ALL

ABOUT
JAPAN

A Culture Book
by
Jo Ebisujima
Hi,
My name is Ebi-kun (well that is my nickname) and I am 6
years old. I live in Japan about one hour by train from Tokyo. I
am going to tell you all about where I live.

I go to yochien which is like kindergarten, I catch the bus in the

morning at 7.45am and then I get home at about 2.30pm. I
love going to yochien, it is a Japanese yochien and I get to
play with my friends, we play tag and football (soccer), dancing
and singing, painting and working in the clay room we also
have lots of animals like peacocks, chickens, ducks, turtles,
rabbits, carp and a parrot.

My yochien is part of a Shinto shrine so when I arrive I go to

the shrine and say good morning to the god and to the garden
god and the animals god, before we catch the bus home we all
say goodbye to the different gods.

Each morning I take either plain bread or plain

rice to yochien, the rest of the food is cooked at
the yochien and it is always delicious we have
things like curry, stew, spaghetti, oden (Japanese
stew), yaki-soba, we have fruit for pudding and
drink mugi-cha which is non caffeine barley tea.

There are 20 students in my class and we are

spilt into 4 teams. Each week the team gets a
new job to do for the week, the jobs are..

1. Watering the flowers and vegetables

2. Cleaning the classroom
3. Collecting and serving the food for lunch
4. Feeding the animals

I can wear any t-shirt but I have to wear uniform

blue shorts, even in the winter! When I travel to
and from yochien I wear a jacket, a long sleeved
one in the winter and short sleeves for the
summer. Inside we wear white pumps, we don’t
wear shoes inside in Japan. In the winter we wear
blue hats and the summer our class caps, mine is
dark green this year. This picture I am with Mayu-
chan, I was her hancho-san because she was a
new student it was my job to take care of her, take
her to her classroom and show her how to do
everything. Last year Mayu-chan’s sister was my
hancho-san.
 Japanese school
I will start elementary school next April, the school year always starts April here. I won’t wear a
uniform but I have to wear a yellow hat and use a yellow umbrella if it is raining.
All elementary school kids walk to school, the school organises meeting points so one of the older
kids is in charge of the walking group and we have to walk the route that the school decides on.
There are some parents on patrol at the busy crossing.
It will take me about 20 minutes to walk to my school, we have to be at the school by 7.30am. I don’t
need to take lunch because it is cooked at the school.

This picture is of Randoseru, school bags and

they are used by all elementary aged children.
Traditionally your grandparents buy the bag and
you keep the same bag until you graduate
elementary school. They can be very expensive
especially the ones made from horse leather,
some are about ¥60,000 ($780, GBP500) but
there are cheaper imitation leather ones too.
Traditionally boys have black and girls have red
but recently you can get different colours, I
really want a green one. One the side is a hook
so you can clip on an alarm or my friend who
lives in the mountains has to have a bear bell
on her bag to scare away the bears. She has
never seen one but she has seen monkeys.

Schools in Japan don’t have cleaners, the children are in charge of keeping the school clean and
twice a year the parents come in to help clean the more difficult parts.

I will get homework every day and in the summer I will have projects to do.

When I am about 12 I will go to Junior High school, JH is very hard, you have to join a school club
usually a sport or music club, you practice every day after school and sometimes before school too.
Many kids also go to juku after school, juku is cram school, the entrance exams to get into high
school are very difficult so you have to study hard. You don’t have to go to high school, you can quit
when you graduate JH but most people do go to High school or a college.

My parents hope I can get into our local high school, it has a very good reputation and it is close by,
some children travel up to an hour or more to get to their school.
 Information about Japan

Continent: Asia

Capital: Tokyo

Government: Unitary parliament democracy and constitutional monarchy (Emperor)

Area: 377,944 sq. km / 145,925 sq. mi

Currency: Yen symbol 円 or ¥

Religion: Buddhism or Shinto

Official Language: Japanese

Ethnic groups: 98.5% Japanese

0.5% Korean
0.4% Chinese
0.6% other

Japan is not a very multicultural country, I am the only hafu (mixed race) child at my yochien
and there are not many non-Japanese people living in my town. Often people stare at my
mommy, especially old people and little kids. We do belong to a playgroup where all the
children have at least one foreign parent and we are all bilingual. I have known these friends
since I was a baby and I enjoy having picnic and parties with them. We always have a
Christmas, Easter Egg Hunt and halloween party.

Weather
The weather varies a lot depending on the part of Japan, Hokkaido gets very cold and
Okinawa gets very hot and humid. Where I live, December to February is cold but not very
rainy, I always hope for snow but we only get a little bit. March to May is warm and we have
picnics under the cherry blossom trees. June is the rainy season, it starts to get hot and
humid. July to September is very hot and humid, I don’t like it because I can’t play outside
much. October to December the weather cools down, usually warm during the day and
cooler at nice, it is a nice time of year.
 The Flag Of Japan

The national flag of Japan is known as Nisshoki or Hinomaru which

means ‘circle of the sun’. The flag was officially adopted on January
26th, 1870. Often in lunch boxes the white rice has a red pickled plus
(umiboshi) placed in the centre to look like the flag of Japan.

Another flag that is associated with

Japan is the War Flag of the Imperial
Japanese Army, this is not used in
times of peace.

Make your own flag:

Get a white sheet of paper and find something round to draw around.
Draw a circle in the middle then paint it red, easy!
 Geography

Japan is made up of volcanic islands, In the valleys rice and vegetables are
some of them are still active. It is also grown. Which means that as soon as you
mainly covered in thick forests which leave the city it is very green.
means that the towns and cities are very
densely populated.
All the major towns and cities are
connected by train and we also have the
super fast Shinkansen.
My family likes to go camping and we
usually go to campsites in the mountains.

Mount Fuji or Fuji-san as it is known here
is a dormant volcano which means it
might erupt again some day.
If you want to climb Fuji-san you can only
do it in July and August and did you know
there are shops and vending machines at
the top!
The good thing about living on a
volcanic island is that there are a lot of
onsen, that is hot spring baths. I like
going to the onsen but sometimes it is
TOO hot and I can only stay if for 10
seconds!
 Great Tohoku Earthquake
On March 11th 2011 Japan had one of the biggest
earthquakes ever recorded, magnitude 9.1. The
earthquake did a lot of damage but it also caused a
tsunami, the giant waves swept away whole towns
and over 20,000 people lost their lives. The
tsunami also damaged a nuclear power station and
radioactive gas was released so now we have to
be very careful about what we eat and where the
food came from.

I was at home with mommy when the earthquake

hit, first it was the house shaking a bit but mommy
realized it was a big one so we went to the front
door.
Suddenly everything was shaking really badly, I hung onto mommy, I couldn’t stand up because of
the shaking, I kept shouting that I wanted it to stop. All the bicycles on the street fell over and the
cars were shaking like big jellies, the electric wires were swinging like giant skipping ropes, it was
very, very scary. Where we live wasn’t damaged much. Our house has earthquake stabilizers so it
feels quite safe inside, only a few books fell off the shelf. Some places nearby had no electricity for
two days, we were lucky but mommy made sure we had a good supply of water just in case and put
the emergency bag near the door. We couldn’t get through on the phone to daddy who was at work
so I was scared, I didn’t know if he was safe but then my Baa-chan (grandmother) phoned, she had
spoken to daddy so we knew he was OK. We didn’t know when he would come home because he
takes the train to work and non of the trains were working, luckily his friend gave him a lift in the car, I
was very happy when he got back and gave him a BIG hug.

My Nana and Pappy live in England, it was lucky that we could use the internet so we could tell them
what was happening and that we were alright.

We had a lot of aftershocks for the next week so we all slept together in the living room, watching the
news on the TV was like watching a movie, it was hard to think that is was real. Mommy and daddy
used to live in Iwate so they were worried about their friends up there, luckily everyone was OK.
A few days after the earthquake the nuclear reactor was releasing a lot of radiation so we went to
stay with Baa-chan and Jii-chan for a week, usually we only go in the summer so it was like a special
holiday.

One of the sad things for me is that about half of the families in our bilingual playgroup decided to
move to their other country so I feel like I have lost a lot of friends, some of them I didn’t get chance
to say goodbye to them, I hope I can meet them again some day.

I still get scared about the earthquake but we can’t do anything to stop it. At yochien we have training
to practice what to do if there is another one. In Tohoku there are lots of people who don’t have
homes now, we have donated things to them, and mommy made some teddies for a yochien up
there. I hope that they can all have a new house and toys soon.
 Animals Native To Japan
Asian Black Bear

Japanese macaque

Raccoon Dog

Sika deer

wild boar red fox

 Map Of Japan

Hokkaido
Japan consists of four main islands
plus the Okinawa Islands further
south west (not shown)

The capital city is Tokyo

Tokyo
Honshu

Shikoku

Kyushu
 Homes
In the countryside there
are still quite a lot of
traditional style
farmhouses but as the
houses get older they get
replaced by better built
modern homes.
Traditionally there was a
big open cooking pit in
the middle of the home.

Most people live in rented houses or apartments until they can afford to build their own. There isn’t
much of a market for second hand houses, most people buy the land and new house, my mommy
and daddy worked with the building company to have our house built the way they wanted. All the
houses on our street look different because they are built by different companies.
Most modern houses are still built with wood as the main structure but our houses uses steel and it
has special stabilizers built into the walls in case there is an earthquake.
We have solar panels too and an eco system which heats the water at night which is cheaper.
It is normal to have a toilet with ‘facilities’ the seat is warmed and there are various buttons to press
which squirts water up your bum to clean it. Some public places still have the old style squat toilet, I
don’t like using them. Many toilets also have a tap at the top, when you flush clean water comes out
of the tap so you can wash your hands the spare water goes into the tank ready for the next time
you flush the toilet, clever isn’t it?

Many people sleep on futons which are mattresses,

they are put out every night in a room with a tatami
floor. tatami is made from rice straw and lets the futon
breathe. In the morning, if the weather is fine, the
futons are hung out on the balcony to dry in the sun, in
the afternoon you can hear the futons being wacked
before they are bought back in. Mommy says that
sleeping on a futon when you are 8 months pregnant
is the worse thing in the world! Now we use beds but
my grandparents still use futons.
 How To Take A Bath...
Taking a bath in Japan is a kind of ritual, it is the same
way if you are at home or if you go to an onsen (hot
spring). A bathroom in Japan has the bath tub and next to
that a washing area, it usually has a shelf for the soap and
shampoo, a tap which switches from tap to shower, a
mirror, a bowl and a seat. Once you shut the door it is OK
to get the whole room wet.
To fill our bath I have to press two buttons, the first shuts
the plug hole and the second fills the tub. When I press
the second button a voice says ‘Your bath is being filled’.
Daddy has set the temperature of the bath it is usually 41c
but in the summer we have it cooler, the water level is also
set. When the bath is the correct temperature and filled to
the level it sings a tune and the lady says ‘Your bath is
ready’

Now I can get undressed, I take a small towel into the bath
room with me. First I fill the bowl with water and then I clean
myself with soap all over and wash my hair. Then I use the
shower to wash off all the soap. Once I am clean I get in the
bath to play (or mommy and daddy just like to relax).
Because we are clean when we get in the bath we can all
use the same water. When I have finished mommy puts the
lids on the bath, this helps keep the water hot for the next
person. The gadget also checks the water temperature and
adds more hot water if it starts to get cold. We take a bath
every night before bed.

When everyone in the family has finished, mommy

will check the weather forecast for the next day. If the
weather is good she leaves the water in the bath but
turns the heater off.
The washing machine is next to the bathroom, she
loads the dirty clothes in, then there is a special hose
that goes to the bath and it uses the bath water to
wash the clothes. Daddy sets the timer so that the
laundry is washed overnight ready to hang outside in
the morning. Tumble dryers are not very common
here.
 Religion
Most Japanese are not very religious but religion plays a big part in the culture. Buddhism and
Shinto are the two main religions, other religions are practiced but are very much in the minority.

Shinto
Shinto which means “the way of the
gods” has been practiced since
prehistoric times as a religion with a
respect for nature. Small shrines can
be found dotted all over the country
each one associated with different
gods such as the god of rocks or the
god of trees.

Shinto shrines usually have a tori

gate often painted red and a place
with water and ladle so that you can
cleanse yourself before praying.

Buddhism
Buddhism first arrived in Japan in the
6th century and now there a many
different sects of Buddhism (like
there are different sects of
Christians).

Buddhist temples have two gods

standing guard at the temple gates,
there is also a water place to cleanse
yourself and often incense will be
burning so that you can cleanse

Ties to the Shinto shrine or Buddhist

temples are much stronger in rural
areas and often the yearly calendar
is filled with festivals and ceremonies
especially those in farming
communities. Many older generation
and rural houses have a shrine or
alter in the home, this is becoming
less common in urban homes.
 Food
Traditional breakfast
A traditional breakfast is usually rice with natto,
grilled fish, miso soup, pickles, some boiled or
steamed vegetables and green tea to drink. We
don’t have this, we usually have fresh bread
(mommy makes it) or toast or cereal and fruit. I like
to drink milk and mommy and daddy have coffee.

Rice is the main staple but we also have lots of type of

noodles udon, soba, somen and ramen to name but a
few.

Most meals are made up of rice or noodles with pickles

and some side dishes.

Traditionally fish is the main source of protein but meat

is popular these days too. Food made from soya beans
are also very common, miso, tofu, natto and of course
eda mame.

Flavours
In Japan matcha (green tea) is a
popular flavour and so is (anko sweet
bean paste).

Most areas are famous for a certain

type of food, where we live it is sweet
potatoes and nashi (asian pear). If you
go on a trip it is custom to take back
some omiage which are usually cakes
or snacks. Where my grandparents
live it is famous for mikan oranges and
umeboshi pickled plums so we usually
bring back something flavoured with
oranges or a pack of pickled plums for
our friends.

In Tokyo there is an ice-cream shop

that sells weird flavours like raw tuna,
whale, horse radish and soy sauce!
 Recipes
These are some easy Japanese recipes for you to try. The problem with Japanese food is the
ingredients are usually specialised, I know that my hometown back in the UK I can by nori
(seaweed sheets) but not mirin (sweet rice wine, you can use sweet sherry instead). If you are
in the same situation just be a bit creative with the ingredients :o)

Onigiri (rice balls)

Ingredients
cooked rice, if you can't get Japanese rice try medium grain rice and add a bit of extra water
when cooking. Still warm works best.
Nori - dried seaweed sheets
Bowl of salted water

Directions
Wet hands in the bowl of water. 

Take a small handful of rice and form into a ball, the water helps to stop it sticking to your
hands.

Soak the nori in the water until soft then wrap around the rice ball.

Eat!

Alternatives....
You can try making other shapes such as a capsule and wrapping nori just round the middle or
a triangle.

Add a filling, when you have formed the ball poke a hole in the middle and add a bit of filling
then 'plug' the hole with a little more rice. Popular fillings are konbu seaweed, tuna and mayo,
salmon, teriyaki chicken or think of you own!
If you can't get nori you can roll the ball in toasted sesame seeds instead.
 Daigaku-imo

These are really good but a bit difficult for little ones to make, I am sure they will enjoy eating
them though!

Ingredients:
400g sweet potatoes
80g sugar
2 tbsp water
2 tsp soy sauce
1tsp black sesame seeds
Oil for deep frying

Directions:
1. Peel the sweet potatoes, cut roughly into bite sized pieces, soak in water.
2. Pat dry and deep fry at 170c until crispy and golden brown.
3. Place sugar, water and soy sauce in a pan and bring to the boil. When glossy and sticky add
the sweet potatoes and sesame seeds and mix to coat.
4. Serve with the main meal as a side dish, they are also really good with sour cream and beer!
 Simmered Kabocha

Ingredients:
1/2 kabocha (500g) (Acorn squash)

sauce...
800ml dashi
100ml mirin
2tbsp sugar
4tbsp sake
6 tbsp soy sauce

Directions
1. Cut the inside of the kabocha and remove any stringy parts where the seeds were.
2. Cut the kabocha into bite size pieces.
3. Then cut the four edges of the skin. This will soften the edges which makes it easier to eat.
4. Finally, score the skin to rid of any rough spots.
5. Place the kabocha, skin down in a pan add the sauce, cover with a lid and simmer for 30
minutes until tender.
6. Serve in small bowls as a side dish, often served at room temperature.
 FUN
que
Items
a p a n e s e maca of
packs are never J
s p e nd most
o to
4 is an f 4 in Japa sold in like
y s in the winte
r in
u n d a
the p nlucky num because the ir
(hot sprin
g)
ronunc ber du the onsen

FACTS
‘shi’ a iation e
n d sh of fou to
death. i can r is
also m
ean

pass
You should NEVER
c s to
k
food from chopsti
k your
All elementary children chopsticks or stic
ur ric e
walk to and from school in ch op st ic ks in to yo
done at
small groups, parents do because this is what is
king rice
not take them or pick them funerals and when ma
although there are parent offerings at an alter
patrol points along the way.

For m
a
c o u p l e ny Japanes
s Chr e
cele istmas
brat is
Valentin ed l
never lie e i k e
You should wester 's Day in t
t after eating n world he
down straigh ! .
rn into a cow
or you will tu

s
Many Japanese n g m achine r,
c o m p a n i e s Vendi sell b d
ee
a p a n e
Som conduct a morning in J l d cann s ,
trains e t i m e s d c o
hot an c i g a r e t t e
t ex er cis e se ss ion
r a i l w are so cro h e ,
c o f f e e esh flower
s,
a y wded for the workers to f r ,
emp s -cream
loyed t a f f a r prepare them for rice, , i c e
e s
passe
ngers t o c r a m the day's work. noodle er items.
t h
inside
. and o

Noodles
,
( b u c k w h especially soba
e eat), a
se th loudly r e s lu r p
yo u u when e ed
When o n e 's often a te
some s a i d s n. It is
m i n to put symbol lurpin
r e s t r o o u may need ize g
yo oom delicious s t h e f o o d
home, l bathr , but th is
ec i a ot to also ser e slurpin
o n s p s s o a s n f the ves to co
ol down
g
r o hot nood
s l i p p e ate the rest les for e
ating.
the
in
contam
home.
 Language
Japanese uses 3 types of text, hiragana, katakana and kanji. A whole sentence can be written
with a mix of all three. Hiragana and katakana are both phonic, hiragana is learnt first at school.
Katakana is used for non Japanese words such as coffee (コヒ）and melon (メロン).
Kanji is derived from the Chinese way of writing, the strokes of the kanji have to written in a
specific order and one kanji can have different meanings and different pronunciation which is
why Japanese is one of the most difficult languages to learn. Here are some easy kanji, they
are derived from pictures so can you guess their meaning.

木 forest

川 mouth

田 mountain

口 tree

森 river

山 rice paddy
Did you get them all right?

木 forest

川 mouth

田 mountain

口 tree

森 river

山 rice paddy
 Festivals
There are a lot of festivals in Japan and many regional ones, especially in rural areas. Here are
a few of my favourites....

Oshogatsu Dec 31st - Jan 3rd

Before the end of the year the house is cleaned from top
to bottom. On new years eve we watch a famous TV
show, some people go to the shrine to pray and at
midnight we eat noodles to wish for a long life and eat
mochi which is very chewy. A really fancy bento is
prepared (or bought) this will last for a couple of days, it
doesn’t look like it will be somehow it does!

Girls Day - Mar 3rd
Hinamatsuri dolls are
displayed in the home, it is
believed that they will absorb
any bad spirits. We also eat
sugared rice candy. It is also
said that if the dolls are put
away late the girl will get
married late in life.
Children's Day - May 5th
We fly koi (carp banners).
The flying Koi symbolizes
courage and ambition
recognizing a tale of a koi
that once swam all the
way to heaven to become
a dragon.
7-5-3 Nov 15th
We get dressed in
traditional outfits and go to
the shrine to be blessed.
Boys do this the year that
they are 5 and girls get to
do it twice, when they are 3
and 7. I liked wearing the
outfit, I felt like a samurai.

Tanabata July 7th (Aug in some places)

According to legend, the Milky Way
separates the lovers Vega and Altair, and
they are allowed to meet only once a year on
the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.
We write our wishes on coloured stripes of
paper and ties them to bamboo trees.
 Activity ideas
This
is a koi nobori that I
made when I was four. It
is fun to do, why don’t you
try? Mommy write all the
instructions on her blog,
just click HERE.

Make a
Tanabata decoration.
This is the one I bought home
from yochien. Use coloured paper to
make the decorations, you can do them
however you like. Then cut strips of
coloured paper and ask your friends and
family to write down their wishes and
then tie the wishes and
decorations to a tree.

Make
a kabuto samurai
helmet. There are full
instructions and lots of
other origami ideas
HERE
 Sports

Kendo Aikido

Judo Sumo

Kyudo Naginatajutsu
 Food

Sushi Okonomiyaki

Onigiri Dango

Natto and rice Sakura Mochi

 Traditional Japan

Mount Fuji Cherry Blossom

Kinkaku-ji Geisha

Itsukushima-jinja Matsuri
 Modern Japan

Anime Shibuya, Tokyo

Shinkansen Cosplay

cute bento lunches Asimo Robot

 Hi! 'I m Jo Ebisujima , a Brit living in Japan with my family . I am a

BIG believer that learning should be fun and that if kids fall in

love with learning they will carry that with them and as you

know , the most successful people in this world are big learners

themselves . Even if you have a child who hates school , there is

’
no reason why they can t enjoy learning outside of school hours

and if you have a self motivated book worm at home , then that is

great but how can we help him her further / ?

I love the Montessori method and feel that the most important

thing that parents can do it to "

Follow The Child "

I run courses and write books to help parents make learning fun .
Including the best selling book : Montessori Inspired Activities
Montessori Inspired Activities

preschoolers, which is available on Amazon and all good

For pre-Schoolers
For
book stores .

Myself and Deb Chitwood wanted to help parents that were

struggling implementing Montessori at home so we put together

Montessori Crash Course . In just 27 short days you will have a

good understanding of the philosophy , have your home set up in

the best way to help your child and all your Montessori related

questions answered ! '

We don t believe that you need all the

expensive equipment to be able to provide a Montessori

environment for your child . Watch the free training and

HERE
introduction to the course HERE or jump straight in and join us

HERE
HERE

'
I d love to get to know you better , come and join my Facebook community Moms MOMS
THAT ROCK, a support group for moms from all corners of the earth, you can also
That Rock

. .
find me more about what I do over at www jojoebi com and my personal blog
WWW.JOJOEBI.COM
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