12/20/20 years old celebration

20 years old celebration

Yuna has become 20 years old.
She was very happy to have a birthday present from Kotaro.
On this time, I made her mini photo album up to
the age of 20.
I also made Kotaro's one while I was late.
12/13/20 Trip to Boso

Trip to Boso

Our family tripped to Boso.
After all, the sea is wonderful.
03/28/20 Advanced education(II)

Advanced education(II)

They got advanced grade and higher education.
I am proud of their effort.
10/27/19 Autumn events

Autumn events

We enjoyed watching baseball and sports day.
05/05/19 Family trip

Family trip

My family tripped to Boso during this Golden Week.
04/02/19 Advanced education

Advanced education

Congratulations for adbanced grade and higher education !
04/01/18 Twenty years old

Twenty years old

The adult day, the first beer on birthday and the opening three games.
01/03/18 New Year holidays

New Year holidays

We enjoyed bowling at the end of last year,
and we saw sunset at the beginning of this year.
08/20/17 Trip to Taipei

Trip to Taipei

Following Kaohsiung last year, my family traveled to Taipei this year.
Fortunately, it was fine weather for four days.
05/05/17 Trip to Heda

Trip to Heda

Our family stayed at the guest house of Heda
and ate a giant spider crab and an alfonsino.
We could not eat all though our growing children tried.
04/16/17 Winter to spring

Winter to spring

I played catch with Yuna.
She was very good.
12/11/16 Year-end(II)

Year-end(II)

We played golf and bowling this week-end.
08/18/16 Vacation in 2016

Vacation in 2016

My family traveled in Taiwan.
04/03/16 Entrance to school(II)

Entrance to school(II)

Kotaro became an university student and Yuna became a high school student.
05/10/15 Happy weekend

Happy weekend

We enjoy watching baseball, walking and eating out on weekend.
03/29/15 West Izu

West Izu

We stayed overnight in Shuzenji and went to West Izu.
12/14/14 Bowling

Bowling

We enjoyed bowling though we did not do it for a long time.
11/03/14 Umihotaru

Umihotaru

My family enjoyed driving around Boso.
08/17/14 Tsukushi baseball(II)

Tsukushi baseball(II)

We enjoyed triangle baseball using our special ball wrapped with packing tape.
08/03/14 Izura and Haneda

Izura and Haneda

Izura Seashore and Yuna before leaving for her homestay.
01/03/14 New year's holiday

New year's holiday

My children ran and jumped on a new year's holiday.
10/14/13 Seibu Stadium

Seibu Stadium

We went to Seibu Stadium to watch all three games of the first CS stage.
04/06/14 Spring vacation

Spring vacation

We visited Ise and Kumano by car.
09/23/13 Tsukushi baseball

Tsukushi baseball

We enjoyed triangle baseball at Tsukushi park.
08/17/13 Vacation in 2013

Vacation in 2013

We climbed Mt. Meshimori and Mt. Nyukasa and took a walk through Togakushi this summer.
05/05/13 Entrance to school

Entrance to school

Kotaro became a high school student and Yuna became a junior high school student.
01/06/13 New year in 2013

New year in 2013

We prayed a lot in Inage Shrine.
09/30/12 Still hot autumn

Still hot autumn

Kotaro did good jobs at his school events.
08/17/12 Vacation in 2012

Vacation in 2012

We stayed at Numazu, Isawa and Iizuna on this vacation.
05/27/12 Field day in 2012

Field day in 2012

This is the last field day which has continued for 9 years.
And this is the last relay race for Yuna in the field day.
04/01/12 Trip to US (II)

Trip to US (II)

Furthermore, from San Francisco to Point Reyes (Please see recent topics about the scenery).
9 days and 7 nights trip is too short for us.
03/29/12 Trip to US

Trip to US

My family visited United States after an interval of 11 years.
From Death Valley to San Jose where my children were born and lived in (Please see recent topics about the scenery).
03/11/12 Tateyama

Tateyama

At first, just before spring vacation, my family went on a small trip to Tateyama.
02/12/12 February weekends

February weekends

We enjoyed Shinjuku walk and park baseball.
01/03/12 Winter vacation

Winter vacation

Yuna became 11 years old at the end of last year, so it is the year of her first 12 cycles this year.
11/23/11 Parks of Tokyo

Parks of Tokyo

We went to some parks of Tokyo.
Then, we went up to the Metropolitan Government scenic dome and looked down at the parks near Shinjuku.
08/15/11 Vacation in 2011

Vacation in 2011

We Japanese are conscious of power saving this summer.
It was comfortable in the Sasagamine Heights, but was really hot in Azumino.
07/10/11 1st semester

1st semester

Their 1st semester will be over and their summer holidays will come soon.
05/05/11 GW2011

QVC Marine Field

We went to the field for the first time this year.
The artificial turf was replaced and became clear.
03/20/11 13th birthday

13th birthday

Of course, he grew bigger in comparison with his 2nd birthday.
Please see recent topics, too.
-----
Our thoughts are with you at this difficult disaster.
01/16/11 First snow

First snow

It was the first snow of this year this morning in Chiba.
It was cold though it stopped immediately.
12/23/10 Shinrinkoen

Shinrinkoen

Our family went to the Shinrinkoen at Higashi-Matsuyama recently I walked.
We enjoyed cycling, jumping and rolling big balls.
11/07/10 Makuhari

We promise the same dream

Marines again got No.1 in Japan. How wonderful they are !
10/02/10 Athletic festival

Athletic festival

We visited the atheretic festival of Kotaro and ran.
08/14/10 Vacation in 2010

Vacation in 2010

We enjoyed a round trip of Syosenkyo, Hakusyu, Izuna, Togakushi, Kiyosato, Isawa and Numazu by driving 1,120km.
Please see recent topics about mountain climbing.
07/10/10 Sotobo

Sotobo

We took a drive to Onjuku via Kujukuri in our new car Prius.
05/05/10 Ibaraki area

Ibaraki area

We visited Yamatsuriyama, Fukuroda waterfall, Kairakuen and Hitachi park in two days.
04/08/10 School uniform

School uniform

Kotaro became a junior high student.
03/22/10 Short course

Short course

Our family went around the short course for the first time.
02/07/10 KamakuraYokohama

KamakuraYokohama

Kotaro's examination was over, so my family enjoyed a weekend all together.
01/03/10 New year ambition

New year ambition

We will make great progress this year !
11/14/09 Autumn for sports

Autumn for sports

It is difficult to continue the rally of the badminton. The baseball is more pleasant.
P.S. Please see recent topics regarding "Autumn for walking" with Yuna.
09/20/09 Grand Sumo

Grand Sumo

I went to watch Grand Sumo with Yuna for the first time and took our printing seal club.
07/20/09 Wedding ceremony

Wedding ceremony

My family attended a wedding ceremony.
It was heartwarming and the meal was delicious.
05/06/09 New school year

New school year

Both of my children exceed my height at the same period easily.
03/22/09 Baseball training

Baseball training

Yuna made progress in baseball by Kotaro's special training.
01/24/09 Horseback riding

Horseback riding

We enjoyed horseback riding for the first time.
12/28/08 Year-end parks

Year-end parks

They have completely enjoyed under the clear winter sky.
11/01/08 Disneyland

Disneyland

My favorite baseball cap was gone when I rode on the big sander mountain for the first time.
10/12/08 Sweat

They sweat when they do their best.

There is a sweat on the forehead of Yuna rowing the boat.
08/17/08 Vacation in 2008

Vacation in 2008

We made a round trip of Nagano, Yamanashi and Shizuoka.
Please see recent topics together.
07/21/08 Nikko Toshogu

Nikko Toshogu

The long summer vacation for children has started.
The Nikko Toshogu we went to was in the mist rain and cool though summer.
07/13/08 Taibusa cape

Taibusa cape

You can look at the scenery of Taibusa cape.
P.S. Find Kotaro and Yuna in the recent topics.
06/21/08 Field day

Field day

Kotaro and Yuna got prizes at each race. Good job !
05/25/08 Izu & Hakone

Golden week and later

Karakawa had sttopped the continuous lost games among this golden week.
However, Lotte is still repeating the continuous lost games and seems to be struggling at the edge of the cliff.
04/13/08 *10-year special*

10-year special

I looked back on some past pictures for 10-year HP special.
03/24/08 Trip to Hokkaido

Trip to Hokkaido

Our school children's spring vacation started, so we went to Hokkaido in 4 days.
We enjoyed skiing (see recent topics) at Sapporo International, watching animals at Asahiyama zoo and watching baseball at Sapporo Dome.
03/16/08 Tree climbing

Tree climbing

The season we sweat outside has come by passing through winter.
01/06/08 Double Takos

Double Takos

For New Year holidays, our kids caught an octopus("Tako") and flied kites("Tako").
11/11/07 Children's growth

Children's growth

We had the children's ceremony for Yuna today and are praying for our children's growth.
09/30/07 Natural science

Natural science

It rains and has become really cool.
08/17/07 Mt. Tateshina

Mt. Tateshina

We climbed Mt. Tateshina this summer.
That was not an excursion but a mountain climbing definitely.
08/16/07 Hot summer

Hot summer

Children have a long summer vacation if it becomes hot.
How nice it is !
05/19/07 Sendai-Miyagi

Sendai-Miyagi

Finally, we went to Sendai-Miyagi Stadium.
After watching a cold-victory for fog in Japan series, we watched a cold-victory for thunderstorm this time.
05/05/07 Children's day

Golden week

We enjoyed a lot during this golden week.
Kotaro was bitten by an octopus.
04/22/07 School children

School children

They have begun to go to the same elementary school together.
04/07/07 Bye kindergarten

Bye kindergarten

Thank you for taking care of my son and daughter during 6 years.
12/24/06 Year-end

Year-end

It was so hard for me like the picture clinging to the cliff this year.
10/28/06 Ise visiting

Ise visiting

We went to Ise by car.
We knew the ferry was canceled when we arrived at Irago, so we were forced to go around the Ise bay.
08/17/06 Splash

Splash

We enjoyed swimming at Numazu beach and Camping at Ojira riverside.
06/11/06 Bubble gum

Bubble gum

Giants is the most famous team even though it is not so strong now.
We had a Giants vs. Marines game at full Marine Stadium last night, and Marines got a good-bye game.
04/02/06 Spring and flower

Spring and flower

The baseball season has come and the cherry tree has bloomed.
We enjoyed Hanamigawa-cycling (see recent topics).
01/22/06 Slide and snow

Slide and snow

We had snow, so we enjoyed sleighing (see recent topics) and making a snowman.
12/23/05 Chiba zoo

The animals between Kotaro and Yuna are

seals, an elephant, a miyacat, a donkey and a lessor panda on the roof.
11/20/05 Long autumn

Long autumn

I felt this autumn was very long because Chiba Lotte fought very well
during the whole post-season and got the Asia champion.
09/25/05 Summer to autumn

Final stage at Japanese pro-baseball

The summer has gone and the heated pennant race (see recent topics) has come to the last stage.
08/18/05 Vacation in 2005

Vacation in 2005

We enjoyed this summer vation at Beach and Mountain.
06/18/05 Inter-league

Chiba Lotte has become No.1 in Japanese inter-league !

I looked at the games against all central teams visiting also Yokohama and Jingu.
Hanshin-fan's support and Furuta's lead was so impressive.
05/01/05 Hitachi park

Hitachi park

We went to Hitachi Seaside Park and enjoyed in whole 2 days.
04/09/05 Full bloom

The first place now

The Marines is really strong this year.
02/13/05 Isawa

Isawa

We enjoyed skiing and cycling at Isawa.
11/30/04 Cellular phone

Cellular phone

I took some pictures using my new cellular phone with camera function.
08/07/04 Saipan

Saipan

We enjoyed schnorkelling at Managaha island.
Kotaro could swim 9 meters long.
Saipan was pretty cooler than Japan during our stay because of the rainy season.
05/05/04 Beach & mountain

Beach & mountain

In this golden week, we enjoyed beach-playing at Manazuru, mountain-hiking at Numazu and overnight-camping at Chiba.
04/13/04 Schools begin

Schools begin

Kotaro starts to go to elementary school,
and Yuna starts to go to kindergarten.
Both of them just start their new life.
03/28/04 Spring has come

Spring has come

Kotaro has become 6 years old.
He will be a schoolboy soon.
12/22/03 Snow birthday

Snow birthday

It was heavy snow when we went to Karuizawa on Yuna's birthday.
Kotaro enjoyed his first skiing next day.
10/19/03 Baseball

Baseball

Marines had fought very well in the latter games.
They won 14 and lost 4 at Marine Stadium after 8/29's game.
Unfortunately, they lost 4 when I went to watch.
I wish they can win when I go to watch next year.
03/15/03 In Okinawa

In Okinawa

We went to Okinawa for 4 days.
Though it was too early to swim, we visited Emerald, Tokashiku, Aharen, Kariyushi and Manza beaches.
05/12/01 Return to Japan

Return to Japan

I came back to Japan on 4/3 flight after enjoying U.S. life in 6 years.
Yuna is growing well and Kotaro is enjoying kindergarten in Japan.
02/10/01 New life

New life

Yuna is growing up well and Kotaro is enjoying at pre-school.
We thank for U.S. life though it becomes short.
12/30/00 It's a girl !

Introduction #2

Name: Yuna Stephanie Yamada
Birth Date and Time: 12/20/00 2:56 a.m.
Weight: 6 pounds 5 ounces
Height: 19 inches
12/09/00 Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving

Though my wife is expecting, we went to Disneyland by car and took Amtrak to San Diego.
We will not be able to go on a trip this Christmas holiday.
10/07/00 Autumn scenes

Autumn scenes

We went to San Diego on Labor Day holiday by car.
As a result, we visited from north to south west coast in US including the borders of Canada and Mexico within one month.

The 1st picture was taken at our backyard, the 2nd one was at San Diego Zoo, the 3rd one was at Coronado beach,
the 4th one was at Muir Woods, and the 5th one was at Oakland station.
There are various autumn scenes in California.
08/26/00 In Washington

An excuse

Was the first picture taken on 1/1/87 ???
No, the reason is the date was initialized by exchanging the battery.
Finally, you could find I have no digital cameras.
I have been working hard using my scanner to digitize pictures ...
06/10/00 Early summer

A picture size study

I have put total 115 Kotaro's pictures on my home page until now.
The mean data size of these pictures is 45KB, the heaviest one is 70KB and the lightest one is 11KB.
Then, question ! Can you guess which one is the heaviest and which one is the lightest?
The probability of the right answer is mathematically 1/13110.
For each person who gives the right answer, I will give a CD which includes all pictures, movies and sounds on my home page.
Please e-mail me by writting the heaviest #, the lightest #, your name and address.
05/20/00 Yosemite view

A view-and-Kotaro study

The more we focus on a view, the smaller Kotaro is.
I appeared on two pictures at this time because it was so difficult to cut myself only.
My wife is not supposed to appear these pictures basically. (They are taken out beforehand.)
04/22/00 10th anniversary

In Bay Area

Today is our 10th anniversary, so I picked up a Kotaro's birthday picture (Amayuka-san took) as the top and something celebrated.
The 2nd and 3rd ones are at Oakland stadium, the 4th one is at San Francisco and the last one is under the cherry blossoms at San Jose.
04/08/00 Amtrak

Amtrak

We went to Oakland Station of Amtrak by car after visiting Oakland Zoo.
Luckily, two trains were waiting to leave for Sacramento and Bakersfield.
When we enjoyed taking pictures, a conductor came down and handed a candy bar to Kotaro.
He was so glad to have it.
I was so impressed with the scene that the people who had hugged each other were finally separate and the train leaved the station gradually.
"I wish we can get on the train."

Next weekend, we were on the train between Santa Clara and Oakland.
01/08/00 Florida again

Florida again

We had a good time in Florida again during X'mas holiday.
We love Florida very much because it is warm even in winter, and we can enjoy both Disney World and the beaches.
I believe that it was great for Kotaro to be held by Mickey Mouse, to play with pouder-white sand, and to watch sunset saying "akai", suprised by the redness of the sun.
10/23/99 In a zoo

Poppo & Optch

According to Kotaro, "Poppo" means Train and "Optch" means Railroad Crossing.
"Poppo" is a traditional train sound and "Optch," not "Obuchi," who is the prime minister of Japan, sounds like "Hatch Potch (Station)" which is a TV program he loves and its symbol is a Railroad Crossing.
He says "Optch" repeatedly when we go shopping to "Great Mall" because there are many railroad crossings around.
He loves to ride on miniature trains in various parks.
He waves a friendly bye-bye whenever he rides on or sees a train off, then he becomes an instant hero.
08/07/99 Summer rest

Kotaro's short talk

I introduced "hi," "kocchi" and "oishii" in Japanese, before.

Now, he also says, "bye," "acchi" which means that one or hot, "nai-nai" - missing, "ita" - found or painful, "yatta" - done, "tai" - want to do, "bu-bu" - vehicle, "tsuita" - arrived, "nenne" - sleep, "ji-ji" - writing, "chita" - shoes and socks ("chita" or "shita" means under), "futa" - lid, "jyusyu" - juice, "wan-wan" - dog, "zotan" - elephant, etc.

Then, question ! Do you understand this? He said a famous Japanese name, maybe you know.
Please guess it and e-mail me. If correct, a good thing might come to you :-)
07/24/99 Mischievous boy

Comments on the pictures

- 1st: He wore "Jinbei" as a costume at a birthday party by our house owner.
- 2nd: He loved the cone at the Disneyland country style restaurant.
- 3rd: He went up the ladder at the children's house in the park.
- 4th: He ate rice directly from the rice scoop.
- 5th: He stacked four milk cans one on top of the other.
04/10/99 Happy birthday !

Short conversations (in his own voice)

"Would you like some fruit?" "Yeah." (We, the Japanese, say, "Hi.")
"Which one would you like?" "This one." (We say, "Kocchi.")
"Do you like it?" "Yes, it's delicious." (We say, "Oishii.")
03/06/99 Double Kotaros

Double Kotaros

Kotaro (Shiga) and Kotaro (Yamada) are best friends.
They live in the same city and their birth dates are very close.
But they didn't know each other before. It just happened !
02/13/99 Eat and play well

Now, what he can do is ...

- to continue standing (during more than 30 seconds).
- to walk (more than 5 steps).
- to go upstairs.
- to show the direction he wants to go.
- to raise his hand when I call him.

P.S. The parents may become stupid when they talk about their child.
01/09/99 Nice ! Kotaro

Florida

We went to Florida during my X'mas holiday.
At the beach, Kotaro enjoyed standing and crawling very much.

Also, he had another good timeD
When we had dinner, a four-year-old pretty girl became interested in my son.
During dinner time, they enjoyed themselves together, and when they needed to say good-by, he kept holding her hands.
All the people who were there could feel their bonds of international friendshipD
"Nice ! Kotaro." I whispered in my mind.
04/11/98 It's a boy !

Introduction

Name: Kotaro Leo Yamada
Birth Date and Time: 3/19/98 11:33 a.m.
Weight: 7 pounds 8 ounces
Height: 20.5 inches
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