Jeff In Japan

Enjoy the pictures guys (and gals) – I promised shoutouts and here they are. You are now all internet famous! Next posts will be from Soka city – where I will be getting into the schools and meeting with teachers and students… (And in case you are wondering, Soka is a suburb of Tokyo – think of it like how White Plains is a suburb of New York City).

Thought some of my new students might be curious to see my old students (from last year)… just a mood lightener – last few entries have been pretty serious.

Kayla & Brittany

Alma

“The wall at Fukuromachi Elementary School was blackened by fire. Teachers and pupils wrote messages regarding their whereabouts on the wall with chalk. Around the city similar messages were posted regarding the survival or death of family members and the whereabouts of survivors. Those walking the city searching relief stations for family and friends looked for messages like these.” I couldn’t help but think about 9/11 and all the boards and posters that went up right after the tragedy. Isn’t it amazing how the more we change and grow and develop… some things remain the same? What do you think?

Here you can see the Peace Park and Museum in Hiroshima. Both are quite beautiful. It is hard to realize the unimaginable horror that took place on this spot when you are surrounded by tranquility of this sort…

Ten years after the atomic bomb exploded over Hiroshima, a young girl named Sadako developed Lukemia. She was 12 years old. She was taken to the hospital, but the doctors told her that she would die very soon. While Sadako was sad, she refused to believe that she would die – she was determined to live. There is a Japanese legend that if you fold 1,000 cranes out of paper, you will be granted whatever you wish for. Sadako folded over 1,200 cranes – her wish was that she would live. Sadly, 8 months after she went to the hospital, she died. Another victim of the a-bomb (ten years later). Her classmates were so saddened by her death that they decided to collect money to build a monument in her honor. These are pictures of that monument. Students and people from all over the world send paper cranes to Hiroshima and they are added to the monument. Perhaps DY Prep could add some cranes to the monument? What do you think?

In these pictures you can see the “Atomic Dome” – this is a building that “survived” the bombing of Hiroshima. Everyone inside was killed instantly, but enough of the structure of the building survived for it not to collapes or be torn down. There was a lot of controversy over what to do with the building, but it was decided that it should stand – as is – a testament to what happened in Hiroshima. It is very powerful to see this building for real and know that it looks the way it does because it was exposed to a nuclear explosion.

That’s a sign we don’t see too often in NY!

Here you can see a Budhist Temple and some of the differences between a Budhist Temple and a Shinto Temple. I won’t pretend to be an expert on this subject, but the way it was explained to me was that Shintoism is for this life – it helps you live; while Budhism (which believes in reincarnation) prepares you for the next life. If any students would like to have a paper ready for me when I return explaining the differences between Shintoism and Budhism – I might be willing to ignore what Mr. Rhoderick tells me about your performance while I was gone (are you reading this Samantha?)…

I know I already showed you one of these at Asakusa – but this one struck me as particularly beautiful. Also, it is very rare to see Shinto & Budhist temples near each other like we did on Miajima Island.

(I think this is my favorite picture so far).

As you can see… stay away from the ones with antlers. One did take a bite out of a plastic bag I was carrying (there was a wrapper from a cookie I had eaten in there – big mistake)… Otherwise they were quite friendly.