My daughter turned 26 yesterday. When she was born, we were still living in Japan (we moved to the U.S. when she was 10 months old), my parents were both alive, and I was 26 years younger than I am now! Wow!
We can see Mt. Fuji (3776 m) from our window but I've never climbed Mt. Fuji until today. This morning, for the first time in my life, I was at the Fifth Station (2305 m above sea level -- the paved road ends here) of Mt. Fuji. In fact, the bus took me there so I didn't have to walk. Although we couldn't see the mountain top due to the bad weather, it was an awesome experience. Thank you, Mr. & Mrs. K. (resided in Charlottesville from 1999 to 2001), for giving me this wonderful opportunity!
Dr. I. was a research scientist at UVa from 2002 to 2003. After coming back to Japan, she opened her own clinic near Mt. Fuji (about 60 miles from Tokyo) two years ago. Mrs. K. and I visited this wonderful facility for the first time. It was a beautiful place! Thank you, Dr. I., for sparing your precious time.
My husband needs to be in Charlottesville next Monday for his graduate student's thesis defense, so he left Japan today (if you see him at Harris Teeter, that's why). For one whole week, I will have this beautiful house, great view, and the cool car all by myself. 
Quite a few people throughout Japan expected to observe the 6 minutes 25 seconds "total solar eclipse" (or at least a part of it) today but the weather didn't cooperate for everybody. Here in Hayama there were thick clouds and the sun didn't show up so the eclipse was not observed.
Atami is a famous place for Onsen (hot spring). After the reunion/rehearsal, we spent one more night in Atami to enjoy Onsen. There was a huge steamer which cooks vegetables and eggs just outside of the hotel utilizing the heat of the steam jet from Onsen.
The 5th annual high school orchestra 3-day reunion/rehearsal in Atami was over. Oh, what fun it was to play music one after another for 3 days. On the second day, my mother-in-law (violin) participated also for the first time. She knows almost all the participants from our high-school days and was a huge help in our violin part this time.
A total of 15 people came (some stayed the whole time, some didn't) and we are already talking about what music we want to play at our next year's rehearsal.
Every morning my husband and I walk down to the ocean (or at least try to do so). From our ocean-view residence it takes only 5 min. to go down the hill but of course when we come home, we have to climb up the steep hill so it takes more than 10 min. The tide was low this morning and there was a person who seemed to be collecting some turban shells (they are tasty!) with a huge hydroscope (sorry, the picture is so small).
My mother-in-law, one of her violin students, and I performed at the Tokiwa-cho neighborhood association's meeting today. My mother-in-law played all six pieces (two Kreisler solo pieces, two duets with oboe, and two more duet pieces with her violin student, Mr. K.) plus one encore piece.
My parents-in-law's newest family member, Lulu. She is incredibly adorable.
All these ladies and children have once lived in Charlottesville (not everybody at the same time though). At our annual reunion we talked about the life in Tokyo, nice memories of Charlottesville, difficulties of raising children, and everything else. Thank you, Mrs. N., for organizing another wonderful reunion!
Prof. O. of UVa is spending the summer in Seoul with his family. His wife J. is from Korea and her parents still live there. We decided to visit Seoul to see Prof. O's family (and of course to eat great food).
What a wonderful town Seoul is! It's an exciting mixture of old and new, with beautiful rivers and mountains and of course with lots of delicious food.
Our hotel was located in Insadong (one of the northern districts of central Seoul) where you can find many interesting antiques and handicrafts, and numerous street food vendors that reminded me of old Japanese streets (sort of...).
With only two dollars, you can take a picture in a traditional Korean dress like this (don't laugh...). I made a new pair of glasses because eyeglasses are very cheap in Korea and it took only ten minutes! (No, not the reading glasses but a pair of near-sight eyeglasses.)
Prof. T. of the Institute of Statistical Mathematics (that's what's written here) used to be a postdoc in my husband's lab (1997-1998, 1999-2000). Now she is also a mother of a 6 year-old girl. Time flies!
I went to Tokyo Dome for the first time to watch a ball game Yomiuri Giants vs. Yokohama Baystars (with a free ticket!). It was a lot of fun because the game was exciting and the fans were loud. I remember the last time I came to this ball park was in 1971 (38 years ago!) to attend Grand Funk Railroad's concert (the dome was not there yet so we all got soaked to the bone due to heavy rain!).
This summer we have no plan to register our residency in Hayama town (we are living as tourists) so I cannot make the library card. I'm using the library with Ms. M.'s library card pretending that my name is M. Thank you very much, Ms. M., for your kind arrangement! 
It's been raining off and on since we arrived but this morning we could see Mt. Fuji for the first time for a very short period of time (5 min.?) from our window. Beautiful!
My husband's elementary school class reunion. I didn't go to that school but who cares? I had a great time together with his former classmates. Thank you, everybody, for letting me be there!
Our high-school friend cellist A. didn't go to music school nor majored in music, but that doesn't matter! His annual recital was another great success. Thanks for the high-quality performance again, A.! You are very special!
My sister, my cousin and I visited our family graveyard in Tokyo. After cleaning the tombstone, we bowed our heads and prayed. 
Professor O. of UVa Psychology Dept. (his children are in my Japanese school) has published this book last month: Shiawase wo Kagaku suru (a scientific approach to being happy). Reading this book doesn't automatically make you feel happy but you get a lot of tips and hints on how you deal with your happy or unhappy feelings.
Our landlady Mrs. S. is (the nicest landlady we've ever had!) growing vegetables in the backyard. She and her gardening friends gave us beautiful, fresh vegetables which tasted so good!
This summer I am determined to drive in Japan (well, this wonderful house is located on top of a mountain and there is no stores nearby, so driving is a necessity)! Can you imagine driving on the wrong side of the road (I looked for the shift lever on my right many times today...it's on my left side)? I have to be very careful not to scratch this beautiful MINI Cooper Convertible. (Who said the car and the driver don't match?)
Today's ocean from our window. It's cloudy. Isn't it nice to have such a nice view during breakfast (or lunch, or dinner...)?
Safely landed in Japan. The house we are renting for the summer has this great ocean view (well, now it's dark, so I'll enjoy the view in the morning)! How fortunate we are!
I'll depart for Japan this morning! My music friend C. will give me a ride to the airport (thank you, C.!). I am so grateful for this opportunity to stay in Hayama this summer again. See you all in 7 weeks!
The Monticello Quintet played for another wedding. If the heat was the problem of the wedding the day before, it was the mosquito bite this time. You cannot slap off the mosquitoes while you play an instrument (if you have only two hands).
The Monticello Quintet (the woodwind quintet I am in) played for a wedding at the King Family Vineyards. The weather was nice and everything was so beautiful.
When I saw this butterfly in front of a bakery (can you see it? it's that tiny yellow thing on the flower), I wondered how my husband is doing in Japan, because he studies the butterfly vision while he is in Hayama (I don't know the name of this butterfly but I do know that this is not the species he is working on).
The babies and the mothers get-together in Charlottesville (every Wednesday). This week Mrs. K. taught us bread baking, so I participated (to eat...). Mrs. K. and her daughter M., Mrs. H. and her son K. will be leaving Charlottesville in August, so it was my last opportunity to say good bye to them. Thank you for your friendship, Mrs. K. and Mrs. H.! I wish you all the best in your new environment.
I feel very lucky to have such a nice friend as A. (=Mrs. Y.). A. will be watering our avocado tree (we started from a seed three years ago and now it's too tall to move!) while we are in Japan. Thank you so much, A.!
Although this picture was not taken today (it was four days ago, I think), I just have to show this to everyone! Have you seen such a big mushroom in your front yard? No, it's not the kind you can eat...
My husband departed from Charlottesville airport to Japan today. I'm going there next week (I will depart a week from today). I really look forward to spending the summer in Hayama again! (The first thing I have to do is to remember how to update my blog entry.....Ok, the picture is there.....)
This will be the last entry of my blog. Thank you very much for reading it! It's been my dreams come true for the past 7 and a half months in Japan and I've enjoyed every minute of it (you can tell). Thank you again for your support and understanding to make this sabbatical happen. I feel truly grateful to have such wonderful friends and relatives all over the world. We're going back to Charlotteville this afternoon. See you soon! 
My husband returned the double bass he was using for the past 7 months to the rental shop in Shinjuku, Tokyo. He says he'd like to buy one when he comes back to the U.S. I think he should.
Only two more days left in Hayama. We went to Chojagasaki Beach and enjoyed swimming (or 'floating', precisely speaking, because I cannot swim).
The 90th annual High School Baseball Championship is going on in Osaka. Two out of the 55 high school teams in this tournament are my father-in-law's favorite; Koryo high school in Hiroshima and Tokoha Kikugawa high school in Shizuoka. Why? Because he composed the school song for both of them. After each game the school song of the winning team is aired and you can see the composer's name on the TV screen for 2 seconds or so.
August 6th was the Hiroshima A-bomb Day. Each year the city holds the Peace Memorial Ceremony on this day. As a HIBAKUSHA -- a survivor of the a-bomb, my father-in-law couldn't (and didn't want to) talk about the agony he went through for 30 years after the bomb. Finally in 1975, he composed a piece called Prayer Music No.1 'Dirge' for the ceremony and since then this piece has been performed by the local middle school and high school students' symphonic band every year during the ceremony. 
Our high school friend and a tea master Mrs. S. invited us (and another high school friend Mrs. N.) to her house for a tea ceremony. I didn't know that she has her own tea room (Tatami room) attached to the house. Watching her elegant performance was really a wonderful experience for us. It was a calm, peaceful, and soothing moment. Thank you very much, Mrs. S.! (I'm sorry I cannot drink tea and thanks again for the hot water.)
My daughter went back to NY. I had a wonderful time together with her in Japan and Taiwan. She can speak not only English and Japanese but Chinese also, so it was very convenient to have her in Taipei. She will come down to Charlottesville later this month and I already look forward to seeing her again.
Boy, what an exciting place Taipei (Taiwan) was! It was actually not as hot or humid as in Tokyo and we had a great time (with delicious Chinese food, of course).
My mother-in-law was born and raised in Taipei. She moved to Tokyo when she was 14 just a few months before the start of the WWII (it took her 4 days by ship and train to get to Tokyo then. Now it's merely a three hour flight). Among the many memorable places she wanted to revisit in Taipei was the National Taipei College of Business where her father had served as the principal from 1926 to 1941. She was treated with great respect there.
My daughter's friend A. (history major) gave us a wonderful tour of the newly renovated National Palace Museum. It was so impressive! And the Shilin Night Market was just overwhelming!