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Credits: TheTalkingDad.com & FeedWind.comRecent Posts: M Thomas Apple
What’s in a name? That which we call…
One thing I have struggled with while uncovering my family’s complicated past is the lack of consistency in naming conventions before the digital age. In the Information Age, if you type in your name or ID with a single letter missing or out of place, your application gets rejected by whatever online program it is […]
Four generations of strong women: The paternal-maternal side(s)
It has been said that men write history but women live it. In my family, it’s also been the women who were the keepers of family history, the tellers of tales and stories. The saver of old photographs and documents. Which is why I have this photograph of four generations of women who brought four […]
Fred Langworthy and Susan O’Leary: Cultural Exiles
Since I wrote about an ancestor on my father’s side (one of his side’s anyway) from the 1920s, I thought the next story to introduce should be from someone on my mother’s side, from roughly the same time period. But one generation later. And with a theme of religious intolerance. And possibly related to 19th […]
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© Matthew Apple and Taking Leave, 2009-2017. Duplication of this material without express and written permission is strictly prohibited. If you would like to post or copy brief excerpts from the blog, please provide a link to the original URL along with an author's credit.
Category Archives: festivals
End of an Era: Goodbye, Nursery School
And so it begins. The end of the start of the rest of my children’s childhood. By which I mean our youngest daughter graduated from nursery school / kindergarten. Thinking back, we’ve been coming to our local nursery school every … Continue reading
Who was that Masked Flu Avenger?
Looking back now, I can laugh. The first week of February was rough. My wife had to work both weekend days, at the end of an already exhausting end-of-semester work week. I had also had little sleep. The previous month, my … Continue reading
O-shougatsu
New Year’s lasts one night of drinks and one day of college football in the US, but in Japan the holidays lasts for three days. Actually, for many the New Year’s holidays start on December 29th, giving the typical worker a … Continue reading
Summer Festival: Beat your own drum!
Four months ago, we gave away our long-used/abused baby barriers. Yesterday, we helped our children celebrate their nursery school’s summer festival. Time flies… Once again, my wife volunteered to be a member of the Ai-go-kai (愛護会, literally “love protection association,” … Continue reading
Nursery Schools: Part II (Finally)
As I posted some time ago, we were fortunate that my oldest daughter was able to enter a city-approved nursery school. We were even more fortunate to have first choice on a new housing plot that wasn’t even technically on … Continue reading
Nenmatsu-nenshi
I’ve spent the past five New Year’s at my in-laws’ house in Kagoshima, in the southern island of Kyushu. “Family” consists of my wife’s parents, my brother-in-law (who works at a hospital and is usually on call and/or working throughout … Continue reading
Hina Matsuri
Last Wednesday (March 3) was the Hina-matsuri in Japan. Hina-matsuri (usually translated as “Doll’s Festival,” sometimes “Girl’s Festival”) is celebrated by setting up a display of dolls in the house by families that have female children. Since our daughter is … Continue reading
