Traveling to Kyoto and Doshisha Junior High School

Sunday afternoon, I took the train from Fukui to Kyoto.  I got to see the new Shinkansen station in Fukui, which is being built for the 2020 Olympics.  It was opened for the first time that day, but the Shinkansen was not running.  I took the Thunderbird instead.

The landscape between Fukui and Kyoto was beautiful with mountains, the largest lake in Japan (Lake Biwa), many many rice paddies and small houses.  I realized that all the Japanese movies I have seen gave me the misconception that rice paddies were always out in the country.  However, I saw many that looked like they were in people's suburban back yards.  It is good to have your misconceptions disrupted by real experience.

I rode on the train with Mr. Nakamata who is a Vice Principal at Doshisha Junior High School.  He told me all about his school and then offered to give me a tour when we arrived in Kyoto, even though it was Sunday night and the school was empty.  I had a chance to see the many exhibits they have in their hallways to display their learning materials and their student projects.  I found makerspaces that Lawrence can only dream of and a whole Math Museum which really got me thinking.





Math League students might recognize this magic trick that we did this year, which was displayed in the math museum.










Here are some other displays I saw.