Japanese New Year's cards

We forgot to mention that on New Year's Day we got a real Japanese New Year's card in our mail slot. It's not the best picture but you get the idea.

One of John's students sent it to him. We told you he had reached celebrity status--fan mail! On the other side was Pooh-san (Winnie the Pooh) who is apparently all the rage here this year. Happy Year of the Rabbit everyone!

In Japan New Year's cards are such a big deal that the post office holds them and delivers them on New Year's Day even though it's a national holiday. (The national postal service was privatized a few years ago which is also why we get packages on Sundays!) As a former mail carrier, Josie thinks this is no fair. As enthusiastic mail recipients, we think this is a pretty fun tradition.

This weekend we're going to Osaka. We're looking forward to being in a big city, seeing one of the largest aquariums in the world, eating okonomiyaki, relaxing at Spaworld, daytripping to Kobe, shopping for a Japanese kitchen knife and most of all, meeting back up with Erin!

By the way, did you see this article about the record setting price a tuna sold for in Tokyo on New Year's Day? Almost $400,000!