Thursday Lectures

Jet lag finally caught up to me. Luckily being awake at 5:00 a.m. has its advantages. I got a picture out my window of the setting full moon against the Tokyo downtown skyline at sunup. Since I was up anyway, I went for a walk in the gardens I had been viewing from my window.-- waterfall, koi ponds, lush foliage, singing birds -- simply gorgeous!
After a sleepless night, I had doubts about a day of lectures. Luckily all our Japanese speakers were engaging and spoke about complex subjects at a level I could understand.
I had read about the history of the Japanese education system, but found myself fascinated by our keynote speaker, Mr. Katsuhide Kusahara (Vice-President of Tabushoku University) and his description of problems their schools are facing. He talked about a new plan called ESD (Education for Sustained Development), which the Japanese Prime Minister recently presented at the G8 summit, calling it an “opportunity to reconfigure the very essence of education.”
Prof. Takahiro Miyao, of the International University of Japan, explained the Japanese economy in simple enough terms that even I got a rudimentary grasp of the GPD, PPP, and BIG MAC index as well as NEETs and Freeters. Ask me when I get back to see if I can still remember what they are.
Mr. Yuji Tsushima, Diet member of the House of Representatives , and Prof. Hiroya Ichikawa of Akita International University spoke about government and the relationship between the U.S., Japan, and the global economy. Whatever meeting Tsushima-san rushed off to must have been important because I saw him on the news the next morning. Unfortunately, I had on a Japanese news program, so I have no idea what they were saying about him.
After sitting all day, it was great to get out for our first free night on the town. After a thrilling taxi ride to shop at the Hard Rock Café (most side streets are very narrow), we returned to the hotel and walked to a 100 Yen Store -- like our Dollar Stores. We then wandered around, looking at pictures of food on menus that restaurants post out front. We finally decided on one, mostly because we were tired of walking. Idt We didn’t know what we were ordering when we pointed at the pictures on the menu -- but it was all delicious. Later we found out that it was actually a Chinese restaurant.
Tomorrow we see some Kabuki Theater.