Believe It or Not

Believe it or not - I met the Minister of Education in person. Shook his hand and everything. We went to the Diet today. This is Japan's version of Congress. We saw school kids for the first time taking a field trip and we also got to see the House of Representatives. Here is my question though ---- if they call their assembly of politicians the Diet, what do they call a diet to lose weight? Of course, I have yet to see anyone that is overweight, but surely there is a word for it. These are the life changing thoughts I have at 10 pm at night. In front of the Diet is a small grove of trees made up of gifts from all the prefectures. It was interesting to see all the various forms that trees can take in Japan in one place.

After the Diet, we went to Asakusa. On the way, we passed the Emperor's palace. The largest green space in all Tokyo and only two people live there. You would think with all that room, they would have at least invited us in for tea. No way ------ they have the Imperial Household Agency to run the place and it looked to hold a small army of servants----but no tea. Maybe our invites got lost in the mail. In Asakusa, we toured a shrine and temple. The difference between these two is that a shrine is Shinto (original Japanese religion) and a temple is Buddism (imported from mainland China). This was one happening place. People come to pray. Check out Japanese daycare coming to the temple. Aren't the green hats cute? First they cleanse themselves with water drawn from a flowing fountain. They wash their hands and mouths. Then they progress to the incense which they wash before themselves to cleanse. Then they enter the temple to pray and offer money to the gods of the temple. Lunch was outside the temple at a tempura restaraunt. Check out the food.

In the afternoon, we heard from two Diet members (one from the House of Representatives and another from the House of Counselors). After a short break, we got to hear about Japanese economics. Did you know that pachinco (game) is one of the largest service industries in this nation? And we don't see the Japanese as fun. There are pachinco parlors on virtually every block in the business district. Stress relief or work avoidance, you decide.

At the conclusion of the day, Sunmark Publishing gave all 200 of us presents. Three books to take home by noted Japanese writer, Kenji Miyazawa. Very cool!

Finally, I went with Bob Clubbs, another JFMFer to the Kabuki-Za Theatre where we saw, Migawari Zazen (The Zen Subsititute). We rounded off the evening with a trip to Mickey D's to see how it compares to home. Very close, but portions are smaller and mayo is more like yogurt. All for now, I got Skype installed on my computer (thanks again Mom and Dad) so I can call home over the internet. Way cool! Lorna says it was 104 at home - keep cool guys and make sure you water my tomatoes.

Sayonora,

Tim Lowke