During the summer of 2014, I went to Japan with the Japan-U.S. Teacher Exchange Program for ESD (Education for Sustainable Development). That’s a long name! Basically, it was a fellowship run by Fulbright Japan, co-funded by the Japanese government and the U.S. government. The program gathered 24 American teachers and 24 Japanese teachers to visit each other’s countries and learn about inspiring and empowering students to make the world a better place. We visited schools and cultural sites, and met to plan collaborative projects between American and Japanese classrooms. I spent time in Tokyo and the city of Kushiro, on the Northern Island of Hokkaido. The following summer, 2015, I went back on a vacation and visited with several of the Japanese teachers that I met the summer before.
Posts from our Preparation Conference in San Francisco:
- Meeting in the Middle
- My Cultural Connection: Japan
- What is Education for Sustainable Development?
- Countdown to Japan…and Ireland!
Posts from Japan, 2014:
Arrived in Tokyo!- Reading the Air in Tokyo
- This is what inspiring education looks like
- Pampered with 10 Plates
- What makes Lake Akan special?
- A Few Less Than 1,000 Cranes
- Just Like Home
- The Serious and the Silly
- Special Guests at School
- Exploring the Wetlands
- Goodbye Kushiro! Hello Tokyo!
- Shopping Practice and Conveyor Belt Sushi
- From Elementary School to Japan
- This is just the beginning
- Happy 4th and 7th of July!
- “Smart” Japanese Bathrooms
- Lost in 3D Tokyo
- Underground in Tokyo: The Subway
- Japanese Cute Machines
- On the Water: Photo Trivia
- Buddhas and Purple Sweet Potatoes of Kamakura
- Japanese Fast Food
Post-Trip:
Posts from Japan, 2015:
- Kaiseki Cuisine: Small, Beautiful, and Delicious
- Second Time’s a Charm in Tokyo
- Wonders Viewed from a Plane
- A Million of Everything in Kyoto
- 10 weird things that I did not buy in Japan… but could have.
- Yummy Japanese Desserts
- Sleeping in a Temple at Koyasan
Post-Trip:
- Tofu-San’s Adventures at Lake Winnipesaukee
- Two Tofu-Sans!
- Tofu-San Hits Hogwarts and DC
- Creativity Oozing at the Vator Shop
- Tofu-San’s Weekend with Olivia
- And we’re off… on the Mayflower
- Tofu-San in L.A.
- Being a Global Citizen on Halloween
- The Stories Behind Your Food
- Tofu-San’s First Thanksgiving
- The Best Holiday Greetings are the Global Ones
- What makes a happy year?
- Scavenger Hunt: Can we SEE Culture?
- Valentines and Vacation
- Tofu-San’s First Pajama Jam
Innovation on Earth 
I like that you posted differerent posts while in and preparing to go to japan
when you go on these trips do you have fun? And i like that you post all about your trips.
Yes, I love to travel. It’s a lot of fun! Sometimes there are hard parts, but those moments usually end up being the ones that I remember as big learning experiences. And every time I travel, I get to experience new things, which I love. Today, for example, I tried shark meat for the first time! Even though it wasn’t my favorite, it was something I never thought I would try! So, that’s really exciting for me.
WOW! Shark meat! What’s the closest taste you can match it to?
whenever i go on trips i dont like doing the same thing everytime or going to the same place i like to explore and try different things
I like to try knew things also, unless I’m not too sure about it! I’ve never been as far away from the states as Japan.
Even though I dont like traveling outside of the country, its really cool how we can come along on your travels with our computers! it probably was very difficult for you to communicate to the japanese people because you speak different languages
So cool! I would love that and relay like to go there!
awesome blog I learned a lot
I enjoy browsing on your posts. Thank you for sharing your experiences of your trip to Japan with us. Especially, the Sushi part. I love Sushi!
I’ve always wondered what its like to be in Japan… Did u get a chance to board a bullet train?
pretty cool how u travel so much:-)
do you always travel in the summer and do you like to travel
in my advisory we are pairing with the “kiko” class in japan
How was Tokyo? Did you see Godzilla?
Runa Tanaka Kashiwa second junior high school Japan
I made Origami.
Omi gave you.