It takes extra effort to live happy and joyful this year,

but the secret in doing so lies in looking outside of yourself to help those around you.

Life in Japan is ready for the summer of 2020!

Yeah, nice! OK, let's go!

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

If you need to be reminded how to have a good time, just watch kids —

they can make a good time out of anything, at any place, at any time.

Hey Dude! Were you jumping?

Let's see it. Let's see it.

Whoa, yes!

It has been weeks it feels like since we had a sunny day

And today we finally have a sunny day!

We're going down to the river and enjoy a picnic lunch together. It's going to be awesome.

Watch me! Ok, let's watch you. Can you do it?

Oh yeah Dude.

Whoa, caterpillar in a cocoon.

Summer this year comes with a lot of restrictions, but those restrictions don't have to keep us from enjoying the small things in life.

There's a light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like rainy season is almost over.

Oh bicycle, bicycle!

Look at the crew here! Oh my goodness! Three, four on a bike!

We lost somebody at the end there. But you're wide awake! High five!

No high five? Is she wide awake?

What do you have there? A bug.

Oh yeah, that's cool. Can I see? I want to see.

Look! Oh my goodness, is that exciting? Is that yummy?

Mmm hmmm. Yeah, it's so yummy.

Alright, I'm filming, so you can spit up now.

You're so pretty.

Having a good time doesn't have to be complicated!

Prioritizing family and friends goes a long ways to making even the most normal moments special.

Dude! What did you guys think?

I'm going to go to bed now! Ha ha.

The kids were in bed when all of a sudden we heard some explosions outside.

It was fireworks right above the bridge right next to us.

To avoid drawing crowds, most festivals have been cancelled for this summer.

But many places are doing impromptu shows.

Without announcement or warning, short firework displays of a couple of minutes are happening to lift the spirits of people.

The fact that they shot some off right by our house sure made our day!

Did you see the camera this morning?

Camera doesn't have his hat on.

What?! It's right there.

That's so cool! Awwww.

But still, he always looks like this.

Did you turn it off or it just closes? No, it just closes.

Can I try the closing thing? Yep, here you go.

Wait, if we put our face right here then it's going to.. Yeah, it'll slap you in the face.

[Inaudible]

Anna, you want to try?

Good morning everybody who watches Life in Japan!

Now, the video's ending: goodbye.

What are you guys working on here? Animal Crossing.

Oh, let me see, hold them right there. OK, hold them up.

The panda? And me!

And you!

So Kawaii (cute)!

I can't hold it still, I'm just going to shake!

Those are cool guys.

Hey, good morning! No school.

No school. No school today, that's right.

Mama chan is doing some Instagram.

Well, we are welcomed to some stairs right off the bat.

Whoa man!

Is there's one hobby we have together as a family it would probably be exploring parks in Japan.

Ah! Is that a frog? No, it isn't real.

That's crazy, ok keep going.

Wave!

Yeah! Nice, ok let's go!

Me! You?

Me, me, me! Nice

Pretty good!

I kind of feel like we came in the back door.

I can do it. Oh, Sarah too?

OK Sarah.

Joshua, can I go forward?

You're going slow!

You gotta go like this fast.

Joshua, hurry!

Watch this

OK, let's see it!

Awesome!

I did it! That's a tall one!

Wait, I don't think I want to do anything up here.

Can you get down alright?

Yeah.

And do one... pull up! That was good.

Look at all the bamboo here, guys.

(Singing) This is a bamboo forest

(Everyone singing) This is a bamboo forest, yeah yeah yeah

The bamboo forest?

And another great park, explored.

Whoa- Joey's present is in there!

Don't say anything [about the present]!

Go to the car and open the trunk!

What's going on?

We're going to go over for Joey's birthday party! Go get in the car!

Go Becca, go get in the car.

Joey's birthday party was going to be at a beach, kind of like it was last year.

Last year we celebrated Joey's birthday party at the beach in Yokohama and had a blast.

We were going to do that again this year, but all the rain and restrictions prevented that from happening.

Joey's birthday party last year was the first video we had subtitled in Japanese

You should check it out! Check it out!

Yeah! Joey, do you even know what's going to happen today?

Do you have a lion? Where's your lion?

Oh my goodness! Wow, that's a big lion!

I want to try it! I want to hold it!

It may not be the beach, but it was good to celebrate anyway!

We can't let bad circumstances ruin our day, or even our summer,

but fight all the harder for the good.

(Everybody cheering)

It's a car!

Look at that!

How's it going? How's it going there?

No Joshua! It's Joey's!

Tia Pri and Uncle Paul, do you know what it is?

I have no idea. I think I know.

OK, I'm going to start helping it.

Look Joey Joey, look!

Look Joey Joey!

Oh my goodness!

It's a huge car! It's so cool!

Let Joey get in!

There's two places!

You're like in the Flintstones.

All the cousins taking a turn!

Wow! Want me to push you?

Whoa!

Here's one too. Izzy, smack the pack.

Wow! Harder Izzy!

Oh there, now it's going.

That's what it's supposed to do. Let it pop it.

There it goes. Ok watch, watch. Let it go! Let it go!

It's gonna pop, it's gonna pop!

Pow!

Ahhhh!

Oh my goodness, everybody's enjoying some birthday cake!

Oh, is it yummy?

Say "oishii!" Oishii (tasty)

Is it yummy? Oishii!

Good? Ok.

So, we were reading a book with Joshua, and what did we see?

A Venus Fly Trap, right? Yeah.

And so I said, "Hey Joshua, I want to show you what a Venus Fly Trap does."

So we looked up a video on YouTube — here we go!

[Video] An electrical impulse is triggered and the leaf snaps shut in just a fraction of a second.

The tips lock together like prison bars.

[ominous music]

If the fly is very big or very small, it may just manage to escape. Oh, he got out!

He didn't. Oh yea yea, he got out.

But most are trapped.

He didn't. And die.

He got stuck and died.

He died, yeah.

It's not just flies that had a tough time in 2020,

each one of us has had our own setbacks this year.

But we are more motivated than ever to help those around us.

So today we're at Paz Coffee Shop.

We're going to be doing a special livestream

To bless the people of Kumamoto who have been throw a flood recently.

So a lot of artists and musicians have gotten together, and we're going to do this.

This will be really cool.

We're just about to start!

Paul's almost always the guy behind the cameras, and the lights, and the computers. And a mask.

Behind a mask, making it happen!

You should know him- go to his YouTube channel!

Four years ago our Paz Church took a couple of volunteer teams to Kumamoto to do relief work after the devastating earthquake there.

Before that our church took several teams into the Fukushima area to volunteer there after the huge tsunami.

But this year we can't go to Kumamoto to help the victims of the flooding,

so this livestream event was organized with the proceeds going to help those devastated.

Please check out the links in the descriptions for more information on how you can help

and check out the other great Japanese channels of our friends!

Thank you for watching!

Ok, safe!