It slowly but surely started to get warmer, even right from the beginning of the month. And the rain has started coming back at the same time. So there was some really grey days and some super sunny, nearly 70F days too!
Sakuraaaaaaaaaaa πΈπΈπΈπΈ
Even though this happened chronologically last in the month, it's arguably more special, so I'm putting this section first lol. We were expecting sakura to be in full bloom about a week earlier than last year. That being said, estimated peak bloom week and weekend before and after was also filled with rain and overcast skies?? It was still really nice IRL but photographed horribly.
Loved seeing the trees along my typical running routes with their flowers. I usually never stop during a run unless it's for safety reasons (traffic light/crosswalk/stop sign), but I spent the last 2 weeks making so many exceptions lol.
Flowers were at least 10x nicer in person than they appeared in any photo I tried to take due to most of the days being cloudy, but we still managed to find some moments.
Quickly walked over to a park in the neighborhood after work to check out the flowers there too.
It ended up pouring on us hard on the way home. It had been cloudy but no indications of rain on the forecast :|
We did finally have one clear sky day where we were able to get to a spot before the sun started setting which I was grateful for.
Pictures from a night run at the end of the month :)
Also special shout out to this peach blossom tree in our neighborhood (just in someone's yard that we often pass lol) which was so multicolored and beautiful and we were able to get so close to it.
Apparently this year's snowboarding season was a bit shorter than the last couple of years, starting later in December and ending earlier than usual in March. We still made our way out when we could! The first weekend of March was meant to be the last snowboarding hurrah as the weather warmed up/snow started to melt and conditions seemed to be less ideal.
Day 1 at Joetsu Kokusai
Our friends had expiring vouchers they needed to use at Iwappara or Joetsu Kokusai, but based on our skill level and what we wanted to get out of the day, we chose to go to Joetsu. None of the 4 of us had been there before, so this was something new. We opted for a slightly later start in the morning, but as a result got stuck in 3 different pockets of traffic and didn't arrive until closer to 11:00!
This happened to be during a lunch lull, so we were able to get a handful of runs in with very few others on the slopes. It was also raining steadily for a bit, but fortunately cleared up. Conditions were a bit slushy but not super icy. We stayed in the "Active Zone" (a longer intermediate run) part of the resort for the major part of the afternoon.
For the last few runs, we made it over to the Panorama Zone side which I enjoyed a bit more because I found it a little easier, but there were definitely more people. Sooner than we realized, we were already encroaching on the lift closing time for the upper area and finally made our way down to the lower area which we had been avoiding with lots of people and junker quality snow.
I actually enjoyed our short (due to the late start time) visit here. We did have access to night skiing, but because we had plans for the next day and the slopes that would be open were pretty choppy, we opted out. No one else besides me seemed to favor this place too much, but maybe with better snow/weather! We didn't even really get to see the separate Forest Zone, and I would want to try some of the other runs a few more times too.
We met up with 2 friends of our friends who had spent the previous day at Nozawa and started nice and early at Kandatsu. This place was somewhere they were looking forward to because of the nice park section! I steered clear of that, but can definitely see the appeal.
It wasn't the most powdery day, and in fact the icy surface underneath was quickly uncovered in some parts, but it was still worthwhile. Our friends would consistently come to Kagura in the past (often for day trips like this when the weather called for it), but this was my husband's and my first time!
Nice, clear skies this day, but the ground was a lot more icy. Again, this was a first time visit for me, so it took me a little while to figure out which runs were more comfortable. I figured out that the intermediate courses here were a little bit too challenging for me with this type of snow, but still enjoyed the green slopes.
Since we didn't want to return home too late, we opted for just a half day and decided to stop when we got hungry for lunch. We still got a decent amount of runs in since the resort isn't that huge and the lines weren't crazy long. I did struggle some this day, but still had a good time.
Day trip to Kagura
Our friend was checking the weather reports on the third Friday in March and noticed likely snow the following day - Saturday! Even though we had anticipated that the previously mentioned weekend was our last of the season and had finally put away all of our gear, we jumped at the opportunity to go. It would have been raining all day at home if we had stayed back anyway!
We started driving at 04:30, got to the base of the mountain at around 08:00 (the entire driving all in steady rain) and were settled and ready on the lift just before 9. It was still rain(drops) at the bottom, but after 2 gondolas and 2 lifts, there was snow falling at the top! And it kept falling all day. I kept my phone in my pocket for the most part because of the weather, so not too many photos or videos, especially because I was the least experienced and holding up the group most of the time lol.
Also trying out my new snowboarding jacket that I got in an end of season sale. I actually initially received it right before the Joestu/Kandatsu weekend, but sadly had to return that one because there was a weird twisted inner sleeve. I'm glad I got to try this jacket out once at least!
What we ate
Nothing too substantial or exotic this month. I'd like to think we had a somewhat decent effort of cooking/eating leftovers this month too (but that's probably not entirely true lol).
Tenya
Shoya
Sfoglini x Sporful Collection pastas! (Cascatelli, Quattrotini, Vesuvio)
Yakiniku King
Shabu shabu Ushita
Pizza-la
Ramen En
Black Thunder cream puff, tart and financier from Family Mart
Kura Sushi
Toriyoshi Shoten ι³₯θ―εεΊ
Echigo Ishin Yuzawa (Yuzawa)
Uobei
Mendokoro Shin-ya
Premium Kalbi yakiniku
Ramen Kz
Ramen Hasegawa (celebrating their 9th anniversary)
Katsu-an
Jolly Pasta
Ramen En (2nd time)
Personal Life/Miscellaneous
We had enjoyed trying out the batting cages included at the Round 1 Spo-chas in Osaka and Okinawa, so our friends organized a quick visit to a local place on a Friday night. This one had 1 floor for baseball (batting and pitching) and another floor for ping pong.
We actually ended up going two different times this month, haha.
Visitors are starting to come through now that the country is more open and the weather is more moderate! My aunty's family stopped in Tokyo on their way out from a family visit to Okinawa, so we met up with them in Ikebukuro for a bit. 
This month's outfit compilation (with 24 outfits! I tried pretty hard this month lol) can be found here.
You can tell that I really leaned away from wearing coats as often as I could this month. With quite a few days with highs in the mid60sF+, it does officially feel like spring!
1 year in Japan
I have now been living in Japan for a full year! I arrived last year at the end of March 2022, just as the cherry blossoms were blooming. [I moved to Japan blog post here.]
Rereading my post and reflecting on how I felt then...I still get a similar feeling sometimes. I miss my family (especially my grandparents who won't be able to visit us here) and my friends back at home. However, I can freely admit that I've definitely had so much fun in the last year, and there are so many things we've done that I wouldn't have done on a trip as a tourist (and hopefully so many things to come as well). I still struggle with the language barrier often, but I've also picked up/learned more through just regular interactions (no formal classroom or lessons) and I'm kind of pleased with how much more kanji I can recognize and interpret on the fly.
(Stuff I tried on at EATME this month that I never would have considered buying 12 months ago)
For style/fashion, I've mostly figured it out and it feels less like a burden to do the "don't stick out" thing. Obviously I used that as a little bit of an excuse to just buy a bunch of clothes that won't be super useful in Hawaii, but I also have just been enjoying Japanese trends too (like the mermaid/flare skirts and certain silhouettes). It certainly helps that the area we live in is not nearly as trendy as a big city or other areas we often visit during tourist travel, so it's a much more casual atmosphere in general if I'm just going to walk to the store or dinner.
Without a doubt, this past year wouldn't have been all that it was without our friends. I am so grateful for them all the time. Everyone brings their own ideas, experiences and strengths to the table. Whether we're grabbing dinner/drinks, celebrating milestones, going snowboarding, taking trips or checking out festivals, it's always a good time. Thank you so much π
I'm definitely looking forward to what the rest of our stint has to offer (several domestic trips planned!), but if you want to look back and what we've done, please check out my Japan blog post index here :)
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