We delayed the fish market tour after we realized that we weren't early enough to get there, get admittance, and return in time for our 8:30AM lecture at the hotel. We are going to the fish market tomorrow morning, Friday, at 3:30AM! Apparently, they allow only 140 tourists into the market, and we'll have to wait in line 1-2 hours to reserve our admittance. Apparently, some westerners have given all tourists a bad name at the market, touching the fish, getting in the way, being rude, etc. It became too much for the fishermen and business men who auction and purchase the fish at market. They actually eliminated all tourists for the month of April, and now limit the numbers. We'll see tomorrow morning!
The four teachers who had planned on the fish market decided to go for a walk to places unknown. We happened upon a temple with monks chanting inside to the rhythm of wooden sticks. Pretty neat to see. We didn't know if we could enter, but we took a chance, removed our shoes and sat at the back of the temple, filming short clips without the monks seeing us. The adjacent cemetery was interesting too. It is the law in Japan that everyone gets cremated, with several generations placed at family memorials. Anniversaries are remembered with long sticks with messages written on them and placed next to the memorials.
Listen to the chanting:
Our "adventure" walk also took us through Shinjuku Central Park where we saw our first homeless people. We later learned that though there are some homeless Japanese, they never beg for money or food and they fend for themselves without imposing their needs on others. They have the choice to get government aid too, but choose not to. Next to the park, we witnessed a ritual at a small Shinto shrine by a runner who had just stopped, went in/out of a giant circular leaf-covered frame 3 times, clapped his hands twice, made an offering, and then continued on his run.
We were back at the hotel for our 8:30AM lecture by Professor Laurence MacDonald, Soka University, "The Cultural Background Behind the Education Reform in Japan", and Professor Shinnosuke Tama, Iwate University, "Japan and the UN Decade for Sustainable Development". Both lectures were very interesting, provided a historical perspective of ESD and the challenges faced in morphing the concept of "environmental education" into "education for sustainable development", and all that that entails.
After lunch, we took part in a city tour (via bus). Among many sites, we saw the Imperial Palace, Akihabara (electronic shopping district), a Japanese garden, and enjoyed a river cruise aboard a "water bus".
We also visited a Buddhist temple and Shinto Shrine, and witnessed several rituals for each. The colorful "strings" below are actually thousands of origami cranes stacked in colorful patterns.
A 300 year-old pine (with supports for its branches):
The old pine is growing sideways:
That's so neat. I think it's interesting that it's their law for everyone to be cremated. I would assume the lack of space is a reason. I also found it weird to see a lack of trees in a park...still breath-taking. :)
ReplyDeleteWOW!! That pine is awesome!!! The lecture "The Cultural Background Behind the Education Reform in Japan" would have been interesting with the curriculum class I'm currently taking. I recently read how Japan has a national curriculum that's successful. Wonder if it's something that the US could follow.
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