Upon entering a Japanese city, one of the first impressions is the people. Japan has over 120 million people living in small houses, apartments, and condominiums working daily in small shops, businesses, and corporations. Small shops line the crowded and narrow back streets where shoppers can go to buy daily goods or buy food. During the day, the Japanese people wear the black or dark blue business suits or school uniforms as a national attire that is accepted on the streets and subways. At night or special occasions, it is more likely that blue jeans, kimonos, or festival wear may be seen when visiting special places. The Japanese people are a colorful blend of individuals mixed with the conformity of the business world of black suits, white shirts, and dark ties, school uniforms, along with the festival wear of kimonos and blue jeans.

     The Japanese people are very structured and polite in their contacts with others.  There are very few words exchanged on the streets, people wait for the light to turn green before crossing (it is very 'wrong' to cross the street on the red light), and lines are formed to go up escalators.  Friendly and considerate at all costs, Japanese people demonstrate their abilities to conform to doing what is 'good for the group' rather than the individual.  Although outside street wear mainly consists of dark black or blue suits for the adults and school uniforms for students as they go to their workplace or school, there are many individuals working in colorful uniforms that specifically conform to the business place where they work.  No matter what time of day or night, there are always high school and college age students hanging out with their friends in groups enjoying each other's company (click to see 20 second skateboarding video from Tokyo's Times Square).

People
Traffic Guard	Department Store	Crosswalk	Workers	Students	Bazaar

Tokyo, Japan:

     Of Japan's 120 million people, 12 million live just in Tokyo.  Although the city was initially rebuilt around the Imperial Palace in a circle, streets and buildings rapidly kept forming until they lost their continuity and now form a maze that visitors will find hard to navigate without help.  Streets wind here and there with massive buildings all around the small, quaint shops where citizens are selling their wares. Crowded streets are common with lots of small shops lined up along the tall business buildings. Tokyo life continues at all times of the day and night. 

Tokyo, Japan
City View 1	City View 2	City View 3	Tokyo Times Square at Night

Subway System:

     The subway system (click to play 10 second video) is extensive in Tokyo.  Due to the crowded streets, transportation consists of the subway and train systems, bikes, walking, and some vehicles.  Over one million people pass through just the Shinjuku subway station daily.  As riders get onto into the packed out subway cars, others shift to make room.  It is very acceptable to carefully squeeze in to make room for everyone even though everyone is packed with very little or no space in between. 

Tokyo Subway System
Subway Users	Buying Pass	Turnstiles	Waiting	Crowded	Standing

Everyday Transportation:

     After leaving the subway system, the majority of Japanese people walk to work or their destinations.  Crowds of people are evident all walking purposefully along the streets during the day.  Those who live closer by may choose to ride a bike to work or, if it is a mother taking a young child to preschool, on a bike with the child behind the rider.  Cars are evident on the main thoroughfares and with the more important society people but for a city of 12 million, Tokyo has relatively few cars in the small and winding streets where the everyday worker lives and works.

Everyday Transportation
Bikes	Walking	Side-streets	Tokyo Plaza	Night Time	Preschool/Bikes

The Tetsuro Urano Family:

     As part of the Fulbright Memorial Fund Teacher Program, each participant visited a host family for the day and night.  My host family was the Tetsuro Urano family.  Tetsuro, the father,  is married to Yoshiko.  They have three boys, Masatake (age 17), Toshitaka (age 14), and Mitsuhiro (age 9).  Their family is warm, hospitable, and enjoys spending time with each other!  It was a wonderful experience and they treated me exceptionally well. 

     Each of the family members shared something special with me. 

--Tetsuro is an insurance agent.  He speaks very good English and shared many things about Japan that helped me better understand the culture and traditions.  Tetsuro opened up his house to me as an opportunity for his sons to experience the American culture with the hope that someday, they may want to visit the United States.  He spent a lot of time planning for my visit and made sure that everything went smoothly.

--Yoshiko is a very gracious hostess.  She excels in many of the Japanese arts and was able to demonstrate Origami and arranging flowers for me.  Yoshiko has a very close friend who owns a traditional Japanese restaurant where we went to eat for the evening meal.  It was a feast as course after course kept coming (see pictures below) with each one being wonderful in its presentation and taste.  Yoshiko made sure that I was comfortable at their house and felt welcomed as a guest with food and bed all ready when needed.

--The three boys were all friendly, good natured, and sports minded. 
    Masatake, the eldest, is very involved in his high school soccer club and practiced on both Saturday and Sunday to be a good player.  He was very attentive in spending time with his father and me to try to get a better understanding of conversational English.  Masatake gets along well with his brothers and was very patient in listening to them when they were in conversations.
    Toshitaka, the middle boy, is in junior high school where he enjoys playing hockey.  He is studying for his high school entrance exams which will be at the end of his school year in March.  Toshitaka is very good with creating Origami and wrapping presents.
    Mitsuhiro is the youngest.  He is involved in gymnastics and swimming which he demonstrated several times by standing on his hands when he had nothing else to do.  Mitsuhiro enjoys video games, Spiderman the movie, and trying new things.

     A great 'Thank You' to my host family for taking the time out of their busy schedules to take me to the Nara Promenade Garden, Horyuji (the oldest surviving wooden structure in the world), and out to eat.  It will be a weekend that I will always treasure!

The Tetsuro Urano Family
Urano Family	Tetsuro	Yoshiko	Masatake	Toshitaka	Mitsuhiro
Family Picture	Computer Games	Wrapping Presents	Fine Dining	Making a Hat	Watching Spiderman

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