Do you think they have pumpkins in Japan? Well as you can see from this picture of our epals, they certainly do. When you were in 3rd grade, did you have epals from Japan? We do and it’s fun! The name of our epal family is the Matsushitas. This family has two children and they are our special pals. Hina is eight years old and her younger brother Yuya is five years old. They have sent us lots of pictures and letters of things that they do and have in Japan. For example they’ve sent us pictures of sports festivals and special celebrations. We also received pictures of their beautiful cherry tree and foods from their New Year’s Feast. It was very interesting to learn that they really like our celebration of Halloween and they have even carved pumpkins this year. Just take a LOOK!
Run Yuya Run! In Japan, sports festivals are a really big deal. They are super popular. That is when students in a school compete on different color teams to win different sports activities. In this picture from a Japanese Sports Festival, you can see our epal Yuya. He is the first boy with the green head band and the green hoop, so he must be on the green team. Yuya is only five years old and he already looks like a professional athelete.
I wonder what it would be like if we had sports festivals. In the United States we don't have sports festivals as part of our school day, but we have P.E., recess and after school sports programs. But I think it would be fantastic if we could have sports festivals at our school. Go Yuya! We are proud of you!
Have you ever eaten so much food at a New Years Feast that it makes your tummy gurgle gurgle? Then you should go to JAPAN with me! Lots of festivals are held in Japan each year. Japanese people love their festivals. They have festivals for every season.
Our epals sent us a picture of the special foods that they eat on New Years Day. On the food tray you’ll find: shrimp, locust root, fish cakes, and kelp rolls! Some of the foods we know and some mmm … well we are not sure of? But if you're an adventurous eater like some of us, you'll be ready to dive into something on this tray. Maybe the shrimp! Yum!