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November is the last month of fall. Winter starts next month. What will this winter be like?

There's a superstition that predicts what winter weather you will have. I've heard that if you cut open a persimmon seed, and look at the white baby plant inside, the shape of the baby plant will tell you what the weather will be like in the coming winter. If it looks like a fork, it will be a warm winter. If it looks like a spoon, there will be a lot of snow. If it looks like a knife, you will have a very cold and windy winter.

Here is a picture of a persimmon seed I cut open. It looks like a spoon to me!



Of course in Kagawa we don't get very much snow. So maybe a spoon just means it will be a wet winter.

Does Japan have this same superstition?  

I only took part in one Black Friday sale, but it was very tempting! My favorite nailpolish company had some very good deals, but I refrained. Now I'm being tortured by their emails. I bought some presents online, got myself a new hat, and even ordered a cheesecake for a party! I also bought a sweatshirt that wouldn't ship to Japan (so my Mother will send it). I'm also waiting for a custom present for my best friend and a phone case. Also, my Kpop CDs that I ordered in October are still not here!? So many packages coming!  

Hello everyone, Benson here. I’m from Canada and one of the most popular sports in Canada is ice hockey. Growing up, I always looked forward to watching National Hockey League (NHL) games on TV at night, where some of the world’s best players competed every year.

Did you know that Japan also has a professional ice hockey league as well? It’s called Asia League Ice Hockey (ALIH) and currently features six teams from across Japan. In fact, one of the teams, the Nikko Ice Bucks (located in Nikko, Tochigi) has a popular goaltender who played in the NHL in America!

Yutaka Fukufuji was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in 2004, making him the second Japanese born player to be selected by a North American professional ice hockey team. He was also the first Japanese born player to play an NHL game! In fact, he played 4 games for the Los Angeles Kings during the 2006-2007 season. I had watched him play on TV for those 4 games when I was growing up and I have followed his career since then. He currently still plays professionally for the Nikko Ice Bucks, so maybe one day you can go watch him play!
  

Winter brings with it a myriad of delights, and for me, one of the most anticipated treats is hoshigaki, a Japanese delicacy known for its sweet and chewy goodness. This season, I’ve decided to embark on a new culinary adventure by making hoshigaki myself. Join me on this journey as I delve into the basics of the process, eagerly anticipating the moment when these sun-dried persimmons become a winter delight.

Hoshigaki, or dried persimmons, is a traditional Japanese delicacy that captures the essence of autumn in a sweet, chewy form. The process involves carefully drying persimmons, allowing their natural sugars to concentrate, resulting in a unique and delightful treat. The art of making
hoshigaki is not just a culinary experience; it’s a connection to tradition and a celebration of the changing seasons.

As a novice in the world of hoshigaki-making, I eagerly gathered the required ingredients and set out to carefully peel, slice, and hang the persimmons to dry. Patience is key in this process, as the fruit slowly transforms through weeks of air-drying, hand-massaging, and meticulous monitoring.
The simplicity of the ingredients – just persimmons and time – adds to the charm of this culinary adventure. It’s a practice that bridges the gap between generations, linking me to the time-honored traditions of those who have perfected the art before me.

The beauty of hoshigaki lies not only in its delectable taste but also in the memories and traditions it represents. It’s a winter treat that warms the heart and soul, offering a sweet escape to savor amid the colder months. I eagerly look forward to the day when my homemade hoshigaki are ready to be enjoyed – a moment that will undoubtedly mark the culmination of my first, but certainly not my last, foray into this delightful tradition.
  

The sky has been overcast as of late, but heading into winter, it's not too late to catch even more meteor showers if you're not too cold to crawl out from under the kotatsu and straggle outside.
Although most of the action will be happening below the equator, in the southern hemisphere, on December 2nd the φ-Cassiopeid meteors will fall from -remember the origin point?- Casseiopia, the queen.
It's also a good time to spot Mercury as it reaches opposition. Opposition is when a planet appears to be at the furthest point from the sun in the sky. Since Mercury is lose to he sun and has a short orbit of only 88 days, oppositions shuffle between "sunset peak" and "sunrise peak" This one will be a sunset peak, so it is still visible above the horizon after the sun has set.  

Hello Everyone! It's Sensei Bear here wishing you all a prosperous and happy Autumn Season. I've been here only 7 months but I want to share what I see through with my Bear eyes. This Autumn Season I went to the "Ritsurin Garden Autumn Illumination". If you haven't had the chance of seeing something so magical I recommend all of you to go and be mesmerized by the beauty of the changing seasons here in Japan. Until next time Sensei Bear has to sign off bye bye!!







  

Hello! For my first short hike I went to Takinomiya Park. It was great and the trails were nice but there were so many stairs! That's okay though because the view up top was amazing! I wonder what other cool place I'll go to next.  

When I went to Osaka, my friend really wanted to try kushikatsu. Even though I'd been to Osaka a couple times before, I'd never tried it before and my life was changed! It was sooooo good! I can't wait to go back and have kushikatsu again.  

I was taking photos and I was stunned by how beautiful the berrys on this tree are. In the right lighting, the red of the berrys really pops out at you against the green of the leaves.  

Not only did my mom make me the Brazilian cheese bread from my last post, she also made her one-of-a-kind kielbasa! This is the best sausage ever. Can’t wait to eat her home cooking again!  

The Halloween event at Manno Park this year was so much fun! I was so happy to see all of you students and everyone else that was able to make the day so fun!
  

Most everybody who drinks coffee or tea knows what Starbucks is, and it is easy to find them in most places all over Japan. It is very popular and the variety of coffee, tea, and drinks lead to a very pleasant drinking experience. But did you know there is another small chain of coffee restaurants in Japan called Tully’s Coffee. They also originated in the Seattle, Washington area of the USA – as did Starbucks.

There are a few stores located all over Japan. Somewhere in the vicinity of 750 of them – Starbucks has over 35,000 shops in Japan. While in the quaint and rustic city of Kurashki in Okayama Prefecture last month, I found a Tully’s Coffee shop. It was small and quiet, but a nice spot to relax and enjoy the drink of your choice. I recommend a visit if you go to Kurashiki!
  

Last month, I wrote about candy corn, which is a popular and famous Halloween candy. Recently, someone decided to start making candy corn for Thanksgiving, too. However, they made the candy corn in Thanksgiving flavors. The flavors sound a little strange!



The cranberry, apple pie, and coffee flavors all sound okay. I could imagine eating candy that tasted like those things. But the other flavors are green bean, stuffing, and roast turkey. Those don't sound like good flavors for candy at all!

I haven't tried these yet, but other people have. You can read their reviews on the internet. Would you try something like this?

Happy American Thanksgiving Day!  

Today in America it is Thanksgiving! My family and friends will be cooking and eating food all day. I wish I could have turkey, gravy, stuffing and green bean casserole! I'm getting so hungry thinking about it. They will also watch sports or fun TV shows. I'm going to call my sister later and wish her a Happy Thanksgiving!  

Hello everyone, Benson here. I lived in Nagasaki previously and I saw many friendly city cats! I love cats and I have two cats back home in Canada.

There were five cats that lived in my neighborhood in Nagasaki. There was one orange cat, one black cat, one black and white cat, one white cat, and one white and orange cat. They were a bit shy at first when I moved into the neighborhood, but gradually became more friendly with me. The orange cat loved lounging in front of homes and would often be relaxing in the shade. The black cat often walked around and it seemed to love open spaces, as it would be lying in the middle of parking lots sometimes. It also loved being pet the most! The black and white cat enjoyed hiding in the bushes but would come out for pets sometimes. The white cat liked being on top of cars, looking down on people walking by.

The white and orange cat was the most mysterious of all the cats. It would often show up when I least expected it! In the picture, it was a dark, rainy evening in Nagasaki and I was walking back up the mountain to where I lived when I saw the cat following a few steps ahead of me!  

This November will close with a full moon on the 27th, and kick off December with a series of meteor showers, beginning with Cassiopeid (the queen constellation) meteor shower, peaking early morning December 6th. The very next day is the peak of the Puppid-Velid shower, which will be most visible from the southern hemisphere, but a few meteors may still be visible from the northern hemisphere if conditions are clear.  

Just a couple more days until the Friendsgiving dinner I'm hosting! I'm very excited to be hosting, and I'm really glad that I've figured out a recipe that I think will be delicious for the main course! The biggest thing that I have to deal with now is making sure that my apartment is completely ready for my guests. I'm really looking forward to having everyone come over to have dinner, I've never hosted a party for any holidays before, so I really hope this goes well!  

Hello my name's Rafael! I'm a new teacher at Gem School! I really enjoy hiking and visiting shrines. When I first arrived in Japan I visited Ikku Shrine, it was really cool and peaceful. During my time here, I want to hike to many places and visit more shrines!  

The other week I went to Nara for the first time. I was so excited to see the beautiful temples and shrines- and I was also really excited to see the deer! A lot of the deer were actually pretty tired and not particularly hungry, but it didn't take to find deer who were happy to nibble on our senbei. I also had a deer try to eat my shirt! I was surprised to find that they actually did bow at you while you tried to feed them. It was really fun!  

While I was in America, my mom made me some pão de queijo (Brazilian cheese bread). I grew up eating this and was so happy to be able to have it again. It was absolutely delicious!