New Year's 2009

Our arrival in Toyama included one of the most frightening plane rides I have ever experienced. The weather in Toyama was a bit sketchy to start with given that there was a small snow and rain storm in the area. We had been informed at Haneda airport in Tokyo that the flight may have to turn back if the weather conditions continued to be poor. Indeed, we were not disappointed by the conditions...

This is the first time that I have ever been on a plane that has been struck by lightening. I'm sure that this is probably a fairly common occurrence for those of you who are seasoned air travelers. But, for me it was a frightening experience. This was only the primer though, as it was very windy at the Toyama airport and it was difficult for the pilots to get our 767 down smoothly. As the plane tilted back and forth on its runway approach in the pitch black of the evening, I and about 200 other passengers were truly wondering if this was indeed the end. Hana slept through most of the landing but I was on full alert. I haven't been so scared in quite some time. I definitely want to return to Tokyo by rail if possible.

New Year's is the most important holiday in Japan. A time to spend with family and forget about the year that is past and look forward to a new year of challenges and (hopefully) good luck. I was kind of expecting the New Year's celebrations to be quite raucous but have learned that it is a fairly subdued and reserved set of activities largely centred around eating special New Year's dishes with family. We spent the day with Hana's parents and ate all of the traditional New Year's dishes. The New Year is also a time to visit shrines - both Buddhist and Shinto - to pray for the best in the new year. Hana and I decided to visit Sugihara Shrine (the Shinto shrine where we were married 4 years ago) and pay our respects. It was a very cool and snowy day in Toyama, making for quite a crisp walk. It was worth it though as it was great to see the shrine again. I had not been there since our marriage. We followed the Shinto traditions and I hung a "year of the ox" (I'm was born in an ox year) pendant on a tree outside the shrine. Despite the cold, it was a very nice moment. 

To round out New Year's we paid our respects to Hana's various aunts and uncles and also paid our respects to her ancestors at the small shrine inside her uncle's house. Although I'm not all that religious, this made for quite a nice afternoon.