Professor Wang (Wang sensei) took me for a walk around the campus today.
I walked through campus and saw the open Air museum from above.
The Okamoto Taro museum(http://www.taromuseum.jp/english/index_english.html) is located just within 10 minutes walk from campus. He is widely known for his abstracts and avantgarde paintings and sculptures.
The path to the museum was surrounded by bushes and I felt like I was walking in the mountain near Banff. It is surprising that this vast amount of green area is preserved just 20 min. train ride from Shinjuku - very busy station - in Tokyo.
I don't think that any of students had time to explore around campus, but I will try to organize a short walk on Friday before the completion ceremony if the weather permits. (Japan is now approaching to the rainy season.)
Rice farmers must be busy working on transplanting rice seedlings from the seedbed to a rice paddy. It is too bad that I have no time to take students to see a field of rice. There are so many things to see even around Tokyo.
Many students told me that they felt sad to imagine to leave the dorm.
When I spent sometime at the lounge where students eat and spend time together, I noticed an interesting custom. They say "Ittekimasu (=I am leaving now)" when they leave for school (or somewhere) and someone always reply "Itterasshai (=Have a good time). When someone come back, they always say "Tadaima (=I am back!)" and someone reply "Okaerinasai (= Welcome back). These basic greetings which students learnt at the beginning of Japanese class are used here continuously and endlessly.
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