Send Peter to Japan!

Peter Blood is turning 75!!!

When Peter was 12 his family lived in Japan for a year. He fell in love with Japan and always dreamed of going back.

We will be doing the trip May 8-June 4! Here is our full itinerary:

May 8: Leave from New York City via Toronto on Air Canada to Tokyo

May 9-11: Arrive at Narita airport. Tokyo 3 nights in Asakusa district: Imperial palace gardens, Meiji shrine, and a concert at the small progressive Shure University.

May 12-13: Kamakura 2 nights in “guest house by the sea”: Buddhist temples, hikes, and an historic trolley line…

May 14: Hakone, a popular spa town not far from Mt Fuji. 1 night in a traditional ryokan inn with a balcony overlooking the river flowing through the town.

May 15-17: 3 nights with a Servas family in Kumiyama just south of Kyoto

Day trips to an imperial villa & to Nara, the 8th century capital of Japan. (Peter remembers vividly seeing 8th century wooden buildings there as a child!)

May 18-22 : 5 nights in a youth hostel in traditional style Japanese house on a quiet back street in the Gion district of Kyoto: Philosopher’s Path, Zen temples.

May 23: Otowa Shiba - 1 night staying in the 400 year old home with the friend of a friend in a small rural village just north of Kyoto.

May 24-26 3 nights in Kanazawa: lovely botanical garden, great food, Samurai houses.

We will perform a concert on Thursday night at Mokkiriya (music club).

May 27: Shirakawa-go thatched roof village (UNESCO world heritage site)

May 28-29: Takayama - 2 nights in “ryokan” inns: biking/exploring this mountain town

May 30: Nozawa Onsen - hot spring public baths in this historic spa village

May 31-June 1: Togakushi - 2 nights with our friend & neighbor Kozue in another traditional inn in this mountain village: 3 Shinto shrines, hiking, maybe even visit the Ninja Museum?

June 2-3: back to Tokyo: 2 final nights with a Servas host: visit Tokyo with Kozue? And a final concert at a community cafe in Asakusa.

May 4: Perhaps go to meeting for worship at Tokyo Friends Center?

Then fly from Narita Airport back to New York City!

Background of this fundraiser: If you know Peter, you know he has lived a joyful life filled with service, activism, and devotion to work he believes in. We wish we could celebrate his life with a big party, music, and dancing. But because of the pandemic, we're changing plans. Instead, we’re inviting you - his friends, family, and community - to help us celebrate remotely. If you’d like to join the fun, send a gift to HELP SEND PETER TO JAPAN! 

Peter's family lived in a traditional Japanese home with paper shoji walls, tatami mat floors, a traditional garden, and a wooden ofuro hot tub where everyone would soak in the evenings. He remembers vividly visiting Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines, the imperial gardens, spending a week in a traditional ryokan inn nestled in snow-filled mountains, and a trip to Nara where he saw the oldest wooden buildings in the world. He was deeply taken by Japanese arts and culture, from architecture to landscape painting, manners, and spirituality. 

How far will your gifts go?

$ 100 = Guided tour of Nara

$ 200 = One night in a thatched-roof guest house in Shirakawa-Go

$ 400 = One night & meals for 2 in a ryokan inn in Hakone

$ 500 = One 3 week Japan Rail pass

$ 1,000 = One airline ticket to Japan (FYI Annie plans to accompany Peter)

We hope to raise a significant amount from your gifts to help defray Peter and Annie's travel expenses. Any gift will be deeply appreciated!

Japanese phrases (that the Blood family learned on their trip to Japan 1958-59 but continued to use for years afterwards back in the USA):

Abunai = danger! (or "watch out!")

Moshi moshi = hello? (on phone)

Tadaima! = I'm home! (literally: "now")

Okaerinasai = Welcome home! (reply by family to person saying "tadaima")

Arigato gozaimasu = thankyou (polite version)

Domo arigato gozaimasu = thank you (even more polite or more grateful!)

Ichi, ni, san, shi, go = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Jankenpon = rock-paper-scissors (hand game - what you say each syllable with 1 of the 3 downward motions)

Ohayo gozaimasu = good morning

Ko ni chi wa= hello (greeting)

Konbanwa = good evening

Oyasuminasai = good night

Buraddo san = Mr or Mrs Blood

Pita chan = Peter (as a child)

O cha kudasai = May I please have some (green) tea?

Wakarimasen = I don't understand.