My Life As I See It: A Zen Thanksgiving

It turns out that Americans are not the only ones who give thanks in November. Thursday, November 23^rd (which just happened to coincide with our own Thanksgiving Day this year), is the Japanese, “Labor Thanksgiving Day”. That’s a more modern name for an ancient harvest festival known as Niiname-sai.

In the spirit of sharing our day of Thanksgiving, Derek and I had the honor of spending Thanksgiving afternoon at a beautiful, 200-year-old, traditional Buddhist Temple with around twenty other expats from different countries. This was a truly special event as it was the first-time expats had been invited to enjoy this harvest celebration there.

Here is a link to the video Derek created of our afternoon!! https://youtu.be/SFwOWZL-2t0

The front entrance to the temple

Entry way

Even the hallways are beautiful

Huge windows reveal the beautiful gardens

Derek might have had some difficulty with the doorways

The temple is nothing short of a miracle. An all wooden building that has survived earthquakes and bombings and is still standing intact and undamaged.

It was everything I had expected upon moving to Japan (and had secretly hoped that our apartment might be). Rich, aged wooden hallways led to large open rooms covered in tatami mats. Shoji screens divided the rooms and beautiful, huge paned picture windows lent stunning views of the gardens outside.

Our meal was served sitting on the tatami covered floor with red lacquered trays holding our food, though I hang my head in shame and admit that I finally begged for mercy and was giving a short stool to sit on. My knees just aren’t what they used to be. I felt better when several others did the same.

Buddhist Monks served our meal

Some of the Japanese guests came in full traditional attire.

That's my stool next to Derek and an improvised raised tray:-)

In Japan each meal is begun by clapping your hands together and saying "Itadakimasu". It is viewed by some as a prayer of thanks for the food and by others and a simple, “let’s eat”, but however you perceive it, it’s used throughout the country.

Our entire lunch was vegan, all made from the fresh vegetables and fruits grown at a temple in Odawara and prepared and served by the monks themselves. The menu is listed below.

Rice cooked with gingko nuts

Miso soup with taro root

Steamed ball of lotus root

Kaki (Japanese persimmon and Komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) dressed with walnut paste

Sesami Tofu

Simmered fried tofu roll and autumn red carrots

Nama-fu (gluten cakes) coated with rich miso glaze

Roasted chestnuts

Simmered winter shitake mushrooms in sweetened soy sauce

Jellied sweet potato and apple paste

It might not be the Thanksgiving menu Americans are used to, but everything was interesting and delicious! I’m not quite ready to give up burgers yet, but it opened my eyes to how could vegan cuisine can be!

After our meal, we moved to another room where an enchanting woman taught us about traditional Japanese dance. She is the heir to the largest Japanese dance school/theater in the country.

Japanese dance is very precise and deliberate; very controlled and is such contrast to her bubbly and vibrant personality.

She went through many of the motions and their means and even showed us how to use the fan as a prop to tell stories in traditional dance. Really, you just haven’t lived until you’ve seen Derek dancing with his fan! He’s very graceful;-)

After our dance workshop we wandered the grounds and took in a beautiful fall afternoon. It was an amazing experience that we feel blessed to have shared here in Japan.