Our new neighbour in Japan

Our new neighbour who had just moved in presented us with 5 of the above gift. It is customary for the Japanese to introduce themselves and present a small gift to the neighbours when they move into a new area. However, the younger generations may not practise this old customs.

A new house is being built

It is a glorious day with the sun beating down on our neighborhood. The top temperature for today is 16c and spring has arrived. Tomorrow's weather will be warmer with a max temperature of 20c, albeit may be a little cloudy.
There is a small plot of land left in our neighborhood and someone has just bought it. The construction of the bungalow house is now in progress and will be completed in the next 3 months. Heard that the value of the land has gone up about 10% since we bought ours in 2017.
The second picture is that of our neighbors' house. They are a lovely young couple with a cute and friendly little daughter.

Neighbor gave us persimmons

Our kind neighbor gave us the above persimmons. She has a few persimmon trees and bore hundreds of fruits. It's persimmon season. They are sweet and crunchy.

Exchange of gifts

We bought the watermelon and gave half of it to our neighbors who in return gave us their home grown cucumbers and bitter gourds. In Japan, there is a lot of formalities and I am getting accustomed to it.

Our Japanese friends who have been living for many years in the older estate near our place grow many types of vegetables and fruits. Above are just 2 types of vegetables in their farm. They have peaches which they promised to give us when they are ready before the fall. Last winter, they had a lot of kakis or persimmons.

Our Japanese neighbors

Including ours, there are 6 new houses built in the area. The neighbors are nice people and we will always greet each other when we come face to face.
We were the last to move in and so as a practice we presented our neighbors with gifts.
The 2 immediate neighbors are relatively young couples with small children. Most if not all do not speak English. The wives are pretty and young. They are very shy too. I hardly communicate with my neighbors as I do not speak much Japanese.
The place we are in is very quiet and serene. We could hear the birds chirping and the sound of the crickets are common during the warm seasons.

Our Japanese neighbors

Our Japanese neighbors who has a farm gave us plums, zucchini,cucumber and mint leaves.The best thing about the greens is, it is taken straight from the soil. They are fresh and full of vitaimins and goodness.
We hope we could learn from our neighbors and cultivate our land and grow some of these useful and nutritious vegetables and fruits.