Pdevine’s Weblog

Well, before we get to the proper tourism, we have to reflect on the morning – a question and answer period with five mothers from the PTA (one of whom had spent a year in Kansas during high school).  Here are the highlights:

• Two mothers had 2 children, one three, and two four – an unusually large number.
• They have recently had a problem with men trying to lure children into their car, so now the older children are equipped with crime-prevention bells
• Some of the classes have 40 students a few have only 20 – and they are under pressure to close.  The mothers thought 40 was way too many.
• The PTA in Japan operates in about the same way as in Maine.
• Observation Day (one day a year) is basically the only time parents are welcome in the school due to security.
• Only 2 of th 5 mothers work outside the home.  In 75% of cases mothers stay home with children until 3rd grade – then may work part time.  Often grandparents help with child care.  The school sponsors an after-school program through third grade until 6:00PM.
• Students begin dating 1-1 in about 10th grade.  Sex education starts in 5th grade.  Teenage Pregnancy is very rare, and if it occurs, everything is kept very quiet.  According to these parents, Japanese teenagers are much less focused on boy-girl stuff than in US.  we’ll checkit out with the students.
• Truancy is a problem
• Pressure to prepare for exams is a problem.  Many students feel they need to attend cram schools after regular school.  The purpose is to do just what the name says – cram a bunch of meaningless facts into your head just long enough to spit it back out for the exam.
• They are trying something that sounded like alternative programming for repetitive truancy.
• As in the US some parents are very vocal in a complaining way – which these mothers thought was inappropriate.

After a take-out traditional Japense box lunch,

Japanese box lunch

we moved on and acted like tourists for the afternoon, visiting the Kofuku Temple of the four heavenly kings (Buddhist guardian deities) from 800 years ago,

Shrine of the Imperial Budda

The world’s longest ascending kiln.  “14 hundred thousand cups are fired at a time”.  It takes 4 days to fire the kiln, 15 workers to tend the fire, and seven days to cool the kiln off.  They fire this kiln only about once a year.

Kiln

The Giant Camphor Tree of Takeo – the 7th largest tree in Japan, it is more than 300 years old.  As you may be able to se, the main trunk is hollow and the heavenly gods are worshiped inside the tree……and becuase it is a special thing, there is a shrine and gates built to honor the tree.  I could easily walk around inside the trunk – probably 30 people could fit inside easily……..that’s why they call it giant.

Camphor Tree

Along the tourist way, several of us found a poster advertising some kind of festival…….tonight – about ten minutes away – it was a no brainer seven of us wanted to go!  So we did……and it was awesome.  There were boots selling everything from fried squid to roasted chestnuts to chocolate-covered bananas to refried beans in a biscuit-kind of thing to fruit crepes to free vegetable soup, to free sake in bamboo cups and roasted corn on the cob.  There was a small stage set up with wooden planks layed on plastic milk crates with school performances, a Kareoke competition, a rock/paper/scissors elimination tournament for the audience (won by one of the JFMF teachers (prize of some frozen fish steaks)) and topped off by a Japanese drum performing group that easily matched anything we might see at the American Folk Festival…….they were  good.  The whole thing was very local and put on by something like the local Kiwanis group.  It reminded me of Dexter Days as much as anything……a real cultural find.

Chocolate Covered Bananas

Festival Stage

Several of us are getting up at five to climb a rock outcrop overlooking the city before heading off to the elementary school.  Wish us luck!  The adventure just got a little real!