So, in Japan there are many things that seem odd or scary or hilarious. You just never know what you may see or run into, and even after living here 9 months, you keep an open mind and understand that it's Japan - anything goes!
Vehicles that have loud speakers are very common here. They often cruise around town, blaring special announcements (sort of a mobile community bulletin board if you will), or political propaganda. Even the garbage trucks play music on a loud speaker as they slowly make their way through your neighborhood and across town.
This one vehicle has us stumped as to what it is, and honestly a little freaked out. It's freaky because of the music it plays. It drives very slowly down our street, often stopping in certain places for a few minutes. It comes around every Sunday evening at 7pm like clock work. I heard it coming tonight, and quickly grabbed the camera and ran to the kitchen window. I was able to record the entire song. The video is purely for the audio - I just shoved the camera up to the window and it's night, so there isn't a lot to see, but I think that makes it even scarier. We did some research, and the music they are playing is from a song called Requiem from an anime movie called Naushica of the Valley of the Wind. However the only lyrics are within the first 25 seconds of the music, and I don't think they are "lyrics," I think it's some kind of announcement or message. After the message, we are then left with nearly 4 minutes of eerie, beautiful, soul-haunting music. Toward the end of the video, the vehicle starts driving away, so the music gets softer, and the message starts again. We currently have no idea what they are saying, but we have a Japanese friend we are going to ask. When we find out any additional information, I'll be sure to post it here! In the meantime, enjoy this video of what we get to listen to every Sunday night:
Eerie Music in Our Neighborhood
It's Japanese tradition to have KFC on Christmas Eve. So, since we are here, we of course have to do it too! It's so popular that we had to preorder days ahead of time, and even then the meal set we wanted was already sold out. But we sat down to our chicken dinner tonight and opened our gifts afterward. Merry Christmas from Japan!
We went to Tokyo and got the Blooming Hot Chocolate and the Frozen S'more! They were both really good. If you're ever in Tokyo, go to Dominique Ansel Bakery and get you some! The S'more is a giant homemade marshmallow with vanilla ice cream in the center, and they toast the outside over a flame. The blooming marshmallow flower in the drink tasted like orange. Pretty nummy!
We met Santa Paws and his Holiday Huskies!!!! We were walking in Tokyo today and a big pack of huskies were walking down the street dressed in Christmas outfits and spreading cheer! One of them was a real life Santa Paws and had a pack of goodies on his back! We were allowed to reach in and get some snacks! It was sooooo cool and cute and the pups were having a great time! Tell your pets they better be good for goodness sake - Santa Paws is REAL!!! Merry Christmas! 
There is a shrine nearby where you can feed the pigeons! We love doing this! It's so awesome when the birds see the food and just flock all over you! I just wanted to walk around all day with them on my shoulders like a Rock Dove Goddess. We will be going back soon!
Christmas lights in public areas are popular in Japan. We went to Kurihama Flower Park and checked out the lights and went to the huge Godzilla they keep there. You can enter his belly and slide down his back and tail! We had a great time!
We visited our local bakery again, and check these out! Everything there is so cute and fancy and delicious! And yes, those are flakes of gold on the chocolate heart!
It's that time of year again! The second best time of the year (aside from Halloween)! We LOVE decorating for the holidays. Last year after Christmas, we had gotten rid of our big tree because it was super old and starting to fall apart, and plus we didn't know if it would even fit in our next home (it definitely would not have even come close!!). I went to the 100yen store and got a 2ft tree for our little home. It is strong enough to hold the strand of lights we already had, so now we can enjoy the glow of our tree every evening! I love that! I had several ornaments that fit it, but most were too large for the little tree. I hated the thought of our ornaments sitting in a box not being used, so I hung them on the walls throughout the house! I think it looks pretty cute and it makes the entire house look festive.
We had a get together today with friends to celebrate Thanksgiving. It was such a great time! Lots of great food, a wonderful walk on the beach, and great people. After enjoying appetizers, we combed the beach for treasures (I collected a bunch of rocks - I think I'm going to start a rock collection from places I've lived) then headed back for grub and drinks. I made broccoli casserole and Oreo cheesecake bars. They went over big and we barely had any to bring home! We had so much fun, and are wore out. Time to sleep in tomorrow!
