Visiting the Fish Market

We got up at 4:30 and went to the famous Tsukiji Fish Market. This is where thousands of dollars are spent for ahi for sashimi. We were not allowed to come inside the ahi sales area, but you can see from some of the picutres, the men get very close to the fish to determine the freshness.

Water Purification

Here I am cleaning my hands to purify them before going up to the Shinto shrine. This is a very strong custom for Japanese people. They also drink the water.

Streets of Asakusa

The streets are very narrow and filled with all sorts of Japanese clothing, fans, candy and Hello Kitty paraphenalia.

Asakusa Town

After a wonderful tempura lunch, we went to Asakusa to visit the Shinto shrines and do a bit of shoppping.We will not visit schools until next week.

Wednesday's Visits

Today we took a tour of the Diet, which is the Japanese governmental building where the House of Representative and the ministers make and pass the laws. The Emperor also comes to stay here and does sit in on the opening day of the Diet.

My First Night

We arrived in Japan at 8:00pm on Tuesday. We had been up over twenty-four hours, but there were students from the local university who were waiting to take us to dinner. They got to practice theri English and we had a chance to have some authentic Japanese food. All I wanted was some noodles and broth and then go to sleep!!
Here is Miko, my host for the evening.

Crossing the International Dateline

On Monday we crossed over the International Dateline and this is a picture on the screen in front of my seat. It then became Tuesday!!! Japan..here I come