Hello everyone, how are you doing? I hope that you have braved the snowy weather, and icy roads. The G6 class have been doing their own kind of braving as we traveled to Chikuma city to visit two Japanese historical museums, and a World War 2 bunker. Since we had lots of snow this week, we had the opportunity to play outside in the snow, which was quite fun for me too, and we will also go skiing this week. The students also focused on the final line of inquiry for unit 5.

Last week, we had a great trip to Chikuma City. Firstly, we went to the Mori Shogunzuka Kofun. This museum mainly focuses on the Kofun period. We had the chance to see burial site and how people of great significance would be buried in the Kofun era. Truly a magnificent grave, quite big and spacious. We also had the chance to see and touch the famous mirror that belonged to Princess Himiko, who ruled over Yamatai. This was a great experience, as these were things that the students learned about and discussed in the classroom.

The second museum was the Nagano Prefectural Museum of History. Here we got to have a semi full experience of all the periods in Japanese history, from prehistoric times to modern day times. The museum also gives you the experience of houses, food markets and how people would cook and eat food in the Edo period. We saw some of the animals that existed way back in the Jomon period, and we flew all the way in time to the schools of the Shouwa period.

The last place we visited carries a very deep and significant history in Japan and the 2nd World War. We visited and walked in the deep bunker tunnel that was dug by some local Japanese people, some of the Eastern and the Construction Battalion, but mostly consisted of 6000 Koreans who were under the colonial rule of Japan, and many were forcibly moved from their native land. This bunker now serves as a reminder of the extreme and harsh conditions these people had to work in, and if they dare speak out of these conditions, they would be punished, killed and some died due to these conditions anyway. We got to feel a slight bit of the emotion and atrocities that were committed to these people, most suffered by the Korean people who were enslaved and taken.

The end of the week will see us going to the Jigatake ski resport for some ski lessons and fun for the students. I guess this has turned out to be the perfect week to go skiing, with the heaps of snow that we received this. I am also looing forward to this, and I hope not to fall flat on my face. Thank you for visiting, I hope that you all keep warm and safe. Will see you next time!