X-Pat Files

Part of a family Christmas is having a lovely family gingerbread house as the centerpiece of the table on Christmas Day, or in the genkan to welcome your visitors with Christmas joy and a delicious ginger aroma.

A friend of mine has for some years run Gingerbread House making classes in English, and is doing so again this year.

Children above about 3rd grade can make their own house, or an adult can assist two smaller children. The decorated house is 12 x 12 x 14 cm and has a garden around it, so plan to come by car and not by train. The finished product will last for three months, so you don't have to eat it right away. It makes a unique Christmas gift for your Japanese friends or neighbours, too.

Japan is fantastically easy to get around by public transport, because for the most part things are on time, and clearly labelled, often also in English. Even easier it is to look up public transport routes, with Hyperdia. With options to look up your trains in English or Chinese, you can refine your search by many criteria, and get to where you're going, first time.

There is a discount that dictates you can go as far as you like on a Japanese countryside highway for 1000 yen on a weekend or public holiday. However, the powers that be have come up with a new plan for the New Year, to take into account the U-turn rush of travellers from and to Tokyo.

This is how it looks (keep in mind this is just a guide, not set in stone quite yet):

SAT 26 DEC - No 1000 yen cap
SUN 27 DEC - No 1000 yen cap
MON 28 DEC - THU 31 DEC - No 1000 yen cap
FRI 1 JAN - TUE 5 JAN - 1000 yen cap
AFTER THAT, returning to normal, 1000 cap on weekends and public holidays

If you haven't noticed, Oasis 21 in Sakae (that space-aged shopping area with a raised platform that hovers right in front of the TV Tower) has got a little bit closer to the Rockefeller Center in New York. An outdoor skate rink has taken over the middle of the floor, and all you need is 1000 yen (or 500 yen for kids) to skate for as long as you like - and that includes skate rental.

Having a baby in a culture other than your own can be intimidating to say the least. Relax, you're in a country that boasts one of the lowest infant mortality rates in the world.

Birth in Japan is not treated as a medical condition, and midwives hold as much status as doctors do to bring new babies into the world. If you choose to have your baby at a midwife clinic (josanin) or be attended by a midwife at your home (katei bunben) then your midwife will work with a doctor and a hospital which will be your back-up plan should things go awry. No risks are taken, and all contigencies usually planned for.

There is no-one who can look after a new mother, like other new mothers. Nagoya Foreign Mothers Group is a wealth of information and friendship that is like pure spun gold for mothers-to-be who are far away from home when they give birth.

Whether you choose to have your baby in a big hospital, small one-doctor hospital, midwife clinic or at home, if you do your homework and find someone you're really comfortable with, you're sure to have a great birthing experience here in Japan.

Have you ever wondered just how big your 6 tatami room really is? Trying to figure out if it's possible to live in an area of 26 tsubo? Wondering just how many goh of rice is too many goh of rice as you measure it out in the rice cooker?

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