My friend who lives in Kobe brought his sister and her husband from the US to visit. It's the sister's second visit to Japan, but her husband's first.

Up until now, the guests who have come here were those who came with the purpose of experiencing a homestay at our place. However, this time we had a slightly different kind of homestay guest. They stayed with us to visit a free school located in the city.

Finally, it seems like spring has arrived in Sasayama. The swallows outside are busy looking for homes.
In the midst of that, a mother and her two elementary school-aged siblings came from Kagoshima.

What comes to mind when you think of sightseeing in a Japanese castle town?
In case of Sasayama castle town, the classics would be the Oshoin at the Sasayama Castle ruins, the Anma Family Museum, the Historical Art Museum, Aoyama Historical Village and Dekansho Museum, and the Ojiyama Makekirai Inari Shrine.

However, this...

I received a sweet Thank You card from the children.
What did I do???

As I posted on Events section, you can see Hina doll displays in the Sasayama castle town area.
The event started at the beginning of March and will end on 20th of March.
The weather has been very cold till today, and the temperature goes up and down quite a bit during this season.

Yesterday, we had the pleasure of reuniting with a friend we hadn't seen in 10 years in Kobe!
We first met her during our time living on Mount Rokko before we moved to Sasayama. It was through a monthly friendship program we used to organize for JICA, where we invited overseas trainees who came to Kobe.
While we...

On the first of March, Sasayama was covered in snow!
We thought winter was over, so it was a surprise for us!

However, Hinamatsuri is here and many Hina dolls are displayed in various spots in the Castle town area. In our garden, tulips are coming out of the ground, cherry buds are growing, and...

The winter this year was relatively warmer than usual and we didn't have much snow at all.
Last week was so warm, as if spring had already arrived, but this week the temperature dropped down to winter levels, with less than 10℃ every day.

However, spring is definitely on its way! You can already spot some beautiful dark pink plum flowers in bloom. ...

We had another Miso Making event!

This is the third year of this event, where we invite our friends over to our house and make miso together!
I never imagined miso can be made at home until we moved in to Tamba Sasayama. For me, miso had been something you buy at the store, just like any...