Apple Picking in Toyama City

It’s been a very long time since the last GMM activity (the Showa-Note factory tour in January 2020!).
We visited this Ms. Mugiho Takanami’s lovely apple orchard.

 

 

Showa-Note Factory Tour!!

10カ月ぶりの活動です!!

ショウワノートさんの工場見学に行ってきました!
創業から50年だそうで、日本のほとんどの方はジャポニカ学習帳と共に育ってきた、もしくは子育てしてきた経験あり、と言っても過言じゃなさそう!
日本全国で沢山の方に使われているこのノートが富山県から生まれたなんて本当に富山県民の誇りです!
見学時間は60分と決まっており、あっという間に時間が過ぎました。3Fミュージアムではずっと眺めていたかった…。ショップでは散財してしまいました(笑)。子ども達の冬休みのいい思い出の一コマになったかな。大人も満喫できましたよ!

After 10 months, very long time…., we enjoyed this activity, Sho-wa Note Factory tour and museum in Takaoka City.
Their notebooks products have spread throughout Japan for 50 years from our Toyama Prefecture!!! Really amazing and cool!!
We Toyama prefecture people are really proud of this products!! and love them!!

 

Our booth at the Toyama City International Exchange Festival 2018!

We had our booth for the first time in the Toyama City International Exchange Festival this year!
As we have enrolled in the Toyama prefectural organization “Toyama International Center” official list last year, we can have our booth for the festival!! Very honored!!
We introduced about our group to visitors, and showed the collected answers by moms around the world, of 60 questions related with pregnancy-delivery-childcare. Thanks to moms’ great contribution for this program, we could show 9 countries’ info during the event.  
At least 125 people stopped by at our booth!!
And we could see many nice friends there, that was amazingly nice day the same with the warm and pleasant weather yesterday!
What a great day!

Thank you so much for visiting our booth!
And thank you so much all of you, friends, fellow-moms, families!!

   

2018 Miso paste cooking&Mochitsuki Party at Nishijima Farm

We enjoyed this year too!!!! Our regular yearly activity “Miso paste cooking & Mochitsuk Party ( International Potluck)” at Nishijima Farm!!!
This time, we were very very happy to enjoy with new friends from Pakistan and India and Vietnam!! and a guest from Kyoto who is a famous sommelier!! Wow!!

That was very enjoyable moments to taste world various dishes with very yummy freshly pounded mochi!! White one and Brown one!! Brown mochi is very precious as it should be only made from pesticide free organic rice! 
Of course we are really looking forward to the miso paste we will be able to taste in this Autumn!
Thank you so much Nishijimasan and everyone for the great amazing time!!

Japanese New Year Dishes “Osechi” Cooking!

[日本語下に続きます(^^)]

We enjoyed Japanese New Year Meal “Osechi” おせち cooking, having our lecturer Kyoko Asano san who is a great cooker!!
Here are Kyokosan’s website.(^^)
https://kazekao.net/
https://www.facebook.com/kazekao/
This is THE ACTIVITY which I had longed to organize for our GMM!!!!! I could finally schedule and organize this!!! So exciting, and so happy!!!!

Have you ever heard about Hatsume Sato called the Japanese Mother Teresa?
(http://diamond.jp/articles/-/68613)
Kyokosan’s mother Ms. Shigeko Makita had learnt from Hatsumesan directly her spirit, philosophy and methods.
Kyokosan has inherited them from her mother Shigekosan.
I have felt that Kyokosan’s dishes have profound affection and deliciousness, whenever I have tasted her dishes and have learnt from her.
That is why I asked her to give her osechi cooking workshop for us.

Today, we learnt each meaning of dish, how to cut and cook and decorate. Finally we enjoyed dishing up them on each special plate!!
(As for me, I was deeply impressed not only with those cooking but also with Kyokosan’s nested lacquered boxes 重箱 which is over 100 years old inherited from her mom and grandma!! Amazing!! Tradition is priceless indeed!! ) 

 

国際交流親子サークルGMMで、ずっと開催したいと思っていた念願のこの企画!日程調整で2年越し、やっと叶いました!!
風の薫り(https://kazekao.net) 浅野恭子さんのおせち料理教室です!

浅野恭子さんのお母様、牧田成子さんは、「日本のマザーテレサ」と称される佐藤初女さんの教えを直に受けた方です。
(http://diamond.jp/articles/-/68613)
その成子さんから初女さんの精神とメソッドを教わっている恭子さんのお料理教室は、家族への愛、誰かに想いを込めて作ること、そんな「愛情のチカラ」も再認識させてくださる。だからこそ恭子さんにお願いしたかった!!

なかなか年末慌ただしくなるため、ちょっと前倒しの日程調整となりましたが、この素敵な時間に陶酔できました~!!
年末までまだ期間があるため食材調達にお手数をかけてしまいました。恭子さん、ありがとうございました!!

各お料理が入っている朱色の入れ子式重箱、これは100年以上も経った貴重なものだそうで、おばあちゃま、お母さま、そして恭子さん…と、次世代へ受け継がれているそうです!素晴らしい!!

本日の参加メンバーの出身国は…!(^^)!
中国お二人、インドネシア、シンガポール、日本3人w
全てアジア圏からの参加者でした~!!

 

   

Daytime Dance Party with Eric&Miya!!

[日本語下に続きます] Could you believe we have a bar with kids playing space in Toyama?
This bar “AREA1” has it!!!
The manager of this bar Sho san had worked for nursery schools before, he is a qualified nursery teacher!! Amazing!
He cooks tasty dishes and manages this bar. That is why AREA1 has a space for kids and has welcomed families!!
This nice couple Eric&Miya also love children.
Eric is a professional singer, who has succeeded overseas for decades. (https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/ECAkaOlSkool).
His wife Miyasan is a dance instructor.
Luckily, they offered for us enjoyable happy dancing time in the bar!!!
Eric san and Miyasan selected these tunes for our family dancing time!
******************************
Uptown Funk / Bruno Mars
Isn’t she lovely / Stevie Wonder
ABC / Jackson5
Rock with you / Michael Jackson
Happy / Pharrell Williams
That’s the way / KC & Sunshine Band
Ribbon in the sky / Stevie Wonder
******************************
We enjoyed the dancing time with Ericsan’s great performance, Miyasan’s dance instruction, and Shosan’s delicious meals there!!
Thank you so much for the special event Shosan, Ericsan, Miyasan!!

富山ではおそらくAREA1さんだけ!
ファミリー大歓迎、キッズスペース付きのバーです!
マスターのショウさんは、元保育士さん。
バーでは美味しいお料理を出して下さってます。ショウさんの、子ども達、パパママたちへの想いから、このキッズスペース完備、ファミリーウェルカムなバーが実現しているのです!!ほんとに素敵!
そして同じく、子ども達が大好きな宮さん&エリックさんご夫妻。
エリックさんは世界中で活躍されてきているプロシンガーです。
ご縁あってそのすごい方が富山で現在生活していらっしゃる。
(https://store.cdbaby.com/Artist/ECAkaOlSkool).
エリックさんの奥様、宮さんは、ダンスの先生です。
「子ども達大好き、ファミリーで楽しめる時間を作りたい!」そう思って下さるショウさん、宮さん、エリックさんの想いが結集して、この昼間のダンスパーティーが叶いました!!

宮さん、エリックさんが、ファミリーのために選んで下さった楽曲です!
選曲もお二人の、ファミリーに対する想い、センスを感じます♫
******************************
Uptown Funk / Bruno Mars
Isn’t she lovely / Stevie Wonder
ABC / Jackson5
Rock with you / Michael Jackson
Happy / Pharrell Williams
That’s the way / KC & Sunshine Band
Ribbon in the sky / Stevie Wonder
******************************
ショウさん、宮さん、エリックさん!
素晴らしい時間をありがとうございました!
    

Toyama Botanical Garden Tour by Ms.Zhang Yanping

[Enligh follows Japanese]

かつて、中国科学院昆明植物研究所に勤務され、その間
一年間、国際交流技術員として富山中央植物園に勤務。
現在、雲南師範大学外国語学院日本語学部学部長の张彦萍さんに、
富山県中央植物園を案内していただきました!

「春城」と称される植物の宝庫”雲南省昆明”、
中国雲南って、世界で最も植物の種類が多い地域だそうです。
その昆明から来たたくさんの植物が富山県中央植物園には展示されています。

今回、案内してもらうまでは、私は館内の展示しか見たことがありませんでしたが、この植物園の真髄は、館内展示より、そのうしろにある、広大な庭園にあると言えます。全てを歩いて観ようと思えば、2時間半はかかるそうです。こんなに豊かな植物園がうしろに広がっているとは全く知りませんでした。
電気自動車のバスにのり、運転士さんのガイドを聴きながら、園内をめぐりました。

驚いたのは、雲南省の世界自然遺産である「石林」の一部が富山県中央植物園に配置されていることです。いかに雲南省との交流が親密なものであったか分かります。

张彦萍さんにガイドしてもらわなければ、私たちはこの植物園の醍醐味を一生(?!)知ることはなかったでしょう。。。

张彦萍さん、貴重な経験をありがとうございました!

 Ms.Zhang Yanping is the dean of Japanese Language faculty, in School of Foreign Languages&Literature, Yunnan Normal University. She has been in Toyama for 1 year this time as one of guest researchers in Toyama University, Faculty of Humanities. This stay is the third one for her.
 About 20 years ago, at that time she worked for the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, as she had majored Botany in her University time. She came here for the first time to work for the Toyama Botanical Garden as an exchanged researcher during her Botanical specialist career.

  Today, Yanping showed us around the Toyama Botanical Garden. It has not only centeral facility, greenhouses but also huge&rich botanical gardens spreading behind them, which we didn’t know about at all!!! She explained it takes 2.5 hours if we choose to walk around all of the gardens. On the day, we enjoyed an electric car tour with explanations the driver offered for us. 

 They display so many plants from Yunnan. They have installed a special greenhouse only for Yunnan plants. Yunnan is very famous with its perpetual spring-like weather which provides ideal climate for plants and flowers, and also called “City of Eternal Spring”. The city is covered with blossoms and lush vegetation all-year round. Due to its unique climate Yunnan has the most kinds of plants in the world. Surprisingly, we can appreciate a part of Shilin (Stone Forest) here in Toyama!!, which is the World Natural Heritage in Yunnan. It was shipped!!! Unbelievable and amazing!!

 Thanks to Yanping, we could learn a lot and have a great time there today!!
Thank you so much!!

    

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