WWII Week: Japan

On Saturday we completed our Axis Powers with Japan. 

And our person of interest for the day was Emperor Hirohito, who once made an appearance on Harry Truman's toy timeline (Brilliantly cast, btw..... that birthday had some awesome props). But we did learn a little bit more about him. He was the first crown prince of Japan to ever even travel to Europe. 

And then we were on to learning about Japan, although the boys don't need much help there either. Peyton and Hayden have some serious love for Japanese pop culture. Then of course we talked about the Cherry Blossoms, which made an appearance when we studied William and Nellie Taft, plus you know, we were in DC last year to see in bloom.  Plus if there is one Disney pavillion we love the most, it's Japan. 

But we did talk about some fun animals from Japan. 

There's the pufferfish sushi, a delicacy only prepared by the best of chefs (you know, to make sure you take out all the deadly poison)

And the Macaque Monkeys who have been known to throw snowballs at each other, and take some dips in hot springs. 

Oh, and there's apparently a tiny island who has more cats living on it than residents. (It's a small fishing village with a  population of 20, and 150 cats running wild). 

And of course, of landmark was Mount Fuji. 

For our activity we made den den daiko (little handheld drums used as noisemakers.) We made ours from wooden spoons (the one's we use the night before for topfschlagen). 

First we drilled a hole in the middle of the spoon. 

Then we stuck them in some blocks of foam so the boys could easily paint them. 

And then when they were dry, we strung beads on some string through them. It doesn't really photograph, but they did use cherry blossom inspiration for their paintings, and they look pretty cool in person. 

The boys made their postcards. 

Calib's featured the bullet train, cherry blossoms, ninjas and cat island. 

Peyton made not of Nintendo, and how you find traditional tea houses next to modern skyscrapers. 

Hayden mostly drew all his favorite Anime. 

Our friend Tracy was over last night, so instead of dinner, we just did a quick lunch. We took some help from the Publix seafood department for some steamed buns and sushi, and we picked up Mochi and edamame from Trader Joes. Plus we had some sake from the Japanese pavilion at Epcot! 

I figured since we had our Japan dinner at the end of the Olympics this summer, cutting this meal into a lunch was fine. Sometimes we have to do what we have to do to keep up the pace! 

Also, I have a fun story about Chinese Cookies for you. They might not actually be Chinese. So, there are different stories out there- but one of them says that they actually come from Japanese tea cookies. When immigrants came over and opened up Japanese restaurants, they brought the cookies with them, and adapted them to be slightly different. There's a case to be made for if it's an LA thing or a San Francisco thing, which some court of historical review looked into (They ruled in favor of San Fran). But anyway, at some point it shifted from Japanese to Chinese. Some say it was during WWII (relevant!) when the Japanese were put in internment camps, and the Chinese restaurants started making them instead, and it just spread from there. (Either way Saturday was Japan day, and today, Sunday, was China day, so it works for both!) 

Peyton colored in Japan, which wasn't my best work when I traced the map to the table, but it was just impossible to get all the little islands. 

 

56 Down, 137 to go! 

Next Up: China