Happy Kanreki, Steve!

My cousin Steve celebrated his 60th birthday, or his "kanreki," this past Sunday at Kyoto Osho Restaurant at Ala Moana Center Ho'okipa Terrace. His family, wife Bobbie, son Scott and daughter Robyn threw him a surprise party with both sides of the family. According to this website, http://jcch.com/japanese-traditions.asp, this is what "kanreki" means: "For men, the 60th birthday is called kanreki, the recognition of his 'second infancy.' The Japanese characters in the word kanreki literally mean 'return' and 'calendar.' The traditional calendar, which was based on the Chinese calendar, was organized on 60-year cycles. The cycle of life returns to its starting point in 60 years, and as such, kanreki celebrates that point in a man’s life when his personal calendar has returned to the calendar sign under which he was born.Traditionally, friends and relatives are invited for a celebratory feast on one’s 60th birthday. It is customary for the celebrant to be given a red hood and wear a red vest. These clothes are usually worn by babies and thus symbolize the celebrant’s return to his birth."

Since we missed our family's Christmas party at my cousin Lillian's house (we left for California that day), it was nice to get to see my cousins at the party.