Friday, June 19, 1998

After two incredibly long, full days, Friday was a little slower. I started the day by taking a walk through Japanese garden at the New Otami Hotel across the street from the Akasaka Prince Hotel. It was a beautiful combination of plants and water. There is a stream and a water fall in this garden. In the pools were large koi, or carp. These fish are full of bright colors. They seem to know that we were there and came to the surface of the water looking for food.

After breakfast, we had the first concurrent study sessions. The sessions were: Special Education, Mathematics Education, Information Technology in School, and Peace Education. I chose information technology. The session was difficult. The presenter mostly read from his translated papers. I will read them when I get home. The one idea that I did get from the presentation was that Japan is trying hard to the get the schools connected to the internet. There are several programs working toward this goal.

After the session we had lunch and then a presentation from the Ministry of Education, Monbusho. This presentation also closely followed the printed materials. Fortunately, I read the Monbushu 1997 annual report. This report is very thorough; it includes details about every aspect of Japanese education. the presentation was very informational.

After Monbushu, a representative of the International Foundation for Promotion of Language and Culture made a presentation. After a nice speech about the life and works of Kenji Miyazawa, he gave each of us copies of some of Kenji's books. Two of the books are children's stories and the third is a book of philosophy. This was the first of a line of gifts that we will get.

The books put me in a great mood. Unfortunately, the next event soured that mood. After the presentations, we held our first prefectural group meeting. FMF scheduled two prefectures (40 people) to meet in one room. Our room had a partial wall divider. It was wholly inadequate. The other group was as loud as we were and they had a guest who required a microphone. We ended up arguing with the other group and within the Kurashiki group. We moved to another room, after a stint in the hall. Harumi, our guide, and Bappu-san, from Kurashiki City Hall, were very patient with us. Because I am the communications dude, I took it upon myself to organize part of the meeting. Although it took a while, the group did begin working well by the end of the session.

After the difficult session, I needed to relax. Fortunately, Stephen, from California, and Erin, from Louisiana, along with two FMF employees, named Maki, went out together. We had a good, inexpensive dinner and then went to find some night life. We ended up in the Ropongi district. Ropongi is a happening place. There are tons of restaurants and clubs. We went to one place called Motown. It was a quiet, nearly empty place when we arrived. After two hours, it was packed. We had a blast. But, that wasn't enough; we wanted to go dancing. We ended up at Club Peace by being led there by an employee. We negotiated the cover price and went in. The entrance was like an alley. The place was empty. There were no other customers. For a few seconds, I thought we were about to be robbed. Once again, I over-reacted. The music was ok, and we danced for hours.

When I finally got back tot he hotel, I needed sleep even more than most nights.

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