Greg’s Shichi-go-san official portrait came in the mail today from the portrait studio at Yasaka-san.

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He has enjoyed drawing pictures for a year or so, but a couple months ago Greg suddenly began taking a strong interest in writing, in both Japanese and English, and now he can fill a big sketchbook page in a few minutes with letters and hiragana, sometimes words and sometimes just random combinations. He learned how to write his name and now signs most of his drawings as well. The other day he wanted to draw a momiji (maple leaf) and …

Shichi-go-san at Yasaka Jinja

at Maruyama Park after the ceremony

Greg in kimono and hakama after his Shichi-Go-San (literally “7-5-3″) blessing ceremony at Yasaka Shrine in Kyoto, where he was blessed after his birth in the O-miya-mairi ceremony. Shichi-go-san is for girls ages 7 and 3, and boys age 5. Greg is only 4 until next February, but according to the old way of counting age, you are age one at birth, so he could go this year or next. Greg insisted on wearing the green kimono set (blue is the norm), which surprised us, but it looked pretty snazzy …

Gregory Ferry, aesthete.
For some reason, Greg really likes bitter “matcha” tea, and the past two years he has enjoyed his kindergarten class in sado (also called chado or cha-no-yu), the tea ceremony or “The Way of Tea”. So he was delighted that we were able to go upstairs to a tea room and enjoy tea service at the memorial Noh event last Sunday.

I found Greg hand copying the main menu screen of an “Okaasan to Issho” DVD. Age 4.

Greg draws a lot of pictures and is filling page after page with writing in English, Japanese and numbers. This is a family portrait of Mama, Gregory and Daddy, as if you couldn’t tell.

(click picture to go to the photo set on flickr)

We hopped on the Eizan train to Yase-Hiezan-guchi station (just about 8 minutes from home) after school and met Anthony and his daddy Jeffrey for a dip in the river.
UPDATE (JULY 23): Oh, man, our little swimming’ spot was featured on the news last night, at the start of summer vacation! It’s gonna be crowded beginning today, for sure.

Greg and I recently went camping together for the first time. We pitche dour tent at the top of a little valley on the mountainside up above Manshu-in temple. Behind those trees is a  waterfall.

Greg went for a bike ride in his LSU Tigers shirt that we got on our recent trip to Louisiana, and I realized his bike and helmet are well coordinated, even if you can’t see the menacing tiger on the front of the shirt.