Risshun: When The First Breath Of Spring Arrives

 Last year, I wrote about the Setsubun festival that takes place every February 3rd. https://jackiesjapanjournal.blogspot.com/2025/02/setsubun.html

The day after Setsubun is Risshun. If Setsubun is the dramatic clearing-out of demons and bad energy, Risshun is the soft inhale that follows, when the world feels newly washed and ready for what comes next.

Risshun has long been seen as a kind of spiritual reset button. In the old calendar, this wasn't just a seasonal marker; it was the beginning of the year's energetic cycle. It's a time when farmers look for signs of warmth in the soil, housewives take the chance to refresh their spaces. Even if the temperatures haven't quite caught up, there is a sense that winter is losing its grip. 

I've noticed that the sunrise is a little earlier and the sunset is a little later, marking the promise of longer days to come. Also, the ume blossoms are beginning to bud; they are very resilient, defying the cold!

I've noticed these thick sushi rolls in the supermarkets; you are supposed to eat one, facing the year's lucky direction. This year, the direction is east and southeast.

I haven't made these, so I had to get a photo from the internet!

We live in a world that is always on the go, moving fast to the next thing, the next new trend. I like the idea of these older traditions, a way to slow down for a day, to reflect and notice how nature is changing. A quiet visit to a shrine, a walk outside to notice the very first buds, the chance to quietly renew our spirits and our surroundings. A gentle pause, a chance to breathe and redetermine ourselves for the rest of the year!

Pain

 Another post about my aches and pain!

I thought I was doing a lot better; the seasonal allergies aren't as bad as usual. I'm taking over-the-counter medicine, but only in the morning. I usually have to take them twice a day. 

I'm eating a lot better and have recovered from the Christmas and New Year's binges! I've added interval walking to my exercise regimen, along with chair exercises. I should be feeling great!

But yesterday morning I woke up in pain! The left side of my neck, left shoulder, and arm are really painful. I have a herniated disc in my neck, and sometimes it presses on the nerve, causing pain on the left side. Looks like going to the doctor tomorrow morning! 

I will still try to do some exercise this afternoon, maybe modify it a bit.  No stretches using the left arm, just something very gentle! 

Having this pain made me wonder about people who have lost a limb. I'm right-handed, so not using my left arm isn't a big deal, or so I thought until I was making lunch! I couldn't lift anything or even hold the vegetables properly to cut them. How do people who have had an arm amputated manage? I can still use my arm, but it's painful; not being able to use it at all would be awful.  

 This realisation has me thinking more about how I should be grateful for my situation. I'm in pain, but I know that I can get help for that. I live in a country that has good medical services. I don't have to wait for months to get an appointment; I can just walk in and see a doctor after a few minutes' wait. I can get painkillers without too much bother. 

Even though I feel miserable because of the pain I'm in, I'm also very grateful that I have a way to deal with it!

I guess this is part of ageing! Or rather, not really taking care of myself when I was younger. I keep telling my kids to take care of their health now, as things only get worse as one ages! 

Tomorrow off to the doctors! I really want to deal with this pain now. I have a few plans for February, some places to visit. I want to have the energy to do things I have planned, not sit around moaning all the time!

The full moon was very beautiful the other morning. My phone camera doesn't do it justice, but you can get an idea of what it was like.

This was very early in the morning, about 4:30 am!

Shrines vs Temples: Understanding Japan's Sacred Spaces

 Recently, I've visited a few different shrines and temples. Tera Machi in Kurume, where there are 17 different temples representing six different schools of Buddhism, Kora Shrine and Ukiha Inari Shrine. All beautiful sacred spaces, but what is the difference between a shrine and a temple?

Japan's spiritual landscape is shaped by two major traditions, Shinto and Buddhism. Both have a long history in Japan.

Shinto is the indigenous belief system of Japan, it's rooted in ancient nature worship. There is evidence that Shinto practices go back to the Neolithic period. Over centuries, shrines were formalised as places to honour kami, spirits associated with natural features, ancestors and local deities. The Emperor of Japan is the head of the Shinto Religion. The enthronement ceremony is based on Shintoism. 

A Shinto shrine has tori gates. Most tori gates are red; a few are a natural colour.

Tori gates at Ukiha Inari Shrine

Before you enter the gate, you should bow. Also, when leaving, you offer a bow. There is a place to wash your hands before offering prayers. The two main structures in a shrine are offering halls (haiden) and main sanctuaries (honden).

Seasonal festivals are held at shrines. Also, there are purification rituals and community celebrations.

Some of the most famous shrines are the Ise Grand Shrine in Mie Prefecture, which is dedicated to Amaterasu, the sun goddess and Fushimi Inari Taisha in Kyoto, which is famous for its thousands of tori gates.

Part of the Fushimi Inari Taisha that I visited a few years ago.

Buddhism entered Japan in the 6th century from China and Korea, it bought new philosophies, rituals and artistic traditions. Temples became centres of learning, mediation and political influence.

The entrance to a temple is through sanmon gate. There is a main hall (kondo), pagodas, statues of Buddha and gardens.

One of the most famous temples is Senso-ji Temple in Tokyo.

Senso Ji Temple

I would like to visit there, but every time I look at photos or videos of the area, the crowds seem overwhelming! 

One thing that puzzled me when I first came was seeing what looked like the Nazi swastika on maps indicating where a temple was. The original symbol is called the manji (卍), which is a sacred emblem representing good fortune, eternity and the footprints of the Buddha. The Nazis took this symbol and reversed it, making it a symbol of hatred and violence.

I've been to a few temples and shrines near here, but there are so many more to explore. 

I hope that, as the weather improves, before it gets too hot to go out, I can visit a few of these places!

January

 The month, the year actually started off very dramatically with ambulance trips to the emergency room and trips to the emergency dentist!

David is doing a lot better. One thing I found interesting was the assumption of the paramedics; the first thing they asked was if David had been drinking! I guess because it was just after the New Year, and most people would be drinking to celebrate. David never drinks; he doesn't like the taste of alcohol. If he had passed out because of drinking, I wouldn't have bothered with an ambulance and hospital. I called the ambulance because I didn't know why he had collapsed, and I wasn't sure if he had hit his head, giving himself a concussion.

David took about 10 days off from work, which has helped him a lot! He looks a lot better. Even before he caught a cold and a slight fever, he was looking very pale and exhausted! I wish he could find a job more locally, a daytime job, working nights is really hard long-term! He is planning on putting out leaflets to restart our English school here soon. I really hope we can get some good students.

I got my tooth fixed, but I have to think about getting some kind of dentures. I have no back teeth at all, so I'm using my front teeth to bite food with, not what they are designed for. I just need to screw up the courage to go and get it done! The local dentist is making a lot of money from our family, both David and Christopher are having treatment there!

I'm glad I got the chance to visit Tera Machi, Temple Town. I would like to go again when I have a bit more time. I think the cherry blossom season would be nice there!

I love all the details on the buildings!

The cherry blossom season will start about March 21st here! Looks like making plans.

In the first half of January, the weather was nice, more like spring than winter. The last couple of weeks, however, have been very cold. Daytime highs haven't been over 10C, most days, 5C was the warmest! That has put a damper on a lot of my plans. This house is just too cold to move in. I tried layering clothes so I could get more chores done, but then it's difficult to move! My January to-do list didn't get finished; of the six things on there, only 3 got done. The rest will have to be moved to February!

My health is about the same. My weight didn't change; it hasn't gone up, but hasn't gone down. I'm still not exercising as much as I should. Again just too cold to move. Also, I'm still sleeping too much during the day. Again, I'm blaming the cold!

I did manage to study Japanese a bit, not as much as I should, but I got my books out 3 times this past month. Also, I'm watching YouTube videos in Japanese, which helps with my listening. A friend sends me little messages in Japanese, which also helps. I need more speaking practice. I tried talking to the cats, but they don't really help!

January went by very quickly. In my mind, we are still in the holiday season! But from tomorrow, the 2nd month starts! I'm wondering what to do in February. I need to sit down and make a plan, make a realistic plan! 

I hope everyone had a good month!

 

Frugal Tips

 I'm always on the lookout for ideas on how to save money! 

I'm especially interested in reading or watching people in Japan who have money-saving ideas. A lot of tips from the UK or the USA don't work in Japan. I saw a video where the lady said she saved a lot of money by simply turning down the thermostat on her heating system. We don't even have a heating system here!

I came across a Japanese housewife who said that January helped her to save money.

She talked about how in January, she didn't like to drive too much, because she's living in snow country. She said that she would use whatever she had in the house to make meals instead of buying extra groceries to make what she had planned. I do that as well, no stores nearby, so if I'm missing an ingredient or two, I either change the menu or use a substitute.

Another thing she talked about was changing from using the heating system on the air conditioners to kerosene heaters. I use kerosene heaters here as well. When I'm sitting in bed, reading or watching TV, I don't even run my heater; I just have my hot blankets on, I sit on one and have another wrapped around my shoulders.

The next thing this lady talked about was not going out to meet friends for coffee or lunch so often in the winter. This is something I never do! She stated that because of this, she doesn't buy so many clothes or makeup at this time of year. That made me pause for a while!

Do people buy clothes every month or so? Is it normal to buy new things just for the sake of buying them? 

I just don't buy clothes! In the past two years, I've bought a pair of shoes, a bra and some socks! The sweater I'm wearing is about 25 years old. I was looking through my clothes the other day, thinking that my room wear is new, but then realised that it's about 5 years old. I bought it when I had Covid, back in 2021. The newest thing I have is a top Hannah bought for me last summer!

Wearing the top Hannah bought me.

Not buying clothes is not about saving money; it has more to do with the fact that I can't shop at local stores. Most of my clothes are from a catalogue shop!

Even then, I have a problem with sizes.  I usually buy the biggest size, sometimes that's alright, but other times the item is too big and drowns me! I've tried to get the next size down, but that is sometimes tight and uncomfortable. I need a size in between.

I've seen stores online from America and the UK that do overseas delivery. Again, it's the problem of sizing. Most companies allow you to send back items that don't fit, but just the bother of sending things back makes me pause!

I will need a few things for the spring and summer, so I'm on the lookout for a good bargain!

I'm still looking for more frugal tips! Every yen I can save helps! I don't want to be miserly, but I do need to save now so that I have money to do what I need to do in the future!

Any tips, anyone?

Also, any ideas for plus-size clothes for the mature lady?

Sad

 Because of food!

I love food, not just eating, but baking and cooking. 

I love to find new recipes, I love experimenting with ingredients just to see how flavours and textures go together.

I can spend hours in the kitchen trying out new things. 

Baking used to be my go-to thing to do when stress got too much.

Of course, I love to eat. I understand that food is fuel for my body, but I also like that food can be a source of fun, that we can celebrate the good things in life with lovely and sometimes special food.

The reason I feel sad about food is that as I get older, there are certain foods that no longer suit me.

In my 40s, I had to stop drinking coffee.  I used to drink two or three cups a day, but I found that after drinking it, I would get stomachache. I cut down to one cup a day, but that didn't really help. I stopped drinking it altogether. I still have tea, which I love, so it wasn't that hard to give up. I now drink a cup of coffee every few months. When I do have a cup, I really enjoy it and savour every mouthful.

Then, a few years ago, I was diagnosed with diabetes. That meant a complete change in my eating habits. I could no longer casually eat what I wanted, when I wanted. I had to think about every mouthful, will this spike my blood sugar, will this keep me full longer than something else? Am I feeling dizzy because I haven't eaten for a while, or is it something else?  Eating should never be that stressful!

Having diabetes has meant giving up a lot of foods that I love. I know it's my own fault for not taking care of what I ate when I was younger, and I have no one else to blame but myself, but it is still hard. 

Giving up sweet treats was hard at the beginning. I remember going to a cafe with Hannah, she ordered this lovely cake and some tea, but I just had a cup of tea! I felt miserable! Now I allow myself the occasional sweet treat, maybe once a month, sometimes not even that! I prefer to bake something if I want cakes or cookies, that way I can control how much sugar is in them, and I use sugar, not corn syrup, which is very bad for the body!

The hardest thing to give up was bread! I love bread, any kind of bread. A piece of toast is comfort food for me! Now I try not to eat bread in the mornings. No toast with my breakfast! Also, most evenings I don't have any carbs such as bread, rice, pasta or potatoes! That is hard!

The reason I'm feeling really sad today about food is that there is another group of foods that I might have to give up or at least limit, that's fired foods.

I've never been a big fan of fried foods. I don't like the feeling of grease in my mouth, but sometimes fried foods just hit the spot.

This past week, I made karaage, Japanese fried chicken, one day, the next day I made hamburgers and chips! Later that day, I felt so ill, nauseated, and my stomach felt rather heavy! I realised that my system just wasn't handling all the grease!

It looks like fried foods will have to go the way of sugar and carbs, very little and not very often!

That is sad. When I was in my 20s, I went on a very restrictive diet because I thought I was so fat. I was less than 60kgs then, about 9 stones (130lbs), but I thought I was so overweight! I lived on juice and soups, plus some fruit. Not healthy at all. I did lose weight, but made myself really ill in the process. Once I started eating normally again, I gained all the weight back, plus some. I told myself I would never restrict my food again, that I would enjoy food and try to exercise more to strike a balance. Now I wish I had that choice!

So I'm feeling a bit sad at how I have to restrict my diet. But there are still a lot of good foods out there! I'm adding a lot more vegetables to my diet. Most days I make a big pot of vegetable soup, a lot of salads and just steamed veggies. Fruit is a luxury here, as it is so expensive, but I try to have some on hand for when I feel the need for something sweet!

I will get over this, no choice. My body knows that these foods aren't healthy for me and aren't really helping me. I just need to accept this and move on!

Has anybody else had to give up a favourite food?

breakfast the other day

I rolled out some bread until it was thin, put some cheese on it, rolled it up, dipped it in egg and wrapped bacon around it. Baked in the oven for about 25 minutes. Nice breakfast! A bit of salad, fried up the leftover potatoes and a couple of sausages. Simple but filling breakfast!

My Bucket List

 Since I asked what others have on their bucket lists, I thought I would share mine!

One thing that I want to do, but I don't know if it's really a bucket list thing, is to reform or rebuild this house. 

The longer I live here, the more I realise that this house just isn't really livable!

It's too cold in the winter. I went into the kitchen/dining area to make lunch, about 11am, and I could see my breath. I can understand it being that cold first thing in the morning, but not that late! In the summer, it's too hot, there is little ventilation, and even though there is a lot of vegetation around, it is still uncomfortable.

The bathroom is hell to keep clean; mould grows so quickly. Even in the winter!

The shower area is freezing, and there are ice crystals in the shampoo! 

I want to make this place livable; this is where I'm going to grow old. I want a place that is easy to take care of so I can live as independently as possible! 

Another thing is to travel.

I would love to go back to the UK one more time, but the reality is that unless I come into a lot of money, that won't be possible. Flights are really expensive. The cheap ones are too long for me to endure. I was looking the other day. One flight that I could just about afford would take 36 hours! I don't think I could do that now!

There are many places in Japan that I would like to visit. Hokkaido in the summer, and Okinawa in the winter. I know that is the opposite way, but I don't think I could deal with the extreme weather in each place. Also, I heard that Hokkaido in the summer is nice because the humidity is low. Okinawa in the summer would be too hot for me; I have a hard time here!

I would like to visit the big cities, Tokyo and Osaka. I'm not sure that I can deal with crowds, though. There are lots of places that aren't that crowded or touristy that I want to go to as well. Hannah finds a lot of interesting places to visit; she has her list as well!

Then I have a list of things I want to study. Of course, Japanese is at the top of the list! I need it to communicate, but I'm also hoping that by constantly studying, I can stave off dementia and other related brain problems that seem to accompany ageing! I really don't want to be the old lady who sits and drools all day with no idea of what is happening around her; that really scares me! When Hannah was in junior high school, the students did a week of work experience. She went to a care home. On the last day, she came home in tears. She said that the residents were making a poster for some event, but most of them didn't know how to hold a pencil or use scissors. I don't want to be like that!

Another thing I want to study is Japanese history, especially in this local area. There isn't a lot in English, so I'll need some help with that. My kids like history and are willing to help me with that. Also, I want to understand what makes the Japanese Japanese, what is so unique to these people, and where that comes from. 

There are other things that I want to study, but those are still ideas swirling around my brain at the moment!

The last thing on this list is to develop some kind of crafting skills. I can knit, but only very basic things; anything that involves shaping is beyond me. I can read a pattern, but I always mess up. I think it's just a case of practice. I like to knit as it stops me from snacking, it's hard to eat when your hands are busy!

Another crafty, arty thing I would like to develop is to be able to draw! Just to be able to put something on paper that looks like something and not just a mess of lines would be great!

That's my bucket list! I'm sure I'll add to it or change things. 

The only one that is really a priority is the house.

On a totally different note, I made an interesting breakfast this morning! I'm always looking for healthy meals without breaking the bank. This morning I made oatmeal and topped it with a poached egg, a couple of small sauasages and spinach with a sesame/soy dressing! I didn't think I would enjoy it as I usually have oatmeal with honey and a banana. But this was actually very nice. I paired it with a soy smoothie, tofu, yoghurt, frozen strawberries, and I added a banana as the strawberries are a bit sour. Very nice and filling!

Breakfast