body at the house and when we arrived, we entered the room where her body was lying on a futon on the floor. We bowed to the relatives and then lit incense that was in front of her. When everybody had arrived, the mortician guided everybody in a ceremonial preparation of her body for the funeral. Each person helped clean the feet, hands, and face (which surprised me to be as cold as ice). Then close family members put slippers and gloves on to prepare her for the voyage from this earth. Next she was carried downstairs to a casket.
There were about 70 people for the funeral and so a bus was brought to the house to take many of us to the funeral home, while a few people drove their cars. It definitely reduced the number of cars going to the funeral home. The funeral home was very modern, although a traditional Buddhist ceremony was done. The Buddhist monk who led the ceremony was the local monk from the temple near our house where the family's grave site is.
The funeral started off with three monks chanting and playing various musical instruments. I found it a bit boring since you couldn't understand what was being said...er, chanted. Afterwards, each person went in front of the casket to bow to the grandmother and to burn some incense. The last part was gathering the flowers that had been sent to the funeral and each person was allowed to lay flowers beside the body and say a final goodbye. I found that there was much more touching of the body than in a western funeral. The close relatives were touching her face or straightening her hair quite a bit.
We then got on the bus to go to the crematorium. It was about a 20-minute bus ride towards downtown where a very large crematorium is. There were many doors (like elevator doors) where the bodies would go inside. There were enough for 14 cremations to happen at one time. After the Buddhist monk did some chanting and the body was put inside, we were shown to a waiting room where there were snacks and drinks for us. We had to wait 1 ½ hours for the cremation to finish. The body was not reduced to ash, but to brittle bones. The family then gathered around the body and two people at a time moved some of the bones (using chopsticks) into a porcelain container. Once the main bones were done, people were told to use their hand to finish moving the rest of the remains into the container. Again, it was very hands on and many people commented on the bones such as how large her Adam apple was or the dental work that could be seen on her teeth.
After this, we returned to the funeral home with the remains. Usually, there is another ceremony after 3 days and then 7 days. Since many relatives came from far away, it's difficult to hold these ceremonies in modern society, so there were done at this point. Once again, we went to burn incense in front of the remains. After this, we went to a banquet hall in the funeral home for a very large, delicious dinner. When we finished dinner, we were given large bags with many drinks and treats in them, which were to thank us for coming.
Finally, we all returned to the house to relax and have some drinks. In total, it was a 9-hour funeral day. It was interesting for me to watch this for the first time. I could see that by having many times to say goodbye during the ceremonies that people were more cheerful by the end of the day. In the house, the grandmother's daughter found some treats that the grandmother had hidden in her room. It was funny that the treat she hid was dried squid. While that was the end of the funeral, her remains will stay in the house for 49 days, after which, they will have another ceremony when the remains are taken to the family burial at the temple near our house.
Monday, May 04, 2009
Visiting Odo relatives
Ayako and I went for a visit to her relatives' house, which isn't too far from our house. We
mainly went to see her grandmother. She has kidney cancer and has decided not to have any type of therapy done, so it might be our last time visiting her. Here was a nice shot of all of us with Ayako's grandmother:
It was nice to see Ayako with her brother and sister together. Masaya came back from university for the Golden week holiday. He had his hair cut and coloured, but has to have it back to black before going back to school on Thursday:
We had lunch together and there was lots of huge pieces of sushi to choose from:
Here is a shot of Neo and Rio enjoying some sushi:
mainly went to see her grandmother. She has kidney cancer and has decided not to have any type of therapy done, so it might be our last time visiting her. Here was a nice shot of all of us with Ayako's grandmother:
It was nice to see Ayako with her brother and sister together. Masaya came back from university for the Golden week holiday. He had his hair cut and coloured, but has to have it back to black before going back to school on Thursday:
We had lunch together and there was lots of huge pieces of sushi to choose from:
Here is a shot of Neo and Rio enjoying some sushi:
Monday, November 24, 2008
Visiting the nephews
On Saturday, Ayako and I went to visit her sister, Sumiko, and her two kids, Neo and Rio. We went for lunch and had Ozoni (Japanese soup with mochi rice cakes in it). The mochi was very sticky as usual:
rio wasn't so hungry at that time, so he was off reading books (or more accurately, looking at the pictures in comic books):
After lunch, I played with the boys by pulling them around on a blanket. I could pull them pretty fast on the tatami. They thought it was great fun and we continued till I was exhausted. Rio was up for having snacks afterwards:
Here they are with some cream-filled Santa bread:
rio wasn't so hungry at that time, so he was off reading books (or more accurately, looking at the pictures in comic books):
After lunch, I played with the boys by pulling them around on a blanket. I could pull them pretty fast on the tatami. They thought it was great fun and we continued till I was exhausted. Rio was up for having snacks afterwards:
Here they are with some cream-filled Santa bread:
Sunday, June 08, 2008
Photos from the weekend
Photos from Doug's farewell on Friday night:
Our visit to Iwata with Ayako's mom, sister & her two sons:
Ayako with her aunt:
Ayako with her grandmother:
Visiting the family graves to tidy it up:
Visiting a playground (at Ayako's elementary school):
At Sam & Christine's place for a party with old friends:
Our visit to Iwata with Ayako's mom, sister & her two sons:
Ayako with her aunt:
Ayako with her grandmother:
Visiting the family graves to tidy it up:
Visiting a playground (at Ayako's elementary school):
At Sam & Christine's place for a party with old friends:
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Visit from the inlaws
Although last weekend was awhile ago, I only got internet at home yesterday, and so hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly again. Anyways, last weekend, Ayako's sister and nephews (who I guess are now my nephews as well now) came for a visit. We had planned to go to the nearby schoolyard to play, but unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate and so we played inside instead. Anyways, here's a picture of Ayako with her sister, Sumiko:
Here is the eldest son, Neo:
and here is his younger brother, Rio:
Here is the eldest son, Neo:
and here is his younger brother, Rio:
Sunday, June 10, 2007
The Odo cottage on Lake Hamana
I went with Ayako today to have lunch with her mom, dad and brother. Besides their house in central Hamamatsu, they also have a small cottage on the big lake in our city, Lake Hamana. Here is a picture of us at the cottage:
And here is a picture after we had a delicious lunch of eel, which is famous from Lake Hamana:
It has a wonderful view of the lake. Here is a picture from the table in the first picture:
Ayako's mom was thinking of selling the place, but now we've decided that we would like to live there. There has to be some renovations done to the bathroom and kitchen area, but other than that, it seems like a nice place to live. Not a typical house style for Japan, and definitely not typical for Canada, but we like it. Here's a picture of it from outside:
The path in front of the cottage is a bicycle path that goes around the whole lake、which is 60 km long.
And here is a picture after we had a delicious lunch of eel, which is famous from Lake Hamana:
It has a wonderful view of the lake. Here is a picture from the table in the first picture:
Ayako's mom was thinking of selling the place, but now we've decided that we would like to live there. There has to be some renovations done to the bathroom and kitchen area, but other than that, it seems like a nice place to live. Not a typical house style for Japan, and definitely not typical for Canada, but we like it. Here's a picture of it from outside:
The path in front of the cottage is a bicycle path that goes around the whole lake、which is 60 km long.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Meeting the relatives
Today Ayako and I drove with Ayako's mom to the city next to ours where Ayako's mom's side of the family lives. We met her older brother first for a bit and then went to visit Ayako's grandma's home for lunch. After lunch, grandma, who is 93 years old, joined us on the tour. We next visited Ayako's mom's sister at her bento (boxed lunch) store and after that to visit another brother at his flower shop. Lastly we visited the grave of grandma's husband at a temple. We took the following photos while walking around the temple area:
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