October 19, Friday

It was another early morning – many of us met at 5:00 AM to get on the subway to go to a sumo wrestling stable which is where young apprentice sumo wrestlers train. It was really cool to watch these wrestlers practice. Sumo wrestling is a national sport in Japan and these wrestlers are dedicated to the way of life they must lead as a sumo.

Our morning class was Peace Education. We listened to a daughter, Tomoko Yanagi, of a Hiroshima survivor and from a 71 year old man, Keijiro Matsuahima, who was in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on August 6, 1945. Listening to their first hand accounts of how their lives and even their children’s lives have been affected by the bomb was very moving. Matsuahima san was emphatic that what happened in Hiroshima should happen “never again”. Even though what he lived through was horrific, he holds no grudges against the United States and encouraged us and the whole world to learn to live in peace. Yanagi san (san means teacher and is the polite and formal way of addressing someone) talked about Sadako and the thousand cranes. Origami cranes are symbolic of peace and are made by thousands of school children around the world and are sent to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial park every year.

Our afternoon was spent listening to an actor explain and demonstrate another type of traditional Japanese theatre called kabuki.

After our classes ended some of us went to the Tokyo National Museum of Art which had a great exhibit of ancient Japanese art. Mrs. Weatherly will pleased!
The Japanese people have been overwhelmingly kind to us. As we came out of museum, it was pouring rain and a guard saw us without umbrellas. He beckoned us over to him and gave the three of us umbrellas to keep. Everywhere we have been people have exceptionally polite and kind. They have incredibly polite mannerisms that are making a big impression on all of us.