this is what New Year's is like with my
Japanese in-laws
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so we were here exactly four years ago
but a lot has changed since then this
time I have a kid Michael's sister is
joining with a special someone and
Grandpa gets to meet his grandson for
the first time plus a few more other
things which we'll get into this behind
me is where Michael my Japanese wife
grew up and why this video is gonna take
place that all said Happy New Year and
let's get started
foreign
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and we are making it to the door now
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so this is Micah's mom Wolfy's Grandma
AKA Baba thank you and that's Micah's
dad Wolfy's Grandpa AKA GG
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how have you been what are these
doing that
this is actually the first time for
Grandpa to meet Wolfie in person he's
been wanting to see him ever since
Wolfie was born but he's been recovering
from a pretty severe stomach cancer
surgery over the last several years and
has been avoiding travel due to kovid so
he's your first grandson right
oh that's Junior Michael's sister's
husband so how many times have you been
here
oh okay no worries I gotcha
so it's pretty intimidating in Japan
meeting your wife's parents for the
first several times with all the
Japanese formalities and such believe me
I know so I'll do my best to make him
feel at home
what are you making
ah my favorite she knows me well
foreign
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so on the way to the house today after
Michael's sister and Junior picked us up
from the train station we stopped by the
supermarket it was actually the first
time for Michael and I to meet Junior so
it was good to be able to talk to him
for a bit before getting to the house
just like the last time you were here on
New Year's Eve the supermarket is
extremely crowded with people buying
food for tonight and stocking up for the
next few days in Japan it's typical for
families and relatives to return to
their Hometown to celebrate the New
Year's holidays together similar to the
West for Christmas during this time
families tend to stay home cook eat and
drink quite a bit so it's good to have a
few days worth of supplies ready
what you getting
Junior what do you drink
I think we're gonna get along
so this year is pretty crazy compared to
the last time we were here the Lions go
all the way to the back and then wrap
back around to the front so many people
I guess we're here later in the day than
we were last time so I guess the closer
you get to the New Year the busier it is
so last time we went shopping with our
parents at New Year's this is before we
were married Michael told me it's
considered kind of rude to pay for
groceries as a guest in Japan but this
time I guess I'm part of the family now
so I think it's all good for me to pay
for the groceries
won't be
fluffy
tonight
nice it looks like Wolfie's getting
along with Grandpa
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thanks so what have you been up to
yeah
so Grandpa got Wolfie a lot of presents
I can't blame him though he's probably
just so excited to see him for the first
time
oh my God
oh
movies hugging Grandpa it's so cool to
see but typically in Japan as kids get
older physical displays affection like
this get a bit awkward and then almost
non-existent during adulthood but for
now it's still culturally accepted
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so I don't know if this is a very
typical thing but all the men are in the
living room hanging out and all the
women are in the kitchen
foreign
okay so Michael went out with her sister
with Wolfie that are gonna walk the dog
and I'm here with her father in Junior
and we're just gonna you know do it I
guess men do on a traditional Japanese
holiday like this we drink what's that
yeah
you really grew that yes
so it's been a lonely few years for many
families in Japan as they've avoided
returning home for the holidays and even
this year many areas urge their City
family members to avoid travel in fear
of getting sick it's quite a different
mindset compared to other parts of the
world and the reason why you still see
Mass born in the country luckily for us
though we're all able to finally get
together and welcome both movie and
Junior to the family okay here we go a
critical part of Japanese drinking
culture pouring others drinks
I messed up
and just before dinner Michael's dad has
a small speech for us reminding us all
to appreciate the health safety and
happiness of each family member I wonder
how Junior's feeling right now at his
first New Year's dinner strawberry
it good any comments on the food
so after a few beers I think junior is
holding his own with grandpa so let's
see what the ladies are doing
oh good job
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I mean you know Michael's a horse and
Wolfie loves elephants oh well there's
no explaining this one at least I made
them laugh
Wolfie was a bit timid when he first
arrived but now it looks like he's found
his second home okay so it's about 7 45
right now we just are like about
finishing dinner but it's kind of like
going on people are still drinking you
know we're just having a good time but
the key here is that we have to make it
until midnight to go to the hatsumo day
which is like the first time Shrine of
the year I actually don't know if I'm
gonna make it myself because we've been
drinking so maybe it is a good time to
take a nap right now okay so it is 11 15
right now we decided Well at least I
decided not to go to sleep we're about
to go to the shrine Michael though is
not really dressed for it and then
Michael's mom is also not dressed for it
so I don't really know who's gonna go I
guess we're gonna see you two are going
to hatsamore right
okay we'll be
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ready
so Wolfie was in bed but woke up because
he's having an allergic reaction to
maybe some of the foodie ate so Michael
came down looking for his medicine
it is about 11 55 right now and Wolfie
just you know he's having some problems
with his skin he's having trouble
sleeping so we just have to take care of
that but it's 11 55 and it's like
literally no one is here I was expecting
to go to hatsumote tonight but
everyone's gone
and Wolfie he's still struggling
so last time you were here Michael and I
went to hatsumote with her parents but
this year Michael needs to watch over
Wolfie and so it'll just be me joining
the rest of the family if I can find
them
Happy New Year
so it is officially
2023. we are about to go out to
hatsamode it's just going to be us
because everyone else went to sleep
foreign
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so we're here just in front of the fire
this is amazing you can see there's
quite a bit of people here just enjoying
the new year after midnight in Japan
it's typical for everyone to gather at
temples and shrines to pray for the new
year and to show appreciation for the
year past
so what are you gonna pray
foreign
box we're about to make our donation and
pray
as many of you know from following the
channel this last year Michael and wolfy
have quite a few health issues so I'm
personally thankful that her family was
able to get through this year it's
nothing but struggle City when trying to
create content while tending to sick
family members at the same time I can
wish for nothing more than a healthy
family for 2023.
what's that
um
okay so we have just returned from
hatsamode and we are now about to have
some toshikoshi soba just to celebrate
the New Year this is part of the entire
tradition here in Japan
cool so what time are you leaving
tomorrow
foreign
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foreign
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so happy New Year to everyone and this
is 2023 by the time you guys watch this
video it's probably going to be a few
weeks afterwards wishing you guys an
awesome year thank you guys for watching
the channel thank you guys for being a
part of this like always we were up
until probably just after two last night
Michael's still asleep Grandma's still
asleep the Grandpa's still asleep and
obviously wolf is still asleep it's just
me it's just after eight o'clock right
now Junior and erichan they were
sleeping right there they were actually
on the couch when I went up this
upstairs I thought they were still going
to be here this morning I thought they
were going to be like just waking up and
I'd be able to say goodbye but I think
they left so maybe they got up just a
little bit earlier which is unfortunate
to say goodbye to them
um I don't know what I'll see them next
probably at Eddie John's wedding so
think what we'll do is just wait for
everyone to get up I'll show you guys
what the rest of the day is going to be
like I'll probably try to go out with
Wolfie maybe go on a little run to the
park with him play around a little bit
in the morning and then Ohio
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how did you sleep last night
not good
We're Young
pretty little
one
thing I noticed that he's speaking a lot
more Japanese ever since we got here
probably because at home he made me
speak English together and now he's
surrounded by all Japanese speakers heck
I'm even speaking Japanese crazy how
quickly bilingual kids can adjust to
their environment
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a Japanese western style what are you
guys doing
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just a tad too much yesterday so I
decided to go for a healthy run with
Wolfie this morning to start off the new
year
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and we're back is it just me or does
nothing Keira Knight of drinking better
than a good sweat the next morning
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it's a Japanese New Year's breakfast
usually includes josechi which is as
intricately prepared box of small food
dishes each with its own meaning of good
fortune and ozoni a traditional Japanese
soup with Mochi inside recipes are
completely different depending on where
you live in Japan and their family's
ozone recipe is based from Nagano or
baika's Dad's from
I'm just sleeping right now why are you
so sleepy I think the night before I
didn't sleep the night before we were
drinking last night I was leaving a
weird time like I just haven't had a
regular standard sleeping hours with no
alcohol I usually don't drink I hope
Wolfy's skin is gonna get better that's
the main reason why I'm sleeping we have
a few more days this
I just gotta chill and sleep
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okay so Wolfie and I are back from our
morning Run play and just like hanging
out got out of the shower and what do
you expect but everyone is watching the
TV just like hanging out around there
which I've shared before but basically
what you'll find is that there's just a
lot of TV time sitting from the TV
talking like catching up on the year
that because they sit around at home
there's a lot of good programming it's
probably like some of the best
programming you'll have if you are in
Japan during this time then you might
want to just check out some of the
Japanese TV because I was playing all
day during this time though while
they're actually watching TV and like
hanging out let's take this opportunity
to let me show you kind of what's
changed around the house and maybe
what's still around
so one thing that's quite interesting
about Japanese houses especially in the
winter is the temperature differences
between the rooms and the hallways
usually since the family is all around
here then it's all heated and you have
the heated floor or you have the AC from
the from above but the hallways it's not
heated so let me show you the
temperature difference just from this
room into the next I actually set this
up a little bit earlier
and then if we walk through here just
outside so that's a six degree
temperature difference but it's even
more especially at night and you can
find decorations that you can only find
during the New Years this straw
decoration as maybe you saw last time is
called shimei Noah used for ritual
purification in Japan often seen at the
home's front door during the New Years
but at Michael's house it's also placed
in areas of the house that have water as
well
so this room is kind of interesting
because if you've ever seen my day in
the life of a Japanese car repair worker
then you would know that this was
Eddie's room back in the day but
obviously she's moved out since then and
Michael Wolfie and I slept here last
night and now Michael's mom uses it as a
sewing room so there you go a lot of
people in the comments were asking if
that's Michael's sister and the truth is
yes
so since we are last here it looks like
Michael's dad has taken to growing his
own plants and vegetables he even has
his own little greenhouse and Chili's oh
here comes Wolfie so I guess our
Japanese New Year's home tour stops here
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okay
good job
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oh good kick okay ready one thing that I
love about visiting this place is that
there's so much space for Wolfie to play
not just at their house but also the
huge parks around the neighborhood as
well as the open streets living in a
small apartment in Tokyo we really value
open space and will be himself just
enjoys being able to freely run around
despite the winter cold outside
don't let it
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go
up let go let go
we just woke up after a little little
nap this afternoon just played all day I
was a little bit tired still from
yesterday
now we're having dinner with the family
we have some sushi we also had the late
lunch as well so this is part of the the
tradition is just eating the entire time
all this lovely food and tonight of
sushi
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oh damn he got his first in Japan it's
customary for adults to give children
money in an envelope on New Year's Day
which continues on usually until around
the age they can earn money on the road
after this of course more eating and
more drinking
foreign
so that's what it's like in Japan for
New Year's with my Japanese in-laws if
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