Since taking my son out of kindergarten here in Japan, my wife and I are looking to connect with other families in the area in order to build our own alternative community, outside of the mainstream system (which in Japan often involves both mom and dad working and the child being dumped off at a daycare center from age 1).
We have a few friends here, Japanese and non-Japanese, who are vaccine-aware, receptive to the ideas of homeschooling/unschooling, and interested in peaceful parenting (most parents here are, in my view, whether they call it that or not), but are still struggling (read: just beginning) in the area of finding my son a group of peers to interact with on a day-to-day basis since leaving the kindergarten.
I thought I would make a blog about this alternative community building process, and also document various adventures, projects, and explorations in the land of "unschooling" my son and I (and/or his mother) take on.
With that explanatory foundation established, here's what we decided to get on to today:
Let's take pictures!
I thought it might be neat to give my son my wife's old iPhone 3G, and go around the city with him taking pictures. The reason? I love taking pictures, and if he is interested as well, then we have a winning situation, where both he and I can be real with each other, genuinely interested, and together.
Isaiah was really proud to have his own smartphone and the day was a success. He got really into the picture taking and we ended up at Toki Messe, an art museum and convention center, coupled with a ritzy hotel, Hotel Nikko, located here in Niigata.
We took lots of pictures, and this also provided us a good chance to speak English to each other, as he has become super interested in using the language recently (actually, since he quit kindergarten he has been speaking the language more and more, and not at my behest).
What follows are his pictures in this "Welcome to Niigata/Toki Messe" picture gallery. All photos by Isaiah Smith, age 4.
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Toki Messe, our destination, in the distance.
We've arrived.
Tree in the rare winter sunshine.
Stranger, not sure what to make of his picture being taken.
Meta.
Vending machine.
View from the top.
Star.
Star senbei.
Thanks for joining me on this adventure. See you next installment!
Peace!
~KafkA
Graham Smith is a Voluntaryist activist, creator, and peaceful parent residing in Niigata City, Japan. Graham runs the "Voluntary Japan" online initiative with a presence here on Steem, as well as Facebook and Twitter. Hit me up so I can stop talking about myself in the third person!
