Japan in Pictures

My kids are back from JAPAN!

Last night I was treated to a huge slideshow of their pictures. My daughter took over 1000 pictures and my son took over 700!! Here are a few of my favorites...

Well, we'll never forget this! The good news is that her hand is healing nicely and minimal scarring is expected. Her host family actually took her to a burn specialist who took marvelous care of her!


Here is my daughter and her host student in their grandparents beautiful Japanese garden.


Here they are again at a look-out to see the main mountain (volcano!) on the island.


Here is my daughter dressed in a traditional kimono.


Here is my son in a kimono (they all were treated to a demonstration at school and then got to dress up themselves.)


Here is my son playing "bamboo ninja" at the beach.


And at a beautiful temple on a hill in Nagasaki.


Both of my children came back deeply changed by what they saw in Nagasaki. They had the opportunity to go to Peace Park and the Peace Museum. Here is one of the very few remains of the city before the war.


They were amazed that this stood at all. They said it was hard to believe that Nagasaki was completely destroyed just over 60 years ago. It's a beautiful city now. This is a fountain that memorializes the people who had no uncontaminated water at that awful time.


What touched my children the most was how friendly the people were there. It was so hard to believe that their great-grandparents had to be at war with each other. It instilled in them a strong desire to reach out in peace to all people.

This trip was a bridge... from one country to another. From one culture to another. From one child to another. It has had a marvelous impact on our whole family.


My kids are already asking, when can they go back!