Flags and Anthems

When we see our flag and sing our national anthem, “The Star Spangled Banner”, we cover our hearts with our hands. The Japanese follow the same tradition. They also cover their hearts when they see their flag, “Hinomaru”, and sing their national anthem.
Their flag is quite simple – even Ms. Gagnon and Ms. Nelson’s kindies could draw it! The red circle represents the sun. The Japanese call their flag “Hinomaru” which means “circle of the sun”. Back in ancient Japan they thought the sun rose in Japan first. This explains why Japan is often called Land of the Rising Sun!

(I promise I tried to figure out a way NOT to write the word sun four – and now five – times in one paragraph, but wasn’t able and still have it make sense…. Forgive me.)

Japan holds two world records for their national anthem, “Kimi Ga Yo.” First, they sing the oldest lyrics. They were written in the ninth century.


Here is the English Translation:
May my Lord's reign,
Continue for a thousand,
Eight thousand generations,
Until pebbles
Grow into boulders,
Covered in moss.

Pretty short, eh? Japan also holds the record for shortest national anthem!

To earn KenYen, click on the video below. You’ll see several pictures of Japan and hear the Japanese national anthem. Can you follow the phonetic Japanese with the singer?

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Smiles and Sembei

In fourth grade my parents and I went to Hawaii and stayed in a fancy-wancy hotel that had a Japanese garden with a large pond. There were fishing poles against the wall and the staff encouraged kids to “fish” for koi.
Check out these two pictures:
• The yellow arrow points to me. Yes. Once upon a time I was ten.
• The blue arrow points to the water where the koi swam (not ONE BIT interested in the corn on my hook).
• The orange arrow points to Mr. and Mrs. Takahashi (who happens to be standing behind the palm tree).
















The Takahashis were the first Japanese people I ever met. Mr. Takahashi took LOTS of pictures and we spent about 45 minutes fishing and getting to know each other. They showed me pictures of their granddaughter about my age.
There were two problems – They didn’t speak English. We didn’t speak Japanese.
This is what we did - We smiled a lot. We used hand gestures. We looked up words and phrases in a pocket dictionary Mrs. Takahashi had in her purse.

A few weeks after we returned from Hawaii a large, flat box arrived in the mail. It was addressed to me! It had AIRMAIL and FRAGILE stamped all over it. The return address was in Japanese characters. I carefully opened it to find a box of sembei, a crunchy Japanese snack. Yum!
There was a note inside – in Japanese.
I wrote a nice thank you note back – in English.

To earn some KenYen, record three or four ways you might make yourself understood to someone that doesn't speak English.

The Write Stuff

Yoo-hoo! Mrs. Tamayo! "Arrigato" for your help!
Mrs. Tamayo, our Speech Therapist, gave me a brief introduction to Japanese writing the other day. I want to share what I learned. I have to admit she needed to explain it to me several times. Japanese writing makes me a little dizzy.
I recommend that if you have the radio or TV on to turn it off. Go ahead. I’ll wait. You are going to need all of your brain power to concentrate on today’s lesson.
The Japanese use characters to write. The characters they use are made up of three separate systems. Yes. Three. (It makes me thankful for our 26 letters!)
• Kanji - Originally from China, these symbols on their own represent a thing or idea. Click here to learn more about Kanji.
• Hiragana – syllables that are the alphabet (like we have letters). They are put together to form Japanese words. Click here to see and hear Hiragana.
• Katakana – a different (and recently invented) system of alphabet-like syllables used for foreign words the Japanese have adopted. Click here to see and hear Katakana.
As you can see on this newspaper, Japanese writing can be done vertically or horizontally. I bet Mrs. Eversole would love this taiko drum! The Japanese admit that it takes a lot of time and effort to learn their way of writing. Children learn Kanji in school and by the time they reach middle school they can read and write over 1,000 characters.
On the right, the link Name Translator will allow you to see what your name looks like in Katakana. Copy it down to get KenYen.

Building Bridges

I'll admit it. I'm acrophobic. I have a fear of heights. Could I be gephyrophobic? I don't like bridges either. That is why you'll never catch me in Canyon City walking across the Royal Gorge Bridge, the world's highest suspension bridge. No thank you. I'll admire it from 1,053 feet below. In a raft. Relaxing on the Arkansas River.



In Japan, would I have the guts to cross the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge? Not only is it the world's longest suspension bridge, but it is the world's tallest suspension bridge too. (Oh my. My heart is racing.) This amazingly engineered bridge was built to withstand 180 mph winds and survive an 8.5 earthquake. All bridges expand and contract during the day due to temperature changes. The Akashi Kaikyō Bridge may expand 7 feet each day! It opened in 1998.

This bridge holds another world record. Click here to find out and and earn some KenYen.

How to Take a Bath

One thing I’ve learned during my travels is always ask questions! People take pride in explaining their traditions and doing a regular thing in a new way can be fun!
Long before I married Mr. Jim, my mother and I spent a few days in Tokyo, Japan. We visited friends and stayed at their house. I didn’t ask questions and ended up doing something really silly.

I took a bath.

Here is what I did:
• Hopped in the tub.
• Soaped myself up.
• Sang "I've Been Working on the Railroad" at the top of my lungs.
• Shampooed my hair.
• Slunk under the water.
• Wiggled around to get all the suds off.
• Hopped out of the tub
• Drained the tub.

That is officially the WRONG way to take a bath in Japan. I should have asked why there was a lid on the tub…..and why it was already filled with warm water…..

In Japan, the bathroom is separate from the rest of the ‘facilities’. It is a small room with a large, deep tub, and beside it a small stool, a wash bucket and a hand-held shower head. All soaping takes place outside of the tub. The tub is a place to relax. The tub water is kept very clean and used several times.

Here is the right way to take a bath in Japan:
• Lather up outside of the tub on the stool.
• Wash away the soap and shampoo using the hand-held shower head.
• Get in the tub. No soap allowed!
• Get down really deep so the water goes up to your neck
• Think peaceful, relaxing thoughts
• Do your best to look like the snow monkey in the last post.
• Get out of the tub
• DO NOT DRAIN THE TUB
• Go tell your brother it is his turn.

So, the moral of this story is: never be afraid to ask questions about differences in culture. Respect and appreciate those differences. (Some other time I’ll tell you the silly thing I did at the Japanese department store…)

Chillin' with the Japanese Snow Monkey

Have you seen this monkey carving before?
It’s based on the saying “See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil”. In Japan this is sometimes called the “Golden Rule”.
The monkeys are Japanese Macaques, also called Japanese Snow Monkeys and they are the most northern-living, non-human primate. Go ahead and take a moment. Digest that sentence.

Family troops of up to 100 of these monkeys live in the mountains of Japan. Since the mountains can be quite cold they grow very thick fur. They spend their days eats leaves, insects, tree bark and fruit.

There are a few ways this species of monkey and humans are similar:
• They wash their food
• They like to relax in hot springs and do what they can to stay warm (Check out the guy to the right. Way mellow...)
• Their voices take on different accents depending on which part of the country they live.
Watch this video to earn some KenYen. It features a Japanese Snow Monkey sanctuary. Where is it? Why are they there?

Mount Fuji: An Inspiration

I grew up with a copy of this Japanese wood cut hanging in our upstairs hallway. I really did! It was right next to the linen closet and I've always liked the colors. Although I'd stop to look when I'd get a fresh washcloth, I never thought that one day I would see this mountain in person. This painting shows Mount Fuji, the highest mountain in Japan - and their national symbol. It is the most frequently climbed mountain in the world. The mountain we look at everyday, Pikes Peak, comes in second! How cool is that?

Both Pikes Peak and Mount Fuji are cold at the top and covered in snow much of the year. In addition, each have been an inspiration to artists. Pikes Peak inspired Kathy Lee Bates to write "America the Beautiful". Mount Fuji inspired Japanese artist Hokusai to create a famous series of wood block prints called "36 Views of Mount Fuji". It shows the mountain in all seasons and all weather. Although you could ask Ms. Schwiegert if she has a in a book in the art room, you could click here to see them all. When you look at them, be sure to play "I Spy" with Mount Fuji - sometimes it is hard to find! Can you spy the print I grew up with?

Unlike our Pikes Peak, Mount Fuji is an active volcano. The last time it blew was almost 300 years ago, but recently scientists have heard more rumbling than normal. Who knows when it will explode again?!

Here's how to earn some KenYen....At 12,388 feet above sea level, Mount Fuji is a bit lower in elevation than Pikes Peak (14,110 above sea level) but Mount Fuji seems MUCH taller. Can you figure out why?
Here is some additional info to help you solve the mystery:
Monument altitude = around 7,000ft
Tokyo = basically sea level.

Japan: the highs and lows

Here is a shout out to Mrs. Kaler, Mr. Reed and Mrs. Kern. Thanks for teaching geography landforms! Fifth graders know the word archipelago. If you are not in fifth grade, listen up…. an archipelago is a chain or a cluster of islands.

Look to the map on the left. Do you think Japan is an archipelago? (Hint: the answer is the opposite of no.) Check out the different colors on the map. Yes, they are pretty, but those colors give us information about elevation. Living so close to the Mile High City of Denver, we know about elevation! The green areas are low elevation and the brown areas are high elevation. I see lots of brown - that means Japan has lots of mountains. Living at the base of the Rockies, we know about mountains! Japan’s mountains were formed by volcanoes. That explains the frequent earthquakes, relaxing hot springs and occasional tsunami.

Now check out Japan map under the Useful Links tab on the right. It will take you to Google maps. Play around with the tool bars. You can see the world in different formats as well as zoom in and out. Pretty cool, heh?

If you want to earn some KenYen, click here and here. Which U.S. state is about the same size as Japan?

Children's Day - Why didn't we think of that?

The Japanese have the right idea and celebrate kids in style. Mark your calendar for May 5th! It’s Children’s’ Day in Japan! Why didn’t WE think of that?

Children's Day, “Kodomo no hi”, has been a Japanese holiday for 50 years. It’s a day full of festivities focusing on kids’ health, bravery and strength. On this day children display samurai swords and Kintarō dolls. Children take syobuyu (a bath with a bunch of floating iris leaves), and eat kashiwa-mochi (a rice cake wrapped in an oak leaf ) and chimaki (a dumpling wrapped in bamboo leaves). Samurai, irises, oak trees, and bamboo all symbolize strength.

Families also hang colorful carp kites, called Koi-Nobori outside their houses on a bamboo pole. The kites fill with wind and seem to swim in the air. In Japanese culture, the carp (or koi) represents courage and perseverance. Koi live a long time and must swim against the current upstream. In some houses, a carp is flown for each family member with the father's being the largest at the top down to the youngest child's at the bottom.

If you’d like to earn some KenYen follow the directions on how to make your own carp kite.

Minding my Table Manners

I am making a change to my website right this minute! Look up at the red banner across the top. At the end I wrote irasshaimasse,a Japanese word I thought meant “welcome” - as in welcome to my website. I found out today that irasshaimasse is what a business owner would say to welcome a customer. Hey, you all aren’t customers! You are my friends! I need to say yokoso – that means welcome to my website and I want to be as polite as possible.

Being polite is very important when in Japan. Proper table manners means I'm going to have to use chopsticks. If you look at the Useful Links section on the right you can watch a video on how to use chopsticks.

Here are some eating and drinking rules I need to know:

1. It is impolite to eat or drink something while walking down the street.
2. Never pour your own drink. You always wait for the person you are eating with to pour for you.
3. Do not use your chopsticks to skewer food, move dishes around or point at somebody.
4. Never leave your chopsticks standing up out of your food.
5. Slurping noodles is A-OK!
6. When you are not using your chopsticks, or have finished eating, lay them down in front of you with the tips to left.
If you want to earn some KenYen be sure to watch the chopstick video!