Hard to believe it was time for us to re-pack again. This time for an overnight home stay visit at a traditional ryokan, Japanese Hotel and Hot Springs resort. Our large luggage was shipped back to Tokyo on a takkyubin delivery truck.
I woke up with nerves of steel as I prepared to stay with a local Japanese family. We were all anxious and excited. We were scheduled to meet our Host families in the Hotel lobby at 10 am. It is considered to be rude in Japan to be late so we all met at 9:30 am! I was pleased as punch to meet my host father Junichi Muraoke and his two sons Yunosuke, age 4 and Konosuke, age 2. The wife Yoko was at home preparing lunch.
Junichi is a Junior High School teacher and coaches basketball. His wife is a former Junior High School English teacher but now stays home with their two sons. The oldest son already knows some English words and can count to ten in English.
I enjoyed the 45-minute ride to their home. It is outside the city in a suburban area. The homes were very beautiful and the yards were well landscaped. When entering a Japanese house, you should take off your shoes at the entrance (genkan) and change into slippers. Their home had screen paneled doors and hand painted sliding doors. The kitchen was very compact. There was a large tatami mat room; this is where the family sleeps together on foldout futon mattress. You can only walk on the tatami mats with socks, no slippers.
Yoko and the children made pizza for me. It was very delicious. The children rolled the dough while Yoko prepared chicken and onions in soy sauce. For dessert, we had a homemade chocolate cake with nuts that was similar to an American brownie. I learned In Japan, you say "itadakimasu" ("I gratefully receive") before starting to eat, and "gochisosama (deshita)" ("Thank you for the meal") after finishing the meal. I presented the family with special gifts from UNC-Pembroke, a Bob Timberlake calendar and North Carolina lapel pin. The family presented me with things for my classroom like origami paper, kaleidoscope and paper lanterns. They had purchased for me a brown glazed pottery cup from a local pottery.
I jumped with joy when I found out my Host Family was taking me to visit Miyama (Higashiichiki)-The Town of Satsuma pottery. I have always been a fan of this particular type of pottery. I have never been able to afford to buy a piece. The art of Satsuma-yaki is over 400 years old. At the Satsuma pottery Museum "Miyama Touyukan", you can try making satsuma-yaki pottery. Unfortunately they were closing when we arrived which might have been a good thing because with these two American hands there is no telling what might have happened. I was able to see how Miyama kilns work and watch artists hand paint magnificent scenes and designs on the pottery. It was like watching their hands move in slow motion. The Japanese artists paid great attention to the details and literally each stroke was a work of art. Satsuma-yaki pottery has 2 types; White Satsuma (Shiro Satsuma) and black Satsuma (kuro Satsuma). White Satsuma is ivory glazed ware usually with carvings or gorgeous paintings on it. Black Satsuma is solid black glazed ware, which is widely used by the common people.
Later in the afternoon we took the boys trick or treating to the local dessert store where they had their picture taken and received a complimentary goodie bag. Then we visited the local supermarket. The highlight of the evening was attending a Samurai Festival at a local neighborhood shrine. The elaborate costumes and vivid colors were mesmerizing. There were a large number of children that participated in this community event. It is their custom to involve children so they can pass on their heritage and culture to the next generation. I was even interviewed by a local television station about my thoughts on this event. Once we returned home it was bathing, which is a ritual I had learned about in one of our sessions in Tokyo.
Basically in Japan, the main purpose of taking a bath besides cleaning your body is relaxation at the end of the day. The typical Japanese bathroom consists of two rooms, an entrance room where you undress. It has a sink, too. The actual bathroom is equipped with a shower and a deep bathtub. The toliet is located in a completely separate room. Here’s how to take a bath. When bathing Japanese style, you are supposed to first rinse your body outside the bathtub by taking some water from the tub and using a washbowl. Afterwards, you enter the tub and soak. The water is relatively hot for Westerners. After soaking for a while, you leave the tub and cleanse your body with soap. You must make sure that no soap gets into the bathing water. Once you finish cleaning yourself and rinse all the soap off your body using the shower, you may enter the bathtub once again for some more soaking. Get this, after leaving the tub, it is important not to drain the water, since all family members will use the same water. Most bathtubs can be automatically programmed to fill with water of a given temperature or to heat the water to a preferred temperature. After the long bathing experience we all went to bed early because the family had a big day planned for me.
I woke up with nerves of steel as I prepared to stay with a local Japanese family. We were all anxious and excited. We were scheduled to meet our Host families in the Hotel lobby at 10 am. It is considered to be rude in Japan to be late so we all met at 9:30 am! I was pleased as punch to meet my host father Junichi Muraoke and his two sons Yunosuke, age 4 and Konosuke, age 2. The wife Yoko was at home preparing lunch.
Junichi is a Junior High School teacher and coaches basketball. His wife is a former Junior High School English teacher but now stays home with their two sons. The oldest son already knows some English words and can count to ten in English.
I enjoyed the 45-minute ride to their home. It is outside the city in a suburban area. The homes were very beautiful and the yards were well landscaped. When entering a Japanese house, you should take off your shoes at the entrance (genkan) and change into slippers. Their home had screen paneled doors and hand painted sliding doors. The kitchen was very compact. There was a large tatami mat room; this is where the family sleeps together on foldout futon mattress. You can only walk on the tatami mats with socks, no slippers.
Yoko and the children made pizza for me. It was very delicious. The children rolled the dough while Yoko prepared chicken and onions in soy sauce. For dessert, we had a homemade chocolate cake with nuts that was similar to an American brownie. I learned In Japan, you say "itadakimasu" ("I gratefully receive") before starting to eat, and "gochisosama (deshita)" ("Thank you for the meal") after finishing the meal. I presented the family with special gifts from UNC-Pembroke, a Bob Timberlake calendar and North Carolina lapel pin. The family presented me with things for my classroom like origami paper, kaleidoscope and paper lanterns. They had purchased for me a brown glazed pottery cup from a local pottery.
I jumped with joy when I found out my Host Family was taking me to visit Miyama (Higashiichiki)-The Town of Satsuma pottery. I have always been a fan of this particular type of pottery. I have never been able to afford to buy a piece. The art of Satsuma-yaki is over 400 years old. At the Satsuma pottery Museum "Miyama Touyukan", you can try making satsuma-yaki pottery. Unfortunately they were closing when we arrived which might have been a good thing because with these two American hands there is no telling what might have happened. I was able to see how Miyama kilns work and watch artists hand paint magnificent scenes and designs on the pottery. It was like watching their hands move in slow motion. The Japanese artists paid great attention to the details and literally each stroke was a work of art. Satsuma-yaki pottery has 2 types; White Satsuma (Shiro Satsuma) and black Satsuma (kuro Satsuma). White Satsuma is ivory glazed ware usually with carvings or gorgeous paintings on it. Black Satsuma is solid black glazed ware, which is widely used by the common people.
Later in the afternoon we took the boys trick or treating to the local dessert store where they had their picture taken and received a complimentary goodie bag. Then we visited the local supermarket. The highlight of the evening was attending a Samurai Festival at a local neighborhood shrine. The elaborate costumes and vivid colors were mesmerizing. There were a large number of children that participated in this community event. It is their custom to involve children so they can pass on their heritage and culture to the next generation. I was even interviewed by a local television station about my thoughts on this event. Once we returned home it was bathing, which is a ritual I had learned about in one of our sessions in Tokyo.
Basically in Japan, the main purpose of taking a bath besides cleaning your body is relaxation at the end of the day. The typical Japanese bathroom consists of two rooms, an entrance room where you undress. It has a sink, too. The actual bathroom is equipped with a shower and a deep bathtub. The toliet is located in a completely separate room. Here’s how to take a bath. When bathing Japanese style, you are supposed to first rinse your body outside the bathtub by taking some water from the tub and using a washbowl. Afterwards, you enter the tub and soak. The water is relatively hot for Westerners. After soaking for a while, you leave the tub and cleanse your body with soap. You must make sure that no soap gets into the bathing water. Once you finish cleaning yourself and rinse all the soap off your body using the shower, you may enter the bathtub once again for some more soaking. Get this, after leaving the tub, it is important not to drain the water, since all family members will use the same water. Most bathtubs can be automatically programmed to fill with water of a given temperature or to heat the water to a preferred temperature. After the long bathing experience we all went to bed early because the family had a big day planned for me.
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