Great Buddha of Kamakura (Daibutsu)

We went to a small town outside of Tokyo called Kamakura. In Kamakura there are a lot of temples. There is also a very famous statue of a Buddha.

The great Buddha of Kamakura called Daibutsu is 44 feet tall. It was built in 1252, before Columbus discovered America. Buddha means "awakened one." Buddism is one of the major religions in Japan.

Ueno Park and Zoo

We went to see Ueno park which has Tokyos oldest zoo. The park itself is very big and has a lake, where you can rent a boat if it is summer. It took us a while to find the entrance to the zoo. At the entrance was a cool little amusement park. I went on 5 rides. 


In the zoo we saw lots of animals that are similar to the Los Angeles zoo, like elephants. We also saw things I had never seen before in person. We saw penguins, 5 different types of lemurs, aye-ayes and Japanese macaque (snow monkeys). The snow monkeys loved playing with each other and climbing the rocks. In the winter when it is snowing they like to hang out in hot-springs, which are ponds of very warm water.

Class Questions Answered II

> I like the big ferris wheel. -Elexus
Me too.

> Have you been on the ferris wheel yet? -Boston
yes.

> I like what you said about the ferris wheel. -Zachary
Thanks

> What do the Toyota cars look like? -James
We have lots of Toyota cars in Santa Monica, but in Japan they have some we don't have. Like this one:

> When am I going to be able to meet you? I am new. -Naomi
Hi Naomi, can't wait to meet you, I will see you Monday!

> I hope you have a wonderful weekend. -Jessi
Thanks, I will be getting used to Santa Monica time again.

> I like the huge ferris wheel. It looks really tall. -Danielle
It was.

> Did you taste the octopus? -Sawyer
No way.

> Are there any new animals there? -Ava
We saw some very cool Monkeys that only live in Japan

> Does eel taste good? -Micah
To me it does.

> Did you eat anything else that tastes good? -Chloe
Gyoza, they are like potstickers.

> Do you know any words in Japanese? -Ameli
yes, I know how to say goodbye and thank you very much

> What does your hotel room look like? -Liam
There is a pretty view of Mt. Fuji

> What is the name of your hotel? -Kiara
Ritz Carlton Tokyo

> How do the kids dress? -Mia
The kids dress just like us, except when they go to school. They have to wear uniforms to school.

> Are you having fun? -Summer
Yes.

> Can you understand Japanese? -Cosimo
Once in a while.

Hanayashiki Amusement Park

We went to an amusement park that was built in 1853. It reminded me of the pier. My favorite ride was the helicopter. We had to pedal our way around in the sky.

In the park just outside of the park, we saw a very funny thing. There was a chihuahua wearing sunglasses and an party shirt with a tiny monkey on its back.  It was very funny, but I felt sorry for the monkey, but at least he was safe from large predators.

Asakusa Park

There was a cool climbing structure that was different than what we have at our school.  It required a lot of balance.

I saw a class of children playing there. They all had matching pink hats. The children were having recess in the park.

Sensoji Temple in Asakusa

We went to see a famous temple called the Sensoji temple in an area of Tokyo called Asakusa. The temple was built in the year 645. It is the oldest temple in Tokyo.

The temple also has a large area that is a market for Japanese things. It is a long row of lots of stores.

Toyota Driving Fun

Also on the island is a huge building that has all the cars that Toyota makes. Also inside are some simulators that allow you to pretend that you are driving. There is also a track where you can drive a hybrid car around. A hybrid car uses both the power from your legs and from a battery. Toyota makes several hybrid cars that use gas and electricity.

Ferris Wheel

After playing lots of video games, I walked with my family across the island to a giant ferris wheel. It is 377ft tall. When it was built, it was the tallest Ferris wheel in the world. 4 santa monica ferris wheels stacked on top of each other would not even be the same size as this one. It does not stop for you to get on, you have to hop in, but it moves slowly.

We could see a lot of the city from the top!

Fun and Games at Deck Mall

On Odaiba, the "Deck Mall" is like a big mall with small shops selling candies and toys. It also had many places to play games too.

Deck Mall also has lots of video games. It has a special place called Sega Joyopolis. At Joyopolis you can race virtual cars, be on a snowboard roller-coaster and play lots of different video games.

One section was like Chuck E. Cheese but serve battered octopus instead of pizza. No thank you!

Odaiba Ferry

After the garden, we took a ferry to Odaiba. Odaiba is a man made island. They put a bunch of dirt into the water until it made an island. On the island are a bunch of fun things including a big ferris wheel.

The ferry trip was about 15 minutes. We crossed a part of Tokyo bay. From the boat we could see the rainbow bridge, which is in the picture.

Kyu-Shiba-rikyu Garden

Today I went to Kyu-Shiba-rikyu garden. It had stepping stones around a pond. It had traditional Japanese trees. One tree was a cherry blossom tree in bloom, which usually does not happen in the winter. The garden is over 200 years old.

I liked running around the pond on the rocks and climbing the hills.

Answers to questions from my class.

I love what you said. -Mia

Thank you Mia.

I really miss you in Japan. -Alexa

I miss you too.

Did you do any more fun things? -Chloe

Yes, I will be writing about them soon.

You had a lot of details to your blog. -Liam

Thanks for reading it Liam.

Did you write that all by yourself? -Ameli

Yes, but my daddy typed.

Do you have friends in Japan? - Cosimo

We have made some grown-up friends.

I hope you have a good flight back home. -Danielle

Thanks Danielle, for wishing us a nice flight home.

I want to know more about your trip. I might go there too to see what it is like. -Ava

I will write some more soon.

I like what you said and I like your pictures. -Kiara

Thanks for saying that.

I like the pictures and I want you to add more. -Sawyer

I have more to come Sawyer.

How long are you going to stay there? -Summer

We are flying back on Friday.

Kyoto

In Kyoto, we hiked through streets full of shops. Some of the shops gave away sweets. We saw fan shops, pottery shops, and chop stick shops. We stopped and ate Udon, which is a kind of noodle in soup.

We finally got up to the top of the hill and saw some amazing shrines. The temples and shrines we saw are like churches for one of Japan's major religions, Buddism. We saw people praying at several of these places. One interesting thing was they took off their shoes before going in and put on thongs.

At the shrines, many people would dress in traditional Japanese clothes, like Kimonos. I asked some of the girls if I could take a picture of them. They were very beautiful and nice.

Visitors to the temples collect water from the fountains in metal cups and drink it for health, and long life.

Kyoto is a very beautiful city.

Bullet Train

It took two hours on the bullet train, Shinkansen, to get to Kyoto. That's the same distance as to San Francisco. The train runs every 10 minutes and goes 180 miles per hour. It is super smooth.

I read, watched movies and looked at the scenery. First we passed Mt. Fuji, which is a volcano. Then we saw lots of small towns covered with snow. The whole thing was very cool.

Park and Bike

We went to Yoyogi park near a part of Tokyo called Shibuya. The park is the largest in Tokyo. We saw many people playing games and practicing dance moves!

One game that was very unique was one where a group of people in a circle would pass a small ball around by using a triangular front vest or bib to fling the ball around.

We rented a two seater bike and road around the park. It was so much fun, but I think my dad froze his hands.

It was fun to see that people in Japan were just like us, having fun on Saturday in the park.

Imperial Palace

After a breakfast of eel and french toast, we went to the Imperial Palace. It is like a big park. The Emperor lives there even though he does not have as much power as he used to. I hopped on big rocks that are separate from each other; it was fun. I then said "donne arigato gozaimasu" to a woman who gave me an origami spinner. She was very happy. I was too.

Subway

We go everywhere in Tokyo on the subway or on trains. The subway trains come very quickly and make it easy to get to where we are going. All the subway signs are in Japanese and English. It is a lot easier to get around if you can read the signs!

Tokyo Fish Market

We got up very early to go see the fish market. There were lots of people riding bicycles carrying fish. There was every kind of fish you could ever imagine. All the restaurants and shops in Tokyo buy their fish here. I had some Anago, Salt Water eel on a skewer for breakfast.

Hotel and Sleep

When I arrived in Japan, I noticed a lot of people speaking japanese and most signs were written in Japanese. We took a bus to the hotel, it took a long time, but we saw Tokyo tower which was lit up.

The hotel we are staying in is in the tallest building in Tokyo. We also get to use a lounge that has tasty food that we can eat.

We got cleaned up and tried to fall asleep. It was 9pm in Tokyo. It was hard to get to sleep because we were all excited and it was almost morning in the USA!

Flying to Japan

On thursday my family and I went to the airport. Wewent through the security line and got on board a Delta 747 airplane. It was very large, it even had 2 levels, and the pilot sat on the second level. The second level was very small. We were on the first level. We flew 12 hours.

On the airplane I slept for the last 2 hours. My Dad also fell asleep. My mom stayed up because she had work. Besides sleeping I watched movies on my ipod and ipad.