Summer Fun in Japan...

The day after we arrived, Branden, Noah and their dad went fishing. I meanwhile cleaned my house in Japan, from head to toe. Unpacked our clothes and put them back into our drawers in Japan for the summer. I snapped this pic of the 3 of them, but they sent me the next couple pics, during their time at the river near our home. Branden went fishing and Noah was looking for shrimp and Noboru just enjoyed being near his sons, so he fished and also caught shrimp too. Gathering their fishing supplies from our shed in our backyard.

The 3 of them needed their special time. Dad and son time. And I know that, plus like I said it gave me time to clean the heck out of my house. 

They catch and release. So no killing or harm was done to anything they caught that day. : )

It was so good to be back home in Japan. I love Japan. And loved living in the Japanese countryside. Such a gorgeous peaceful relaxing place to live.

Love that I didn't miss hydrangea season either!!!

The front of my house in Japan. Wreath on the front door, as always. And just bursting with red pops of color, from all the flowers Noboru planted.

Our backyard. Simple is always best and so we always keep a bright green lawn free of weeds. Nice simple and clean looking. No clutter.

Love that inaka view from our back patio.With rice fields all behind our house.

Noah has always had 20/20 vision. In Japan they test your eyes at school every April, at the start of the school year. His eye exams have always came out fine. Last year though the school sent home a note saying Noah was not 20/20 that year and so we took him to the eye doctor in the small city, nearest our tiny town. And last year the doctor said Noah was right on the line. Where he either could get glasses or not. So we said.. we don't mind either way. The eye doctor asked Noah and he said he would not like glasses at that time. He sees just fine. The doctor agreed. And so we left it. All last summer. All last Fall. Noah said his eyes were fine. January 2018, he said he was fine too. And then the kids and I move to America in April and all of a sudden he says at the end-ish of May 25th or so. "my eyes are starting to bother me and I think I would like glasses now" I'm like "right now???" I said, "we go back home to Japan in about 10 days, if you can wait until then, we can go then. But if it's like serious, I'll take you tomorrow." And Noah said, I can wait. So, Noboru had already known, because we talk daily. And so we took Noah back to the same excellent eye doctor our family likes a lot. And sure enough. The doctor says Noah needs them. His one eyeball is like near perfect 20/20. But the other eyeball is "meh" in vision. Not horrible mind you... but needing glasses and correction. And clearly we're not going to make Noah wear a monocle ala' the Monopoly man, Sir Topham Hatt or the Planters Peanut guy. LOL! So we went and ordered him a pair of glasses. Noah tried on a billion pairs. He found a nice brown plastic pair that he really loved. Everyone in the entire family gave that pair the thumbs up too. 

The kids playing games at the arcade while waiting for the eyeglass shop to make Noah's glasses in an hour. So glad to have that crossed off on our list.

I really love living in a town that is literally surrounded by rice fields everywhere. This was the view from driving back from the eyeglasses shop. 

You know how some boys never learn how to cook. Or learn how to change a flat tire. Or learn how to build furniture or mow the lawn or do handyman type things. Noboru made sure that both Branden and Noah know how to change a flat tire on a car. How to use a jack. He taught them how to build furniture. Hence Branden built our TV stand in the US. They know how to mow the lawn and do regular guy stuff. And the cooking stuff, sure I taught the kids those types of things too. This pic is of Noah my 12 year old mowing the lawn in the month of June. I was in the house getting meat prepared for our yakiniku BBQ. 

Branden was meanwhile busy starting up the BBQ. When our boys grow up and get married, their wives will not complain. They'll actually be so happy. They can definitely hold down the fort so to speak. 

Yakiniku. We had chicken breast. And 2 types of beef. Marinated grilled veggies too. Lettuce for wrapping our meat and rice with. Sauce for dipping our meat in. It was delicious. 

What best way to end a BBQ then with some dessert. This night we enjoyed some Melon soda flavored Gari Gari-Kun. Noboru ate his faster than I could snap a picture of all 4, sorry about that. : ) The flavor of these? Absolutely delicious!!!

Some days were really gray and overcast. Some days were typhoon type days. Some days were rainy days. And some days were "melting to death", type hot days. Thank god for central air conditioning. That way we don't even have to think about it. On the hot days, I would hang out towels. Bath mats. Pillow cases. And in the evenings I would just whack my laundry into our separate dryer.  It was nice for Noboru to have his wife home. He didn't have to think about laundry. It always just magically gets done (by me) : ) And he didn't have to think about dinner. Because I always handle everything. And, I enjoy handling all the home stuff. : )

This night, I made green chili enchiladas. Spanish rice. And a side salad. 

This was another BBQ outside night. I made chargrilled cheeseburgers and chargrilled chicken teriyaki sandwiches. We also had macaroni salad and potato salad too. And we also had fresh corn on the cob. 

A pic from our dinner that night. I made yakisoba, sara udon (chicken chow mein for you Americans), I made beans and pork green chili. I made tacos. I made chicken parmesan. Chicken cutlet and also karaage. All sorts of different things. 

In Japan usually every summer they sell choco mint everything. And I love it. We try them all every single summer. This year we saw this. We all tried it. The kids liked it. But, I didn't. Which really surprised me, because I usually can like everything. This for me was too minty. 

This night, I also made chicken teriyaki bowl with mushrooms and with some steamed broccoli. I just really love cooking every night. Or most nights. I do like to take a break every once in a while though. : )

These Country Ma'am cookies, they have been selling for about...5 years every summer? We love these. They taste amazing.

Anyways, I will make more Japan posts. And then I'll start with the U.S. posts too. The kids start school this coming Tuesday. We went and picked up Branden's school schedule Monday August 20th, picked up Branden's Chromebook Tuesday evening. And Noah's school schedule we picked up on Thursday August 23rd and we went and met all of Noah's teachers. Both the kids took their school photos already on their "schedule pick up days" And basically we've been just super busy. So, that's why I haven't had too much free time to sit on the computer. Noboru will be here visiting in about 4 weeks too, which we all can barely wait. 

Throwback Thursday. Reflecting on Noah's elementary school days, 1 day before his graduation...

I thought today, 1 day before Noah's elementary school graduation. I would do a TBT. It seems so fitting. Perfect time to do it really. In light of tomorrow's graduation, today is all about you Noah and your elementary school adventures. I remember before you started the first grade... you were 50% excited and happy to start elementary school and getting to go to school with your big brother... also you were 50% scared of meeting all new classmates except the 1 and only other kid that went to the same yochien with you. The rest of the first graders all went to the same local hoikuen together. And you were *so* nervous to meet them. And this picture, I snapped the day of your entrance ceremony. You were now 10% excited to go to school with your big brother, but you were now 90% petrified to be in a class of new faces. As everyone who reads this blog knows...you Noah are a very gentle soul. Extremely kind. And a little shy when first meeting someone but as soon as he knows you, then he's really chill. I reassured my kind sweet boy at age 6 when he was just a pika pika ichinensei. "Noah honey, you are okay" Mommy will be right in the gymnasium and I will wave, so you can see where I'm sitting, okay?" "Not to worry dear heart"..."I will be there." You mustered a few smiles and I quickly took these pics. And since Branden was already at school. Daddy, you and I hopped in the car. And we made sure that you made it to your classroom and got you all set up. And your stuff all put away.

While Branden has always been very chill and calm and zen about everything, you were always my worry-wart. And I love you both. Exactly as you are. Branden knew how "doki doki"/nervous you'd be. He asked all his friends to clap so super loud for you and cheer for you and boy did they ever. And when they did roll call. And called out your name. They all clapped and cheered so loudly and my heart was bursting with happiness and relief for you. And I could see your kind shy smile. I had absolute peace of mind knowing your big brother could watch out for you... for 2 years in elementary school and he did. He never let anyone be mean to you. He's just that kind of protective big brother, he's not ever been a bully because Bran is a good kid too, but he's just protective about Noah. And when it was time for him to leave and go to JHS, you were by that time.... totally more than okay. Okay to be there alone, so relieved he could be there with you for your first 2 years of shogakko. Anyways... all these years, I have enjoyed watching you come into your own element. And now you are a 6th grader. Yes you are still a little shy. Ha! You probably always will be. But...we love you exactly as you are...my dearest Noah. I can't believe you will be graduating tomorrow. It frankly blows my mind. 

Thank you Branden for always being the best big brother...that any little brother would be lucky to have!!! And Noah...you are shy yes, but that's okay. You are also kind and nice and absolutely gorgeous. When they announced your name at the..."Goodbye to the 6th graders" event last week" all grades voted what you were known for the most....they said..."Noah is known for always being kind and friendly to *everyone*" and that is so super true. They described you perfectly. And funny...you entered elementary school wearing gray. And I made sure when I picked out your graduation outfit, that I also picked out gray too. How truly fitting. At our local elementary school graduation ceremony....everyone wears their future JHS uniform for elementary school graduation. But since...Noah is going to the United States and has no JHS uniform like how they prefer kids to dress for graduation. I made sure to get Noah a suit. And considering Noah is as white as chalk (just look at his legs and face in this picture), I prefer get him a suit in gray, because it just suits his fair skin/coloring better. 

Tomorrow my dearest Noah, you will complete another milestone. Your elementary school education will be complete. I will watch you walk into that gymnasium one last time. I will clap and cheer and cry my eyes out! They will be proud tears. Not sad tears. They will be happy tears. They will be...I love you tears!!! It will be my very last time to ever step foot in that lovely amazing elementary school. And it will be the last time to ever be near all the other awesome parents and kids we have come to know all throughout these years. A chapter will close for you tomorrow.  And I will be there. On the sly...I will be waving to let you know where mom is sitting to reassure you as always. We have 2 cameras all charged up and ready to go. One of those takes very good digital videos. My suit is all ready. Tomorrow will be awesome! Just take it all in. Enjoy it. You will remember tomorrow for years and years to come trust me, I know. The journey to getting to this point... has been been absolutely amazing. Because this elementary school was so fun! You cooked. You had class turtles. You went on some amazing field trips with your class.  And I'm just so proud to be your mom. And know, that another adventure awaits you in America. So good luck tomorrow! We love you Noah....so much!!! And yes, we're taking you to Jolly Pasta tomorrow night for your graduation dinner! Since that's the place you requested. Good luck tomorrow. We love you.

Noah's final Observation Day at our local elementary school in Japan...

Last Thursday March 1st, was Noah's final Observation Day as an elementary school student. And on a more important note, it was also Noah's final Observation Day in Japan PERIOD. So a super special day for us and him. Observation Day was for the last class of the day, for all 6 grades. Two weeks beforehand, Noah told me that his 6th grade class had planned to bake cookies the day before Observation Day. Something us parents and our 6th grade student could share together. And a week beforehand the 6th graders were deciding, if the final Observation Day should be us watching and observing class or if we should go and play some dodge ball in the gymnasium. They voted and decided we should play dodge ball. So that's what we did. March 1st, at 1:20pm us 6th grade parents met outside the school gym. Our 6th graders were already waiting for us inside the building. Important to note... this is the day we all paid for their elementary school yearbook. 22,000 yen/ around US$200.00 We paid, got our receipt. And entered the gymnasium. Living in rural Japan, with a town population under 5,000 people. Our school has just one 6th grade class. And only one 1st grade class, and only one 2nd grade class etc.  36 kids total for the 6th graders. We split the kids in half and had 2 dodgeball games going at once in the gym. I've known these parents since Noah was a first grader. Remember since our town is so tiny, our town doesn't even have a yochien. There is 1 hoikuen in our actual town, but both Branden and Noah went to a yochien in a small city nearest our town. And some of the parents, I have known since Branden was in the first grade too. So, for me...when I look at these pictures. I see parents that I am really fond of. I see people who we have enjoyed undokai/sports day with  for 6-9 years, if they were also fellow parents from Branden's ichinensei too.When I see this picture, I see Noah. I see my husband and I also see my friends and Noah's friends. 

The biggest of smiles and best of laughs. My husband and his friend. They are both in the Father's Club. This man in red has 2 daughters. His oldest daughter was a classmate of Branden's since they were first graders. And his middle daughter is Noah's age. We have been close with this family for 9 years. Living in rural Japan, your relationships with others... especially if you raise kids here. Your bonds are tight. Your friendships are close. Noboru being originally from Osaka and me being originally from America, this town just welcomed us with open arms and an open mind. Friendships like this are truly priceless. And the "helper" teacher in the background in gray, I adore her so much! She's fantastic. 

Let's try not to get hit with the ball!

Noah's main teacher in the gray pants and blue sweatshirt. 

Noah having such a great day! He loves dodgeball.

The 6th graders sang a graduation type of song for us parents. They all did so wonderfully. 

Noah is part of the Baking Club, so he had to get to school extra early, the day before and make the dough with the other 6th grade baking club members. And then at regular school starting time, the rest of the 6th graders met them in the cooking room. Our school has an amazing huge cooking room. And they baked cookies until lunch that day. After the kids sang... they passed out the cookies to us parents. The note sent home the day before, said for us parents to bring our own drink. Noboru and I each brought a bottle of tea and Noah had ice tea in his thermos. 

One bag for the 6th grade child and the other bag with note attached, was for their parent. Noboru and I munched on the cookies Noah made for us. They were delicious. It was a very good idea to bake cookies. Teachers have the best ideas! : )

This note attached to the cookies was written to us from Noah. It says, "For 6 years, thank you for supporting me" Truly such a fantastic note. Such appreciation from my son. Thank you Noah! I will always continue to support you and also your brother too. I love you both so much. So anyway, that was Noah's final Observation Day.

We also had another event, which was basically a "Good bye to the 6th graders event," where all grades sort of celebrate the 6th graders. There was an emotional slide show too. In Japanese it's called, Rokunensei o Okurukai. We had that yesterday. March 5th. I enjoyed all of it, but I admit I cried when they showed the slide show, of our kids starting out as little "pika pika ichinensei" And show pics of our kids, throughout all 6 grades. And by the time, we hit the 5th grade, I was crying. Many of us parents were. So were the kids. Noah graduates March 16th. Right now, because the 6th graders will be graduating soon. Noah goes to school 20 minutes early in the mornings now.... all 6th graders are right now. They have been practicing for graduation since yesterday and this will continue until the day before graduation. Also right now because Noah is a 6th grader and also spring break is almost upon us, Noah has a very irregular schedule right now. He gets out of school right now 2pm most days, but some days it's 11am. So his coming home time right now is shortened now. And as for Branden, he has high school tests this week and next week. So he is getting out of school at 11am for this week and next week. I feel with their irregular schedules....I really have to stay on my toes. And be sure to check and double check *both* their schedules every single day. March is proving to be a busy month for our household. : )

Valentine's Day 2018...

I hope you all had a really nice Valentine's Day this year. Ours was low key as always. But really nice. In January as soon as Valentine's chocolates were for sale in my nearest small city... nearest the town I live in. I bought my 3 guys their Valentine's stuff right away. I bought these for Branden and Noah this year. The Tirol golden variety box, I bought 2 years or so ago, my kids love them and so when I saw the same big golden box, I bought both Bran and Noah each a box of those. Those were only like 348 yen a box each. And the Mary's chocolates this particular type was chocolate nut crunch. They were 3 packs for 900 yen, so I bought Noboru a bag and one for each of the boys too. I didn't take a pic of Noboru's chocolates... but they were exactly the same Mary's chocolates as the kids received. I also took Noboru to Starbucks on Valentine's Day and we each got a coffee and a slice of cake too. My small little treat for *my* Valentine. Noah was with us too... because his class was closed due to the flu. So it was a Valentine date with the 3 of us, instead of just the 2 of us. LOL.  It was okay...it just couldn't be helped because the class was closed. And so we were all fine. And besides after this many years of marriage... we're practical yes and also parents... so we were fine with a Valentine's date of 3. : ) And he took me/us for lunch before our Starbucks run. So we each in a small way celebrated each other that day. I'm glad that happened to be his day off. : )  

The woman I bought the chocolates from at the mall... gave me gift bags and decorative stickers and stuff and Valentine's morning, I wrapped every one's small gift. Yes in our family we celebrate Valentine's Day... the American way meaning we give gifts to each other on 1 day.... versus the Japanese way of the boys giving gifts on White Day instead. In our house we don't celebrate White Day, we get it out in 1 fell swoop. : )

What did I get for Valentine's Day? Noboru always asks me what I want for Valentine's Day? I honestly don't think you should shell out boo-koo bucks for Valentine's Day. I prefer my husband and I keep it under 1000 yen for a gift for V-day. And sure if we want to go get some lunch or coffee that we could both enjoy together? Awesome. But nope you will see no... big fancy expensive gifts here for V-day. After Noboru always asks me what I want. I always just say...the same chocolates as last year is fine. I love those. They're practical. They're what...700 yen. No need to do more, in my opinion. So, I received my fave Ferrero Rocher. I also received gifts from both my sons this year too. First time ever for me. As it wasn't suggested by a teacher. It was done 100% completely on their own with no prompting for any outside force. 2 weeks beforehand, my boys asked me...."mom what would you like for Valentine's Day from us? I was super surprised. Pleasantly so. : ) I told my kids. "Seriously do not spend more than 300 yen on me, okay? I don't need it. But thank you though." That's $3 US for you Americans. : ) Noah bought me this box of chocolate covered almonds. I love these. They were affordable, so I didn't feel guilty about my kids spending money on me. And they felt so good about giving me a gift too. Branden asked me too. He said exactly this..."mom my school is near a Kiehl's and a Body Shop" What do you want for Valentine's Day? I told Branden...buy me one of those delicious clear teas. And that's enough for me, kiddo. I too told him...please no more than 300 yen. 

Branden came home Valentine's Day after school with this in hand for me. A fancy bar of chocolate and a clear tea. I felt so happy this Valentin'e Day. What 3 sweethearts, I have. I'm truly so lucky!!! 

Branden has a legit girlfriend. Almost 1 year they've been dating. A blonde American cutie by the way. But anyways...that did not deter Bran from getting a ton of Valentine's Day goodies. Hafu girls/classmates. Or other 100% foreign classmates. Or Japanese. But he has quite a bunch of girls that like him... like him...meaning that wish to be his girlfriend. 6 gifts from his classmates. Which means...I will be baking for White Day. Again this year. @_@ Holy goodness. 

Also the 11th grade grade peeps got back from their trip to California. And 2 girls gave Branden some American treats. That was more so... friendship candy/tomo choco.

Branden received homemade brownies, and so many homemade variety of cookies. But these I thought were so pretty...the butterfly cookies. Makes me want to find a butterfly cookie cutter now. Hahaha. Bran gave me a small taste of these and they were delicious. He also gave Noah a bite too. : )

I'm wondering what kind of Valentine's Day, my kids and I will have next year in the states. Hmm. It'll be interesting. : ) And new and exciting. : ) 

The snowstorm that hit our town, with pics...

I snapped these first 2 pics as soon as I brought Noah home from school Monday January 22nd. Many other parts of Kanto started snowing earlier that day. But it didn't get to our town until Noah and his classmates got out of school and then the snow started dropping quickly. This is just the start. 

My backyard and the rice fields behind our home. Branden was already on the train when I snapped this pic. And so he was arriving home, just 1 hour after I snapped this pic. But boy oh boy, did the snow pick up... as you can see in the 2 pictures down below.

Two things I want to point out. First is, yes my town and particular area of Japan only gets snow about once a year. However it *never* sticks to the roads at all. The roads always remain clear maybe wet at the most. But not this time. Also look at my windshield, the part where my windshield wiper didn't wipe off. The amount of snow dropped in an hours time. Wow...insane!!! I was inside my car with the heater on full blast and waiting for my 16 year old to get inside my warm car from the train station. Many cars were behind my car. Picking up loved ones too.

See these roads at the train station, you can agree the snow is actually sticking this time. So our snow storm this time was very different. Noboru was extremely worried about me and he did call me once... while I was at the train station he told me...be careful driving and to get home before the roads get so bad, that I can't drive in them anymore. I drove *so* slow to the train station and back home. I drove about 15 MPH. And at one point I had a road rage person tailgating me so super badly. Everyone else was driving nice and slow and safe about the same speed as me. I already had Bran in the car. And I was telling Branden..."if this road-rager wants to drive like a lunatic fine but... I wish they'd just go around me!!!" But, I was NOT about to feel pressured to speed up, just because they were practically eating my bumper. Stupid no brained person! It's people like that...that cause accidents. And for what it's worth, there was a sheet of black ice under the deep packed snow on the roads all the way to and from the train station. From when it rained all day before the snow started and froze. 

A pic from my front door and facing the street... we had 2 power outages. Monday night around 10:15pm. I was in bed, just laid down. The kids were in their rooms too, they too just laid down. And Noboru should have been home any second. But the whole house just went dark. My clock that wakes me up every morning went black. After 2 minutes the power came back on. And I was resetting my clock again and before I even got to switch to the right time, we had a 2nd and final power outage. @_@ This one lasted about 4 minutes. I had to go downstairs. Reset the clock on the stove. Turn the central heating back on again. And redo my clock settings in my room. But this time, I told the kids grab your cells and set the alarms for 4:50am, Noah set his for 5:50am. Bran and I wake up at 4:50am and Noah wakes up at 5:50am. But we weren't taking any chances in case we had another power outage and missed school the next day. By the whole power outage fiasco ended and I reset my clock... Noboru came home. He shoveled this tiny walkway for us. And I told him about the power outage. We were laughing about the power outage. He told me, he would be driving both kids to school tomorrow/Tuesday in his vehicle. Versus me taking them in mine like I usually do. Because #1 my car is a 100% electric car, which isn't the problem... but she has no snow tires and is not a 4WD. She's just a car car. LOL. Noboru meanwhile drives a 4WD and he has snow tires. Like serious snow tires. So he's more equipped to drive in the snow than my car. 

All the alarms worked Tuesday morning and we had no power outage. So between my alarm clock, my cell, and both the kids cell phones and Noboru's we had quite the chorus waking us all up. Noah stood in bed. Bran got up, went to the restroom, then washed his hands Started brushing his teeth. I turned on my computer. And turned on the hot water pot. I was checking my email because after just looking outside. I was wondering if school was canceled or not? I had 2 school emails in my inbox. First, Branden's school sent an email at 5:30am and said school was canceled. Snow day for Branden. Okay. So told Bran..."Bran, no school for you today, go back to bed if you want" He did and so, he was quite happy. Email #2. Noah's school said, they are on a snow schedule and school will start at 10am versus their regular time. This email was sent at 5:50am right when Noah was about to wake up. However, they had a change of mind, because at 6:50am, we got an email saying, the roads are too bad in our town, and so snow day for all kids in our town. School is canceled. So, I told Noah, go ahead stay in bed and sleep a little longer. The boys did wake up around 7:30am. So they got to sleep in a little bit. And I'm so glad they had a snow day, because the roads were just too bad Tuesday. This pic was taken on the right of my house. Tuesday morning.

That's our fence and again these pics are taken from our backyard of the surrounding area.

Blanket of snow all covering the rice fields. 

Tuesday morning. Snow day. My backyard and the rice field behind our house.

Thick layer of snow on our shed roof.

The walkway turned to black ice. Yikes! That's my black car to the right. She stood home all day Tuesday.

Neighbors car. Snow on bushes of our neighbors house and wow look at those roads.

Umm yes it totally stuck. The roads were dangerous all Monday evening and all Tuesday. 

Two brothers having a snowball fight. Hello Branden, hello Noah...

After breakfast, Noboru took the boys for a drive around town in his vehicle. The kids were thrilled to go. Branden took these pics and sent them to me of what he saw on his drive in our town. Plastic greenhouses and rice fields for days. Yes, I do live in rural Japan. : )

The gorgeous snow and beautiful Japanese rice fields.

Noboru and 1 other car were actually able to drive. All the cars on the opposite side of the roads were abandoned cars. That got stuck in the snow. See how bad the roads were? Yep, no wonder schools were canceled. Safer that way. 

Inaka life!!! Country life! : )

Tuesday evening, while I was finishing up supper. The kids wanted to go outside in our backyard. I certainly had no objections. They made the largest snowball ever. Those silly kids. And for the record. Noah made 5 snowmen in our front yard Tuesday morning. It looked like a snowman convention by the time Noah finished with all of them. : )

I snapped this pic Wednesday morning after I dropped Branden at the train station. So in case you were thinking the snow probably melted. Not by Wednesday morning for us in our town at all. I heard it's all but gone in Tokyo. But it's still here in my town. See the roads, in this pic? That's black ice and treacherous dangerous regular icy roads. Today is Thursday and this road even this morning was still icy in parts. I'd say right now 90% of our roads in our town are free from ice. But 10% are still very dangerous. And Noboru told me that he heard it might snow again next week? @_@ I hope he's wrong. If you are a Celsius person every morning when I took Branden to school this week, even this morning it was -4 degrees Celsius and that's just 24 degrees F for us Americans. That is *freaking* cold. Super cold. And now you know why the ice on this road is still here. The weather right now? It's a nice balmy 34 degrees F. So 2 tiny degrees above freezing. But as soon as 5pm hits tonight... it will start drastically getting colder and colder. And this particular road is always in the shade. So...anyways. Japan has been quite cold lately.