Review: Films Set In Japan – Emperor (2013)

Posted on August 4, 2013 by tokyofox

Do you see that year in the title? Yes, it is this year and indeed it’s the very present and a rare opportunity for Tokyo Fox to review an actual current release! In fact, this movie will not get a UK release date for a couple more months which is the opposite of what usually happens with any western movie production being released in Japan!

images-2  images-1

However, as its a new film I don’t think its best to reveal too much in the way of plot spoilers even though you know the historical outcome! The storyline is a fairly easy one to follow with General Bonner Fellers (Matthew Fox) being hired by General Douglas MacArthur (Tommy Lee Jones) to investigate Emperor Hirohito’s role during WWII and whether he should subsequently be tried as a war criminal.

Don’t be fooled by that synopsis though as ‘Emperor‘ is not a war movie as there are no battle scenes and instead it focuses on the aftermath of the war and the true price of peace. Naturally, with all western films about Japan there is also some stuff about cultural adaptation as Fox’s character gets to grips with Japanese attitudes towards conflict, and how they differ from those embraced by people in the west. His work is further complicated by his memories of a girl called Maya (Eriko Hatsune) who he fell in love with during his college days which we see via a series of flashbacks. Not only is he searching for a conclusion within a 10 day framework to the emperor’s situation but he’s also keen to trace his lost love. Searching for two different things sees some quite touching scenes and leads him to the chef (veteran actor Toshiyuki Nishida) from ‘The Ramen Girl‘ (2008) who shares his wisdom with him.

emperor-movie-feb-2013-2  emperor-mv-1

Jones’ portrayal of MacArthur has been the topic of much debate but I didn’t really have a problem with it and indeed thought that his mannerisms in particular were seemingly captured very well. My problem was that, despite getting top billing, he doesn’t get enough  screen time for such an important figure. MacArthur’s opinion is that his job would be far easier if Hirohito stays as emperor as he believes that with no god-like figure the Japanese people will kill themselves en masse. The powers that be in Washington see things a bit differently!

The movie was filmed in Auckland and Wellington in New Zealand as well as Tokyo itself where I assume some scenes really were filmed in the vicinity of the Imperial Palace rather than being faked in a studio somewhere. Sugamo Prison even features which has long been replaced by the Sunshine 60 building in Ikebukuro which featured in my Tokyo’s Most Haunted Sights feature last year. The wartime devastation scenes are particularly impressive and overall the cinematography was pleasing and so it should be given the generous budget of the film!

Whilst I found ‘Emperor‘ quite intriguing due to my interest in such topic matter I do think that many neutral viewers may find it a bit slow not that I can really see it attracting much of a general audience. When I watched it one afternoon, the place was almost full of ojiisan and obaasan! It’s a dialogue driven film with some interesting scenery and the interwoven love subplot helps push the movie along as a decision of huge historical importance affecting all future relations between the US and Japan is ultimately decided.

Tokyo Fox Rating 7/10

Posted in Review: Films Set In Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Dining Out: I-Ran Out For Iranian Food After Watching ‘A Separation’

Posted on August 1, 2013 by tokyofox

Having just watched a foreign language flick I think most people might be tempted to go on and watch more films from that country or even book a trip to the place. The latter may usually be true for me but when the country we’re talking about is Iran it’s never gonna be that straightforward! I’ve heard great things about Iran actually, especially its people and would like to visit the country one day but for now I’ll have to settle for the next best thing. Having finally got round to watching ‘A Separation‘ (2011) I-ran out to get some ethnic cuisine as that’s the kind of persian I am!

One obvious restaurant springs to mind when it comes to Iranian restaurants in Tokyo and thats ‘Zakuro’ at 3-13-2 Nishi-Nippori. Back in 2011 I first went to this place on an  evening and slagged it off on here! That was more for my dislike of that kind of entertainment and that is still true but having returned their last year for lunch I decided it was a great place for food which kind of got forgotten about in my original entry. More on the food later.

IMG_2706  IMG_2708

Now, despite all the film-related stuff here on Tokyo Fox, I really am not a film buff but I do enjoy watching foreign language movies from time to time. ‘A Separation‘ (2011) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 2012 and its beauty lies with the fact that the tension and drama remains throughout without any need to resort the more commonly used gimmicks of western cinema.

600full-a-separation-poster  a-separation-poster

It is a sad truth that most people from English-speaking countries just will not watch foreign language films when they go to the cinema or rent a dvd. Having to actually read the subtitles in order to really understand what’s going on is one basic reason why. It’s also been suggested that subtitles require more attention and take away the viewers concentration of the action in part. Movie-goers seem to be ok with small segments of the films they watch being subtitled but it seems at times that it’s only really the film buffs who enjoy good movies whether they are subtitled or not.

The brilliant and very tense ‘Argo‘ (2012) was a three-time Academy Award winner in 2012 and having also re-watched this on dvd the other day, Iran was definitely lurking in the back of my mind somewhere. As a movie locations geek I should add that the bazaar wasn’t really in Iran but was instead the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul which also featured in ‘Skyfall‘ and ‘Taken 2‘ last year.

images  images-2

That links me nicely back to Zakuro which is actually a mix of Iranian and Turkish food as well as also including some Uzbekistani cuisine too. The lunch set is a bargain 1000 yen and includes daily juice, daily kebab, soup, rice, nan, tea, Iran pasta and and a load more dishes which I struggle to recall.

IMG_2698  IMG_2699

Sitting on Persian rugs which cover the floor your table is also at ground level and fairly quickly fills up as the staff bring you dish after dish as well as a Turkish fez hat!

IMG_2702  IMG_2704

Having been here a few times now it really can be a bit hit or miss. Every time you go to this place the menu is a little different which is no doubt a good thing but when I took my girlfriend here recently for her maiden visit the service was a little lacking and we did get forgotten about a bit after the initial outlay of dishes given to us which it has to be said is fairly impressive. Its just that on my previous visit I was constantly inundated with extra dishes and other little bite-sized nibbles which are passed round by the waiters.

P1000527  IMG_1233

Funnyman owner Ali is a bit of a character who usually works hard to entertain the diners, particularly the larger groups, and create a communal atmosphere in the place. Sadly, he wasn’t around so much for this recent visit which may be why it wasn’t quite up to scratch. Still, I shall definitely return again one day.

Posted in Films, Food & Drink, Middle East Travel | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tokyo Daytripper: Top 10 Kanagawa Sights

Posted on July 29, 2013 by tokyofox

Of Tokyo’s three surrounding prefectures it’s fair to say that Kanagawa offers some of the better attractions for day trips from the capital and so this list was certainly easier to compile than the Top 10 Saitama Sights and the Top 10 Chiba Sights. However, it should be understood that there’s far more to this area than just Yokohama which is of course included.

Here then, in no particular order, are my top ten things to do in Kanagawa featuring a mix of famous sights and some hidden gems too.

1. Nihon Minka-en – A unique museum as visitors get a rare opportunity to walk through and experience ancient Edo period style architecture first hand. This folk village (below) has been reconstructed to feature a variety of buildings such as farmhouses, a water mill, a kabuki stage, a ferryman’s hut and an exhibition hall. More details here.

P1010221

2. Sarushima – The naval port city of Yokosuka is the gateway to this island. Sarushima a.k.a. Monkey Island (below) consists of a small black sand beach at one end packed full of day trippers having barbecues while the rest of the tiny island consists of vegetation surrounding the brick lined WWII tunnels and the remains of artillery positions. But are there actually any monkeys?! More details here.

Sarushima 13 Sept '09 001

3. Enoshima – The black sand is certainly not the best, the water isn’t the clearest but there’s a charm about this place (below) and its island (connected by a bridge) is definitely worth a wander before or after the beach. The glass tower in the gardens towers above the island and is reminiscent of Scaramaga’s lair in a 007 movie! More details here.

Enoshima 11 Sept '09 025

4. Yomiuri Land – Old fashioned theme park (below) with a standing roller-coaster (with a loop), a spaghetti-type wooden roller-coaster, a bungy jumping area and a huge floating rapid water-ride. A great day out in the sun. More details here.

Yomiuriland 021

5. Kamakura – Perhaps one of the most famous day trips for tourists to do whilst visiting Tokyo. There are about 70 shrines and temples which is fine if you like that kind of thing. If you don’t, then the hiking trail from Jochi-ji temple to the 13.35 metres tall Great Buddha (below) is a very pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. More details here.

P1020476

6. The Penis Festival  – Yes, you read that correctly. More formally known as Kanamara Matsuri (below) this is the quintessential quirky festival to attend on the first Sunday each April.  More details here.

Kanamara Matsuri, Apr '08 006

7. Shomyoji Temple –  Faded red bridges, murky brown water full of turtles and temple buildings fringed by some lush green vegetation covering hills which make a nice, simple hike with some fine views of Yokohama’s landscape. More important than all of that, it featured in a Manic Street Preachers music video! More details here.

P1020613

8. Hakone – This place (below) may reek a bit of conveyor-belt tourism with everyone doing the same loop through the region on all manner of transport modes but if you get lucky with the weather (I never have!) then some picture-postcard views of Mount Fuji are reward for your efforts. More details here.

PA060239b

9. Yokohama – Japan’s second largest city (below) has a far more continental feel about it and some actual room to breathe! A much nicer place to roam than most of Tokyo’s most famous districts. Attractions deserve a blog entry of their own (now there’s an idea!) and include Chinatown, Yamashita-koen, Cosmo World, the Ramen Museum, Nissan Stadium and the Landmark Tower. More details here.

p1000551

10. Sankei-en Gardens – Picturesque landscaped gardens (below) with walking paths around ponds  as well as some traditional tea houses and a pagoda. More details here.

P1000546

Bonus: Kurihama Hana-no-kuni (Kurihama Flower World) a.k.a. Gojira-koen – Amidst the lush, green scenery of this park there is also a huge Godzilla statue that doubles up as a kids slide. More details here

IMG_0283  IMG_0304

Posted in Japan Filming Locations, Japan Travel, Tokyo Daytripper: | Tagged , , , , , , | 30 Comments

Watching Urawa Reds vs Arsenal In The Saitama Challenge Cup Final

Posted on July 26, 2013 by tokyofox

Friendlies are, and always have been fairly pointless games to watch. I have known this for a long, long time but that hasn’t usually stopped me from going to watch these games but an absence of football in the Summer can do strange things to the mind! The big game this weekend is of course Leicester City against big-spending Monaco but as that match was taking place nearly 6000 miles away I decided to plump for a closer one.

P1020693  IMG_2804

With Arsenal in town for the Saitama Challenge Cup Final against Urawa Reds, myself and Yuji got tickets for this one as I thought it would be Continue reading →

Posted in Japan Life, Leicester City, Sport | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Review: Films Set In Japan – Battle Royale (2000)

Posted on July 21, 2013 by tokyofox

Due to overwhelming popular demand (two people!) it’s time to throw in my two cents on this Japanese movie which is included in this series owing to its popularity in the Western world. The violent ‘Battle Royale‘ (or ‘Batoru Rowaiaru‘ to give it its Japanese title and pronunciation) caused great controversy when it was originally released.

This film was first brought to my attention back in 2002 on the BBC show ‘Jonathan Ross’ Japanorama‘ (S01E02) and the story centres on an unruly high school class taken to a deserted Island for a maximum three day stay with the important word there being maximum! That’s because they have been forced by legislation to compete in a battle where they are forced to slaughter each other with only one person able to leave the island. In that sense, it has similarities to ‘Letters From Iwajima‘ (2006) and funnily enough both Iwajima and Hachijojima, where ‘Battle Royale’ was filmed, are actually both in Tokyo despite them being islands hundreds of miles away going south.

The BR Act is explained to these unwitting participants by an annoying woman giving instructions to the students via an educational video in one of those really annoying squeaky girly voices that are just not pleasant on the ears of us foreigners. The students are each given a bag with a randomly selected weapon with a few food and water rations. The man handing these bags out is none other than the aptly named Kitano-Sensei played by none other than Takeshi Kitano who is a rare phenomenon as he is the director of some very violent movies. Yet, in spite of this, he is a much loved television personality who often appears on Japanese variety shows. Oh and he’s also an artist and one of his paintings appears towards the end of this film. For anyone who thinks the kids of today need some harsh discipline then they should watch this film to realise how absurd that is!

images  images-2

This kill-or-be-killed take on ‘Lord of the Flies‘ focuses on a few of the students and how they cope. Whilst some of them do decide to play the game others try to find a way to get off the Island without violence. To be honest, I did find it a little hard to really get into the characters as the majority seemingly appear for just short periods but once the numbers begin to dwindle on an hourly basis it became easier to realise that Shuya and Noriko are the main protagonists. Like many stories, there are a mix of good and bad people which can easily be characterised into geeks, outcasts and superficial bitches. I didn’t realise it at the time but one of the students is Chiaki Kuriyama whose portrayal of Takako in this film was the inspiration for her character in ‘Kill Bill: Volume I‘ (2003) where she played the schoolgirl bodyguard of O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu).

images-3  Battle_royale_pochette

Many people will be shocked by the unapologetic detail to graphic violence but despite all the gloom, blood and gore its a very watchable film with a comic feel in parts which moves along at a fast pace and is so compelling that it kept me hooked for 108 minutes. It is indeed quite moving at times as the characters are forced to confront such extreme circumstances amid the atmospheric tension and emotion created by a masterful soundtrack.

Tokyo Fox Rating 8/10

Posted in Review: Films Set In Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Is Low Teacher Talking Time (TTT) Really All That?

Posted on July 17, 2013 by tokyofox

Do any teaching course or read any book on how to teach English as a foreign language and at some point you’ll inevitably come across something about how low TTT (teacher talking time) is essential and of upmost importance in helping the students but is it actually true and if it is, then to what extent. Is it really important or just one of those things DOS’s (Director of Studies) go on about to tick a box or two on their paperwork to justify a much larger salary than your average teacher!

The benefits of low TTT is that it can limit the amount of STT and the more the teacher the speaks the less student involvement which can lead to loss of concentration, boredom and reduced learning. Teacher explanations alone are often tedious, full of terminology and difficult to follow and there may be no indication of whether the students have understood so TTT can be eliminated for stuff which the students can find out or read by themselves. Also, if the teacher is always the dominant one its thought that learners take no responsibility for their own learning then autonomous learning is really reduced. Furthermore, a dominant teacher results in the role of the student just being a respondent who only speaks when spoken to thereby harming the development of their speaking skills.

Don__t_speak_by_barbetka  Being-quiet

So anyway, back in May when I was feeling very much under the weather I basically re-learned the art of reduced TTT whilst teaching lessons with a surgical mask on. That in itself probably sounds quite strange to those reading this outside Japan but here it really is so normal and part and parcel of everyday life. Anyway, as my voice wasn’t working I had to resort to other methods to get my message across such as pointing, gesturing and using a voice recorder in kids lessons and the same in adult lessons but with additional use of the whiteboard for words, sentences and pictures.

This all worked quite well, particularly with the kids, but I could sense that some of the adults were a bit confused by it all. Of course it was all a bit weird and maybe its because they’re not used to having over 95% talking time. My students had been made aware by the receptionists that I had pretty much no voice but there obviously can come a point when TTT goes too far and could even be considered rude where the students don’t understand what the teacher is doing and instead think he or she just isn’t interested in speaking to them.

I remember years ago when I was in the midst of my TESOL course and practising some teaching techniques with afternoon classes. I tested out how long I could go without speaking and got about 25 minutes in before I spoke my first word. I was pretty pleased with myself but later in the same lesson one lady did say “Can you just be normal next week please?!” Admittedly these afternoon classes are often full of hobby students rather than ones doing it out of necessity and maybe their reasons for coming to an English school are different to others. However, that line she uttered hinted at the evidence that the thinking of students may not actually be the same as what the books or bosses say.

On the aforementioned course one of my fellow participants was so good with his gesturing and limited word-use that he eventually got told to actually increase his TTT a bit for fear of coming across as almost robotic in his presentation and demonstration of the target language. Ultimately, I guess there’s gotta be a good balance between STT and TTT with the more important thing for the teacher being that the bulk of what they say being useful and important talk time.

Posted in English Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dining Out: Wan Love At A Tokyo Dog Cafe

Posted on July 14, 2013 by tokyofox

When you’ve lived in Tokyo for a while you kind of get used to seeing quirky things and they often just don’t even register in your mind as being unusual. This type of cafe was one such example and is probably a good example of something that would be of interest to people overseas and might feature on TV when talking about Japan.

As my girlfriends mother was staying at ours recently with her very cute dog we all ended up going to this Dog Cafe after we had taken “Momiji” (for that is the name of their family dog) to Toyama Park where I got to see Hakone Yama which I never had time for on my Halloween Cycle trail expedition last October. Whilst in Waseda after that we came across ‘Howls Cafe & Shop’ at Nishi Waseda 3-21-5.

IMG_2407  IMG_2381

Amazingly, this place for dog lovers was fully booked for lunch on the day we turned up unannounced. Luckily, we were very early so were told that if we were done in an hour then it wouldn’t be a problem and trust me when I say that 60 minutes was enough!!

IMG_2388  IMG_2382  IMG_2385  IMG_2396

The dogs in the place were all free to roam and sniff each others bums as they tend to do and whilst they did that we set about ordering our fairly simple, but very nice pasta dishes. With pets not often being welcome at most Tokyo restaurants I guess its refreshing for owners to be able to take their ‘best friends’ to this kind of place where they can order some dishes (ranging from 240 yen) from a special dog menu which Momiji is kind of reading below! The number one dish is a type of  chicken meat which is handmade on the premises.

IMG_2397  IMG_2398  IMG_2402  IMG_2392

In March 2012 I wrote an article on here about things in Japan which I’d love to confine to room 101 and one of them included accessories and particularly the way dogs are often carried everywhere and pampered with clothing and other such treats not usually given to pets. Well this place was proof of that and while I can admit there is an element of frivolous fun to it all, it is a bit much at times. One dog was later wheeled into this place in a pram and he was wearing a hat! I sh*t you not! A shame I couldn’t get a photo of that but it does show the ridiculous levels to which some Japanese people treat their pets.

IMG_2389  IMG_2400

Even though it wasn’t so relaxing eating the main dishes with the dogs wandering around and getting in the way we still decided to share a huge piece of cheese cake which was absolutely delicious. I wasn’t planning to blog about this place but once inside the place I realised it was more perhaps more unique than I realised and so I started taking all the pictures seen here thereby making me quite Japanese as they sure love to take snaps of their pets.

IMG_2405  IMG_2404

The dog cafe was an interesting experience but I can’t see too good a reason to go to such a place without your own dog in tow. My girlfriend probably wouldn’t mind going to one of the city’s Cat Cafe’s but thankfully my allergy to our feline companions will halt that!!

IMG_2406  IMG_2408

* The title of this blog entry derives from “Wan” which is the sound dogs make in Japanese (as opposed to the English “woof”) and was something that surprised me when I came to Japan all those years ago as I just assumed all animals had the same noises the world over!

Posted in Food & Drink, Quirky Japan | Tagged , , , , , , , | 9 Comments

Feel The Force: Star Wars x Glico Products

Posted on July 12, 2013 by tokyofox

I got a tip-off the other day that some Convenience Stores had just become stocked full of snacks and drinks with some kind of Star Wars tie-in. Now, of course this sort of thing is nothing new for just about every product has had the Star Wars logo slapped on it at some point during the last thirty-five years.

IMG_2679  IMG_2680

This time Japanese confectionary company Glico have teamed up with Star Wars to emblazon their products with such famous characters like Darth Vader, Yoda, R2D2, C3P0, a Stormtrooper, Obi-Wan Kenobi (prequel version) and Luke Skywalker.

IMG_2506  IMG_2755  IMG_2736  IMG_2775  IMG_2648  IMG_2773

Products include:

Pocky – chocolate-coated pretzel sticks.

Pretz – pretzel sticks.

Karujaga – potato sticks with a hollow middle, giving it extra crunch.

Caplico – frosting-dipped waffle biscuits in the shape of ice cream cones that come in either chocolate or strawberry flavour.

Almond Peak – chocolate covered almonds.

Cecil – Milk Chocolate.

Dororich – Coffee and Matcha green tea jelly flavours.

1000986_10152978391180613_884762629_n  600207_10152978392650613_1652547737_n  11497_10152978391950613_843933633_n  7974_10152978392320613_1272289626_n

I’m not sure how long these products will be around for but they’re pretty cool particularly the Pocky ones which are supposedly intended to look like Vader’s lightsaber. I guess with Episode VII on the horizon (released in 2015) there will be plenty more products on the shelves of Japanese shops featuring the Star Wars logo.

Posted in Food & Drink, Quirky Japan, Star Wars | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

So, Who Exactly Is My Girlfriend?

Posted on July 10, 2013 by tokyofox

She’s been mentioned on this site (and this site only!) for quite a while. We’ve been together much, much longer than that and a couple of months ago I finally confirmed it properly on here following rumours around my workplace about my relationship status.

Talking about girlfriends is a bit of a weakness of mine and something I have rarely done over the years. For that reason, most people usually just assume I’m single (“between relationships” as I preferred to say back in the day!) or gay!!

Now I know all of this already sounds way more pretentious than I ever intended but in these times of ‘everything being out there’ on the internet that’s the way it is I guess. I feel I reveal more than enough about myself on here so its quite nice to hold something back but with friends and colleagues jumping to wrongful conclusions every time I mention the name of a lady friend or post a photo of us or whatever (which is not that often) I thought it was time to finally set the record straight.

A handful of people know about our relationship and I’m a little surprised we’ve got this far (especially given what I’m about to reveal!) without word getting out or maybe, just maybe, no-one really gives a sh*t and why on earth should they to be honest?!! Anyway, rather than let the story do the company gossip rounds I thought it best to say it myself.

Contrary to some rumours my partner is not: a) a student b) a man c) an older woman! No, instead she is actually a few years younger than me and has a couple of jobs; one is doing translation work for a company who organise study abroad programmes for Japanese students and the other is…… at the same company I work for!! Yes, that’s right we both work at the same 英会話 but don’t work together and indeed hardly ever have. Anyway, that’s obviously how we met and the rest is history! I’m not ashamed or embarrassed to have found love at work and am very proud that she is my girlfriend.

P1020380  IMG_1979

We are, dare I say it, in a fairly settled stage of our relationship now and both very happy so it’s probably about time to let this big secret of mine out.

IMG_0994  IMG_2038

Right, that’s as much as you’re getting out of me!! Lets get on with what provides the bulk of Tokyo Fox’s hundreds of daily hits and that’s filming locations information, world travel, English teaching ideas, day trips from Tokyo, analysis of films ‘set’ in Japan, international restaurant reviews with tenuous links to something else, pointless cycling expeditions and pigeon-holing Japanese mannerisms and behaviour into varying contexts!

Posted in English Teaching, Japan Life | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Tanabata (Star Festival) Kids Lessons

Posted on July 7, 2013 by tokyofox

The 7th of July in Japan is known as Tanabata (七夕) which celebrates the meeting of the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi. According to legend, the Milky Way separates these lovers, and they are only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month albeit only for a brief moment.

Following on from our Halloween parties and the special Kung Fu Panda lesson over the last few years Lai-Keun and I did a couple of kids Tanabata lessons in Hibarigaoka today. A huge part of the festival is the writing of wishes on coloured strips of paper on the night of the 6th which are then tied to a bamboo plant and put outside in the garden on the 7th. Some kids have been writing their wishes and putting them on a bamboo tree in the school in the last couple of weeks but other than that we didn’t incorporate it into our lesson too much. There was though an activity where one group cut up some pictures and then tied them to a couple of bamboo branches.

IMG_2598  IMG_2568

The day was split into 2 x 90 minute lessons (including a ten minute break for drink and rice crackers) with the first one being a mix of Playgroup and Kindergarten students with some very familiar faces for me as all my Playgroup kids were in attendance. After a warmer song we got on with a variety of colours, shapes (diamond, star, square, circle, triangle, heart) and numbers based stuff which I can only vaguely remember! The craft activity was just for the young ‘un’s to colour in Orihime and Hikoboshi and add a load of star stickers to the sky. Simple but very enjoyable!

IMG_2561  IMG_2564  IMG_2563  IMG_2560  IMG_2566  IMG_2562

The day wasn’t just about learning some new vocabulary but also about having fun in an English-speaking environment and some of the games included:

* throwing stars into boxes

* blindfolded ‘stick the boy next to the girl’

* hit the ‘star’ piñata

IMG_2572  IMG_2574  IMG_2583  IMG_2585

An hours rest/preparation and then it was on to the next group of lower and higher elementary kids beginning with some simple ball drills of numbers and months. Its a bit of a vague connection but Tanabata is in July and July is a month! Oh well, after rattling through some months-based activities (hide & reveal, missing month, race & circle, race & erase) we moved on to adjectives of emotion (happy, sad, angry) and other such lexical items like moon, river and bridge which are all integral parts of the tanabata story. Some amusing attempts at blindfold ‘stick the boy next to the girl’ ensued and the craft activity was the aforementioned bamboo plant tying activity.

The second part of the lesson included some far more ‘meatier’ activities such as making a star chain using mittens, throwing stars into a box, using chopsticks to transfer stars from cup to cup and the inevitable ‘hit the piñata’ conclusion.

IMG_2587  IMG_2595  IMG_2602  IMG_2603  IMG_2604  IMG_2606  IMG_2607  IMG_2610

All-in-all it was a successful day with a controllable amount of tears and tantrums. Despite being my seventh consecutive day at work (part of an eleven day marathon) the chance to do something a little different and new with the kids was quite a nice, refreshing change and one from which I actually learned a lot more about this festival.

Posted in English Teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments