The Big Day

This is the day that I leave for Japan. I am so excited! I've been waiting for this day for 3 months. I am going with my mom. The plane we are flying on is humongous, it can hold 440 people! That's more people than my whole school. It is called Lufthansa. I'm not looking forward to the 12 hour long flight, but I have to get to Japan somehow. I packed all of my bags last night, all 4 of them! Lots of people are at the airport, I even saw Bruce Springting! Talk about famous! Well, my plane is loading in 5 minutes! Got to go!

Landing In Japan

I can't believe how big Japan really is! The pilot on my flight told me that Japan is 377, 835 sq km and extends 3008 km. I also heard that Japan is west from the Sea of Japan, and east of the Pacific Ocean. I can't wait to go explore everything! That's what I plan to do after I check in at my hotel, just beside one of Japan's landmarks, The Pagoda. Did you know that 10 million people visit it a year? It is a very famous temple. The lady sitting next to me on the plane was just telling me that China, Korea, and Russia are Japan's neighbours. Maybe after this trip I can go to China? I did a little research yesterday and found out that Japan's language, Japanese, is spoken mostly in Japan, but some Japanese emigrant communities around the world use it. It is a language made up of words and songs. It is a hard language for westerners to learn as adults. The earliest time of the Japanese language is in a Chinese document form from the 8th century. I also read that Japan is in the northern hemisphere. Tokyo is Japan's capital, and it is on the east coast of the Island called Honshu. Japan is a group of Islands off the coast of Asia. You can learn a lot of things off the Internet let me tell you.

My First Adventure

After I unpacked all of my bags in the Comfy Stay Hotel, room number 456, my mom and I decided to take a course in the trails. We were supposed to be in Atsuta Jinja, one of Japan's historical forests, at 7 o'clock pm but were a little late because of traffic on the roads. The Guide, named Stacey, took us and eight other people through the trails. I learned that 65 percent of Japan was mountainous. A forest I remember looking up on the Internet before I came to Japan, was Yahko Jinja Forest. It has lots of Cedar, Cypress, and Oak Tree's inside of it. Stacey stopped at a mountain called Mount Kika-Date. It was 3193 meters tall. My mom and I left after she finished describing the mountain and arrived in our hotel room at 8:30pm. There, we learned from a chef at the hotel's restaurant that the Japanese diet is relative to the lifespan of the Japanese people. Japanese food like fish, rice, and vegetables, is becoming popular in the USA, Australia, and Europe. He was making me hungry just listening to him! After he finished talking we had a snack and went to sleep.

The Interesting TV Show

I woke up at 7 o'clock and flicked on the TV. I found a channel on something that I didn't even know existed. The Ring Of Fire. It is also called the Circum-Pacific Belt or Circum- Pacific seismic Belt. The Ring Of Fire is an area of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in a circle around the Pacific Ocean. It's 40, 000 km and shaped as a horseshoe. The Ring Of Fire has 452 volcanoes and over 75% of the world's active volcanoes. Maple Ridge is also on the Ring Of Fire. The person on TV, told me about volcanoes. Did you know that they are formed by shifting of the Pacific and Philippine plates? Minor volcanoes happen almost daily in one part of the country, causing shaking of some buildings. Major eruptions don't happen as often. The most famous in the twentieth century were the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923. 130,000 people died when it exploded. The second popular one was called the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995. 6,434 people died. There are also such things as undersea earthquakes that explode on the Japanese coastline, causing tsunamis. Mount Bandai is one of Japan’s volcanoes. It rises above the north shore of Lake Inawashiro, and is formed of many overlapping stratovolcanoes. Much of Mount Bandai is missing because of the collapse of Ko-Bandai, a volcano. Ko-Bandai erupted in 1888, it buried several villages, and formed lots of large lakes.

My Exciting Day

I decided to take a walk on the beach after my tasty lunch of teriyaki chicken, another one of Japan's famous meals. I left around 2 o'clock and it took 1 hour to get to the beach. I was used to the traffic because in Maple Ridge it is very busy. My mom dropped me off than went to buy dinner at the market. I met a girl named, Ashumii, who lives in Japan. I took a walk on the beach with her and wasn't expecting a huge wave in the distance. I started running beside Ashumii as fast as I could. I heard that tsunamis could destroy land and kill lots of people. I kept thinking, "Oh my gosh!" I saw a hill and tried my best to run up it. I could hear the tsunami crash against the shore. It came up onto the shore about 100ft. "Phewf! We're alive," I thought to myself. Ashumii told me that we were luck it was only 100ft. She said that they were used to tsunamis and that in 1993 an earthquake made a tsunami that was 10-20 meters. Apparently 1,200 people escaped the waves while $600, 000, 000 dollars of property was lost. That was a little hard to believe! I had a big and scary day today, and I was ready to go back to the hotel.

The Museum

When I got home, my mom and I ate a Japanese dinner of tempura, while we talked about the tsunami. Tempura is a dish of fried vegetables or seafood. I can't stop thinking about what happened at the beach. Was it going to happen again? I fell asleep at 9 o'clock. In the morning, my mom suggested a museum day. There is a museum half and hour away from our hotel. I can't wait to go find out some facts! We went inside and followed a tour guide around the museum. Something that fascinated me, was when she talked about the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They were nuclear attacks at the end of World War 11. The United States dropped the bomb, also called the "Fat Boy", against the Empire Of Japan. The bomb killed 140, 000 people in Hiroshima and 80, 000 in Nagasaki. Six days after the explosion, Japan announced its surrender. I also learned a bit about the actual bomb. It is a weapon whose power is from atomic nuclei and when it is spilt, a certain amount of mass disappears and an equal amount of energy is released. It was a very sad time in history.

Tropical Cruise

It was the day I've been waiting for. It was the day of the Tropical Cruise. My mom and I are going on a cruise on the Sea of Japan. Lots of people are going to be there. We left after breakfast, and arrived at noon. I was wondering what it was going to be like. I brought my swimming suit because I heard from Aushumii on the phone last night that we all get to go swimming. I LOVE swimming! We got on the cruise and the boat took off. The captain anchored the boat in the middle of the sea and explained a few things. The Sea of Japan is 3500 m and it is connected to the East China Sea In the south. Japan has a few lakes, one of them is called Biwa. It is a fresh water lake with a depth of 103.8 m. It's area is 670.3 km2. After he was finished, all the kids, including me, jumped off the boat and into the sea. It was so cold, but also refreshing! I'm not scared of sharks or slimy fish, I just love the water! It was so much fun, I didn’t want to get back on the boat when the captain told us we had to. I did though and he told us about some islands. I knew that the four main islands of Japan were called Honshu, the biggest island, Hokkiado the 2nd largest, Kyushu, the 3rd largest island, and Shikou the smallest. Honshu is 1,300km and slightly bigger than Great Britain and Minnesota. Hokkiado is 83, 453.57 km2. It's main city is it's capital called Sapporo. Kyshu has a population of 13, 231,995 people. Shikou has 4, 141, 955 people on that island. I learned a lot of facts today!

Another Day

The next day, my mom and I ate more sushi for breakfast and then mom told me some thrilling news that got me excited. Japan’s Prime Minister, Taro Aso, is in town. She said that we could go meet him after lunch if I want to. Of course I am going to go! How exciting! I haven't even seen our own Prime Minister at home, and now I get to see Japans? I'm in. I went on the High Speed Internet on the Mac computer in my hotel bedroom while I waited. I found a website that said that people could sign up for a soccer program. It is one of Japan's most popular professional sports. The other two are baseball, and Sumo Wrestling. No way am I going to sign up for Sumo Wrestling! Baseball and soccer and other western sports were introduced to Japan in the Meji Period. The Meji Period is named after the Meji Emperor in 1912. Volleyball,basketball, and rugby union are also some of Japan's sports that are sponsored by private companies. It was almost time to leave to go see the Prime Minister when someone knocked on the door. The lady at the door was wearing a purple silk garment, something that most Japanese people wear. She gave us a brochure that explained Japanese clothing to us. I guess she worked for a clothing store or something like that. It said that kimono means something one wears. It used to mean all types of clothing, but now it means the full-length garment. Women, men, and children wear the garment on special occasions. It comes in different shapes, colours, and sizes. We left to see the Prime Minister 2 hours later. We met him outside the Parliament buildings in an extremely colourful garden. He said hello to everyone and said that his name is Taso Aso, then started telling us some things about the Japanese government. I didn't know that Japan has a constitutional monarchy with a parliament government. Back at home, we have a constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation. Elections happen every four years, and you have to be 20 years old to vote. In Japan, they have 6 political parties. The Democratic Party, Japan Communist Party, Komeito party, Liberal Democratic Party, and the Social Democratic Party. Japan's constitution was signed on May 3 1947 and their legal system is modeled after German civil law. The Japanese parliament is called the Diet. The Prime Minister is elected by the Diet. The Japanese people elect the members of Diet. The Diet is made up of the House of Representatives, which has 480 members. There is 242 House of Councillors. Every 3 years half of them are elected. Another thing we learned about is the Cabinet. The Prime Minister leads the cabinet. It is made up of ministers that are chosen by the Prime Minister and are mostly members of the Diet. The Supreme Court is elected by the Diet. Other courts are district courts, high courts, family courts, and summary courts. That's everything I learned today.

Weather Website

Today it rained really hard. My mom and I were very upset because it prevented us from going touring. My mom read a book and I went on the computer. I researched Japan’s climate, just to see if it was going to rain the day we leave on our flight to fly back home. What if our plane was cancelled? The website I clicked on said that Japan’s climate was different depending on where you are . The north side has long and cold winters with deep snow. The summers are cool with little rain. The east side of one of Japan’s many islands, Honshu, has cold winters and very hot summers. That’s what I like. The west side of Honshu has lots of snowfall in the winter. Around the Seto Island Sea it is sheltered so it’s not that windy. They have warm weather throughout the year. The weather for the day of our flight is supposed to be sunny. That’s all they talked about on that website.

Leaving Japan

I never wanted this day to come. It is the day that I leave Japan. I've had the best time on my trip. I learned a lot of new things, met new people, and spent some valuable time with my mom. I am sad to go, but I am also excited to go home and see my brother and dad, and to tell them about the wonderful experience. I hope that I will come to visit Japan in the future to relive my memories. 

Bibliography

Websites
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Asia-and-Oceania/Japan-LOCATION-SIZE-AND-EXTENT.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_hemisphere_is_Japan_located_in
http://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1000.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_continent_is_Japan_in
http://www.mapsofworld.com/japan/japan-tourism/mountains-in-japan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_islands_of_Japan
http://www.gdrc.org/oceans/un-seahorse/ocean.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lakes_in_Japan
http://www.mapsofworld.com/japan/japan-tourism/forests-in-japan.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Ring_of_Fire
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2116.html
http://www.stfrancis.edu/ns/bromer/earthsci/EarthScienceMon/student5/WEBPAGE/1993.html http://gojapan.about.com/od/atomicbomb/Atomic_Bomb.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasakihttp://yennadon.sd42.ca/classes/macquarrie/index.html http://www.asiaexplorers.com/japan_climate.htm
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2136.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Japan#Cuisine
http://www.japan-zone.com/gallery/view_photo.php?set_albumName=landmarks&id=landmark206
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanto_plain
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Japanese+Archipelago
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/agglutinate


Pictures

4. planes1024 x 768 - 99k - jpgmegachicken.wordpress.com

International Tsunami Expedition in ...740 x 490 - 30k - jpgtsun.sscc.ru

Flag of Japan452 x 302 - 4k - gifracerelations.about.com

Welcome to The Japanese Circle ...1600 x 1200 - 282k - jpgwww.aui.ma

Japan's Prime Minister Taro Aso460 x 288 - 45k - jpgwww.telegraph.co.uk[ More from www.telegraph.co.uk ]

When the foreward of the Japanese ...300 x 475 - 84k - jpgwww.plc.edu.co

THE ATTACK ON HIROSHIMA416 x 300 - 20k - jpgnews.bbc.co.uk

Cruises415 x 332 - 46k - jpgletztalktravel.com

...is with the computer we can fix... 380x 380-14k-jpg www.extremetricks.co.uk

Phillipes Cineos 32PF9731D LCD TV 400x 400- 35k- jpg www.itechnews.net [More from www.itechnews.net]

30 pc forest cover in India by 2012 575x 380- 133k- jpg www.merinews.com

 Suitcases and travel goods from ... 320x 342- 36k- jpg www.linekerleather.com.au

BY:CHRISTINA JOHNSTONE