It's our first time here in Yamanashi Prefecture trying this

Obviously we've been to Yamanashi ken a lot of times, but

I guess they have like bear meat and horse meat and duck

And pumpkin.

I'm looking forward to the pumpkin, I'm not sure about the other ones

But we'll try it out — here we go!

[Life in Japan Theme Song]

This is like a kotatsu but no blanket

It's like a Kotatsu but no blanket?

We are immediately immersed in the atmosphere of Houtou, Yamanashi's noodle soup.

But the expectations really ramp up once we look at the menu.

OK, so here is the pumpkin one.

That's one of their popular ones.

This is pork.

This is bear, we're definitely getting one of those.

Oh bear!

This is duck, I believe. We're going to get duck.

What did you find there Ben? What are you going to order?

I'm going to order some horse.

Horse?!

I've never even eaten horse, I don't know what this is. You got horse and bear

And look at this — locust. Locust!

Oh my goodness.

Daddy, is the horse and bear like the real animal?

Yes! Yes, to eat.

Yes, many of these options are strange for Westerners like us, but we're feeling adventurous tonight.

That's horse meat! OK, the horse meat has come.

Look at that. Oh man.

Ben, are you going to be the first to try it? Yea, you guys gotta get in on this too.

We're going to try too. Oh, I don't know if I care to try.

I'll watch.

Thank you Jesus for this food! That's right...

Bless it to our use!

Izzy, digging in.

Izzy's going to have the horse meat.

Does it taste like chicken? Is it yummy?

This is my first time — and maybe my last.

Is it yummy Izzy? Is it yummy?!

What do you think? Is it chewy?

Does it taste horsey?

Very, very soft.

Soft?!

Strange.

Let me video you. Alright.

OK, here we go. Look, it's nice and hot, isn't it?

Should I get some of these onions with it?

Oo yeah.

I want to try!

Honey, don't get too big of a piece, because...

You might not like it.

Can I try it?!

Can I try it? I want to try it!

It's not bad.

It's not bad, yea.

It's like— it reminds me of liver.

If you've had liver, kind of like that.

OK, Becca's trying the horse.

Oh, I took two. Oh my goodness!

Alright Becca.

No really, how do you feel?

See it's not bad, it's just different, isn't it?

It's different.

I'm eating a horse right now.

You're eating a horse, oh my goodness!

But that was just the appetizer. Our Houtou was arriving in all kinds of flavors and varieties.

Ooh! That's the bear?

Wow, thank you!

We have horse over here, we have bear right here.

Let's try it?

Which one is this, Ruth?

This is the pumpkin one.

Pumpkin. Daddy, we ate this at school before.

You ate this at school? I don't think so.

Oh man, Izzy, you like that? Is that good? Uh huh.

Izzy's all about the horse.

Joshua really wants to try the horse, huh?

OK, ready?

Joshua, trying some horse.

Yea, it's weird texture.

Ready? What do you think?

Izzy likes it. What? Really?

You like it?

Really? You're not just being nice?

You like it so much you want to eat another one?

Wow! Kids like the horse!

Wow! Who knew?

Wow!

Ruth ordered the pumpkin

Look at that— there's vegetables and fried dumplings?! Oh, there's carrots

Carrots

Ok, let's see the momma chan give it a try.

Is it good?

It's good!

Mmm, delicious!

Oh Becca, what are you eating? Pork.

Oh, it's pork huh? Is it good? [snorts]

Oh good! Mine is good.

Oh, yummy?

Oh, these veggies are amazing. Alright.

What about Aunt Debbie? What did you get?

It was too hot, I haven't been able to try it yet. Oh.

So hot.

But I got the pork and the pumpkin.

Look at these noodles. They're so thick!

Oh my goodness, let me just try the noodle real quick.

It's too good, Daddy. So good.

It's just so good.

The noodle is good.

Dude! Come sit here and eat your food.

Here we go. This is my first time ever trying bear.

And like Ben said, maybe my last time ever

What is that? Bear.

Um hum.

Does it taste gamey? Is it good?

It's decent. Really?

I'm surprised.

Oh my goodness!

Now he's going to hibernate.

So, I'm going to try to describe this...

Because it's kind of like beef, but it's a little more gamey,

It's a bit chewy. It's a very unique flavor.

Alright They're looking for it.

Uncle Ben.. OK, I'm trying the bear.

The Bear. First time ever

Whoa!

Is it what I described? Yea, it's chewy...

It's good meat though

Better than horse.

But a very unique flavor.

Very unique.

Does it taste like berries? Not really? No

Like honey?

You're eating Winnie the Pooh.

Aww!

How could you?

Sarah, is it Berenstain Bear?

[Everyone gasps]

This whole atmosphere that we're in is so unique and fun... It is

And we're all just sitting on the floor, sipping our hot soup, having a grand ol' time.

This is awesome.

OK, Ruth's been convinced, she's trying it.

Uhh.

Ruth will not be having bear again.

Sarah chan, what is your favorite part?

The noodles

OK Becca. Becca is very curious. She wants to see, what does bear meat taste like?

This is the hardest meat in the whole entire world.

Pretty tough, huh?

It's a tough meat. It is a tough meat.

I think I'm going to take 5 minutes just eating this.

You got it, Becca.

Well, it looks like I better finish up because the crew is on the way out.

Bye bye. Oh the move.

On the move. That was fun.

That was fun. Oh, I'm full.

So that was a really great experience, very good.

We'll definitely be trying this again,

Maybe with a normal flavor like pork or something like that

But very good.

Look, everybody takes off their shoes when they come in

And now everyone is getting their shoes back on,

Getting ready to head on back out

What a fun experience that was.

Well, what do you all think? Is that something you'd like to try sometime?

Being willing to try new things is part of adapting to life in a different culture.

Our favorite things, old and new, combine together to make our family culture more rich and diverse.

Perhaps we'll add Houtou into our holiday traditions at Lake Yamanakako.

Each year we like to come up here, combining our Western holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas while enjoying the beautiful area around Mt Fuji.

How cool is that?

We're creating new unique family traditions along the way

Like a bike ride around the lake to work off all that hearty food we're eating.

Alright Anna, what's going on?

We're going to bike around the lake.

We're going to bike around the lake.

Well Ruth, what do you think there?

I really like their bedding.

That's a room with a view.

It's so... shiny.

It is shiny!

For some adventurous folks I guess, huh?

Here we go. This is where we had bear last night.

Bear Houtou.

Oh yea.

Rebecca, what do you think about the first annual Yamanakako Bike Ride?

Good, but you can't see Fuji.

You can't see Fuji?! It's right there.

So goodnight.

You're going to sleep and ride? Dangerous!

Thank you!

Anna Cakes. So this years' ride is done. What did you think?

Pretty fun.

Pretty fun, but...

My butt is sore.

Your butt is sore? Can you feel your legs at all?

Yep.

Yea? OK, that's good.

It's a great feeling to walk

Yea, it feels good, doesn't it? Alright.

Becca's enjoying a book.

Totally into it. You're halfway through it, Becca?

No, not halfway. Not halfway?

Oh - a third? A fourth?

Well it's coming. Nice.

Last night was the traditional meal of Yamanishi prefecture,

but tonight will be a traditional western holiday meal, with all of the fixings.

Oh boy! You got your desserts,

You got your salads,

You got your breads,

You got some more breads,

Corn. Ham. Taters.

Green bean casserole. Tur—chicken.

Sarah, are you ready for this? Oh yum!

Antony is like "Give me some mashed potatoes!"

Oh, one of Daddy's favorites, Green Bean Casserole.

Sarah, how's it taste?

You're getting some of the first tastes.

Yeah? Good? How about the ham?

Oh yeah.

But wonderful meals, both Japanese and Western, are just part of the fun traditions we've developed for the holidays.

Uncle Ben, you did done good.

Hey man, these kids all helped.

Oh wow. Alright, good job guys.

Izzy, it looks like you have some eye protection there.

Oh Becca — what beautiful....perfect!

perfect!

Put it up high, high, high.

Oh, you threw it in.

What is that?

Do you see the blue in the fire? What is that?

Look at that- that's psychedelic.

Oh baby.

And nothing goes quite so well after a meal than some quality entertainment.

Tonight the kids will be presenting a show that they themselves developed.

Flash photography is prohibited.

OK Joshua, please come up!

Oh gosh!

1, 2, 3, 4

What a Grand Finale indeed!

Yea!

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Next time on Life in Japan...

Christmas is coming, and we're getting ready by decorating the house,

shopping for presents and enjoying Sarah's first performance at her new school.

Not only that, but this year our team is working on our biggest Christmas Celebration ever at Paz Coffee Shop,

and we have a special invitation for you to join us on Christmas Day, so don't miss the excitement in the next Life in Japan!