December ends....

I have been struggling to add photos to this blog for a couple of weeks.  It was so easy last time! It doesn't help when the directions come up in Japanese! My apologies!

We visited the Tokyo Edo Museum.  (Thanks to those who told me how to spell "Tokyo.")
This was a display about the Japanese drama style, "Kabuki."  We hope to see a "Kabuki" play sometime.

We learned about the Tokyo area during the time of the Shogunates (1601-1868) and the Meiji period (1868 to 1912)  There was a little about the Bombing of Tokyo and these hot-air balloons they used to send bombs to the US when they were running out of fuel.  (I had never heard about this before.)

Our museum guide with us.  It was nice to hear about the history in English!

Christmas Even in our apartment with some of our friends. 
Left is Christmas morning.  We even had a few gifts to open!

 

We visited the Meiji Shrine.  A Shrine is a Shinto structure.  They always have these large "Torii" or gates.  Part of the New Year's celebration is to go to the Shrine on New Year's Eve and help ring the bell 108 times.  Each of those times is to help remove one of the 108 human weaknesses we all have.  The next day (New Year's Day), people go to the Shrine to pray the first prayer of the new year.  A Shinto Shrine
is less ornate and has more muted colors than a Buddhist Temple. 

When they arrive at the place to pray, they bow twice, then clap twice (to get the Gods’ attention), then bow again.

This cute little girl had on her traditional kimono with the obi tied in the back.  She let me take a picture with her.