Welcome back to our Virtual Spring Break vacation! If you missed our Day One adventure to the ocean, you can find it here! But today, we are venturing to a brand new destination – Japan!
As we mentioned yesterday, we spent our Spring Break traveling the globe (virtually). Each day included some virtual reality (VR) exploration and expeditions, a documentary, a snack/dessert that was representative of the locale, and a themed craft. When it came time to eat dinner, we decided to fully embrace the vacation, and support our favorite local restaurants, by picking up take-out (from an establishment that was also representative of the dayβs locale). We capped off each evening with a movie that showcased the place, or culture, that we had explored that day!
So…let’s hop aboard an extremely quick flight to Japan, and see what we can find!
Virtual Spring Break: Day Two – Japan
Japan Overview
We kicked off our virtual visit to Japan by popping over to National Geographic Kids, to learn more about our destination. We love visiting Nat Geo Kids to find factual information about different places, animals, and things. We learned that Japan is an archipelago, made up of over 4,000 islands. And the islands are home to roughly 200 different volcanoes – 60 of which are active!
We took a quick peek at the Japanese flag, and Japanese money (the yen). And we learned that Japan is the only country in the world with a reigning emperor – though the emperor is mostly symbolic, and holds no real power.
Japan Documentary
We were eager to learn even more about Japan, so we decided to check out the PBS documentary Wonders of Japan. The documentary consists of several 1-hour episodes. Our daughter chose to watch the episode about the Tohoku region, in the northeast.
Quite a bit of this particular episode featured the extensive damage caused by the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami…and how the various communities in the region were busy rebuilding. We had already learned (over on Nat Geo Kids) that Japan experiences more than 1,000 earthquakes every year, due to its close proximity to three different tectonic plates. The documentary even showcased a few mind-blowing techniques that Japan uses to keep homes and buildings safe during earthquakes.
Local Japanese matsuri (or traditional festivals) also played a big role in boosting public morale after the earthquake and tsunami. We learned about the Aomori Nebuta Festival – where large floats made from Japanese paper (or washi), light up the night sky. And we watched parade performers dance with their safflower-adorned straw hats during the Yamagata Hanagasa Festival.
We were both amazed and astounded as we watched parishioners carry a 1-ton mikoshi (a portable Shinto shrine) down 202 steep stone steps, during the Shiogama Minato Festival. The shine is paraded through town, and then placed on a sacred shrine boat, and paraded around Matshshima Bay. Once the sea-parade concludes, the parishioners carry the mikoshi back up the 202 steps – which looks like an incredibly difficult and exhausting feat!
Yayoi Kusama – Dot Collage
Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist, who is often referred to as the “princess of polka dots.” All of her art features dots…lots and lots of dots! She enjoys creating large environments filled with dots (which she calls Infinity Rooms), where visitors can experience the feeling of self-obliteration. Kusama describes self-obliteration as “giving up identity, abolishing uniqueness, and becoming one with the universe.” She accomplishes this by creating spaces that feel endless…allowing the visitor to melt into the room, and become engulfed in dots.
We read a bit about Kusama’s life over on Tate Kids. And then we took a tour of her various Infinity Rooms, through this CBS This Morning video – which provided even more detailed information about the artist. Then it was time to watch this super cool time-lapse video of Kusama’s Obliteration Room at the Tate Modern in 2012. Visitors completely transformed an entirely white living space, by adhering colorful dot stickers wherever they felt compelled. What a fun, interactive exhibit!
We were super inspired by the Obliteration Room video, so we decided to create our very own dot collage! We used white poster board, and a bunch of dot stickers – in a variety of different sizes and colors.
We sat down as a family, turned on some Japanese music, and quietly got lost in the dots. It was strangely relaxing…but also a lot of fun! π And we ended up with a very colorful piece of art to hang up – a memento that will always remind us of our virtual trip to Japan!
Japanese Dinner
When it was time for dinner, we picked up a few different sushi rolls (and a side of edamame) from our favorite Japanese restaurant. Our daughter loves California rolls and tobiko (flying fish roe). My husband enjoys rainbow (assorted fish) rolls, and I’m partial to shrimp tempura rolls!
Japanese Dessert
Our family time in the kitchen consisted of making mochi – a Japanese rice cake filled with ice cream! We used this DIY Mochi Ice Cream Kit from Uncommon Goods. Our daughter decided that we should make the cocoa powder mochi (as opposed to the matcha powder) and we filled them with vanilla ice cream.
Making the mochi was a bit of a multi-step process. There were a lot of laughs (and quite a few grumbles) about the SUPER sticky dough…but we enjoyed making a brand new dessert!
After dinner, we grabbed our mochi out of the freezer and gave it a try. The dough was a bit too chewy for our liking…and since none of us have ever tried mochi before, we didn’t know if our homemade version turned out the way it was supposed to, or not. π We decided that we should try mochi from a restaurant next time…before making our final assessment.
Japanese Movie
I’m happy to report that we made it to our Day Two movie night (after having to skip it on Day One). And we are so glad that we did, because we watched a movie that none of us had ever seen before…and one that the entire family fell in love with – My Neighbor Totoro!
When I was researching Japanese movies, I came across several recommendations for two different films written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, and produced and animated by Studio Ghibli. The films were Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. We chose Totoro, and purchased the English language version from Amazon (since it wasn’t streaming on any other service that we use). Amazon has the Japanese language version as well.
The film follows Satsuki, and her younger sister Mei, as they move into an old house in the countryside. The sisters encounter a few nearby forest spirits…including a gigantic, furry creature called Totoro…who turns out to be a very cuddly and helpful friend!
Needless to say, Totoro is the new favorite in our house. Our daughter has watched the film two more times since Spring Break…and when she received a new bunny for Easter, she named it Totoro! π
And just like that, the second day of our Virtual Spring Break was over. We enjoyed our virtual visit to Japan…and now we are eager to plan a real-life trip…once we are all fully vaccinated, and it is safe to travel again!
Any guesses for where our travels will take us to next? Make sure to come back tomorrow to discover our brand new destination!
