Sure, we all study in downtown Tokyo, one of the biggest cities in the world, but to see the real Japan, sometimes it's necessary to take a trip out into the countrisde!  We were invited by Hospitality Systems College's English Department（http://trajal.jp/）and MATCHA（Website to introduce Japan to foreigners http://mcha.jp/）to have an unforgetable time out!

By bus we traveled from the center of Shinjuku to Minamiboso in Chiba.  Along the way, the Japanese students did a variety of presentations and previews for the day's activity.  The students planned and organized everything, it was really impressive!

At first, they all made "Futomaki"!  Look at the description the students provided in the above picture if you don't know what it is!

By following the guidance of the kind shop members, everyone managed to make a proper "futomaki"!

Great!  After that, we ate our efforts and played some traditional games together, including "Shippo-Tori" and "Daruma-san ga koronda".  Again, look at that information picture to get the details!

Now, down to the main event!  We took a bus down to the rice fields, with the students entertaining us with a quiz about Japan.

Off to the fields we went, to get a real Japanese farming experience!  You could really tell who grew up in the city or the country!

Actually, some of our students worked faster than the Japanese!

We really want to thank everyone for helping to organize such a great event!

This is also featured on the MATCHA website, with more pictures and videos!  Check them out!

http://mcha.jp/?p=64572&preview=1&_ppp=207d2dd434