Typhoons Already? (And Kitty Update)

We got to go down to Kawana (near Ito, on the Izu Peninsula) to visit O-Jiisan and O-Baasan over the weekend.

We got to go because baseball practice was cancelled Saturday and Sunday on account of rain.  Typhoon, to be exact.  The second one of the season, already--and rather too early.

Granted, the hydrangeas seem to like it and the plums are getting nice and fat...

...but we've had a fair bit of rain (which I wish I could send to Dominic!), and it seems rather too early for the rainy season.  It makes me wonder how so much rain so early will affect the rice (which will already be in short supply later in the year because of the tsunami, which destroyed the field in the Tohoku region.   Can't grow rice in field that have been swamped with salt water.).
Koshi's fifth grade class planted rice in a field across the road from the school, which I'll be posting about as soon as I get some decent pictures.  I hope their rice doesn't get ruined!

Anyway--we got to play with Kitty (O-Baasan calls him Mario, which the kids suggested) all weekend.

He's nearly twice as big as he was when we found him-- and, my goodness, what a Genki little kitty!  I think he's driving my in-laws nuts.  He's been biting and scratching... because he wants to *play*!

The kids played with him like that literally for hours, until...

...kitty just passed out.  He had so much fun playing...

...helping with homework...

Oooh!  A pen!

...well, sort of helping.  Helping that was more like playing (or stealing pens and pencils...;-).

Koshi and Kitty

They watched TV together...

...played under the Kotatsu together (it's nice and warm under there--that's an electric carpet, which was nice and warm, and made even warmer by the blanket draped between the table top and the frame.  Beloved of kittehs:-))

...batted toys all over. Scampered back and forth.  Made me feel guilty, leaving my poor in-laws to deal with a wound-up kitty after we left...

...and then everybody went to bed together:-)  O-Yasumi nasai!

School Days-- Off To School On A Rainy Morning

Itterashaa---i! (Go and come back!)

We haven't had much rain so far this year, but we're getting it now.  I'm sitting here listening to it pour outside, which it's been doing since about this time last night and looks to continue doing 'til about this time tomorrow night.  The kids walked to school this morning in rain boots, carrying umbrellas.
They walk to school like that every day--in a line, keep it straight, don't let the first graders straggle (actually, the first graders are usually put in the middle, so that older children behind them can keep an eye out). 

Koshi is Han-Cho-san this year (line leader) since he's in fifth grade, which means he always walks in front, has to watch out for traffic (though there isn't really any on their route to school), and shout "Narande!" (line up!) at 7:55.  I remember being surprised to discover that there are no school buses past kindergarten here.   That's because all public schools are neighborhood schools--close enough to walk to.  Germany, as I recall, was the same.  If it was a little too far to walk to school, you just used public transportation (train or bus) to get there.  It used to be that way in the US for the most part, too--until school consolidations and mandated busing for desegregation, and the growth of suburbs effectively put an end to the neighborhood school.  That's not to imply that the Civil Rights movement was a bad thing, just that something important got lost in all the fuss.  I'm pretty sure that most kids in the US could do with the exercise that's part and parcel of walking to and from school.

I get carsick myself, so I know I'd have preferred walking to school over riding the school bus.  Although, as those who know my walking style will attest, it's unlikely I'd ever have made it on time...

p.s.-- the rain we're getting will surely do the plums a world of good...

Weekend Origami-- Kabuto Helmet for Kodomo no Hi

Fold the Kabuto (Samurai Helmet) for Children's Day!

Here's a pretty simple kindergarten level origami--all three of my kids folded this in their third year of kindergarten when they were 5.

It's the Kabuto--the Samurai Helmet that, along with the Koinobori carp streamers, is the traditional symbol of Children's (originally Boy's) Day on May 5.  This is one origami that's not only easy to fold, but will be instantly recognizable to any Japanese person, since *everybody* learns how to fold it (ok, so, my husband has forgotten how, but he *did* learn at one point).  Use any size square paper in any color you like-- and newspaper works just fine!  In fact, that's what kids use at school to fold this since you can make it big enough to actually wear on your head:-))

Kabutomushi:  Allomyrina dichotoma

...And if "Kabuto" sounds like a bug to you, well, you'd be right:-))












The Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle is Kabutomushi in Japanese.  See that big horn on his head?

Kabuto crests

...the Japanese think that beetle's big horn looks like the crest of a samurai helmet, hence his name:  Kabuto-mushi (helmet beetle).

A hand-drawn postcard for Kodomo no Hi featuring a Kabuto

You wanted to know all that, right?  Good.  Go get some paper...







...and let's fold!  Cici will show you how (if her hair doesn't get in the way...).   Have fun and Gambatte!



How'd you do?  Does yours look more or less like the photo at top?  Yattaaa---!  Yoku dekimashita:-)) (well done!)

Mata asobou, ne!

Weekend Origami-- Valentine's Hearts

Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, I thought I'd share a few Origami Valentine's hearts!  Three hearts, in fact--from Very Easy to Medium Easy to A Little Bit Harder.

This first one uses just 1/3 of a sheet of origami paper (a 5 x 15cm strip from a 15x15cm square), so of course you could make three hearts from one sheet if you wanted to.  I'm folding in the video below, and Koshi is camera-man (please excuse the bobbling--Koshi was trying to get Teddy to be quite.  It's Teddy you can hear at the end suddenly saying "Barentine!"... much giggling then ensued....)



How was that?  Dekita, ka na?  Were you able to fold that one?  Here's one that is just a wee bit more complicated (but not much).  This one uses a whole sheet of paper:



Dekimashita ka?  Did you fold that one, too?  It's not too difficult.  Here's one more that uses the "hiraite-tsubusu"  ("open out- and- smush flat") maneuver.  My daughter (first grade) can do this, but she started doing origami in kindergarten.  Even still, I think most kids from 7 or 8 can probably do this.  If you're just starting out, try the easier hearts first before folding this one.  The move I just mentioned ("open out-and-smush") means basically folding a triangle, then opening the triangle up and flattening it into a diamond shape.  It's a move used in origami a *lot*.  Give it a go!


Happy Valentine's Day!

Mata asobou, ne!

Weekend Origami--Setsubun Ogre!

dried soybean snacks for eating and throwing--I *love* this packaging:-))

 February third is the wonderful and wacky Bean-Throwing Festival in Japan, "Setsubun" in Japanese. "Seasonal division" literally, it was traditionally part of the spring festival and is associated with the Lunar New Year.  If you think of it that way-- a festival where you throw beans at ogres (those ogres, you know, they *hate* beans) to drive evil spirits out of the home and bring happiness and good luck in for the New Year-- it seems a vaguely sensible thing to do.  I'll explain more about that tomorrow.

For today, I thought you might like to try making an origami Oni (ogre).  There are Red Ogres (Aka Oni) and Blue Ogres (Ao Oni), like this:

Aka Oni, Ao Oni

This year's Oni Pan--the boys got Ao Oni, and Cici got Aka Oni.  Fun little cream-filled Oni buns, but different than last year's buns.





Oni origami is fairly simple--maybe not quite 3-year-old simple, but probably 6-year-old simple, and definitely elementary school simple (my daughter had no problem following along making these).

In fact, my daughter made the red oni bottom left, "Fuku" (Happiness) in the middle, and the blue oni bottom right.  Koshi made the tiny red one, and it's his hands folding the Aka Oni in the video below.



For the eyes and fangs, I drew with a thick black marker on a piece of white paper and then cut them out and Cici glued them on.  Or, just draw the whole face on with black marker--suit yourself:-))

Dekita, ka na?  Did you do it?  Gambare, ne!
Mata asobou, ne!

Weekend Origami--Kirigami Stars (and Other Stuff)

Paper cutting is as fun to do as regular origami, although kids need to be a *little* older to be able to cut through the layers of paper (more like 6 than 3 or 4).  Lower elementary grade kids should definitely be able to cut out the One-Cut Star shown in the video below.  The fold shown is the 10-fold (there is also a 4-fold, 6-fold, 8-fold, and 12-fold).  First you fold, then you cut--just one straight line, and you get a lovely star!  Very mysterious...;-))



Did you do it?  Notice that the angle of the cut changes the shape of the star--a less acute angle makes a "fatter" star, a deeper angle makes a star with skinnier arms like this:

See how the angle on the yellow paper is steeper than the one I cut for the silver star?  It comes out looking like the photo below:

And what about that blue paper with two lines on it?  Guesses?  Right--an outline star plus a smaller bonus star...

....kawaii, desho!










And you needn't be restricted to straight lines.  A curve with a nick at the top gets you this:

Springtime Cherry Blossom

For the more adventurous, how about drawing a little person on top of the straight line for the star? (I've used a black marker to draw my lines so they show up in the photos--you needn't.  Lightly drawn lines in pencil are fine, or freehand if you are so bold:-))

We are the World...

...We are the Children...

And feel free to draw your own shape across the middle of the 10-fold!  I tried drawing holly:

Merry Christmas to All

I'll try to get some other Christmas Origami up this week--probably the Candle, the Tree, and the Stocking:-)).  Gambatte, ne!

Mata asobou, ne!

Weekend Origami--Origami Stars: Part II

This star is a little more difficult than the Message Star--it uses only one sheet of paper folded down to get the star shape, rather than three sheets glued together.  But my first grader can do it, so it's definitely within the reach of kids in the lower elementary grades. Kindergartners....maybe, if they're already 6 and have done simpler origami before.  If not--have a go, Mom!   Use a regular 15cmx15cm sheet of paper the first time or two you try it, then try making it with smaller squares for decorating packages or to put on top of an origami Christmas tree (which I'll put up next Sunday:-)).  Be sure to have the color side up to put in the vertical guide folds, and flip to the white side to put in the diagonal guide folds...



Make a bunch and hang them on the tree... or from the ceiling... :-))
Mata asobou, ne!

Weekend Origami--Stars Part I: Message Star

The Message Star is the easiest version of an origami star--my kids did this one second or third year in Yochien, so it's totally easy to do with 4 to 6-year-olds.  Or make small ones (1/4 of a regular sheet of origami paper) from gold or silver foil to use as present name tags:))  You need three pieces of paper, all the same size.  They can be all the same color, although I used three different colors in the video so it would be easier to see what Cici's doing.  Start off by folding all three pieces in half to make three triangles...



Make a bunch!  Mata asobou, ne!

Playin' Inside--Dragonballs Finger Game

Taking public transportation with two boys became so much easier when they learned how to play the Dragonballs game that's making the rounds of the elementary schools. At least, as long as they whisper:)) This game kept my two amused for train rides, bus rides, and boring rainy weekends. I've even heard them playing it in the bathtub. Extremely simple, requiring no equipment beyond two pair of hands, the object is to win by making the blasting "Haaaaa!" motion when your opponent is "charging".

There are three motions that you say while making the hand motion:

"Barrier!"

This motion blocks your opponents blast...

"Charge!"

....this motion charges you up so you can blast
(you have to charge up after eight barriers, or you lose automatically)

"Haaaaaa!"                                                            
Blasting energy!  To win, you must make this motion at the same time that your opponent is "charging".  If your opponent puts up "barrier", you keep playing.

Clap twice between each motion until one person wins!  Which probably sounds boring to adults--but for elementary-age kids?  *Loads* of fun--trust me:))



Watch Koshi and Teddy play:

             
This game has saved my sanity more times than  I can count:))

Mata asobou, ne!                                            

Enduring the Rainy Season...

....and that, dear Readers, is really the only reason not to entertain self-destructive thoughts during Japan's horrible, humid, it-just-rained-and-now-it's-worse, Rainy Season.  Those gorgeous things are planted all over the place.  My kids walk past a whole row of pink, blue, pink-shading-to-purple-to-blue hydrangeas on the way to school. 

Of course, I can't get my damn laundry dry.  Mostly, I just try to avert mine eyes from growing piles of laundry and go out for walks to look at hydrangeas...

 ...pink ones...

...pale blue ones...

















....anything really but the DLP (Dreaded Laundry Pile).  Most of the time, honestly, it doesn't bother me not having a drier.  Hanging up nice, fresh-smelling laundry outside on a nice day is a far more enjoyable chore than, say, cleaning the toilet.  Just not during Rainy Season.  Because boy's underwear does not dry when it's raining outside.  Gah!

The Coolest Origami Ever and How to Fold a Dog

In vain have I searched--it will not be found, at least not tonight.  The coolest origami i have ever seen was on TV (maybe NHK, maybe Tokyo Terebi--can't remember).  It was something like a variety show, but there was a segment featuring three origami masters who were given the task of folding "from life", the results of which would then be voted on.  Standing at one end of a pier with large pieces of paper, on the signal, they ran to the other end where a large aquarium was set up on a table.  They had to grab a net, catch something swimming around in the tank, transfer it to their own tank, and create an origami version of whatever they had just pulled out of the large tank.  An octopus.  A small skate (ray).  A puffer fish.  And they did this in an unbelievably short amount of time.  It was jaw-dropping, to say the least.

But since I can't seem to find a video of it on YouTube, here's the other coolest origami ever, from origami master Kamiya Satoshi:

the coolest origami ever

(sorry--I would put the YouTube video in, but I haven't figured out how to embed a video yet)

Yeah--wow, right?  All from one 2mx2m piece of paper.  Origami hardly seems like the right word to describe what he does--more like sculpture which happens to be done with a piece of paper rather than folding.  But folded it is, as they show towards the end of the clip.

Over the next several days, I'd like to give you a sense of how he does what he does by posting some how-tos for some very simple origami which will, I hope, help you gain a beginning sense of how the same folds can become many different things.   In a way, origami masters approach origami in somewhat the same way that a chess master approaches a game of chess--with moves stored in the memory in large chunks which enables them to reproduce the chessboard perfectly even if you remove all the pieces.  Origami folds are stored in the memory rather like that--do the same series of folds for the (crane, for example), then do this.  As you get better at origami and learn to fold slightly more complicated pieces, it becomes possible to start making one thing and then just... fold off in a different direction and see if anything comes out.

But fear not, today I'm not going throw you to the origami lions.  Just to the dogs.  Here's the simplest possible dog, plus a variation on the ears.

Pick a color you like, reverse white side can be a white dog, of course.

First, fold a mountain upsidedown!
Big paper or small, take your pick.  Or both to make mommy dogs and baby dogs.

Fold in half again and unfold--guide fold made!
(folding and unfolding just for a guide fold is done a *lot*, so you can see where to fold or to make it easier to fold there later).

Ears:  fold down a flap a little way over from the center guide fold you made before (dog has to have a head:))

Woof!  That's all you have to do to make a dog!

Get a black marker or crayon to put on a face.

Use lots of colors and make an origami version of  Go, Dog, Go!  Red dogs, blue dogs, green dogs, yellow dogs, black dogs and white dogs are all at a dog party.  What a dog party!

here's the ear variation.   Mom will probably have to do this manoeveur (unless you're doing this with a child 6 or older).

Stick your finger inside one of the ears to make it poof out, then.....

....and smoosh it down flat--the place it was originally folded will now run down the middle of the ear.

See how the ear looks floppier?

You can also knick the bottom under to make the chin, or leave it as is and draw the point as the nose.

Two kinds of ears, two kinds of faces, and my daughter's fingers...

She decided she wanted a dalmation, so she folded the color side to the inside with white outside and drew spots on with a black marker.


Fold a big house and a little dog--voila!  A doghouse:)  And if you happen to be folding a dog party, you can even fold a little ice cream to have falling out of the tree ( that was the  reaction of my oldest son  when he was 2 to that big 2-page spread.  He would notice the ice cream cone falling out of the tree and say "dirty!").

Happy folding!  Mata asobou, ne!

Weekly Origami--Ice Cream

Today's origami uses almost the same folds as the house, just going a different direction.  If your little one (around 3 to 4) can do the main 3 folds, mom or dad can nick the corners back to give it that rounded "scoop" look.  Use different colors of paper for different "flavors"--make lots and play "ice cream shop":))

So, first fold your paper in half and make a mountain (big triangle)--colored side outside if you want vanilla ice cream, colored side inside if you want a "flavor".  Then unfold--guide fold made!  Like this:

I'm making "chocolate" in the photo.  Next, fold one corner over to the guide line, carefully matching up the side edge to to guideline:

and fold the other side the same way in to the middle...

Done!  Chocolate ice cream in its simplest form, sans calories.  If this version satisfies your youngun', leave it at that.  If not, mom or dad can nick the corners back for the "scoop" effect, like this:

Make 31 Flavors and play "Ice Cream Store".  Put them away in an envelope and play again tomorrow:)  Or until they fall apart, get slobbered on, tear, or get eaten by the dog.

Don't think about fine motor skills--it'll spoil the fun.  Just make a bunch and enjoy!

Mata asobou, ne!