At the bookstore
I love going to book shops here, if not just to look at the covers, which is about all I can do really.
Japanese books are extremely well-crafted, though. Pick up one and the quality is fantastic and far better printing, paper, and binding than what I’ve seen in the states. Paperbacks, in general, are also much smaller and compact. My guess would be that they’re made to fit in bags and backpacks, as a lot of reading happens on trains and in transit here.
These books are based on game called ICO, which involves you playing the role of a body guiding a princess (who doesn’t speak your language) through a dangerous castle. The cover design is pretty clever!
these kids are organized like woah
The yearly school festival is swiftly approaching, which I will surely be posting more about. Sakura Middle has been preparing diligently the past few weeks. This is a daily chart of all the different committees and what they’re doing for the day. All of the prep happens after classes, and goes well into the evening.
The amazing thing though, is that while this is guided by the teachers, it’s the students that put this thing together. They organize each other, they plan out what needs to get done and how it needs to get done, organize their peers, and do it! This board? Students did it. All the decorations, signs, events — all put together by the students. The level of ownership the kids have in this is pretty awesome. It is their festival. They make it awesome or they make it suck. Mine are probably going to make it awesome.
傘 / Umbrellas
That’s such a great kanji, isn’t it? There are a lot of discarded umbrellas in Japan. It is possible that Japan has the largest number of orphaned umbrellas per capita.
This one was found discarded alongside a country road north east of Akita City. かわいそだな。
Elementary school kids are the best artists
I love Elementary School in Japan. It’s a fascinating polar opposite to middle school here. I’m no expert on this, but I feel like the Elementary School years here are focused on helping children cultivate their individuality, while the Middle School years focus on forming them into a functioning member of society. I don’t mean this in any kind of derogatory way either, they just seem to be distinct social decisions that lead to a desired outcome. In the states we try to guide our kids into becoming civil, compassionate, contributing human beings. It’s the same here, though the Japanese vision of a healthy member of society is a little different than ours maybe? Anyway, this vision permeates everyone done in those buildings — how discipline is done, how students move through the spaces, how they use their time, and how they are listened and responded to.
You find a lot of really awesome art around Elementary School buildings too, and dang these kids are good with media. At the start of the year each kid in the class made these awesome facsimile paper faces and put them up on a banner in the front of the room. I can’t read what the motto below it says, but I love that giant “YES!”
I saw this rock on a mountain top
The final trek to the summit of Mt. Chokai involves navigating around a whole bunch of rocks. On one of those rocks, on this mountain in Japan, I found this English phrase. What would you write on the top of a mountain?
I don’t know who put it here, but when I saw it, it made a whole lot of sense. As in, when one goes through the experience of climbing a mountain, summiting, and looking out on what they came from in their temporary paradise, I think this thought is pretty much the most natural thing that could occur in anyone’s mind. I did not climb this mountain thinking ‘may peace prevail on earth’, but think the sort of person that would climb a mountain is already living with that prayer written on their heart. So when I found this, it resonated easily with my soul and kind of lightened my load a bit. Whether I’m making sense or not, I don’t know. Regardless, I’m pretty glad this person decided to write these words on a rock on this mountain.
