Read a good book about Japan lately?

I've been reading some very good Japanese books, all on order for our library.



Chibi: A True Story From Japan by Barbara Benner and Julia Takaya. A story about a duck who has nine ducklings in the middle of Tokyo, near an eight-lane road; the road that stands between their current little pond and the big pond of the Emporer's Palace where the mother duck wants to bring her children. It reminds me of Make Way for Ducklings, the 1942 Caldecott winner.



Old Man Mad About Drawing: A Tale of Hokusai by Francois Place

We have many students who are interested in manga and drawing at BG. This book is about an artist from Japan in the early 1800s who is the original manga artist. It's a fun story about a young boy who wants to be an artist and how Hokusai helps him. There's lots of pictures and art work too. Did you know manga means "thought up drawings"?





Hiroshima by Lawrence Yep

Hiroshima is the city where I'll be staying for 8 days. In 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima which killed thousands of people and made others very sick from the radiation. This is a book based on the true events of that time from a twelve year old girl who survived the bombing.

Getting ready!

I received my e-ticket and itinerary in the mail this week. I leave Sunday morning at 6:21 a.m. I think that means a 3:45 wakeup time! We arrive in San Fransisco for an afternoon of orientation, then a reception at the home of the General Consulate, Yasumasa Nagamine's home. We'll leave for Japan on Monday.

**Puzzler**
When I look at my itinerary, I see that I leave San Fransisco at 11:25 a.m. on Monday and arrive on Tuesday at 2:10 p.m. That's 27 hours later. On the way home, I leave Japan at 5:55 p.m. on Thursday and arrive in Chicago at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday. Wait! That's two hours before I left Japan! Has a mistake been made? Find out when I return.

Pocky!

I'm not familiar with too many Japanese foods but I do love Pocky. It's a stick shaped cookie dipped in chocolate or other candy coatings. What kind of Japanese foods are you familiar with, that you think I should try?

what flavor pocky are you?

[c] sugardew

Tokyo and Hiroshima

I'll be leaving for San Francisco on October 12th and traveling to Tokyo on the 13th. I'll travel with 160 other educators, spend 4-5 days in Tokyo and then travel to Hiroshima with 16 other educators. There are 10 groups going to different host cities.

I've been pouring over books and websites about Japan as I figure out how to spend our very limited free time. I'm also working at getting my computer set up with everything I need to communicate with everyone at school. I'm learning more about Tokyo and Hiroshima every day.

I'm planning to visit Studio Ghibli (Spirited Away), Kamakura and the Tokyo Fish Market (Tsukiji).

I'm learning more about Kamishibai, the art of storytelling with picture cards. Wouldn't it be fun to have students create story cards?