Over the next few weeks, we are going to share highlights of the Japan Tour 2024 with our community through the newsletter and at assembly. We hope you enjoy reading about our wonderful experience and amazing adventures.

On day 6, we went to Miyajima. We took a ferry there and when we arrived, we walked to see the floating shrine which is one of the top three most scenic spots in the world. There was a great ledge to take some photos and there were also a bunch of deer around. We couldn't feed them which was sad but we would do that later in the trip at Nara. After that, we went to see a temple. In the temple, there were some statues of gods like the god of the sea, the god of love, the god of match making and plenty more. The next session we joined was a rice paddle stamping workshop. We got to hot press 4 different designs on a rice paddle that we got to take home. There is a big rice paddle with everyone’s name on it that was given as a gift to the school. We also joined in on a manjyu cooking workshop. It was sweet and we filled one with chocolate and the other with red bean. We went on a walk and then got to enjoy them. Before we had to head back to Hiroshima, we got to spend some time at the beach which was a highlight from the trip for me.

by Tiffany

I’m Leo and I am going to tell you about an extra walk on Miyajima Island that Spencer, Zack, Sensei Mie-Mie and I went on. We first had to walk on a Japanese style red bridge and there was a small and quiet waterfall if you looked to the left. Then there were some stone stairs that we had to climb. That’s when we saw a male and female deer resting. The male deer had big and fearsome horns and we each got a photo with them.

Then we went to a small shrine and there was an Omikuji box. Omikuji gives you a fortune for your future with the rank in the order of “Dai-kichi, Kichi, Chu-kichi, Sho-kichi, and Kyo”, meaning very good luck, good luck, middle luck, small luck, and bad luck respectively. We first paid the Omikuji fee, which was just about $1, and then each of us received a piece of paper which shows the result of our fortune. We all got good or middle luck, but guess who got Dai-Kichi, the best luck? It was Mie-Mie!

by Leo

In Hiroshima on the second night, our 7th night in Japan, we went to a restaurant called Otafuku. We went there for dinner after a long day at Miyajima because we wanted to learn how to cook a local dish - Okonomiyaki.

One fact is that the Okonomiyaki started being cooked because it was cheap for the people that suffered from the atom bombs when there wasn’t much food and people didn’t have much money since they lost their homes.

We got into the restaurant, and they gave us a quick safety briefing. They squirted water onto the hot plate and some spots steamed more than others, so we knew which spots were the hottest.

We shuffled into our seats and started cooking. I was thinking about what they were going to look like. I was super excited. They first gave us pancake mix and told us to smooth it out like a crepe. Next we put cabbage on. Then we put on all sorts of stuff like spring onions, bean sprouts, pork and egg. We cooked it on a hot plate that was as big as a table so we could all fit. It was really hard to flip it over so we could cook it on both sides. My cabbage went all over the table!

It was an adventure for my taste buds! It tasted like a veggie pancake but with meat. They also gave us a special sauce called Okonomi sauce which is made from vegetables and fruits. My topping was mushrooms and I really enjoyed it. After eating it I instantly asked for the recipe. We took a photo and then it was time for us to go.

There are two different types of Okonomiyaki:Hiroshima and Osaka. Osaka-style is where you mix all the ingredients together, but Hiroshima style is where you make layers. If you want to try a Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki, click on the link below. You can get most of the ingredients from Asian grocery stores.They even sell the same Okonomi sauce I used at the restaurant! Hiroshima Okonomiyaki - RecipeTin Japan

By Zach

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