Victory by knockout.
Take no prisoners!
I eat shovels for breakfast!
"I'm an airplane pilot!"
Sasuke loves standing. He's getting better at it every day.
Masami baked a cake in her cooking class. Sasuke was eager to try it.
Papa's really soft nice shirt shrank pretty dramatically in the wash, but Sasuke can still wear it!
We stopped at Culver's today.
Happy first Mother's Day!
Sasuke laughing with Grandmo on Mother's Day.
Sasuke enjoying a horsey ride on Grandpa's leg.
Sasuke isn't so lonely in his Pack and Play since he learned to stand.
Tiny international man of mystery.
Sasuke was a good boy on the plane, and made lots of friends.
Sasuke and Japan-Grandpa.
Masami and Sasuke outside her family's house.
Checking out the swing situation in Japan.
We found a dinosaur!
We visited with Keiko and her daughter Kanan.
Sasuke trying on his new hat.
Dinner with all our Japanese friends from Madison.
On the Shinkansen to Aomori.
The scenery along the way.
Sasuke looking at a picture of his mother at three months.
Lui under the watchful eye of his big sister Mai.
Sasuke playing with Lui's favorite toy, "Bubu."
Sasuke with Japan-Grandma
Sasuke with his Great Grandmother in Aomori.
Misawa Aviation and Science Museum
Maichan flying a jet
Sushi lunch in Otaru Hokkaido. It was really good.
Nikka Whiskey Distillery. At the end of the tour they let you sample from a $100 aged single malt, a $15 run of the mill bottle. The difference was unexpectedly pronounced.
View from our hotel.
Dinner at the hotel.
Masami and Aika swapped kids.
We toured the Asahi brewery near our hotel.
The night view from our hotel in Sapporo.
We rode a series of cable cars up Mt. Moiwa.
Sapporo
Sasuke dumped out his bag of rice crackers
Then he rolled around on them giggling.
Just waking up around 7:30. I love Sasuke's bed-head.
起きてすぐサスケのねぐせめっちゃかわいい。
Shingo and Sasuke on the tour bus to Nagano Prefecture.
At the Zenkoji Temple in Nagano.
Sasuke sleeping in the crowded soba restaurant.
Soba noodle lunch
Somewhere in Nagano
Making silk at the Tomioka Silk Mill.
Sasuke really took a liking to Shingo.
I was told we were visiting a こんにゃく (Konnyaku) factory. I heard コニャック (Konyakku) instead. Expecting french brandy (Cognac) I instead found a root vegetable (Konjac) processing center.
Goofing around with Sasuke
We visited Masami's sister Tomomi at her agricultural college in Ibaraki Prefecture and had lunch in the cafeteria.
Happy Sasuke investigating my bag of chocolate corn crisps from Hokkaido.
Sleepy Sasuke takes a nap.
We visited the Tokyo SKYTREE today. It's the tallest tower in the world, and second tallest structure overall.
Waiting for the sunset
The view from the lower observation deck at 350 meters.
View from the upper deck (450 meters) after dark.
Another view
Sasuke only wanted Mama while she was trying to cook dinner. This was the solution.
If you ever have a chance to try black garlic beer, pass it up. It's terrible.
We met Shingo and Banami today for lunch.
Sasuke was a ball of energy the whole time. My arms are sore from containing my flailing 24 pound hurricane for three hours. It was also the hottest day so far at 88F. Phew.
For dinner we went to Keiko's house for Okonomiyaki. Konomi = preference, yaki = grill. "Grill it as you like it," more or less.
"Be still my love, we shall meet again."
"I got it closed, we're all set!"
We had a big fancy Japanese meal with everyone who could come as a bit of a going away party.
Sasuke was overdue for a nap and conked out.
Fifteen minutes into it he rolled off his makeshift bed. He whimpered a bit but didn't wake up.
I asked Masami to pose for a picture when I noticed the SKYTREE from the roof of the parking garage at the mall.
We took Sasuke back down to the park today. He loves the swing.