Picture Day

After several months of discussion and bargaining, Ridge and Holt finally agreed to get some professional photos taken. Ever since I first saw a portrait of some Japanese children dressed in traditional clothing, I’ve been dying to get one as a keepsake for the boys. So, I turned to our Australian Japanese-speaking friend, Colin, for help. Not only did he find us a nice studio, but he made the appointment and went with us. He was incredibly helpful!

It took some last minute convincing to get Holt to wear the kimono and “hakama” (traditonal pants), and Ridge needed privacy to take off his pants, but other than that, things went amazingly well! The photographer was fantastic and got a huge kick out of Ridge and Holt. Their Japanese is good enough that they totally understood his directions when he wanted them to readjust their position, etc. In fact, he was so taken with them that, through Colin, he asked permission to take some extra photos of them (i.e. use them as models). He has promised to give us some extra, free prints of the other shots. We were tickled pink and the boys had a lovely time. One part of the extended photo shoot involved Ridge being given a child-sized sword. He was in heaven! It will be funny if, some time later, his photo studio suddenly sprouts a portrait of two gaijin kids! Won’t that get everyone’s attention! We’re very excited to see how the pictures turn out. He had us make our selections from digital “proofs”, but we won’t get the final product until later this month.

Here are two photos of the boys being dressed by the photographer’s assistants.
Ridge
Holt

After our photo session, we rewarded the boys with a new article of clothing. This is Holt’s new “Boukenranger” jacket. Boukenranger is one of the many “hero” characters that permeate the Japanese children’s pop culture. Holt is posing in a Boukenranger pose.
New jacket

This photo is just for fun. I’d love somebody to explain this candy bar’s name to me. What exactly does “Krunky” mean??
Candy bar

Another for fun photo. I’m sure by now the stores in America are swamped with Thanksgiving and Christmas paraphernalia. I took this photo in Nayoro’s largest department store, Saijo. Here’s their Christmas decoration display. It’s one corner.
"Is that all??"

Halfway between Nayoro and Nishiokoppe is a small town named Shimokawa. They seem to breed Olympic quality ski jumpers (there were four in the last winter Olympics) and very large draft horses. I think these big fellas are mainly used for sledge racing in the winter. Anyway, we always drive past this field of horses and Aaron finally stopped to visit.
Big babies