Friday, June 23, 2006: We went to Kesennuma Senior High School today. As I said before, high school is not mandatory, but 98% of Japanese children attend. Of those, 40% go to two year schools afterwards, 40% go on to four year universities, and 20% go on to work.

Two years ago, an all girls’ school merged with an all boys’ school. The girls came to the boys’ building. The girls had worn uniforms at their former school, the boys had not. So, the compromise was that the boys already at the school could continue to wear street clothes while the girls continued to wear uniforms. The 3rd year male students (seniors to us) were the only ones that are now left in the school without uniforms.

Students are supposed to wear an official school uniform to school and continue to wear it throughout the day. They are also not supposed to use cell phones in class. The paradox is that, if they do text during class or wear a t-shirt over their uniform, the teacher does not say anything.

There were 40+ students in every class. There were no behavior problems in any of the classes I observed. However, as I said there were students using their cell phones (not talking on them – just texting or playing games) and some were sleeping. Again, it seems that the culture does not include correcting the behavior of students that do not follow the rules.

As in junior high, all students are required to participate in an after school activity. These activities range from Judo to soccer to music to home economics. They stay after school anywhere from one to three hours. Some students live over one hour away by train – so they don’t get back home until 7:00 p.m. or after. They also have to participate in their club activities on Saturdays as well.

I was able to observe Japanese archery and Judo. In fact, my 16 year-old host sister came up to me at Judo class and introduced herself. She was so cute, she said, “you must be Elissa Banas.”

Teachers are required to advise an after school activity and they get paid very little extra for their time. Just as in the other two schools, all teachers are at school from 10-13 hours a day.

Thursday, June 22, 2006: Today we visited Shishiori Elementary School. Elementary schools in Japan do not have Pre-K or Kindergarten. They start with Grade 1 (age 6) and end in Grade 6 (age 11). This school was a public school, but they did not wear uniforms. I’m not sure why – I believe schools get to make this choice for themselves. Students get to school by 7:45 a.m. They walk on their own to school. The first through third graders do not participate in after school activities. Their release times are staggered, so the 1st graders get out at 1:30 p.m., the 2nd graders at 2:00 p.m., the 3rd graders at 2:30 p.m. School ends at 3:00 p.m. for the upper grades, but the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders MUST participate in after school activities. Therefore, they are at school until 5:00 p.m. or later everyday.

We arrived to an assembly in our honor. The children sang several songs for us. It took place in the gymnasium/auditorium. It is a beautiful building, built before WWII. However, it doesn't serve their purposes anymore and they are planning to knock it down when they have the funds to replace it.

We were able to walk around and observe classes. Each class had about 30 students in it. There were no discipline problems that I observed. We were then each assigned a class to sit with for an activity and lunch. I sat with the 1-2 class (first graders, second class). We made origami stars for the upcoming Star Festival. It was a lot of fun. Once we were done, the first graders all put on white hats and smocks. A bunch of them put on masks as well. About five or six of them went with the teacher to get food for the class. All of the students eat the school lunch. Today, it was soup and octopus balls. I helped the teacher and a few students serve the lunch to the other students. It was very good. The students were surprised that I could use chopsticks.

Many students also wanted our autographs again. A couple gave me back little sheets of paper with their signatures. It was very cute.

The students were very well behaved. After we were done, the students all had little cups filled with water and their toothbrushes. They brushed their teeth right at their desks (they did it to a tooth brushing song). Then, they cleaned up their room, brought back the bowls and plates, and put their room back together again. At the end of the day, the students cleaned their room, just as the junior high students did. We visited a home economics class that was an after school activity. The 4th through 6th graders were making crepes. We helped a little and were able to eat the fruits of the students’ labor. They were very good.

It really was amazing that they were given so much responsibility. Americans seem to “coddle” our children more. Little kids can do a lot more than we give them credit for in the States.

At the end of the day, we had an informative meeting with the faculty.

A great big "Yeah!" for my AP U.S. History students! Just a short off topic post. I received the grades for my AP US History students. All of the regular education students passed the exam. One received a 70%, three received between an 87% and 93% and seven had a 96% or above! Thanks for making me proud guys! Have a great summer and I'll see a few of you in IB History of the Americas in the Fall. Not all are pictured in the photo.

Today (Wednesday, June 21) we went on our first school observation - it was to the Kesennuma City Shishiori Junior High School.

The Junior High Schools in Japan are grades 7 to 9. When Junior High School ends, students do not have to go on to high school - the end of ninth grade is the end of compulsory education in Japan. However, over 95% of students go on to Senior High School.

The students all bring their lunches to school. A box lunch was brought for us and it was beautiful (see photo)!

The students were well behaved and we enjoyed our observations. Their days are VERY long. They arrive at school by 8:00 a.m. and do not go home until 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. All students must clean their school every day before the after school clubs begin. All students MUST participate in an after school club. Examples of clubs are soccer, judo, cooking, and music.

One of the most humorous things I saw was in English class. There were four pictures showing how Americans speak English. I've posted it here - you will get a kick out of it.

The other teachers and I felt like celebrities while we were at the school. Students kept running up to us, saying hello, asking for autographs and business cards. They were VERY cute!!!

It was a very long day for us - observing the classes - I can only imagine what it is like everyday for the students and the teachers. Teachers stay at school 12 hours a day regularly. They MUST run an after school club and they get very little for it.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006 continued....

After we went to a local Japanese Garden and we participated in a tea ceremony. Finally, we went to Iwaisaki. Iwaisaki is on the coast and is what is called a "blow hole." The surf hits the rocks in such a way that it makes a "blowing" sound and shoots water up in the air (very much like a whale's blow hole).

We returned to the hotel after our tour and got ready for a reception that the City of Kesennuma was holding in our honor. The Mayor, Superintendent, principals of the three schools we will be visiting, and our host families were all there. I spoke on behalf of our group.

I had the first few sentences translated in advance and I delivered them phonetically in Japanese. I then switched to English for the rest of the speech. I pointed out at the end of my speech that it was a special honor for me to visit the country that was so changed by a fellow Buffaloian. If you don't remember, U.S. President Millard Fillmore (originally from Buffalo) sent Commodore Perry to Japan. Perry arrived in Japan in 1853 with the "black ships." Fillmore's actions resulted in the end of the feudal system and the beginning of modernization in Japan (the Meiji Restoration).

My speech seemed to be understood and well received. More importantly, I was happy with how it went.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006. We left this morning to meet with the Mayor of Kesennuma City and the Superintendent of the Kesennuma City Board of Education. We were given gifts by the city in the form of a local, traditional kite.

It was a very formal meeting and ceremony. The local television and newspapers were there covering the meeting. (We ended up in the newspaper and on the local news that night and the next day.)

After, we went to the top of a nearby mountain and looked down at the City of Kesennuma. We then went to the Shark Museum (only museum in the country dedicated to sharks) and the ice museum. The ice museum consisted of sea creatures frozen in ice. Everyone else wore the heavy coats the museum provided because it was -20 degrees celsius in it. I didn't wear a coat and was very comfortable for the few minutes I was in there. Buffaloians are hardy souls!

June 19, 2006 - We left our hotel in Sendai Monday morning for the Miyagi University of Education. We met with some of the faculty of the University. It's a small university where people go to become teachers.

There were some interesting things I found out. First, in the public schools teachers do not stay in a school more than seven years. They then move to another school in the area. There are two main reasons for this. First, it helps to stop teacher complacency. Second, it helps to equalize the instruction in the prefecture. If teachers move around, then there is not a concentration of too many good or too many bad teachers in any one school.

Another interesting thing is that all principals are in their 50s and they must mandatorily retire at age 60. During that ten (or shorter) year time period, a principal will move two to four times. They were shocked when I told them that Principal Kresse is no where near 50 years of age!

After our meeting, we headed to Matsushima - advertised as one of the three best sights in Japan. We went to Zuiganji, one of the most important Zen temples of the region. We also saw the beautiful coastline. The trees reminded me of the Redwoods in California. I found out they are related to them genetically!

If you'd like to know more about Matsushima, click here.


We headed to Kesennuma after that and arrived in the early evening.

Sunday morning (June 18) I got up early, finished packing, and then our group headed out to Tokyo Station to catch the Shinkansen to Sendai. Most of the staff of the Akasaka Prince came out to wave at us and say goodbye.

Once we arrived in Sendai, a bunch of us went out to explore the town. We went to Sendai Castle, which Date Masamune, the Shogun of the region, started building in 1600. I guess the castle was destroyed by air raid bombing during World War II, but the wall remains.

At the top of the hill there's a large statute of Date Masamune and well as great views of Sendai. We saw an incredibly huge statute across the valley. It turns out is an approximately 300 foot high Kanon statue. You can see my picture of it. If you want to see other pictures of it, look here.

When then headed out to another of Japan's National Treasures. More about that later.

OK, so now I'm up to Saturday, June 17, 2006. The sun rose as I awoke and I got a beautiful picture of it. A bunch of us met in the lobby at 5:00 a.m. so that we would have plenty of time to get to the train station and get on the 6:00 a.m. train to Kyoto. It was a very pleasant train ride and great company. The bullet train was VERY cool!

Once we arrived in Kyoto, I split off from the group and met Kozue Nagasaka. Kozue lived in Buffalo for six months and left the day before I found out I received this award. So, we never met while she was in Buffalo. Kozue was nice enough to take time out from her life to show me around. She even developed the following itinerary:

Welcome, Elissa!
Kyoto Cycling Tour
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Itinerary(tentative)

8:16 Meet Kozue at Kyoto station on the platform
Take a city bus to Kinkakuji (220 JPY)
9:00 Rent bikes (1,000 - 1,300JPY for one day)
Kinkaku-ji Temple (500 JPY)
10:00 Ryoan-ji Temple (500 JPY)
11:00 Leave northwest area and head for eastern area
11:30 Lunch at Homac de Paradis in Doshisha University
12:45 Ginkaku-ji Temple (500 JPY)
13:30 Walk down “Philosopher’s Walk”
13:45 Nanzen-ji Temple (have tea ceremony!?) (500 JPY)
15:00 pass through Big Shrine Gate of Heian Jingu Shrine
Kyoto Handicraft Center
16:00 Sanju-sangen-do (600 JPY)
17:00 Kiyomizu-dera Temple (300 JPY)
18:00 Leave Kiyomizu area
18:30 Return bikes near Nishiki market
19:00 Dinner at Mamecha (enjoy Kyoto style dinning)
20:30 Kodai-ji Temple (if possible) (600 JPY)
21:00 take a cab
21:30 Kyoto station
21:32 Leave for Tokyo by Train

We rode our bike's down the Philsopher's Path. It started pouring on the way from Nanzen-ji Temple to the Heian Jingu Shrine and the Kyoto Handicraft Center. I was soaked to the bone. Luckily, I have very fast drying clothes on for the trip.

While at Kodai-ji temple, I rang a bell in a shrine dedicated to the safety of children (and wished that for my own).

I'm going to post just a few of the great sites I saw in Kyoto right now - to give you a taste of its beauty.

At the end of the evening, we had a great meal at a typical Kyoto restaurant. I ended the day sore, but content and took the last train back to Tokyo.

Just one other thing. I wanted to make a comment on just how important it is to prepare. You can see from the top picture how prepared I was for the trip. I bought a laptop back pack for the trip. I knew it was the rainy season, so I was lucky to find one with a rain cover. I also brought a light weight umbrella. Finally, I improvised and used a bag to cover my camera waist bag. I got wet (riding the bike) but my important belongings were safe and dry! I also knew it might rain, so I wore fast drying clothes.

Remember kids, preparation makes for a smooth trip! :-)

Before I left for the trip, I contacted Mr. Oka. Mr. Oka is a tour guide in Tokyo and was highly recommended by several of the books and magazines I read. I knew that we had limited time in Tokyo, and I wanted to see areas that I would not otherwise see. So, I arranged for a tour. I let other JFMFers know about it and took the first 14 that signed up (in fact, I had to say no to several people).

Mr. Oka took us to the grounds of Tokyo University, the most prestigious university in Japan. We then went to the Yanaka area of Tokyo.

The Yanaka area is a historical part of Tokyo, developed as a temple town in the Edo period (1603-1867). Prominent temples like the Tenouji and the Kaneiji were founded and still exist in the area. In the past people living all over the Edo (the former name of Tokyo) used to visit Yanaka for worship and for sightseeing.

The neighbourhoods of Yanaka still retain the charm and warmth of the past with many historical, in traditional style, buildings, some of which are very small. There are a number of very beautiful small temples.

It survived the fire bombings of Tokyo during World War II.

Toward the end of the tour, Mr. Oka took us to Ginza for a look around. We ended the evening in a beer hall that was built in the 1920s. It was very Art Deco on the inside. I had Japanese beer, sausage, and sauerkraut.

It was a great tour and I and other teachers really enjoyed it.