By Joe Behnke
Special to the Weekly
Lopez and Orcas students traveled to Japan in April with the Japanese Connections Program. This year’s study theme was neighborhoods. Each student chose a neighborhood to research and served as guides when the group visited the areas. Neighborhoods included Kamakura, Nikko, Ryogoku, Harajuku, Mitaka and Tsukiji in the Kanto region and Arashiyama and Northern Higashiyama in Kyoto.
Starting out in Tokyo, students learned to navigate Tokyo’s intricate public transportation system. Reflecting on her first impressions, Anah-Kate Drahn mentioned her worry and then delight at seeing a 5-year-old confidently riding a train by himself. “He rode this train for over 30 minutes and I watched him the entire time. He stared out the window for a long time then eventually started to doze off, completely trusting those around him and his belongings. I watched as he suddenly woke to his stop announcement and skipped off the train.”
The group visited an 800 year-old giant Buddha statue in the oceanside town of Kamakura, climbed through old growth cedar trees to the tomb of Tokugawa Ieyasu in Nikko, paddled swan boats amongst fluffy cherry trees in Inokashira Park, gaped at the sprawling city lights from atop Tokyo Tower, joined a flood of foot traffic on the teen fashion street of Takeshita-dori, tasted sushi at the largest seafood market in the world, and visited the sumo stadium in Ryogoku.
Boarding a bullet train the group began the second leg of their journey, transporting to the ancient capital of Kyoto. In Kyoto, students explored the Zen temple, Nanzenji, in the mountainside neighborhood of Northern Higashiyama and walked along the Philosopher’s Trail in full bloom. Across town, in Arashiyama, they hiked through a bamboo forest and up switchbacks to a Japanese macaque preserve.
From the port of Himeji, the group ferried to Lopez School’s sister school on the small island of Ieshima. They joined students in home economics, calligraphy, and English classes and were treated to a taiko drumming performance. Ashi Bartolucci was struck by the respect that the Japanese students showed their teachers and the general calm of the school, “Japanese students are taught to maintain the “wa” and we American students could learn a few tricks from them.”
The third leg took students to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, a museum that serves as a heartfelt reminder of the repercussions of nuclear warfare. The group collectively folded a thousand origami cranes and hung them on the Sadako Sasaki Memorial. That night, students ferried to Miyajima, an island that is a national park and world heritage site in the Inland Sea. They climbed to the top of Mt. Misen and peered down at the oyster-raft-speckled archipelago.
The trip was led by Japanese Connections Director Patricia Burleson, Language/Culture Specialist Hugh Burleson, Orcas Island High School Teachers Val Hellar and Phil Comito, and Lopez Island School Teacher Joe Behnke and funded largely by a grant from the Freeman Foundation.
Lopez participants will give a slideshow presentation of their experience on Wednesday, May 31, 6 a.m.–7 p.m. in the Multi-Purpose Room at Lopez Island School. This presentation is open to the community.
