...how much I would enjoy getting up at 4:15 to see the fish market!

We started at 4:15 a.m., yes, to visit the Tsukiji fish market by 5:00. It was already in full swing, jammed with trucks and boats arriving. We watched (dodging forklifts and 2-wheeled wagons) as they auctioned the new catch while shouting and making cell phone calls, carted off the fish to butcher in adjacent stalls, package it and load it on trucks. By 7:00 a.m. the action was all over, and the fishies were off to market. I'm amazed they let us tour the area, as we gaped at workers dashing madly around doing wheelies on forklifts. It's a miracle nobody got run over. As it is, we got splashed with mystery liquids.

How suprised I was when I learned the students at Wako Kokusai High School in Japan were researching information about their upcoming three-day field trip. While touring the library, students were working in small groups putting together a mathematical presentation about the location of their upcoming field trip. Kana and Yuki (students who led the tour) explained that before venturing to any field trip, studets are required to gather background information and present it to their class. This year the field trip will be at a farm along the Southwest Coast of Japan, I have forgotten the name of the location! Three hundred students will have the opportunity to visit and experience life on a farm.

I was certainly taken a back that the students were working on their research project, not just socializing.

Caryn

This article is a follow up to the article I linked to in the previous post. It covers reaction from North Korea to the death of Chung Mong-hun. They expresses their condolences, and the state news organization stated that North Korea does not believe the death was a suicide, but rather a murder carried out by political opponents in South Korea who are against reconciliation with the North.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=535&ncid=535&e=7&u=/ap/20030804/ap_on_re_as/koreas_tycoon_s_suicide_2

Tim

I had some idea about infanticide/ abortion in Japan, but this article told me much more.

From the "Tale of the Heike," I didn't know why the Minamoto were called the Genji, and the Taira called the Heike. Today I learned that Genji and Heike are Chinese pronunciation of the Japanese names. I'm sure Virginia knew , but I didn't!