We had read that Japan doesn't really do Christmas. New Year is what it's all about.

Well, I don't know... We've come across plenty of festive decorations, and a reasonable amount of Christmas music since we've been here.





So we thought, "if you can't beat them, join them", with the result that you can see at the top...

For our Christmas Day walk, we headed to the complex of parks to the west of our base: Maizuru Park, where the ruins of Fukuoka Castle can be found, and Ohori Park, which features a rather lovely lake.










The highlight of Christmas lunch was a sashimi platter:


And, continuing our Japanese wine discoveries, we tested an "orange" wine made from Koshu grapes. This incorporates the pale purple skin of the grape (plus its astringency). Highly recommendable. Went as well with the sashimi as it did with the cheese and walnuts...


A pleasant day. Walking, eating and drinking, interspersed with communicating with friends and family. Can't get much better than that.