Our deepest sympathies go out to all who were affected by the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.
Our hearts and prayers go out to all the victims and those still recovering.
The end of the year in Japan is much like other places in the world
it’s a special time that family and friends enjoy together, and we’re no exception.
Oh, I see a walking blanket under another blanket.
That's a lot of blankets, Sarah.
Could you turn the kotatsu on?
You want the kotatsu on too?!
Yeah. Her legs are not warm.
Oh my goodness. [Kotatsu clicks on]
Whoa, cozy.
Our 2023 ended in a big way, but not as big as 2024 came in.
This is the story of New Year’s in Japan from our point of view.
This is like warmth on a whole 'nother level.
Kotatsu, blankies.
We've got it covered, top and bottom, huh?
Thank you Auntie Rachel. Now we have to do an episode "Under the Blanket"
Under the blankets. Around the Kotatsu, under the blankets.
What a life!
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
April of 2024 will mark our 10-year anniversary of living in Japan,
and as 2024 approaches, one of the lessons we’ve learned here is that life can change fast, just like the passing of one season into the next.
You can’t take anything for granted.
These right here are the very last trees to hold on at the end of the fall.
And they'll hold on until the end of the year.
Then once those leaves are gone, welcome winter, welcome New Year.
On peaceful mornings like these, I love to get out and go for a walk.
It’s easy to feel like all is well with the world on a day like today,
and with the end of the year approaching, expectations are high for some hard-earned time of rest and relaxation with family and friends.
Even the pigeons seem to want to get in on the fun.
Our year-end in Japan began in grand style with 3 Christmas Candlelight Celebrations at Paz Church.
The coffee shop packed out as we celebrated Jesus’ birthday, and later that night we even got to open some early presents.
Guys! Oh, what do we have?
Stockings. Stockings.
It's time to open the stockings! It's Christmas Eve!
Anna's pulling some things out...
I got the junken [paper/rock/scissors] thing!
Aw Sarah got the junken thing! Me too!
Joshua too!
There's even gummies?!
Oh my!
Oh! We're going to have a big paper/rock/scissors match!
I didn't give anybody anything in the stockings.
[Playing paper/rock/scissors in Japanese]
Is this supposed to be broken? It's not broken.
Yea, I won!
Oh is that what you got? Look!
They made you a little violin out of their beads?
What about mommy!?
Oh no way! Look at that!
That is awesome! What did you get, Becca?
Music notes.
Music, ah. What about Daddy!?
I have to open mine. Well let me open mine!
I made it.
That's awesome Dude! Hey, I made it!
A little Switch!
Look! Your voice is funny.
I know. I've been singing all day long.
We've been dancing all day long!
I know, so are your legs tired? My voice is tired.
That is awesome.
On Christmas morning came the main event:
reading the Christmas story from the Bible and then opening the presents that had been sitting under our tree.
Who is this for?
Joshua. It says on the bottom.
Oh boy! From: Anna, Becca and Sarah To: Joshua
What?! Dude!
Can I open it?!
Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas everybody!
This is for the Reutter kids.
Put it in the middle, the ones that are for the Reutter kids.
Most of mine are for all of the Reutter kids.
Anna.
This is to the Reutter kids from Ethan and Micah.
And Aunt Susan.
To Sarah...
There’s nothing like the thrill of presents about to be opened!
Let's see... Sarah wrapped it? From "Cool Sarah"
Oh yeah. To B
Yep. I'm the B.
Why does Sarah get so much? I only have one [present]!
From Anna to Becca.
Whoa! Finally.
From Anna to Becca?!
Aw!
This is for the Reutter kids. Whoa.
That's the soccer ball that was saw!
Kids all over Japan get presents at the end of the year — some at Christmas, others at New Years, and some for both!
Starbucks!
What does this mean?
It's a ¥2,000 gift card.
What'cha get, Sarah? Nice!
What are you getting, Dude?
Sarah!
Unicorn!
I'm so excited! What is it?
It’s hard to match the excitement of Christmas Day.
Oh Anna got it!
Look what I got!!
Look what I got!
Wait, I got a good idea!
Sarah, you could not be more purplely, unicorny.
Is that what you got from Anna? Yep.
How cute! Oh, there's more!
Whoa! It's a mega-awesome pen!
Careful Dude! Careful! Man.
Oh my.
We have to make a unicorn time! I'll show everything that I have that's unicorn.
Sarah's unicorn time.
To Daddy?! That's not from me.
Oh!
Pajamas?! Let's see.
Oh nice.
It's totally a hat. Totally a hat.
Yep, hat.
Oh Dude!
It almost became your face!
OK not too crazy.
From Becca and Anna to Joshua and Sarah.
And a unicorn! Yeah.
Dude! What happened? It's a game!
Can you undo this for me?
It's not a game anymore!
Here I can open it! It's a Switch game.
I felt it, guys!
I felt it guys!
It is Wonder?
Joshua did pray for a wonder-ful Christmas.
Joshua, your prayer... yeah!!
Yeah, it's all wrapped!
Is it in there?
It's in there!
I just opened that,
This might be a Lego that... wait...
What?!
Oh Daddy! We have to do it.
That's from Aunt Susan and Uncle Jed.
Presents from family all over the world came in, and the kids had a blast opening them.
So you can put blankets on top?! Yes, you can build a fort!
After presents were opened, Momma chan began working on the other part of the celebration: food.
So Momma chan, what do we have going on in the kitchen today?
We have coffee cake, I'm making it right now. Ooo.
We have egg casserole... Oh!
We have spiral ham which I'm not making, I'll just heat up.
Stop it!
And I've cut up a lot of fruit already.
Oh! And I think that's it.
Wow! And some mashed potatoes.
For what? For Christmas!
Lunch. Brunch.
We spent the day with friends, eating, laughing, watching movies and we even enjoyed the silhouette of Fuji in the evening.
The next morning the moon came to keep Fuji company and look down on the Reutter household,
which had become a full-blown camping ground thanks to the kids’ Christmas gift.
What happened out here last night?
Broke. Broke?
Mine was definitely success.
Yours was success. Tent!
Yea, you were in the actual tent, huh?
I actually built my own tent.
You built it, but then it did not... I didn't have enough pieces to make it stable enough.
Oh no. Your monkey looks sad.
My monkey was sad. He cried with me.
Where's Rebecca? She's in there.
She's still sleeping in there?!
A common thing to do in Japan at the end of the year is to head back to your hometown to enjoy time with the family.
While our hometowns aren’t in Japan, we did the next best thing
and went to Shonan to camp out with Ruth’s family and our good friends the Eisenmanns.
[Singing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas"]
It's a dinosaur! Oh wow!
Two dinosaurs!
Oh very nice, look at that! What a haul.
What a haul!
Whoa!
And of course it wouldn’t be the holidays unless you got ideas for what to ask for next year.
Whoa Dude!
What do you think, Joshua?
Whoa!
All over Japan, people head to be with their loved ones and get ready for the new year.
The entire population of Japan seems to displace for this holiday.
My goodness, look at this!
Six boys in one room!
One of them's a Reutter and the rest are Eisenmanns!
Families and friends everywhere make the most of these days off, just as we did.
And as 2023 drew to a close, I also took some time to head out alone and reflect.
Here we go, it's the last day of the year.
Tomorrow, brand new year, 2024.
Excited for this new year, I believe it's going to be our best year yet here in Japan.
We enter the New Year’s a little differently than most in Japan —
We spend the time on a Zoom call thanking God for last the year and giving Him the next year.
I love starting the New Year this way, and I’m so glad we did,
because you never know what to expect when living in Japan, as New Years’ Day would soon show.
The day dawned bright and clear, a happy sign for most people in Japan.
All over the country, people were spending time with their loved ones, just as we had been doing leading up to New Years.
Later in the afternoon I went out to explore a new park.
I have never been to this park before in Hachioji, and it is awesome.
I can tell I need to come back here.
The sun is setting and I'm going to head back to the car soon.
What a great way to start this new year off. Whew! I love it.
One thing you learn about living in Japan is that things can change in a moment.
Honestly, it’s a great lesson for all of us — you can’t take life for granted, because you never know when it all may change.
Maybe it’s because I’ve lived here almost 10 years,
but as I walked through the park, an earthquake took place and I didn’t even perceive it.
But far past Mt Fuji, on the other coast in Japan, a massive earthquake struck that created great damage that everyone is still trying to asses.
When I got home, Ruth and the kids said “That was a crazy earthquake!” And it was the first that I learned about it.
So guys, what was the earthquake like?!
Uh, it could break a house.
Could break a house, what happened here?
I mean it shook the TV.
Well, we were sitting down, Mommy was in the kitchen,
And Anna said "Oh, it's an earthquake" because she looked at the light...
No, I felt it.
Yeah?
First it was like, it's smaller, but then it was shaking and like "Ahh!"
Go under the table, under the table!
We were going to go outside.
We were so blessed to be able to go about our regular lives despite the earthquake, but many here in Japan were not.
Our heart certainly goes out to those still facing difficult circumstances.
Despite the significant events of the earthquake and subsequent aviation accident,
we move forward into 2024 holding onto a hope that is not centered on current events, politics, economy or any such thing happening in the world.
Our hope is anchored in the love of God in Jesus
and His promises which never change and keep us full of expectations that this year is going to be the best one yet.
So from our family to yours, happy new year!
No matter what challenge you face in 2024, may it truly be your best year yet!
This is so cool. That is trippy!
It is trippy! It's so cool.
Do you think that they made those themselves?
I don't think so.
God made the bubbles.
Look at the size of those!
Look at Becca! It's like the size of Becca!
Oh she popped it!
It's like a shower of bubbles. Here we go.
Wow! You don't need to shower tonight!
Here it comes! This guy knows what he's doing.
It's the camera for Life in Japan...
Nate's toy.
The moms and wives.