birthday parties

Since our children started to go to school, the amount of invitations

for the birthday parties dramatically increased!

Again, I did not grow up with birthday parties, same as Halloween. 

In Japan, we don't have fun celebrations like a wedding showers,

baby showers, Easters, Halloween. 

 Birthday parties in Japan?   It is a good excuse for 
young adults to go out and have a party with friends, 
but not so much for children. 

At least, around my family, 30 years ago until
I moved to Canada 11 years ago.

Well, let me tell you, 

I think Japanese culture puts more importance
on people's death than birth.

We have more official ceremonies
around people's death.

We have the evening service to start after a person died. 
People gather in the evening of the day of a person passed away.  

Then official funerals within 2 days or so, 49days memorial service, 
then 1 year memorial service,and 3rd, 7th, 13th, 33th year 
memorial service, then finish with 50th service.

Yes, we have ceremonies to respect the ancestor who passed away 

50 years ago!

Anyways,

When I started the family here in Canada, 
I did not know what to do with all these celebrations.

Since we have 3 children, birthday parties became
part of our bi-weekly schedule.

I am so happy that my children are invited to their 
friend's birthday parties, of course!

I was having fun to go out for presents shopping, 

buy cards, bags, wrappings.

By the time we are ready for the gift, we spend quite 
a bit of money, and that was OK for me.
For some reason, spending money for other children makes
it more fun than for my own children.   " ??? "

But when I was at the party and at the present opening time,

I started to question myself, do I feel good?


"no."

Envelopes are ripped open, 

it took 30minutes to let my kids to write those cards are 
put them in a pile on the side,

wrappings are also ripped open, 
plastics packaging that can not be recycled,

"Oh no, I bought the same gift that the other friend gave."

"Ummmmmm,,,,,"

Oh, ripping open the wrappings are also not in 
Japanese culture.






When I first time saw the Canadian ways to 
rip open the gift, I thought 


"Oh no!  We can't save it anymore!"

Japanese people, we tend to open the wrappings 
very carefully. 
Peel the tapes very carefully so we don't
damage the beautiful wrapping paper.


Fold them nice an neat and 
put them in a special place.
Re-use them for other occasions.




Since I start teach Reiki, I am teaching about being
eco friendly by taking care of our own health.




Creating unnecessary garbage does not go with the teaching!

Anyway, I decided to keep Japanese ways of the gift.
But in a creative way that, maybe, hoping, people 
like the idea.

Giving money as a gift !




This way, save some gas to go shopping,
no worries for the same gift, 
birthday boy can save the money for later and 
buy something he likes, 
no producing non-recyclable plastics,
etc etc etc.

This is my creative way of gift money.




   Iron 2 x $5 or $10 bills, maybe $20 bills if I am feeling rich!

   Origami time !

   Make a gift box and put some gem stones.

    A gift basket with a gem stone looks cute, too!

   Decorate with a ribbon.

   Wrapping, just like the big gift, and make a tiny card!

   Even make an envelope with a tiny heart sticker.

As you can tell, I used to obsessed with tiny things.

 I love doll house furnitures, tiny lego binoculars and 

polly pockets shoes.

   Then wrap it again to make it look like a big gift.
   I use colourful tissue paper, so then I don't feel too bad
   when it is ripped open.

If your children receive a gift like this,
I am not being lazy, but I am trying to be eco friendly,
and introduce Japanese culture at the same time !




Dont' get me wrong, I like birthday parties,
but I just don't like the garbage that comes 
with birthday parties.

Cultural shock

I went to my daughter's grade 1 class to help out the craft time.

Subject of the craft at this season is, of course,

Halloween.

I grow up in small town called Nagasaki, Japan, from kindergarten to high school.

After graduated High school, I went to Tokyo to learn Health and PE at Tokyo Women's College of Physical Education. Spent 4 years in Tokyo, and came back to this small town, Nagasaki. I love this town.

Back then, a small town like Nagasaki, did not have too much influence from Western culture. So I did not grow up with Halloween.

Anyways,

When I started a family, I tried every thing to avoid Halloween for my kids, because of the amount of candies !!! One time, I even planned a trip to Japan with my children around the Halloween, so then they did not have to receive so much candies.

Oh boy, when they realized that they would miss the Halloween, they did not like the idea at all !!!

OK, I realized that this is parental ego.

I am in a country where children look forward to going trick or treating as much as they look forward for the Christmas! I should let them have fun !

Back to today's story.

Cultural Shock !

Kids are all in some sort of costumes, make ups, in a school, in a class, while teacher is teaching.

Well this would not happen in Japan !!!

It was so much FUN to see all those little children are in a costume and trying to study at the same time !!!

There was a little witch trying to teach Harry Potter to design a pumpkin.

Woody and another witch are being creative.

A bunny's smile.

This is my daughter.

Even a teacher is dressed as a Witch !!!

Well, let me show you the Japanese Grade 1.

They go to school together, line up nice and neat.

They all have a same school bag called, lando-sel.

You get to choose black or red.

Swimming class in a summer time. They have to

take a dreadfully cold shower before get in a pool.

Kids call this shower, "Shower of the hell."

Their lips turns blue...

At the end of the school time, in a class room.

Now I know both school system, Japanese and Canadian.

They are both wonderful in their way.

I like the Canadian ways to let the kids be kids.

I like the certain discipline of Japanese way.

Reiki share meeting

I just came back from Reiki share evening !

Feel so good!

Maybe I should not sit in front of the computer after

I had such a calming peaceful time, but I feel so good and

I wanted to write about it !

At the Reiki share, we prepare 2 ~ 3 massage tables.

1 person lay down on the table, and 2~4 people do Reiki

on one person for 15minutes.

We take turns until everyone finished.

We call this "Reiki Share" and

Boy, it is powerful.

It is amazing that only 15minutes of 3~4 sets of hands

can calm us down and enhance the peace in our mind.

This is at Amethyst Book Store in Chilliwack.

This is another time at Heart Quest Healing Centre

in Vancouver, Commercial Drive.

We usually finish with a circle and share the feeling

or experience of Reiki share.

This Reiki Share evening, I started over 2 years ago, 2008 January.

Wow, it has been almost 3 years!

In 2007, I became Jikiden Reiki Shihankaku teacher (junior teacher), and started to teach Jikiden Reiki.

Becoming a Jikiden Reiki teacher was a life changing experience for me!

But I had a little strrugle.

I became a teacher without my own teacher being around me and guiding me.

Yes, my teacher, Mr. Yamaguchi, is always there for me when I have a question,

but he is in Japan and I am in Canada.

It was a little challenging for me and I made many mistakes. I guess those mistakes were important part of my Reiki path.

Anyway, I decided myself that once I started to teach Jikiden Reiki, I want to be a teacher who can be there for people who took my class. I wanted to follow up with students to make sure they understand Reiki and love Reiki, and give them as much opportunity to use Reiki without going through what I went through.

However, this is not only the reason to start the Reiki share evening.

Another reason is more important to me. It is kind of selfish reason, but

I want to RECEIVE Reiki, not only giving!

Once I start to teach Reiki, I started to feel more shy about asking people to give ME reiki session and I thought

"If I organize a Reiki Share group, I can receive too!"

Is it a silly reason?

Well, it does not matter, because I love Reiki share evening.

I even tell people that receiving is an important part of learning Reiki!

As I continue to learn reiki and grow together with people who learned reiki with me,

I HAVE TO receive as a student of a life!

There you go.

Chillwack Reiki share : Every month 4th Wednesday

Vancouver Jikiden Reiki practice group : Every month 2nd Tuesday

My Reiki path

I would like to write what made me decide to learn reiki.

If I track back when did my Reiki path start, I think it started when I was 4 years old.

My father was passed away when he was 39years old by a medical accident.

I was 4 years when my father passed away, and it was just normal for me 
that father was not home.

My mother used to be a nutritionist and cooking teacher.

With my father's accident, my two older sistersand I learned from my mother

to eat healthy, laugh a lot to maintain our health.

When I was in high school, I thought it would be beneficial for me to gain deeper knowledge of human body for the time when I would become a mother and to protect my future family. 
I decided to go to Tokyo Women's College of Physical Education and 
earned a bachelor degree of Health and Physical Education.

Later with my mother's unexpected tragetic death, my curiousity about the spirit world

was dramatically increased. I missed my parents and I wanted to connect with them.

Time went by, and I started to have my own family.

My first son was born 2002, and he was a very healthy baby.

My second child was born 2004, and she developed a severe case of Eczema.

This was the beginning of her eczema. She was 3 month old.
Mayu could not make “poo” regularly at this time.

She would go without any bowel movenment for 13days!

(2004, June)

Triggered by vaccination, her skin flared up.

(2004, Sep)

Her skin got better also she start to make poo everyday

since start using Sunrider tea and nuplus consistently.

(2004, Oct)

Triggered by high fever, her entire face was covered with wounds.
This photo was taken after her skin got little better than worst time. I was too sad to
take photos when she was in worse condition. I was desperate to find a solution.
Skin specialist only prescribed anti-histamine and steroid cream. I refused it.

(2005, April)

Losing my father by medical accident, and my mother's teaching of nutrition opened me

up for the approach of alternative method.

I knew covering up with steroid cream was not the answer, I wanted to approach

to the cause, not the symptoms. 
But doctors did not understand what I wanted to do.

When I went out for grocery shopping, kid’s drop-in, people around her told me
“Did you take her to a doctor?”

“Did she burn herself?”

“what kind of skin disease is this?”

“Try this cream, try that medication.”


"Is this contagious?"

The conversation always went to her skin condition everyday and

I felt like people were thinking I was a bad mom who did not take care of

her own baby while I was doing my best I could. (2005, April)

Her skin broke out and she would rub her face on a bedding sheet.
Sheets had blood stains, always.
If she eats something wrong, her skin would flare up, and I would only feed her rice,

apple and few other foods and Sunrider foods to calm her system down.
My friend, Sharon, started to help us with her homeopathic treatments.

(2005, May )

Slowly, her system started to calm down.
A Japanese energy healer, Kimi, worked on her, and I saw a big improvement.

Kimi and Sharon suggested me to learn Reiki.

I took Western Reiki right after this photo. (2005, Oct)

Still having break outs here and there.
I took Jikiden Reiki around this time, and I felt

a big difference in my Reiki hands. (2006, March)

I could see her fore head is starting to be clear.

(2006, May)

After two month of every night Jikiden Reiki treatments for

her digestive system, I started to feel that Reiki really works.

2 days later from this photo, our third child,Geoff, was born.

(2006, May)

After 5 month of Jikiden Reiki treatment. I stop doing

Reiki every night but once in a while.

Her skin condition was completely clear and never came back to her face.

Still being careful what she eats. (2007, January)

Now, she can eat anything. Not a bit of skin rash.

My first intention was to help my daughter's eczema.

But seeing the result right in front of me, I started think that I want to spread this ability!


Reiki is such a simple technique that does not require any medical knowledge.
I know, not everybody would be interested in, but absolutely everyone can learn and
have a benefit from Reiki.


Having Reiki in my life has also brought a great peace in my mind.
I am not an angry person to start, but peace in my mind had noticeably increased.

2007, I became Shihankaku teacher and 2008 I became a Shihan teacher.

Since then I have been teaching and practising Jikiden Reiki with my heart .... 

I just love Reiki so much!