Children on Nanikore

Tokyo Toy Run 2020

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 13:28:27 +0000

December is the month when quite a few bikers around Kanto look forward to doing the annual Tokyo Toy Run, but with COVID19 still an issue, we had to come up with something to show the children’s homes they weren’t forgotten at Xmas, but also make sure the kids and the participants weren’t put at risk.

The idea agreed upon was that we’d meet at our usual spot - a large [outdoor] service area car park on the Tomei expressway near Ebina, where we’ve met for the last few years, since it provides enough space to socially distance a lot of people. We’d then collect all the gifts in the back of a few cars, and volunteers would drive them to the childrens homes.

Since there was no ‘ride in’ to the homes we stayed at the service area from between 8 - 11am, much longer than we usually would, but we wanted to make sure people would have time to get there and drop off gifts, and safely chat without it being crammed into just an hour or so, as was the way in previous years when everyone would be delivering their own gifts.

On the day, in that window I think we had at least a similar number of bikes (and cars) stop by as a normal year (~70+), drop off gifts and say hello before heading off. It was also nice we got a lot of support as usual from families passing through in their cars, which is a good way to spread the word, and as usual, I’m pretty sure we picked up some potential new people for next year.

It feels good we could hold up at least half of the event. The second half is very much the ride in, playing with the kids, giving them rides on the back of bikes and sharing some food with them. I think we all missed that this year, but at least we could put together something since the organisers were very aware of a conversation that was had the very first year we did it off the back of the Gaijin Riders forum, which was that for the kids sake, they didn’t want it to be a one off, and so far we’ve managed over a decade despite quakes, typhoons and now pandemics.

The forum where this particular event was started eleven years ago has now moved to Facebook and the namesake website has since been bought up by another entity, but we do have a normal Facebook page for the event, and from this year another normal domain - Toy Run Japan - for those not on FB.

If you want more details on the event, check out any of these links and make a mental note or put in a reminder for next December - there’s a very good chance we’ll be doing it all again.

Merry Xmas!

Isehara Camping during Rainy Season

Tue, 15 Jul 2014 05:50:28 +0000

It’s fair to say that I like to get outdoors. Although I’m not a frequent or avid camper, now that the kids are sort of old enough, I think it’s important we all get out and get some outdoors and tent time in.

We first went together in 2012, but for a pile of reasons we missed last year, and so this year we’re trying to make up the trip count. June is part of Japan’s rainy season, but undaunted I booked a spot at a place I hadn’t camped at before up in the mountains, near a river, called Yamagoya. It’s only a bit over an hour from the house, so I thought that if it turned into a complete disaster I’d just have to up sticks and it would be a short drive back.

As the date came up, it was clear it would rain at some point. On the day we drove up it was raining, and when we arrived, I expected the kids to complain, but actually they loved it, and I have to say, they didn’t complain once during the whole weekend.

The site is small, running about 100m along a small river bank. Come the real summer they’re mainly set up with family sized BBQ sites, but right now they just had a few tarps up covering about half of them. They actually only have 3 designated tent pitches. This was the first odd point - the pitches were away from the river, and broadly flat, but they’d put several layers of stones there, which may have helped run-off and drainage, but made getting the tent pegs in quite a bit harder, and of course the rain makes everything more slippery. Like the previous camp though, I set up my GoPro on time lapse, and afterwards made a video from it - the kids love watching the tent go up at high speed!

The stones could have been a bigger issue, had I not brought our Thermarests, of which I’ve become a bit of a fan over the last few years, meaning for the kids especially, they could get comfy in their sleeping bags on one of these mattresses, and get some sleep.

Once the tent was up we went in to the adjoining cafe for some lunch. They only have a small menu, very Japanese oriented, which is fine, but not much for the kids. That said, the tofu salad and udon we ordered was excellent, and we could divide it between the three of us. They also do desserts and kakigouri (shaved ice with some fruit cordial), which obviously did go down well with the kids. It wasn’t expensive, given they’re serving a relatively captive audience, but marginally more expensive than a family restaurant.

As the rain came down gently, it was actually quite picturesque, looking down the river, and off a slight cliff down the valley. The kids were happy with my decision that since they were wet anyway, paddling into the river a little wasn’t going to do any more damage, so we passed quite a bit of time just exploring the riverbank and the site.

One of the best things about camping is cooking outside though, and it’s something my kids like too. For normal meals at home they can sometimes be picky, but when it comes off a BBQ or the camping stoves, there are no arguments. The drizzle had let up a little, so I broke out our two stoves - one is my normal lightweight backpacker stove, the other is a domestic ‘cassette gas’ burner. I found one of the set out tarps which was anchored quite high up, and set up just below and to one side of it - you don’t want to be melting or setting fire to tarps - so we got some rain shelter and played safe. I do like cooking outdoors, and with two stoves, got some spaghetti bolognese going.

One thing I was glad I brought is my Gerber multi-tool - I somehow bent one of the guide lips on my camping stove, and had to gently bend it back into shape with my pliers.

There wasn’t any showers that I noticed, but the toilets were clean enough for a camp site, and part of a concrete building, so the kids weren’t too fussed about it. It’s still odd to me that the same kids who complain about a small mosquito at home, don’t seem bothered by much bigger insects when they’re camping.

Let’s talk about insects. I don’t really have a problem with insects when I’m outdoors, with the possible exception of the midges in Scotland. Insects live outside, it’s what they do. However, twice over the weekend, I must have looked like a tempting and tasty target to Yamaburi, which are Japanese mountain leeches, and I had to remove them both forcefully, but safely (well, safe for me, not so much for them). They’re hardy things I can tell you.

I should probably discuss something about the staff at the site too. They’re very nice and polite, but a little slow, and aren’t entirely intuitive. I noticed this when I booked the site as I booked over a week ahead, confirming everything down to kids ages, arrival and departure times. When my wife called a few days before to check on things (if they rented towels etc.) she got into a weird conversation that the booking was somehow not complete. Finally she got confirmation that actually it was all booked. We still don’t know what the story was there. If it wasn’t complete, why hadn’t they called the mobile number I’d provided. I wonder if they’re the off-peak part timers?

All in all then, a good, simple one night camp. I think we’ll go back later in the year, and take advantage of one of the BBQ spots, as well as the tent pitches, as that would be fun. All that remains is for me to find out how to dissuade the local leeches, or a better way to remove them (if you have any ideas, please add to the comments).

Tokyo Toy Run 2012

Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:50:33 +0000

Another December means another opportunity to do a Toy Run. Bottom line: a bunch of bikers get together, deck the bikes with tinsel , dress up as Father Christmas, and go and spend the day with some kids at a couple of local Childrens Homes.

I wrote up the previous ones from 2009, 2010 and 2011, which were all a little different, but equally fun. This year was no exception; due to some scheduling issues with one of the homes, we decided to take the whole group to both homes in one day, instead of splitting the group. We also changed the meet up point from Tokyo, to the Ebina service area in Kanagawa, to allow for more pillion riders, and to make some of the logistics for non Tokyo riders, that little bit simpler. In the end, these all turned out to be great decisions.

We always manage to score great weather, and I rode the 45Km up to the Ebina SA (I live much closer, but took a long route to get in the right direction) with my Santa outfit on, and the bike all decked out, so I was getting looks and waves from kids in passing cars, and even a request for a present from a guy on a construction site whilst I was waiting at some traffic lights. It was cold, very cold, but a beautiful day, with bright blue skies. It’s also worth noting that a Santa hat and beard securely fastened to your safety approved helmet is about as aerodynamic as a big pillow on an expressway.

Ahead of schedule I met up with the riders already at the meet-up point, and we were already getting a lot of questions and requests for photos from just members of the public passing through what is a busy rest area on the Tomei Expressway, even at 9am on a Sunday morning.

We cruised out of there to a fair smattering of applause, and a lot of very curious looks as perhaps thirty plus bikes snaked our way onto the Expressway to make our way down to the the first children’s home. On the short video below, we went through one toll booth and there was a Police bike parked near it and he really didn’t know what to make of it. Shame he couldn’t join in.

Near the first home, we met up with some others who were joining from a different route, and all together we rolled in, and the kids loved it. Whilst some of us played games with the kids, we ate some soup and some pizza, handed out the gifts, and some of the kids got rides on the back of some of the bikes.

After a couple of hours, we were off again to the second home, making our way down the coastal road, getting a lot of waves from fellow bikers, as it’s a really popular route. The second place is a little smaller, so we were cramming the bikes in, but the kids there are great too, and they’d also made some good soup, and cooked up some pizzas we’d brought, in a home made pizza oven, and we stood and chatted, played bingo and let them take the tinsel off a lot of the bikes.

We learned quickly that the gifts are important, but the kids really like the bikes, chatting with us, wearing the Santa outfits, and really just having a bit of a party, which is what it’s all about. It’s sometimes amazing how the kids are growing up too, and some are getting jobs, and the small ones, just babies in 2009, are now walking and talking. It must be a difficult start for some of them, but I think these kids are going to make a really good go of life, and I hope next year they let us come back again, and see if we can make it that little bit better once more.

https://vimeo.com/55669892

Tokyo Toy Run 2011

Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:50:47 +0000

Last Sunday - December 11th - I joined in the third annual Tokyo Toy Run 2011 version, where a group of bikers meet up in Tokyo and Ride out in convoy and in groups down into Kanagawa prefecture to deliver toys and other gifts to a couple of children’s homes, and then spend some time with the kids.

This year I thought I’d have some of my own drama the night before when I had to announce my 5.5 year old battery to be dead, and so I headed out to NAPS in the car at 6.30pm to pick up a new one, and give it a test run. The next morning I was up at 5.30am tying on bits of tinsel and such onto the bike, taking care again to make sure nothing was going to sit on the hotter parts of the engine but still look festive. I’d also managed to obtain a Santa suit from Don Quixote which actually fit not just me, but also go over the leather jacket and the Draggin Jeans. It’s still a mystery that many nations see Santa/Father Christmas as a jolly, large fellow, and yet most Santa suits are for people who weigh 60-70Kg. Indeed. I decided to attach the white beard set to my helmet, which worked much better than I expected.

I met up with a couple of riders locally at 6.30, and we were running in towards the meeting space in Odaiba. It’s a beautiful urban ride in, going past the docks and cranes and factories on the expressway as the sun comes up, and see the planes taking off from Haneda airport as we go under much of it, and then over the rivers on the bridges, getting another great view. Once again, the weather was great - we’ve always been so lucky for the weather on these runs.

We all met up with the other riders at the RicoLand Carpark, and it wasn’t a bad turn out with plenty of bikers, bikes, decorations and a couple of vans to fill with gifts. We then went through a quick run through of the plan, including the one stop we’d be making en route, and the groups we’d split into from there to go on to the two children’s homes. The runs are always great, and each year it seems to get smoother getting through the ETC toll booths, the gents in the booths seem that little less freaked out at a group of (largely gaijin) bikers, many dressed as Santa, trying to get on the expressway. It also reminds me how happy I am to have invested the outrageous sum into getting ETC fitted to my bike a few years ago.

On the road as a bike convoy is always fun, we just have to be careful to make sure we’re not stopping people getting on and off the freeway - sometimes not as easy as it sounds. One point of having this many bikes in one place is that the tunnels are deafening - the only way you know your engine is on is to look at your revs. We stopped at Daikokufuto, which is a service area in the centre of doughnut upon doughnut of roads, to meet up with a few more people, get our photos taken with a lot of very curious people who themselves were on trips - including with small dogs with santa coats…

From there we split into two groups, and again I went with the group for the Chigasaki Farm children’s home, and whilst we may have taken a wrong turn, we did get to the venue not too far behind schedule, after a run through historic Kamakura, and along route 134 along the beach which was fantastic - riding along looking at Enoshima to your left, and Mt. Fuji in the distance to your right: fantastic.

The venues, the children’s homes are really where the days start - rolling in as a group, all bikes and vans and filling up the small parking areas, then meeting the kids, playing sports and really getting to know them. As I’d been here twice before (the Toy Run last year, and a BBQ we did this last Summer) it was was great to see some familiar faces and catch up with what was going on - some were even getting jobs and going out into the world, which is great.

For once I missed the sports, but chatted with a lot of the kids, had photos taken with the smaller kids with the rest of the Santas, and once the pizza we ordered for the event arrived, sat around for a while talking, playing Uno and enjoying some of the gifts we’d brought. I should say, Chigasaki Farm made a fantastic soup for us, which, after a few hours on a bike in winter felt so much better than that pizza! A lot of the kids were playing volleyball, and throwing American footballs and just spending a good afternoon outside on a nice day - even if the resident dog did destroy a couple of the balls!

Once people had eaten the food, played a lot of games and energy levels were dropping, we all sat around one of the patio areas and played a couple of rounds of bingo, before having more photos taken with the kids, this time on the bikes (now that they’d cooled), and finally, somewhat reluctantly, got back on the bikes and headed off home as the sun was beginning to set.

It’s amazing how fast the time goes on the toy run, from that early start to getting to the kids over 120Km later for me, to doing some games and sitting and talking, to leaving feels like just a couple of hours - not essentially a whole day.

OK, so what are the benefits? Well for one, the kids get to spend a day with people they don’t usually meet and just talk and have fun - this is what we often hear from the staff and volunteers at the homes - they love the gifts and the toys, but what they like is that these often funny and a bit whacky bunch of bikers are happy to come in dressed as Santa and just talk, throw a frisbee, be chased, have reindeer tails pulled and just relax with them. I know one thing debated on the forums after the event is always that of who got the better deal, us or the kids! In the last three years I haven’t seen a single biker, even the tough military ones, who aren’t putting the smaller three- and four year old kids on their shoulders and running them around the yards, and for those of us with similar aged kids, feeling that concern that these kids will be OK. The truth is, I think most of them will be, they’re fun and smiles, they’re resilient, cheeky and witty and easy to get on with, but the places also need the odd day of distraction.

2011 has obviously been a tough year on Japan, and it’s going to be for a while to come, and it’s fair to say that for some of those outside of the mainstream society who rely on government support and volunteers, things are very tough, and its rewarding to know that it’s actually quite simple even for a relatively small group of people to pick a day, pool some money and really help out some kids who themselves are going through a lot as it is - we should all do it more often.

(NB/ There’s one more Toy Run in Yamanashi next Saturday - Dec. 17th!)

Baby & Child Product Recommendations

Fri, 26 Aug 2011 13:08:58 +0000

This is a bit of a different post for me, as I’ll be delving not only into product recommendations, but baby & child product recommendations. As some way of qualifying the following, we bought these products and they worked for us through two children, both born and raised in Japan though you’ll quickly notice these are not Japanese products. These weren’t always the cheapest, and often weren’t the most popular, but we found that for our attitudes and lifestyle, they just worked, and they lasted and they endured the punishment two children and parents often put items through.

Obviously things are quite good in Japan in regards to being able to rent almost anything with regards to children, and often the economics work out versus buying items and sometimes they don’t. Also, unlike perhaps the UK or other European and North American regions, the culture of passing things on to friends and so on has only just started to grow, so often we couldn’t pick things up from friends, though we have managed to pass some items off to good homes after our second was finished with them. Anyway, here are five things which really worked for us (most bought around 2006-2008):

Stokke Tripp Trapp

Basically a baby high chair except it can be altered and adjusted to fit kids and adults of all ages. It’s incredibly simple, has no moving parts, requires no awkward strap adjustment, and is based on a simple ‘Z’ design. You could get a high chair with a built in swing over table part, but we often heard tales of banged heads, and that the table part actually placed the baby too far from the family table if they were attempting to feed the baby when everyone else was eating too - which is what our two kids definitely preferred. We looked around, we spoke to friends, and we tested in shops, and ultimately went for the Stokke - it meant the kids could be near the table to feed them, was massively adjustable, easy to clean, simple to make and generally fitted the elegant simplicity I kind of like in products. They’re incredibly well built, and can be put together in minutes by pretty much anyone. I notice now there are quite a few look-a-likes, many cheaper, but I’d be willing to bet this is still better value for money.

Airbuggy

The search for a pushchair was a fraught one in Japan - prices just seem to have no ceiling, and is fashion led. When we bought our Airbuggy in 2006, it was one in a corner of Babies R Us and I think was the only pneumatic tyre three wheeler in the shop. Everyone else was fondling the MacLarens, and eagerly adding accessories. I played with the MacLaren and other small wheeled ones, and decided that when on smooth concrete and in shopping malls they’d be great but we knew we liked ‘off road’ - old paths, big parks, the beach, the mountains, grass, the fun places for kids. A four mini wheel wouldn’t cut it for us, and we risked the AirBuggy. We never regretted it. In truth we had a problem with the frame after one year - we mailed the company a photo, not expecting anything out of warranty, but they replaced the frame with no questions. Also, they provided much cheaper accessories and support generally. As we glided down small stone and sand paths as solid wheeled Combis dug grooves and were pushed by out-of-breath parents, it became apparent the extra size and weight of an Airbuggy was a small trade off since the rolling weight when pushing it was much less thanks to having real wheels and tyres. One thing though - especially with foreign baby cars - make sure they fit through a Japanese train station ticket gate. Though AirBuggy has Japan based models, ours was an early one, and only fitted through the wider gates. Not a huge issue, but something to remember. (And yes, pretty much every manufacturer now has a 3 wheel model!).

Baby Bjorn Carrier

When baby is tiny of you need something secure to hold them in, as you may be a nervous parent yourself. We looked at a whole pile of carriers in several shops, and basically they break down into front carriers (I suppose ‘dakko carriers’ in Japan) and rear carriers (‘onbu’ ones). There are pros and cons to both and many parents have almost fanboy (fan-mothers?) devotion to them. We went for a Baby Bjorn front carrier. We decided the padding and adjusters were good more mother - father - and child (I couldn’t get some carriers on). My wife preferred a front carrier as she was concerned at not being able to see the child behind obviously, but also that her hair would get in the baby’s face.

Flexa Bed

As they get bigger and need a bed over a cot, you want something which will last a few years, but something which will be safe whilst they’re still flailing around at night. Again, we looked and looked, and in the end found a small shop selling these (oddly Flexa don’t seem to mention Japan on their international site at the moment). The Flexa system is, as it’s name implies, designed to be flexible - you can all fences to the bed, then later add stilts to make a bunk-bed, or a study desk space, even add a slide. It’s all thick solid wood too, but easy to home assemble - and disassemble and re-assemble as I found when we moved! Again, you pay for it, but when we looked at ‘kiddie’ beds, they either looked flimsy, as in the case of most themed ones, or just small or impractical.

Macpac Koala

Sometimes you just don’t want to take a buggy, or cant, and want that flexibility of when the child fitted in the front carrier, but now is far too large for that. This then is a child carrier pack - it’s essentially a state of the art hiking backback, but with a child carrier and some storage built in. I really like this, and we’ve done some excursions where even the AirBuggy would have slowed us down. It’s well padded and adjustable, and we added the sunshade and all containing rain cover too. It makes the child feel much, much lighter, and there’s enough space for some nappies, food and such at the bottom. It also has some supports so it can stand up on the ground as a seat though we always tethered it to something like this, so it couldn’t fall over! It was great for snow trips, walking around hills and ruins and such, and kids love being high up and seeing everything, but without the aches for parents of a prolonged piggy-pag. I haven’t seen too many people with these in Japan, and indeed I bought mine from New Zealand, but they do have similar ones in some hiking shops (Jimbochou has several shops with them), and I’ve actually been asked a few times by curious fathers, who took notes of the brand and model, so there’s definitely interest here.

Conclusion

So there’s five things we found worked for us - again, totally personal requirements. I could go on about the things which didn’t work for us - for example: the ‘oshiri fuki’ (bum wet wipes) warmer we had recommended to us for use in the winter, which did nothing but dry the wipes out - useless. Some people recommended boiling milk bottles over microwave steaming them. That lasted 2 days as I remember before I was dispatched to get the small microwave container. My parents still wonder why we even entertained the boiling option.

We’d be interested to hear any other good hits, or hilarious misses on baby kit. I think Mrs. Nanikore will write a post at some point (in English and Japanese though) on things which worked for her - or didn’t - much closer to the front line.

Bon Jovi dummies

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 11:29:15 +0000

I was just going through some photos on my keitai, and found a couple from a few weeks ago I’d completely forgotten about: the Bon Jovi ’ Rock Star Baby’ dummies, part of a line of baby products we found at Babies R Us.

It sickened me even more than a fair few of their songs. I rank these efforts up there with the horrific ‘Bed of Roses’ rather than the tolerable ‘Keep the Faith’.

What the hell is wrong with ‘Rock’ stars These Days??

Original Comments

Comments from the original WordPress blog post.

miraiz — 2007-12-17

Wow…that is pretty pathetic! I’ve lost all respect JBJ, not that I had any to begin with. But the sad thing is, I can actually see Japanese mothers buying this crap for their babies. (rolls eyes)