12/05/2025 - 25/05/25 Weeks 9 + 10 in Japan

The past two weeks have seen us enter the beginnings of Japan's rainy season and it definitely lives up to its name. When it rains it rains heavy and most days a week will see some fall of rain but the worst is when it’s not raining and the humidity comes out. Some days it has been 30 degrees and sweltering hot and others it has been 23 degrees and so muggy that even walking to the car gets you looking like a sweaty mess. It’s definitely taking some getting used to and it will only get worse from now on. 

I’m very much in the swing of working now but no day is ever the same. So many minor but nice things happen during the days that I dont want to forget so I’ve bought a little journal and jot down the things that happen during the school day. Here are some of the things I jotted down! Starting with the less exciting is I went and sat in the school gymnasium and watched the school council meeting. In terms of fun activities I’ve done, this is definitely not the highest on the list, especially seeing as I couldn’t understand really anything that was going on, but I like going to as many school events as possible and experiencing as much of Japanese school life as possible.

The main difference I find between English schools and Japanese schools is the behaviour in events like this. It was pretty much all student led with council members standing up and presenting pieces on various school topics, and everyone sat and behaved for the nearly 2 hours. I feel like in England, the kids would quickly have lost focus. 

During the school days, I often get children coming up to me and telling me that I look ‘kawaii’ and usually if I wear my hair anyway that’s not a ponytail then pretty much everyone tells me it looks nice and pretty! Sometimes I get students come up to me at lunchtime and say hey but a couple of times in the last week, I’ve had one boy come and get me during lunch and ask me to play with him. It’s so sweet and makes the day super fun. Lots of girls do hand hearts too and get excited when I do it back at them. 

I also had picture day at track and field and I wasn’t expecting it but they wanted me in the photo too! It was taken right after a run so my face is definitely bright red, my hair is probably a sweaty mess, but this means that I’ll be part of this school even after I leave. I had a surprise review during one of my classes too and it went well! It definitely was a surprise but it was all positive, so that’s good!! One of the best things to happen this week was when the school counsellor who sits next to me in the teachers room gave me a gift of a chopstick set! It was so kind of her but they are so nice that I haven’t used them yet. 

Outside of work, Chloe and I have been doing lots of exploring and we found a secret part of Mobara park that enters into a small bamboo forest with walkways and treehouses through the hill! It is beautiful and truly magical. Everyday here is an adventure and my camera roll is filled with beautiful things I see on random walks and runs out in the area. We visited Tateyama at the weekend and saw a stunning Buddhist temple that took our breath away. It was covered in amazing carvings and stunning gold colours. There is such a rich history here and it is magical when you come across a temple in the middle of nowhere. 

We also went to a Round One arcade in Ichihara and it was mega impressive. It was massive and had the largest selection of UFO catcher machines I’ve ever seen - there were rows upon rows upon rows.

The arcade also had karaoke, pool, bowling, darts, ping pong, and a restaurant! Round One arcades are all over Japan and this was one of the smaller ones but it was still massive! I even saw a crisp keyring UFO machine…. Japan really has everything.