Principal in Japan

Final Walk around Tokyo

2006-10-21T07:00:00.000-07:00

With a few hours left before leaving for the airport to return home, I took my final walk around Tokyo. I went to the Hie Shrine which was down the street from the hotel.

Hie Shrine was designed as a First Class Government Shrine be fore the Second World War, and was a highly respected place of worship for the people of Tokyo.

The deity enshrined is Oyamakui-no-kami, the god of Mount Hie in Shiga prefecture. This deity is more commonly known as Hie-no-kami. Hie Shrine derives it's name from this deity.

After visiting the shrine, I walked back to the hotel, seen here from down the street.

I said my good-byes to many new friends, a great hotel and to Tokyo and headed to the airport for the long trip home.

More Fish Market Photos

2006-10-20T11:49:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more pictures from my morning at the Tsukiji Fish Market.

Tsukiji Fish Market- Tokyo

2006-10-20T11:26:00.000-07:00

For my last morning in Tokyo I went to the Tsukiji Fish Market and Tuna Auction. What a place- I could not decide if it made me want to try different types of fish or never eat fish again. There was every type of fish I could think of and then some! The tuna auction happens every day and was amazing. It is hard to believe that the oceans can hold that many fish! Enjoy the photos.

Dinner and Day II with Host Family

2006-10-17T02:55:00.000-07:00

After our family visits, I was offered a Japanese bath. A Japanese bath is a deep tub filled with very hot water. The "bath" room is made up of a shower area and the tub. You clean yourself in the shower area and then soak in the hot water in the tub. When you are finished you do not drain the water as the whole family soaks in the same bath water. Dinner that evening included a visit by an American teacher who is teaching English classes in some of the schools in Eniwa. There was great food and much drinking including beer, ice wine, sakie and red wine. I stuck to just beer! At midnight it was announced that the dinner was over and I was able to go to bed.

Sunday included a wonderful trip to the Tenyuji Buddhist Temple. It is the temple that Kazunori-sun belongs to.

The care-taker of the temple is on the Eniwa School Committee and we got our own tour of the entire temple including the back area where most are not allowed. We saw where the visiting priest and monks stay.

We also went into the building that is the burial area. Buddhist are cremated and their ashes are stored in the bottom of this tall case. The top opens up and the family creates a small alter for the family. This building had two floors of these rows of cases.

After our temple visit we went out to lunch at this great sushi place. There was a counter that you sat at and there was a little track type of conveyer belt that carried little dishes with different types of sushi on them. You simply took the dishes you wanted. At the end, they add up the total of dishes you have in front you and give you your bill. We then went to a garden center. They knew that I also like to garden but the garden center we went to ended up being the Japanese equivalent of Home Depot. I thought it was pretty funny but also showed me how thoughtful this couple was in their planning to make my weekend with them very special.. and it was!

Host Family Stay

2006-10-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we were each assigned to a host family where we spent the weekend. I stayed with Kazunori Nishino and his wife. Kazunori-sun is on the Board of Education for Eniwa and is the person that has been in charge of arranging our entire visit.

Eniwa is famous for its gardens and the Nishinos are right there with the best of them. They have made use of every inch of land. They have a traditional Japanese garden and vegetable garden. For lunch we had pasta made with a tomato and vegetable sause that all came from the garden.

After lunch I was taken to a Tea Ceremony. Several of the other host families also brought some from our group there. I am still not sure of the purpose of the ceremony other then to charge tourist for drinking really bad green tea.

But the kamono's looked good and the place had a very Japanese feel to it and I can now say I have been to a real Tea Ceremony.

After the Tea Ceremony, Kazunori-sun took me to visit his 94 year old father and 89 year old mother. Both still work every day out in the fields and both still drive. They got a big kick out of the big American guy visiting them.

We then went to his sister's farm. She, her husband and son run a farm that grow vegetables. They had hot houses set up in the field filled with pepper plants. As we were leaving she ran to a different hot house and gave me a big bunch of fresh cut basil. It was used in the dinner that night.

Student Art Work From all Schools

2006-10-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

I loved seeing student art work hanging around the schools. The final impression that I have from my school visits is that all children are alike. As an American I keep looking at things through my western eyes, judgments and opinions and you miss so much of what is going on here in Japan when you do that. From the time students enter school here things are different. Students are not overly supervised. At recess there were maybe one or two teachers outside but students went out, played their games and when the bell rang, simply finished and came back in. Lunch is a community event with students serving eachother, no one rushing to eat first, but all wait for everyone to be served and then eat together. They clean the school because it is their community and they are responsible for it. As students grow up that sense of responsibility grows and teachers see their role to offer information and knowledge but it is the students responsibility to take it and run with it. Many great things to think about but a child's drawing has the same power and excitement, no matter what country you are in!

Middle School visit

2006-10-13T14:46:00.000-07:00

My counter-part at the Eniwa Middle School.

I presented letters written my the 7th graders in Swampscott to the principal to share with his students. Our hope is that they will read the letters and write back.

Students change from their street shoes to their school shoes when entering the building. We wore slipper all day. All you need is your bathrobe and it would be a pretty comfortable way to go to work each day!

Student art work.

The Drama Club having some fun!

Not your average High School

2006-10-13T05:21:00.000-07:00

Today was out visit to the high school. This school has a regular course program in addition to a Physical Education program. The P.E. program focuses on both traditional physical activities like judo in addition to track and field.

They also have a program which is the traditional sword fighting.

We ended our day with closing comments by the Principal and we were presented with a gift of the traditional Japanese hand towel that had the school name on it, in addition to keychains and pins.

After the school visit I went off to visit a gallery that had the work of a printmaker whose work I saw at the elementary School. It is normal in Japan that if you ask a Japanese person a question and they do not know the answer, they will jump through hoops to get you the information. This was the case when I asked about the prints I saw at the school. The Assistant Principal got me the artist name and the gallery in Eniwa that showed his work. He called the gallery and they were willing to come and pick me up to see the art work. I declined the pick-up but went after our school visit today. We were warned when we have our family stay this weekend not to say we like something in our host families home because they will give it to you. Well the person I was with and I both made a comment about some paper lanterns made with one of the artist's prints on rice paper. Well, we ended up walking out of the gallery with the lanterns as a gifts! Of course we had to buy something then, but I found three very nice prints I liked and a calendar with the artist work on it.

Part II More Pictures from the Elementary School

2006-10-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

A student's drawing of the school.

Fun at recess on a unicycle!

Students serving lunch in the classroom.

Japanese writing in Japanese class.

Our group along with the Principal, Assistant Principal and Curriculum Teachers at the end of the day.

A Highlight of the trip! Part I

2006-10-12T15:05:00.000-07:00

We spent our day on Thursday at the Eniwa City Shimamatsu Elementary School. The school has been around for 118 years but just moved into a new school building in December.

We started the day by standing outside of the school and greeting the children as they arrived at school. Many yelled hi to us, something they had learned in their language class, while others looked scared and feared American had invaded Japan and not to sure how to take all of us foreign people yelling foreign words at them!

It seems to be the universal role of the principal to stand outside at the start of the day to play crossing guard and to greet students. I want to get one of those flags for when I stand outside!

Teachers in Japan do not have a desk in the classroom. Instead they have a teacher's room where each teacher has their desk. In the front of the room is the Assistant Principal, and in some places the Principals desk so they can sit and watch over the activity of the Teacher's Room. Sandy- we are moving your desk! Not sure how that would go over with Teachers at my school.

Of course the highlight of the day was the students. In Japan you are called by your last name. Your first name is only used by family and close friends. Wat-Ta-Son, as I was called by the students I had lunch with was a big hit! I even played soccer and scored two goals! I have pictures for those who don't believe it!

For those who really know me!

2006-10-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I found one!!!

Interesting Dinner

2006-10-10T14:24:00.000-07:00

Monday evening I went out with a few members of our group for a Japanese Pizza. This is not a pizza like we in the states know- First of all, you make the pizza at your table. You sit around a table with a grill in the middle of it. Once you select what type of pizza you would like, a bowl with the ingredients is brought to your table. You oil up the grill and begin by cooking your meat and vegetables. Remaining in the bowl is egg (what?? egg in pizza!!)cabbage, wheat flour and other vegetables such as chives or leeks. You stir the bowl mixture together and pour it over the meat on the grill. Now, you begin to cook it like a pancake, flip it and when it is done you cover it with a brown sauce and drizzle a mayo type sauce on top of that. You slice it and leave the remaining food on the grill to keep warm as you eat. We were lucky and had a family in the table next to us to watch and learn from.

Watch out Rachel Ray- this meal took way less then 30 minutes!

The finished meal!

Day One in Eniwa City

2006-10-09T15:43:00.000-07:00

We are now in Eniwa City where we will spend time in schools and learning about the community. Our day started with a tour of the Hokkaido Sapporo Beer Factory. It is a holiday here so the factory was closed of workers and just giving tours.

Next we visited a world famous Black Smith. His name was Myochin-san. He learned the trade form his great grandfather and now has his own son and grandson working with him. He makes tools and blades by hand in the historically correct manner. His great grandfather was made Samurai swords for the most important Samurai in Japan. After a demonstration of hand forging he presented each of us with a miniature horseshoe he made for good luck and good fortune.

Lunch was great! We had a Binto Boxed lunch. These are boxes with different sections that hold dishes with different types of food in them. The boxes we had were much fancier and would be used more for the intermission meal at the theatre.

The afternoon we enjoyed several cultural activities. The first was a wonderful performance on the traditional Japanese Harp. First two of the teachers played and then four of her students performed. The students were great and then spent time teaching us.

We also enjoyed the art of origami,
and calligraphy.

Hiroshima Part III

2006-10-09T01:12:00.000-07:00

On the morning of August 6, 1945, early in the morning, three planes flew over Hiroshima. Their mission was to check the weather conditions of the day to insure that the event that would happen next could be filmed and observed.

At 8:13 a.m. planes flew over Hiroshima a second time. This time the second plane dropped the first atomic weapon ever to be used in the history of mankind. The v marking of a bridge across the river was the target mark a few blocks away from a military headquarters office.

The Children's Peace Memorial is dedicated to Sadako and her story of the 1,000 Cranes.
The Peace Museum

And a quick dinner at guess where???? as we caught our train back to Tokyo.

Hiroshima Part II

2006-10-08T16:37:00.000-07:00

Miyajima
Our tour of Hiroshima started with a visit to the Hiroshima Castle. The original castle was destroyed in the blast and this model was re-build out of concrete.
The forest around the castle was considered a national treasure but after the blast, and wood that remained was used to rebuild and to burn to create salt. Salt was a leading industry after the war, salt water was dried out and the remaining salt was then roasted over wood fires.

Our bus then took us to Miyajima. Here the Itsukushima Shrine and O-Torli Gate are. First built in the latter half of the sixth century, Itsukushima Shrine was remodeled into the present beautiful structure by Taria-no-Kiyomori in 1168. Standing in the sea, it is widely known for its grand and unique construction. The sublime and gorgeous appearance displays the artistic beauty of the shrine style of architecture.

The island is over run with deer and as soon as you get off the ferry you are attacked by the deer looking for food!

Hiroshima Part I

2006-10-08T03:41:00.000-07:00

I decided when I found out that I was going on this trip that I wanted to visit Hiroshima. I have tought the Facing History and Ourselves Curriculum when I worked in Concond have found visiting the sights connected to that time in our history very moving. I was able to visit one of the camps in Germany last year when I was there with my sister and it semed a good opportunity to see another part of that war. I found train and tour information on the web along with a hotel. The hotel was only $35.00 for the night. I have leanred since booking this hotel that in Japan they do have hotels that rent by the hour for people the enjoy. My greatest fear, since the trip was now up to 11 of us and everyone booked a room based on my recommendation, that we were all going to end up in one such hotel. It was not the case but was a very nice Japanese business class hotel.

After a very good nights sleep I was wide awake at 6:30 and ready to go exlplore the city. Our tour was set to begin at 10:45 so I had a couple of hours to go out and look around and feel apart of the culture. My real quest was to find a Starbucks, or at the least a good place to get a decent cup of coffee. I walked the river and I found this wonderful market area with great fruit and fish stands.

The William Sonnoma of Japan!

Fresh fish of all types.

I do mean ALL types of fish!

The Bullet Train Ride to Hiroshima

2006-10-08T03:09:00.000-07:00

Friday evening, in the midst of the Typhoon storm, we ventured out to begin out trip to Hiroshima. The day began by adding a layer of depth to this trip when I had the honor to hear the first hand account of on survivor and two second generation survivors. They gave such moving accounts and brought to life the horror of that day on August 6, 1945 at 8:13 a.m.

The afternoon gave a lighter tone to the day with a workshop on Art Education in Japan. Like the US, art is very under funded in the schools and students are not exposed to much. The presenter of the workshop is the director of the Toy Museum and we had several hands on activities which included making two ancient toys out of paper- it will be fun to make both of these things with students when I return.

The bullet train was great! We had to go down to Hiroshima 1st class because there were not other seats. Tough life! It is a holiday weekend here so we were told everyone is leaving Tokyo- it is true- it was very crowded but our seats were reserved and comfortable and I enjoyed the ride. We found our hotel and Friday ended with the best night's sleep so far on this trip.

A Raining Monsoon Kind of Day

2006-10-06T00:59:00.000-07:00

Hi! Just a quick update- getting ready to catch the bullet train to Hiroshima. We had an outstanding opportunity this morning to hear from a survivor from Hiroshima and two second generation women whose fathers lived through the bombing. What a moving story each of them told and gave such depth of meaning to this trip I am about to take.

We are also experiencing the effects of a monsoon storm which is west of Tokyo. It has been raining all day with high winds. Hopefully it will clear off by the morning in the south we I am headed.

These photos are of the koy fish in the pond in the beautiful Japanese Garden at the hotel and a display of Japanese flower arranging.

Out and About in Tokyo

2006-10-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

This morning brought a chance for us to tour part of the city. We started at The National Diet of Japan. No, it is not Weight Watchers Central- It is the Japanese House of Representatives. As we waited for the tour, we waited in line with hundreds of school children who love to have their pictures taken by Americans. They smile and give the peace symbol.

The fun started as we left the Diet Building and headed to Asakusa Kannon Temple. This is a Buddhist Temple and was a really nice and calming experience and place to visit. Steeped in history, tradition and culture, it is also somewhat commercial selling things like fortunes and charms. You have your fortune read by shaking a tube shaped metal tube filled with thin wooden sticks. You shake one out and match the symbol on your stick to a drawer, open the drawer and take out a fortune. Mine was a good fortune! If you get a bad fortune, you then go and tie it to these strings around the temple and that takes away the bad fortune.

Lunch was to be as a group in a restaurant in the area. I decided that I ate with Americans all the time and wanted to experience the area, people watch and try a noodle bar. I ventured down a little side street close to the Temple, found this great little place where I was the only American and enjoyed a great bowl of noodles, mushrooms, seaweed and onion in fish broth and this great bread that had a sweet coating but melted in your mouth as you ate it. It was great to sit and enjoy the food and watch the Japanese people eating there, as they watched the American eating there!

An afternoon of Kabuki

2006-10-05T05:00:00.000-07:00

We had the honor of having performers from one of the Kabuki Theatres speak with us today. Not only did they speak, but one of the dancers showed us the process for putting on her make-up and kamono. They then performed for us. The evening brought our first chance to get out into the city, although it was a little late so I went with a small group and just walked around the area close to the hotel. One full day in Japan has come and gone.

First views of Tokyo

2006-10-03T14:14:00.000-07:00

Ohayo gozaimasu (Good morning)
After ten hours flying over the ocean, we safely landed in Tokyo. We made it through customs and boarded our buses to take us to the hotel. It was cloudy and mostly highway roads but I was able to begin to get a sense of the large size of Tokyo. It is hard to believe we are here.

The hotel is wonderful and my room over-looks the Japanese garden with the city skyline behind it.

My first night on the town was with a small group of fellow educators and Tomiyoshi Ogawa, a Director with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. He is also a former Fulbrighter. He and his wife took us to a very traditional Japanese restaurant. We allowed them to order a wide sampling of food which included raw fish, tofu, a noodle dish, shusi and a small sampling of sweets. Everything was wonderful and tasted so fresh. Seems like eating here will not be a problem.

24 Hours and Counting

2006-09-30T07:04:00.000-07:00

I am down to 24 hours and counting before I leave on the big adventure! I have my boarding pass for the flight from Boston to San Francisco which leaves on Sunday morning at 8:24. In San Francisco I will meet the other 200 educators going and the 19 other people who will travel to Eniwa with me. I leave Monday morning at 11:33 for Tokyo and arrive Tuesday at 2:10 p.m.

For the students in Swmapscott- What line will my plane cross that will make it so I leave San Francisco on Monday morning and arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon? If it is 2:10 on Tuesday afternoon when I land in Japan- what time will it be in Swamspcott?

What time is it in Tokyo????

2006-09-25T18:31:00.000-07:00

I received my flight information today. The flight to Tokyo is a long one. We leave San Francisco on Monday morning at 11:30 and arrive in Tokyo on Tuesday afternoon at 2:10. So the flight is about 14 hours. Long flight!

Tokyo

So here is the plan!

2006-09-24T05:23:00.000-07:00

One week from today the adventure begins. I will fly from Boston MA to San Francisco CA. I will meet up with 199 other educators who will also be making this trip. After an overnight in San Francisco and orientation, we head off to Tokyo on Monday, October 2, 2006. We will cross the international date line and so we will land in Tokyo on Tuesday, October 3, 2006.

The rest of the trip looks like this:

Tokyo- October 3-6

Hiroshima- October 6-7

October 8-16- Eniwa, Hokkaido

October 16-19- Tokyo

October 19- Return home