Living In Japan - Student Views

The American School in Japan

My Impressions of Japan
by Ize, a fourth grade student

A Visit to a Japanese Elementary School
by Ize, a fourth grade student

Doll Festival This is a short description of Girl's Day which is celebrated on March 3.
by Emi, a fourth grade student

February 3 is a special day
by Emi, a fourth grade student

A visit to a Japanese Elementary School
On Febuary 23 1996 we were invited to a Japanese school called Fuchu Dai Ichi. When we got there a lot of students and teachers welcomed us at the entrance of the school. In the school there were a lot of shelves to put our shoes in and we took off our shoes and put on our slippers. The floors was slippery and some people glided on the floor. The Gym was big and there were many of Japanese games to play . There were alot of different classrooms. The school was warmer than I thought, it had four floors and it was a big concrete building.

My Japanese buddy is Mika, she is nine. She is as big as I am (about 4 1/2 feet). I liked to play with the hagoita and daruma otoshi because they are both good games I also liked the food because it was good. I speak Japanese so it was easy to comunicate with each other. It was also difficult to comunicate because some words didn't come out easily. It was a very nice day with a lot of memories, and if I could get to meet them once more I would like to be better friends.
by Ize

Doll Festival
On March 3 there is a Doll festival in Japan. It can also be Girls Day. There is a stand that holds the dolls. The top part of the stand are 2 dolls. One is the Emperor and the other is the Empress. The Empress is on the right and the Emperor is on the left. In Japanese it is called the DAIRISAMA.

On the second row are the three ladies-in-waiting. In Japanese that is called the KANJO. On the third row there are the five musician, the Minister on the right and the Minister on the left. The five musicians are called the GONIN-BAYASHI, and the Minister on the right is the U-DAIJIN, and the Minister on the left is called SA-DAIJIN. Then the three foot men are on the last row. They are called the SHI-CHO. There are some decorations on the stand too.

You usually eat a candy that is called HINA-ARARE in Japanese. Sometimes people make little boxes with origami and put the HINA-ARARE in them. There is also a Children's Day. It use to be Boy's Day.
by Emi

On Feb.3 you sometimes wear devil masks and throw beans out the door. While doing that you say Oni wa soto. Fuku wa uchi. That means devil go out of my house. Come in good luck.
by Emi

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