japanese school!

I went to two different schools in Mishima, Nichidai high school, and Nishikida middle school. In Japan, middle school is 7th-9th, and high school is 10th-12th. Nichidai is actually the biggest college in Japan (Nichidai is short for Nihon Daigaku, meaning University of Japan. It becomes shortened to Nidai, but that doesn't sound natural, so they add a letter and it becomes Nichidai), based out of Tokyo, but with campuses all over Japan. I went to a private high school in Mishima that was operated by Nichidai college and shares a campus with the branch of Nichidai that's in Mishima.

There were a ton of similarities between Japanese schools and American schools, but also a ton of differences. They have strict dress codes, including a uniform, a ban on ear rings, dyed hair, and certain hair styles for guys. Interestingly enough, face masks are not banned. A couple girls in my class at Nichidai had face masks with the phrase "120F****!" written on them- without the censoring! They explained to me it was the name of their pop band. 120 for their class- 1:20, or first grade, 20th class, and the other word because.... well, honestly I didn't understand what they meant when they explained it to me, but I think it had to do with it being an american swear word that they could wear on masks and teachers wouldn't be able to tell them to remove it during class. Also, for the most part, in Japanese school, the students stay in the same classroom all day and teachers come to them.


me and my class at nichidai


me and mr. suzuki (teacher of the 2-4 class at nishikida)


me and the goofballs of 2-4 at nishikida (not sure why that guys pants are in the process of being removed)


me and the girls of 2-4


the whole class of 2-4!

arriving in mishima

we left on monday for mishima by bullet train. I'm pretty sure that the bullet train is the fastest method of land transportation. every time I've ridden on one my ears pop from going so fast. we were greeted at the station in mishima by host families, members of the pta, and mr. suzuki, the principal of saka elementary. they took us to saka where we had a school lunch in the library and were then escorted to our separate classes. since I would be attending another school, the first day at saka elementary I ended up going to the 6th grade class with sara.




figuring out the japanese custom of indoor/outdoor shoes


the guy holding the camera is the father of daichi, a saka student who came to raleigh in march. the father volunteered a lot for the pta, and helped us out a lot in mishima. he was a super awesome guy, and I had a few chances to have conversations with him. even though I'm still learning japanese, he was always eager to talk with me. he drove us around, helped us get settled, and was simply there whenever you needed him. there were a ton of people at saka and in japan like this, and we're really indebted to them!

in particular, I was very impressed with the principals of every school I went to in japan. mr. suzuki (principal of saka), the assistant principal of saka, and the principal of nishikida-chū were all super friendly, and all went way out of their way to help us. mr. suzuki and I were pretty close already because he stayed at my house for a week in March, and the principal of nishikida was the principal of Saka when I came to mishima 6 years ago. I was called down to the principlals office atnishikida during class one day, which in an american school would be a pretty bad thing. We ended up drinking green-tea, talking about japanese culture, and looking at photos from my previous trip. he showed me pictures of all the students from saka from 6 years ago, and then told me what high school they went to now and what they were up to.

I think that american principals should take a nod from the japanese (though not all american principles need this, obviously) and actually interact with students! in the 5 years dr. cochran has been my principal (2 at ligon, 3 at enloe) I've never spoken to her, I've only actually seen her a handful of times, and I'm positive she has no idea who I am. the only time she's communicated with me has been through automated phone calls home and mass-letters sent out to every student. being treated so well in mishima was truly a luxury for me and something I won't ever forget.

last day in tokyo, pt 2

after going to the top of tokyo we went to get a bite to eat. we ended up eating at an italian place which was pretty impressive.


a plastic food display commonly seen outside of restaurants. I think this was for korean food...

after that we went to the NHK (Nippon Hoso Kyokai, Japan Broadcasting Company) studio. It's Japans largest public network, and what I watched most of the time while in Japan. They have a wide range of programing, and I believe they are showing FIFA right now.


janie and jordan had a chance to do a simulation news broadcast

shots from the tokyo metropolitan government building

After leaving the department stores in Tokyo, we went to the tokyo metropolitan government building, the tallest building in Tokyo. Tokyo is the largest city in the world. From the tallest building in Tokyo the cityscape reminded me of the ocean, stretching out for as far as the eye could see. It was very interesting for me to be there and at the same time be reading Edward Abbey's "The Monkey Wrench Gang", a story of a small group defending the environment against industrialized destruction. Whether you look at this limitless city as environmental destruction, a testament to human capabilities, or something in between, it is really the only place in the world like it.

last day in tokyo

On our last day in Tokyo we went to the Ghibli Museum. I'm a pretty big fan of Miyazaki's work, so even though the museum was designed for a little younger age, I was still pretty captivated. They had a ton of sketches and intresting movie artifacts, as well as interactive games and movies.


it's a little hard to see, but here's a video of a really cool Totoro display. It is made up of little action figures, all in different positions. When the machine starts, it spins them and turns on a strobe light, so they look like they're dancing. (edit: it looks like blogger compressed my video even more... try watching it full screen and you might be able to make out whats going on.)


japanese boy scouts outside of the museum



I was interested as to what kind of school this was

after that, we went to downtown Tokyo to change travelers checks to Yen and hang out for a bit before our next plans. We first went to a department store. Department stores (or in Japanese
"デパト" or "Depato") tend to usually be anywhere from 6 to 14 stories tall, usually with fancy restaurants on the top floors. In the basement of the one we had gone into, there was a big Organic wood expo going on. It was a whole bunch of different vendors who were selling their goods, which ranged from drums and flutes to sandals to wooden blocks, all made from organic wood.


building with the blocks

Happy Fathers Day

Happy Fathers Day (Summer Solstice?)- From me and my drunk host father who made me take this picture with him!

June 13-15 Summary

Sorry for the lack of posts! It's been a hectic couple of days. Between trying to find wi-fi, the appropriate jack for my laptop, and time between Japanese school, spending time with my host family, and internet summer school for american classes, it's been a bit tedious to find time to post...

don't worry though, I think I'm starting to figure out when I have free time to do this. I've not taken many pictures, and what I have taken I haven't uploaded yet.

I'll do a short recap of the last couple days and then maybe extended posts later:

Sunday we went to the Ghibli (Miyazaki- Totoro, Kikis Delivery Service, Ponyo, Princess Mononoke, Spirted Away, etc... the Japanese Walt Disney) museum which was awesome and とてもかわいいです！We then went to NHK (Japanese Public TV) studio and did a short tour. We went back to the Olympic Village and did a home stay orientation.

On monday we got up and packed, and then went to travel by Shikannsen (Bullet Train) to Mishima-Shi. We were greeted by Mr. Suzuki (こちょせんせい- Principle) and parents of the exchange students who came to Raleigh last spring. They took us to Saka Elementary where we had school lunch in the library. Students from separate classes then came down and took us to their classes where we socialized with other students, studied, and played games. We then met our host families and went to their houses.

Because I'm staying with a high schooler, I haven't been to Saka Elementary since, but I assume everyone is doing well and having a great time!

Last night my host family took me to a Sushi bar with a Sushi conveyor which was a first for me.
Today I went to a middle school and had a blast! The kids there were all very kind and VERY excited to talk to an american. I went to diffrent classes and answered typical "American Questions". The students seemed to have an overall trend of asking the same questions, some of which were slightly bizarre for me, being an American.

I saw a lot of:
"What is your favorite Anime?"
"Do you have a girlfriend"
"Do you have a Gun/Pistol" (hmm... are americans internationaly known as handgun wielders?)
"What is your blood type"

Now I'm back at my host families house, alone. My host father is at work, mother is at a PTA meeting, daughter is studying, and my host brother was let out early for exams and is at the arcade with friends. They're getting back soon and we're having a dish that I only know that japanese name of. It's friend fish and pork over rice! おおいしですね！！！


I promise I'll try to post more and keep y'all updated!

June 12, Etc. pics

a guard helping us cross the street


beautiful sign outside emperors garden, unfortunately I can't read kanji!


first fixie I saw in Japan!


an 80's super hero, "breadman", standing outside a toy store


downtown tokyo is full of these

june 12, pt. 2

We were then taken to a restaurant hundreds of years old from the Edo period. It was in the same area of Tokyo that Sensei Johnson grew up in and served a type of food that I’ve never had before. The fish is served raw, but then “user” cooked over a small gas fire right on the table.


We then walked down the road to a small Taiko drum shop and museum. We got a chance to play on different percussion equipment such as congas, bongos, steel drums, snare drums, and the traditional Taiko drums.


After that we went to “日本のタイムズスックエア” (“Japans ‘Times Square‘“): Ginza Square. It is one of the biggest and most expensive shopping centers in the world. It gets so crowded that on weekend afternoons the streets get temporarily shutdown to cars in order for the dense population of people to get from building to building without being run-over. We went into the 8-story high Sony building where they were exhibiting many new technologies that have yet to be publicly released. The often made assumption that Japan is the worlds leader in technology could be proven true when looking around at the Sonybuilding. They offered plasma screen T.V.’s where, with a set of special glasses, programming could be viewed in 3-D. Not just pre-made 3-D movies, but ANY show being broadcasted. I got to watch a few minutes of the Uruguay soccer game with the players right at my fingertips. They also had some hip iPad rival units. While I’m not interested in an iPad at all, what Sony was working on seemed brilliant.




walking to ginza


look at all the people!

We were all pretty beat after that, and night had started falling, so we made one last stop before heading back to the dorms. We went by the Emperor of Japans house. It’s only open to the public twice a year (on his birthday and on new years), but you can still stand outside of it and take pictures of it and his garden from very, very far away.

So then we headed back to the dorms, stopping at the same noodle shop we stopped at the night before for dinner. It was a very fun and interesting day, but also very tiring.

June 12, pt.1

Our first full day in Japan!
We got up (No one has adjusted to the time change yet. I got up at 5 a.m. and couldn‘t fall back asleep, Larkin got up at 3 a.m.) and went to eat breakfast at the Olympic Centers cafeteria. They have a buffet breakfast, and so we all filled up on ごはん (rice)、えだまめ (edamame beans)、さかな (fish)、たまご (egg)、ソセジ (sausage)、みそ (miso soup)、＆　ポーテト (potatoes), a semi-hybrid of a western breakfast and a traditional japanese one. We then took the subway closer into downtown Tokyo. We did a bit of walking and got to a really cool garden. There are a few random gardens in the middle of downtown Tokyo which are all very beautiful architectural juxtapositions between the looming cityscape. A few personal favorites of the garden:



pine trees grown to look like bonsai trees


exotic plants (though the plant pictured actually grows in North Carolina!)


crows!

After the garden we made our way closer to the heart of Tokyo by boat. We passed by some buildings, and I was able to get a picture of the New Tokyo Tower that is still under construction.



We got off the boat, and walked to a giant shrine. I forget the name, but it’s very famous, and I was able to recognize it from pictures and movies when we got there. I tried asking around but only got very vague responses as to what denomination the shrine falls under. There were archways similar to those in Shinto shrines, but only Buddhists were allowed into the actual “sanctuary” part. Both religions cross-over in many different ways, so maybe this was why it was difficult for it to be categorized simply as “Shinto” or “Buddhist”.





cont...

day one, friday june 11

Wow! Sorry for no update until now, find Free Wi-Fi has been a little bit trickier than I thought it would. It’s currently 7:15 a.m., Saturday morning in Tokyo. I think that means it’s 6:15 p.m., Friday evening in North Carolina. I’m still not adjusted to the drastic time change yet, I’ve been up for 2 hours and I feel like it’s mid-afternoon.

We got to the airport very early in the morning on Thursday. Our flight to Chicago had some matanince issues and we ended up being delayed about an hour and a half. That wasn’t too bad though, and we were soon on our way. We met up with a representative from LaurAsian at the airport in Chicago who helped us find the electric train to the Japan Air terminal. He gave us some good advice on the way over to the terminal, such as “Don’t misplace your passport, that would be very bad”. We got through security pretty quickly, and relaxed and waited for our plane to Japan.



receiving helpful advice before stepping onto the terminal train

Having flown JAL twice before, I knew what to expect when getting onto the plane, but it was still pretty cool to see everyone else’s faces light up. The airline really makes it as enjoyable as a 12-hour plane ride can be. Flying economy class on JAL is kinda like flying first class on American Airlines. You have a pretty big seat, a personal T.V. which you can choose from a variety of movies (I watched the new Alice in Wonderland, and two Japanese movies I had never heard about.) and video games, and a radio with mostly J-Pop, Classical, and… Kraftwerk? The plane ride was still pretty arduous and we were all happy to get off. When we did, it was 2 p.m. Friday afternoon. We made it through Japanese customs and met up with two people from Laurasian who took group photos and helped us onto the tour bus that took us closer to downtown Tokyo, where the dorm rooms we are staying at now are. They’re part of the center that was built for Olympians when Japan hosted the Olympics in 1964. The facilities are nice but also very no-frills. Our room is a bed, a table & chair, and a window.


view from my dorm room bed

We ended up arriving here at around 5 p.m. and took an hour to get settled and then rest. After that, we walked about half a mile to eat at a noodle house that Sensei Johnson recommended. おいしかたね！ (“O-ey-shi ka-ta-nei”- It was very delicious). I ordered Tendon- fried peppers, eggplant, and shrimp over rice, which came with a side of Miso soup and salad.

We headed back to the dorms after our meal and ended up passing out shortly there after 8:00, putting an end to our first, very short, day in Japan.



taking an elevator at chicago o'hare airport


playin' around, waitin' for the plane to work


good morning tokyo

First post!

My name is Henry Shore, I'm a 17 year old student at Enloe High School from Raleigh, North Carolina. I'll be your humble narrator for this blog which I will be updating from Japan. I'm going with my sister's peers from Japanese class at Wiley Elementary. I took Japanese all 6 years when I went to Japan with Johnson Sensei. I'm hoping to have daily-ish updates with both English and Japanese text, pictures, and hopefully video documenting our stay there. We'll be flying out to Chicago tomorrow morning for our layover flight to Japan. We'll be arriving in Tokyo sometime tomorrow afternoon, Japan time. We'll be in Tokyo for a few days, in Mishima with host families for a little over a week, and then touring in other areas of Japan for a few days, but I'll write more about that when I'm actually there!

A little background on the name of the blog- Nippon (日本), is the Japanese word for Japan. I wanted to have a blog with alliteration in the title because of a friends blog about his time in New Orleans and Portland this summer. I tried a few different options ("Exploring the East", "Journey to Japan", "Assimilating Asian Artifacts") and although possibly brilliant, they were not very original and have been previously claimed.

I've also gotten Skype, my username is HenryShore. I'm not sure how talking to people in America will work out because of the time difference, but I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. Please feel free to add me and chat with me if I'm on.

I'm now off to bed, until next time:
おやすみなさい　！
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