Day Seventeen

DAY SEVENTEEN (06/24/08, 9:20pm)

I spent much of today attending presentations and working on our group presentation for tomorrow. This morning I went to a two-hour presentation on arts education in Japan by Chihiro Tada, the director of a Toy Museum in Tokyo that specializes in mechanical toys that don’t require batteries. He stressed the importance of children spending less time with TV and video games and instead using toys that are tactile and require imagination and coordination to use. He taught us how to make a magic booklet with two sheets of paper, some scissors, and a glue stick. If you tuck something in one side, such as a coin, and then reopen the booklet in just the right way, the coin disappears. He also showed us how to make a hexagonal paper cutout that can be opened and refolded in different ways to reveal an egg, then a chick, and then a full-grown rooster. Very clever and also magical in its own way.

After a buffet lunch at the hotel we all attended a two-hour question and answer session about Japanese education and society with Yukitsugu Kato, a professor emeritus from Sophia University. He was a charming man and answered our many questions with candor. Dr. Satterwhite, the Executive Director of the JFMF program, piggy-backed off of Dr. Kato’s answers at times, giving us a different perspective or helpful details.

Directly following the question and answer session, I tested out my laptop to make sure that I could hook it up to the projector with no problem for tomorrow’s group presentations. Then I worked for several hours on the presentation before going out. Karen and I became fast friends while working to make the text match up with the selected photos. I hadn’t talked to her extensively until tonight, and after finishing the presentation, we went for a three-hour walk together through many Tokyo neighborhoods. At one point we saw a beautiful view of the Tokyo Tower at night.

Just like our walk with its quick pace and large distance covered, our conversation was lively and open-ended, wandering in many directions and refreshingly frank. When we finally returned to the hotel, I felt extremely happy and rejuvenated from our brisk walk and developing friendship.