CHALLENGE #4: We have the senate and congress. England has Parliament. What is the Japanese government called?

Today we go to tour the Japanese government building which is pictured here. We learned about their system of government and even got to walk through the part of the building where they hold their meetings. Your job is to find out what the Japanese call their system of government and email me your answer: mitchellh@stlucie.k12.fl.us

I have several scavenger hunt entries so far and got a chance to go shopping today in a really neat area called Asakasa. I have started my collection of goodies for those who are participating in the scavenger hunt! It's okay to go back and answer the old ones too. :)

This is a picture of the street leading to the Buddhist temple, Sensoji, in Asakusa. Lining the street were so many stores that had traditional Japanese goodies...one place was giving away samples of little cakes filled with red bean paste that were shaped like ducks. They were warm and tasty! There were fans, kimonos, t-shirts, key chains (soooo many keychains!) and tons more. Everything was so fun to look at!

Finally, here are a couple of pictures of the grounds of the hotel we are staying at. It is so beautiful outside. We started this morning with a buffet that was both Western (US) and Eastern (Asian) and so I got to really sample some traditional Japanese breakfast items. It is quite different! There were several kinds of smoked fish, rice porridge, miso soup, fruits, and so much more! I tried a little bit of everything and found my favorite was actually the salmon. Tomorrow I will be going to the restaurant in our hotel which is strictly Japanese breakfast...no bacon or pancakes to cheat with! LOL After breakfast, I walked around the gardens and visited the koi ponds. The gardens are just beautiful and surprisingly not so different from the plants that we have in our yards in Florida. Many of the flowers were the same- just a lot better kept! I'll have to work on the koi pond and waterfalls....hehe.

I hope you guys are having a good week so far...it is definitely strange not to be there and I can't wait to come back and show you more!

Hope to hear from you all soon! :0)

PS: Veronica, Stuart, Sarah, Adrian, David, Kasey, Ariana, Genecia...You've all done a great job emailing and leaving messages but try to find at least one of the scavenger hunt answers! I've got some great goodies to give awayyyyy!!!! Most of the answers you will be able to find by doing a quick google search with the key words. There will be another chance every night! :0)