Kanpai!

I was away for the weekend in Kinosaki on the Japan Sea side of the island, so I apologize for the lack of blogging. I brought my laptop thinking I could jack a wireless connection somewhere, but there were no connections whatsoever up there in crab country. I'll post a bunch of stuff now to make up for it...

Some people have been asking why I haven't posted any pictures of myself. Well, for better or worse, I'll change that now. Here's a shot of me drinking sake...


What a surprise, right?

This was taken on New Year's Day, where the consumption of sake to ring in the New Year is very customary. The cup I'm holding here is made of gold, and while many other family's may have gold cups that they raise their toasts with, this one is special to our family here. It was Mutsumi's grandmother's and we inherited it when she passed away. Her tradition was that she and all the members of her family would drink a cupful of sake from this golden "choko" on New Year's Day. Her toast was always to making it through the year with her health and living a long and fruitful life. Well, she lived past 100! So every year, Mutsumi's brother brings over a bottle of nice expensive sake, usually even with gold leaf in it for good measure, and we toast to long lives from the "100 Year Cup".

I hope it works out.