Traveling: To Enoshima

Groups of Geisha Crossing the Spit of Land to Enoshima, Hiroshige, c. 1850

The boys had baseball all afternoon last Sunday, so it was just me and Papa at home... plus Cici, who decided she had a hankering to go the Aquarium at Enoshima.

Enoshima Island, off the Shonan Coast

So we hopped the train and went, since it's not too far from where we are (just change trains at Fujisawa and go three stops to the end of the line at Katase Enoshima, if you take the Odakyu Line instead of the Enoden).

Katase Enoshima Station

I love the Enoden (an adorable, tiny little train that goes squeeeeee right down the middle of the road and past people's windows... but more about that one another time;-), but I also love the train station at Katase Enoshima-- all green roof and upturned golden curlies on the corners.

...No trip would be complete, to be sure, without a couple of Harajuku girls for color (at least, their hair and shoes were colorful)...

The island is visible almost as soon as you walk out of the station--at low tide, it's connected to the mainland by a narrow spit of land (which is what Hiroshige painted in the print at top).  Naturally, there is a shrine on it-- the Toori of which you can see almost from the causeway before you set foot on the island proper.

On the causeway, looking toward Zushi

It was rather hot on Sunday (I wore strippy sandals, and my feet are now distinctly tiger-striped...o_O), and the bay was filled with colorful sailboats, jetskis, and the beaches were crowded.

No seagulls, though.  Weird, no?

鳶に、エサ　を　やらないで！

This is why there are no seagulls to be seen anywhere on the Shonan beaches or on Enoshima Island.

Tobi.  Black Kites.

Milvus migrans... I didn't think this shot would turn out!

This particular one was circling *very* low, just above one of the bridges.  The Kites have figured out what a good deal the seagulls had going, and have taken over the territory. 

They will swoop down and take food right out of your hand-- a friend of mine had her hand badly scratched by a Black Kite grabbing an onigiri she was eating from her hand.  The gulls have prudently moved up and down the coast, and ceded the area to the Tobi.  One is so accustomed to having gulls around at the beach, that it's slightly unnerving to have raptors circling overhead...

Still, it was a lovely day.

I love the view through the Toori gate, up the narrow street to the Benten Shrine.  If you squint, you can almost see that Hiroshige print right in front of you;-))

I love how the shrine is still surrounded, almost protectively, by trees.

There's another shrine in a cave around on the side of the island--probably the original shrine-- though the whole island is dedicated to the goddess Benzaiten (goddess of music and entertainment who is said to have caused Enoshima to rise from the ocean).

Mukashi, mukashi (once upon a time)...

...possibly around on this side (if you crop your photo right, the island still has that wild look in spite of the crowds).

Since it's right on the ocean, naturally the Fruits of the Sea are available in every market...

Freshly grilled Ika-on-a-stick (Cephalo-pops!)...

...and a variety of mussles to choose to have grilled on the spot or to bag up to take home.

Back on this side, the Enoshima (where Cici wanted to go) was completely refurbished several years ago and is now well worth looking into-- they have an enormous tank with a huge variety of fish that you can view from several levels...

me-me-kuchi (eye-eye-mouth)

...including a view nearly from "inside"a half-tunnel.  Very cool.  Cici and I both loved the rays-- the incredible grace with which they fly through the water... their funny face if you see one from below:-))

Rhina ancylostoma

We also loved the Bowmouth Guitarfish, whose Japanese name ends in "--zame", a reference to how similar they are to sharks.  They are, however, an unusual type of ray that gives the impression of being a creature halfway in-between a shark and a ray.

...and the Kurage (jellyfish).  Oh my, I could stand all day watching jellyfish dancing in the water...

I was a bad girl and didn't write down names of types of jellyfish...

And they had a whole corner dedicated to the research done by the Emperor.

Did you know that His Majesty Akihito (the Heisei Emperor) was also a Gentleman Scientist?  Neither did I! 

He's silver-haired now, but he still looks cute;-)

 Tenno-sama has actually done quite a lot of research and published several papers on the Gobiid fishes, which are endangered--in particular, the Mudskippers.  We watched the mudskippers skipping for quite a while--they are so funny to watch.  They are such obvious evidence for how fish like Tiktaalik came out to make a living on the land, using their pectoral fins as pseudo-legs.

Aren't they adorable?:-))  They are completely amphibious, breathe cutaneously (through the skin and the lining of the mouth and throat), and can flip themselves up to 2 feet into the air.  How cool is that?  His majesty has discovered and named several species that can be found around the Japanese islands.



You wanted to watch the Mudskippers... right?  Hai, dozo!



Mata asobou, ne!

School Days-- A Day in the Fifth Grade

O-Soji... The Honorable Cleaning;-)

Once a year the kids have school on Saturday-- an "open house" day when moms and dads can drop in any time during the day to watch their kids' classes.  Fortunately everybody recovered from colds that have plagued us all week (all three of my boys home for the last three days-- Koshi, Teddy, and Papa--in case anybody was wondering where I went;-), so Yokohamapapa and I were able to go watch classes all day.

 
I always especially like watching the kids during Cleaning Time after lunch and recess (in that order)--it's so different from my experience in school, both as a student and as a teacher.  In Japan, there is no cafeteria--students eat their lunches in the classrooms, waiting for everyone to be served before they put their hands together and say "Itadakima--su!" (I humbly partake).  The students do the serving and, after recess, the cleaning up, too.  One of those things that educators would term an "invisible part of the curriculum".

Kids with rags wait for the Sweepers to get done...

Such a small thing, but one that teaches so much--responsibility, care for one's environment, teamwork to get a job done...

Rooms and halls are swept and cleaned with damp rags (there are sinks out in the hallways for this and for brushing teeth after lunch--another good idea) every day.  At the beginning of the year, the sixth graders go down to the first grade classrooms to teach the new first graders what to do (and make sure things actually get clean;-).  There are several jobs, and the children do them all on a rotating basis.

Buckets of water, all up and down the hallway, which manage not to get kicked over...

The Science room

Koshi wanted us to watch his science class today--interesting because I'd never seen the science room.  Do American elementary schools have science rooms?  I know mine didn't-- I never saw a science room like this until I was in Junior High.  Seventh grade, to be exact.

 This is an actual science classroom, mind-- complete with microscopes, scales, test tubes, voltmeters, and petri dishes.  Science is started right off in first grade (though it isn't called that until third grade)-- and by fourth grade they listen, take notes, do experiments, and take tests from their notes.  Things I know for a fact I wasn't exposed to until seventh grade.

Scales and weights (metric, of course)

Test tubes... petri dishes are on a lower shelf.

All I could do was shake my head and think that if American parents and school boards and educational policy makers could see inside an elementary school here-- the mysterious Asian "advantage" in science would immediately cease to be a mystery.

They start earlier.  Plain and simple.

The experimental results...

Today they were continuing their study of seeds and the conditions necessary for seeds to sprout and grow-- an appropriate activity for kids who have been growing plants from seed every year since first grade (another day I'll put up what Cici's growing).  Now that they're a little older, they can study those cute little seeds in more depth.

Seeds without air (left)... and with air exposure (right)

The window sill in the classroom was crowded with plastic cups--all labeled, some with sprouted seeds, some not sprouted.  The conditions (air, temperature, water) were labeled on the cups and collated on the poster charts on the wall with the results noted.

Aha!  That's what it needs!

Some plants were growing nicely:-))

Back in May, the fifth graders planted rice in a paddy across the street.  They go over from time to time to take care of the rice, weed the paddy (their section of it, anyway), and watch its progress.

Some things just can't be taught via worksheet-- and where your food comes from is one of those things.

rice seedlings...

Plant the seedlings just... so.

They got help from a local farmer who owns the field-- community involvement!  The kids not only plant and cultivate the rice, they also go over from time to time to draw pictures of it and write about the process of cultivation and the growth of the plants.  I *love* the layered approach they take to teaching--  this is science, health, writing, and art all rolled into one memorable experience.

...the fifth graders' section.

Awww...... planted a bit-- willy-nilly, shall we say?  It was loads of fun, though, according to Koshi.

... somehow the farmer's section is *much* straighter;-))

As Papa and I stood surveying the rice paddy during recess, Yokohamapapa decided to rest his arm on a bamboo post marking the corner of the paddy.

He gave a sudden shout...

Amagaeru-- Japanese Tree Frog (Hyla japonica)

...and lo and behold, he'd nearly leaned his arm on the cutest little green frog you've ever seen!

Well-- I knew just what to do.  Camera out of the camera bag and into my purse...catch little frog... put frog into camera bag.  I have a ten-year-old who would just love him:-))

 "Are you sure that's ok?"  Yokohamapapa wanted to know.

I assured him it would be fine, since Koshi's project group ("Ikimonogakari"--the Living Things Group) was already taking care of a turtle...

...a crawdad (one of those big American Zarigani, from the looks of him)... or two or three...

.... ants to watch them build tunnels and nests...

...and a newt, which Koshi bought at a pet store with his own money earned by washing the windows for me...

I figured-- what could it hurt to add a frog?

Sensei didn't mind at all... and Koshi's face was like Christmas:-))

What Little Girls Are Made Of

Two of my three kids bring the Outdoors in... and it's not my boys. It's Big Brother and Little Sister (middle brother Teddy tends not to bring me bugs--he'd rather go fast.  At seven he asked me whether Jr. High was 'grown up', and could he have a motorcycle...).

It's in the washing machine...

Yesterday Cici came bombing in the door shouting that her school hat was stinky.

Why?  (...do I even ask?)

Because it was filled with dirt, leaves and Dangomushi.  *Naturally*.

Armidillidium vulgare... terrestrial crustaceans

These little guys-- did you play with these when you were a kid, too?

I did, but the Japanese name for them is so appropriate that  I had to look them up on Wiki to find out what the common English name was-- oh yeah!  Pill bugs.  Roly Polies.

Dango-- the kind you can eat

The Japanese name is "Dango--Mushi"... a Dango Bug, because they roll up into a small sphere like a Dango-- which seems more appropriate than 'pill bug', since pills are usually flat discs and not spheres.  Roly Poly works fine,though, and since it's a cute word, I think I'll use that word instead.  Maybe I'll remember it that way...

Papilio xuthus... Agehachou, Swallowtail butterfly

Aack-- lack of transition!


Here-- look at this butterfly...


*intermission music*

...the other day she came bombing in the door demanding a cucumber.

Why?

I hafta feed the snail!!

Ah... of course.  I see. *gets cucumber and knife*

Den den, mushi mushi, Katatsumuri... Mr. Snail

...or Miss Snail... Mrs.?

How in the world does one determine marital status in snails?

You don't suppose I subconsciously encourage this behavior in my children, do you?