IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD! By Lisa Demangeat 1st GRADE PROJECT WEEK 2015

For Project Week You are going to take an imaginary trip to an amazing country. Let’s see if you can guess which country. Here are some clues… It has one of the fastest trains in the world. Comic books are called mangas. Pikachu, Hello Kitty and Ninja Turtles come from there. People eat a lot of raw fish (sushi), rice and drink tea.

Did you guess Japan? よくやった Yoku yatta That means « BRAVO » in Japanese!

What are we waiting for? Let’s fly to Japan! DON’T FORGET YOUR CHOPSTICKS

I wonder what we’ll see.

=F-i94BQBpII Kon'nichiwa (Hello in Japanese) CLICK ON THIS LINK to discover Japan! HELLO Japan!

This is Tokyo. It’s the capital of Japan. Over 12 million people live there. Look! That’s Mount Fuji. It’s the largest mountain in Japan.. Mount Fuji is actually a volcano.

Come, let’s see the sites in Tokyo! ’S get on the metro Let’s jump on the Panda bus!

This is the Tokyo Tower. It’s the tallest tower in the world. Does it look familiar? Yes! It was copied from the Eiffel Tower, but it is 13 meters highe r.

’S get on the metro The Imperial Family of Japan lives there! ’S get on the metro This is the Imperial Palace and its garden.

Oh wow! There’s even a Tokyo Disneyland! Kon'nichiwa Mickey!

But mostly people wear the same clothes as you and me. Look at how the Japanese people are dressed! Children wear uniforms to school. People wear old fashioned kimonos for weddings and festivals. Some teenagers like to dress in a wild style called Harajuku.

All this site seeing has made me hungry ! what can we eat in Japan?

Because Japan is an island, we eat a lot of fish! We also eat rice at every meal. But not only…

What will you order to eat? Mochi Udon: soup with meat and noodles Sushi and rolls Raw fish, rice and seaweed Higashi Traditional candies Fish shaped Japanese sweets filled with red bean jam Yakisoba-pan Bread with fried soba noodles Rice cakes filled with red bean jam. Taiyaki

This is also food! It’s mostly made out of rice. That’s Me! Kon'nichiwa Me! Does this mean we can play with our food?

We love tea. And drink it with almost every meal! Tea is so important we have special tea ceremonies. Watch a little boy learn about the tea ceremony.

Now let’s visit the beautiful Japanese countryside. Let’s take the bullet train called the Shinkansen. It’s one of the fastest trains in the world.

This is what some homes in the countryside look like. The Japanese roofs are usually sloped off because it rains a lot.

Let’s go inside a Japanese home and see what it looks like. But first you must take off your shoes! Look closely, how is it different from your house?

The cherry blossom is Japan’s national flower. Is that snow? No,those are the cherry blossoms falling !

People of Japan have festivals to celebrate the “sakura” (cherry blossom). It means it’s the arrival of spring.

Japan is known for their beautiful paper lanterns. You will see them in homes, shops and festivals. There is even a special lantern festival called Orb. Lanterns for the cherry blossom festival. Floating lanterns for the Orb festival. Lanterns to decorate homes and shops.

What other special celebrations happen in Japan? YES! Children’s Day (Kodomo No Hi) is a national holiday! On May 5 th Kids don’t have to go to school and their parents don’t go to work. It’s a day to celebrate a child’s happiness. HURRAY! NO SCHOOL! Let’s Party!

Parents want their children to be strong like a carp. What will we see on Children’s Day? On Children’s Day we eat mochi (rice cakes filled with red bean jam). Because Carp are so strong! They can swim up a waterfall. You will see carp fish flags (koinobori) everywhere. WHY CARP FISH ?

Things to know if you visit Japan! Did you know these sports are Japanese? Can you name them? Melons can cost over 200 euro! The money is called Yen.

To learn how to write your name in Japanese, go to one of these links

Time to fly back home! Just in time for Project Week I wonder what we’ll make. It could be something fishy… And light up your life!

さような ら Sayōnara GOODBYE

Children’s day videos: Carp streamer Count to Tanabata star festival Alphabet song Colors Additional links Learn Japanese… Learn more Japanese