Big Family in a Big City: How We Make It Work | Life in Japan Episode 133

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We live in the biggest metropolitan area in the world, and our family is bigger than most others.
Tokyo is not made for big families, so how do we make it work?
Hey - I just saw the camera!
Yeah, that's my daddy's camera. He makes videos with it.
[Life in Japan Theme Song]
Well are you talking with Aiden?
He's having a phone play date with his best friend Aiden.
You have to hold it so he can see it.
Can you hold it? Oh, you want me to hold it?!
OK, here we go.
Our houses, like most homes in Japan, is made for 2-4 people.
With six people living here, we've had to get creative in how we use our space.
Well this is it, this is a big day...
We are finally getting rid of our bed which we've had for a couple of years
It's not even really a bed, it's a sofa that we bought so we could use this as my studio
And then use it as our bedroom at night.
Alright, here it is. It's time, it did it's service,
Sayonara Sayonara
It is done.
We just got our special delivery. Check this out.
Mattress, chair — you can't even get in the door!
There's the old one. Alright!
How's it going here?
It's going. I've got the headboard almost put together.
Oh, alright.
I'm sweating!
Look at this! Putting the final touches on!
Oooo, wow!
The kids asked for a couple of more minutes before going to bed
If they could watch something in mom & dad's room and what did I find?
[TV Narrator] But perhaps it's not surprising to find strange creatures in places like this...
And if you noticed that things look different it's because that for the first time in three years
My wife finally has her own bed in her bedroom!
We've moved the studio out — we got a separate place for the studio, it's awesome!
I should also mention that her bed is my bed — we share the bed!
Sharing space has been key for us fitting our large family in this small space.
But it's only been recently that I've been able to have a dedicated work space that wasn't at home.
This is my new morning commute. It's just a couple minute walk from my house. I love it.
Having a separate space for work has been a real game changer, one that has directly improved the quality of my time at home and at work.
But good home life is more than how nice your house is or how much prestige your address has.
A healthy home is built on a foundation of love.
Dude! What?! Look at that!
You can take [the bandage] off now.
You can take it off now?!
That is awesome, Dude! Way to go!
Somebody asked the question "Is it always so sunny and bright there? It always looks so beautiful."
Well that's because I usually only take pictures of the beautiful days.
Here's the sunrise today. Can you see the sun? No, neither can I.
It's still a beautiful day though.
A big family isn't a hindrance to a happy home, it's the culmination of a happy home.
A house full of love is one full of special everyday moments.
This is the kind of home environment that makes life rich and rewarding.
[Becca] Joshua, let's do a dance fight? [Anna] Hey camera...
Hi!
Oh, camera... What?!
The camera doesn't talk! Oh, you want Daddy to talk?
Joshua! What is happening today?
I'm going to school...
You're going back to school for the first time in — three weeks or so?!
Yeah! Whoa Dude.
Look at Student Sarah! Alright Student Sarah.
How's the math going? Good.
This is what I call the "Sarah Zoom." Ready?
What's the Sarah Zoom? 1, 2, 3
No!
Oh, is that the Sarah Disappearing Trick?!
[Joshua] That is.
Are you working on your big rollercoaster? Yeah.
Whoa Dude, this is going to be an intense rollercoaster. Look at that thing!
Holy cow!
It goes over Peach. Oh it sure does!
What are the things we've found on our way to school? A spider web that caught some rain...
And look at this little snail we came across. Wow!
He's dead. No he's not!
He's not dead!
You can't have a happy family without giving proper focus or attention to it, but when you do, the results speak for themselves.
Hey Dude! Hey.
How was your first day back to school? Good?
Was everyone so happy to see you? Yeah.
I even hugged the teacher. You hugged the teacher?
And the teacher hugged me so hard also.
And now we're going to do a picnic!
You're going to do a picnic? Yeah
In the box here?! Yeah.
Oh wow, that's an interesting picnic.
[Girls speaking in Japanese]
I can hear the girls outside, they don't know I'm here though.
There's a bunch of thing we like to do together as family
One of them is to go to our favorite mall together!
Northpour
Northport. Try it again!
Northpooouurrr what?
Northport!
North- Northport! Daddy, put that...
Daddy, put that on Life in Japan where Becca messed up.
That's so funny!
It's not "Northpour" it's North...
PORT
Northport — at Northport mall.
Let's go! Guess where Joshua had his lunch?
In the box. In the box.
Right down in there — look! There's the proof.
Let's go Dude, common OK, turn off the camera.
[Girls singing] "A whole new world, a new fantastic point of view..."
[Still singing] No one to tell us no, or where to go...
Learning to balance work and family is just as important as learning to handle your finances.
If anything gets out of whack, things go downhill fast.
Each family must find a good balance that works. When we can, our family enjoys shopping together.
Oh Dude, going up!
At the mall! At the mall.
We have a number of favorite stores like Daiso and Book Off where we you can find what you need at a good price.
These are usually the first places we go whenever someone needs something, which seems like all the time.
Dinnertime! Oh yes! Yum yum yum yum.
Sarah is just about to start multiplication...
Girls, how does multiplication work in Japanese?
5 x 1 = 5 5 x 2 = 10
5 x 3 = 15 5 x 4 = 20
5 x 5 = 25 5 x 6 = 30
5 x 7 = 35 5 x 8 = 40
Wow! What a beautiful sunrise today.
And Big J's with me to see it, huh?! Yeah!
Did you just wake up? Yeah.
Establishing healthy rhythms for your family is essential for getting the most out of each day.
There should be time for work, study, play and relaxing.
A family in the city has to fight hard to maintain this healthy balance.
Joshua, are you in your study box?
And you're working on your J's!
Who has a "J" in their name? Me!
You! Ah, sweet!
[Becca practicing piano]
Do you like our huge couch here?
This is in the entryway until garbage day comes and we can finally throw it out
Until then, it's just like a big guest that stays too long.
Is that what that is?
An important part of our family rhythm is church life, and we love it.
Check it out, we're getting ready!
Paz Church tomorrow will be meeting not only online like it normally does
But at 11:15 we're having an in person service here at the coffee shop.
It'll be awesome. If you're around, please come!
Less than one week ago, we were using air conditioners, and then a cold snap
And now it's time for heaters and sweatshirts and everything Fall that I love.
Ruth and her friend Aiya made some pumpkin bars that I get to have with my coffee this morning.
Oh man, what a great morning! Starting off like this!
Hey girls, what happened today? It's so cold! It's freezing!
It's so cold, huh? It's just like winter.
It feels like winter! What happened?
This is a big moment — literally, a big moment!
Take out the garbage.
We have our oversized garbage stickers
Which lets us know that we have paid and you can take this junk out.
Seasons change to a rhythm, and so do the phases of life.
When it's time for a new phase to come, celebrate the old phase and then send it on it's way.
What's going on up here? Are we having breakfast?
Cherry, orange, blueberry, strawberry and pineapple...
Anna, are you working on your own manga?
Oh- this is for the birthday party later?
Very cool Becca.
That's my present right there.
Oh, your present's over here? Yeah.
Amidst the Legos?
Dad, you need to see my lego
This is my lego house.
And this is my cool motorcycle.
Look at this!
This is a cannon that shoots out some bullets
And that... Becca helped make it? [gasps]
Oh no Sarah! What was this?
Sarah's?
Skadoosh! It can be repaired.
Windy! Whoa, it's shaking!
Birthdays mark the passing of the years and celebrations let each child know they are special.
But our family is bigger than just our blood relatives
it goes beyond borders and nationalities and includes people from all over the world.
If you're watching this, then you're part of our online family and we celebrate your life too.
It's a big 5-year-old smile, wow!
In everything we do, we like to include the family — and that also means including you!
The kids are here today because the older kids are going to record for Paz Kids
So they're getting all setup now, huh?
Let's see how it's going.
Looks like we're almost ready here for the recording.
The habits and rhythms we establish as parents will become the habits and rhythms of our children.
Anna's reading her Bible story, yes!
Should we turn on the heater this morning? I'm cold!
You're cold?!
[gasps] Joshua-kun, what's up Dude?
Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness!
And beautiful Becca is back in her favorite winter spot in front of the heater
Joshua! Joshua's already awake.
I didn't know you were awake!
Good morning!
Good thing Mommy didn't sit on you.
The tickle-hand is coming! [Joshua laughs]
[Joshua stops laughing]
Oh, look at this guy! He said "no more laughs."
Now in talking about big family life in the city there's still another huge subject we haven't talked about yet,
a subject so large it could certainly have it's own video.
If there's one thing a big family needs a lot of, it's clothes.
And if we're shopping for clothes, chances are we're going to end up at Nishimatsuya, or the bunny store as most foreigners like to call it.
The bunny store is practical with an uncomplicated layout.
It's not fancy but don't let it's simplicity fool you.
It doesn't have to rely on marketing or glamour to attract you, because it is cram full of good clothes at a great price.
You scared me! Let me see.
Ow ow ow!
The dinosaur! Where'd you find that dinosaur?!
It is one of the best places for shopping on a budget,
and we have bought a lot of stuff here over the years and saved a small fortune.
Look daddy, this inside is so nice
Look. Rebecca, this looks like you.
Shopping here is almost always an adventure in bargain hunting.
This is the way that, sometimes, you gotta find out what the product is... Google translate.
What do you have here? What's it going to do?
A paper-rock-scissors game that you can't choose what it's going to be.
OK, let's see.
[Playing Paper-rock-scissors in Japanese]
I won!
I'll admit that sometimes the kid in me comes out in these stores.
But we all know that clothes range in cost and style and each person has their own preferences
But this one is awfully cute... That's so cute.
OK, we'll buy you this one because you get a lot of hand-me-downs.
Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness Sarah!
so what happens when we don't find what we need at the Bunny store?
Well, it's time to explore two of our other favorite chains, one from the West and the other from the East.
The great thing about living in the big city is the amount of stores you can find around the main train stations.
Chances are you just can find exactly what you're looking for once you've found the stores that fit your personal style the best.
For us, one of those stores is H & M. It's surprising affordable and has a fun selection of clothes.
We've found a number of Joshua's Mario outfits here, and the kids like it because of the fun station.
It's kids stuff, but I wish they had it [for me]... oh, I like that.
Hey Becca, did you find something cool?
You did?! Nice.
[Singing] Sara-bara, Sara-bara.
Joshua, no! He's like "No, I don't want to hold Anna's hand"
Hi Anna, I'll hold your hand!
And then there's Uniqlo, a Japanese brand which can be found just about everywhere in Japan.
Uniqlo is a lot like the Gap, which is a part of a family of stores that sells it's own clothing.
It's fun to go in a check out what they have.
Look at all those colors.
I think that blue one, Anna, looks just like you.
You like it? Yeah?
Oh Becca, cool! Very cool.
The name “Uniqlo” was meant to be “Uniclo” with a “c”, short for Unique Clothing,
but a mistake in the registration rendered the name “Uniqlo” with a “q” and the brand was formed.
A little bit of time in their store and you'll be checking out in their unique fashion.
Look, they put it in there and it knows exactly what they put in.
They just have to pay. Can I put it in?
These are the purchases going in the bag.
Shopping complete.
The doors are closing on our shopping extravaganza for the girls.
And how did we do? We did good.
Where's the camera? Right here? Yes.
So this little path along the river is tight!
You can see when cars go by you they are right next to you,
And there are some parts here that are so tight that I've had to just practically stop while driving.
This is a two-way street. Uh oh.
And now what? Oh, he's going to pull in up here.
Oh good for him. Oh very good
That's what you do people. That's right, that's the way you make it work.
While Japan has amazing public transportation that we enjoy using, our van is our preferred means of travel.
For a large family, it's just the most practical. But if you're driving in city, you best be prepared!
Look at this! It's a walking path with bicycles on it. Just kind of everybody uses this part of the road.
We like to make our family outings as fun as possible, even when it's something like shopping,
because good family experiences create strong family ties, and a strong family is a happy family.
Today we let them choose where to eat too, hence our lunch at Gusto's.
My goodness, everyone is chowing like we've been shopping all morning or something.
We were. We were!?
EVeryone's food is coming! I want one of those!
Nice lunch — the kids went back to the car, and Daddy paid because that's what Daddy's do.
To sum it all up, the foundation of family is good relationships, and good relationships don't just happen by accident.
They must be valued, pursued and fought for. You have to find a good balance and maintain it.
The values we learn at church and practice at home keep our family going strong.
We're getting setup for our live service at Paz Church at the coffee shop and also for the livestream
It's going to be awesome! Join us online or in person if you're close.
We're testing the livestream now — doesn't it look like they're right next to each other?
No they're not! Ha ha!
Well we're talking about the letter that was written to the seven churches...
Yeah, back in person again!
OK, we're on our way to the doctor's appointment, huh Joshua?
Yeah and it's kind of chilly today, we actually had to wear our Mario hat!
Oh my!
Getting to our clinic!
OK, the doctor just said "no more bandaids," right?
Yeah! So exciting!
Wow, it looks so good Dude! OK, that's good.
Well, we are celebrating today. What are we celebrating, Joshua?
My arm! Your arm! It doesn't need anymore bandages, does it?
Next time on Life in Japan, we embark on a hiking trip near Mt Fuji full of fall colors and perfect weather.
If the climb doesn't take your breathe away, the views certainly will,
because it's possibly the most incredible views I've ever seen in over seven years in Japan!
Subscribe and don't miss the next episode of Life in Japan.
What?! Look at that! Wow!
What - in - the - world?!!!