Before that, however, we would be diving into the past, learning about Izumi City's significant collection of art pieces at the Kuboso Memorial Museum of Arts. Included in the museum tour was a visit to a replica teahouse containing the family sigil of Toyotomi Hideyoshi (one of Japan's most powerful and significant historical figures), as well as a limited-time collection of ukiyo-e Kabuki art. Translated most closely as "pictures of the floating world", ukiyo-e art was popularized in the 17th to 19th centuries in Japan's Edo period, mainly by the flourishing merchant class. The artist of the prints on display was renowned for his depictions of Kabuki actors, but his unique style of drawing human faces with long chins and wide noses was not favored widely among male Kabuki actors playing feminine roles. It is said that this is the reason why the artist in question only painted actively for ten months, and also why his prints are exceptionally difficult to come by. Pictures of the artworks were, of course, forbidden.
After visiting the museum, we had a brief respite during which we were able to take a short walk to a nearby petting zoo containing a large number of rabbits and two sheep. Though we can certainly see rabbits and sheep at home in Bloomington, it seemed to me that some of the delegates were more excited to see the animals than they were when viewing historical artworks. =)
Up next on the agenda was Kita-Ikeda Junior High School, where we were promptly split up one-by-one and shuttled to classrooms to participate in a typical Japanese middle school lunch hour. Lunch is prepared and eaten in the classroom itself, and each student or group of students is assigned a task (whether that be serving food, distributing drinks, collecting garbage, etc) to help the process of serving food to 40-some hungry kids move as quickly and efficiently as possible. The meal's main course was "oden" - a Japanese stew containing chicken, vegetables, and fish-based ingredients, and it was served alongside a bowl of rice, a salad, and a serving of milk. The kids were not shy and quickly peppered us with questions in both English and Japanese, and wanted to know everything from what our town was like, to what sports we played and what we thought of their school.
After lunch, we accompanied our group of kids to one of their classes, which varied depending on the group of students to which we were assigned; some students had English, some had math. I wasn't quite so lucky. My students took me to an art class, where they were given the task of practicing the creation of picture scroll art using images from The Tale of Genji, a.k.a. "Genji Monogatari", a court culture novel written by Lady Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century. Having read the English version of the novel when studying Japanese literature several years ago in college, it was interesting to see how the novel is explained to students in Japan. That said, I've always been terrible at drawing, and today's art exercises were certainly no exception.
Finally, we were shuttled to a school assembly, where each student from the delegation was asked to stand up in front of the entire student body and give a short self-introductory speech. Many of the delegates were caught off-guard by the request, but everyone did an amazing job -- many of them even gave their introductions in Japanese, even those who haven't studied the language before! The kids are learning so much in such a short time!
The assembly concluded, we were finally spirited away to City Hall to our official meeting and gift exchange with Mayor Tsuji of Izumi City. The students were excited, if a little nervous, to finally meet him and discuss their experiences in Japan so far. Mayor Tsuji was very welcoming and wanted to know everything the delegates are enjoying about Japan. It's clear to me that maintaining good ties with Bloomington is very important to him, and it was a great honor for us to spend time with him.
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