Under the ever watchful Fuji-san, Fujinomiya-shi is a warm, receptive city with a ubiquitous desire to nurture its children. Fujine Minami Elementary School, for example, occupies a remarkably large area lush with bamboo, fruit trees, hydrangeas and other foiliage. School grounds include a soccer field, baseball field, garden, outdoor assembly area, two playgrounds and two swimming pools. Reverently, the Kuon Buddhist Temple and an ancient cemetery stand at the back of the school.
Each day I arrive about the time the children are raising the Japanese flag and tending the sunflowers in the entryway. The novelty of having a gai-jin at school instantly draws a crowd of exuberant, vastly curious children who delight in testing their use of English. Gentle and respectful, the children have a playfulness that is simply enamoring. On the second day of my visit, a gracious first grader persisted in following me from place to place offering what appeared to be sips from her water bottle. After politely refusing numerous times, Sakakibara-san the principal, finally pointed out that there were live fish inside the bottle that was her gift to me. The children here truly are Fujinomiya`s treasures.
The staff at Fujine Minami, too, has been friendly and generous beyond what I had expected. When I mentioned peanut butter one afternoon, two teachers arrived the next day with jars of Skippy in hand. One evening when my apartment had a short circuit that tripped the breaker, Mayumi, Makiko and Kinoshta-san were there in minutes. Prior to my arrival, Fujine Minami had arranged several volunteers to escort and interpret for me. On Monday, there were five interpreters and one me!
Tuesday, an entourage of school administrators, interpreters and I met with Naoyashi-san, the mayor of Fujinomiya. We had an engaging discussion about the direction he hopes to lead his town in and the necessity of addressing environmental concerns in a proactive manner. His respect and appreciation for Fuji-san came across numerous times in our conversation.

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What a great place for kids! I would have no hesitation sending my sons to school there (if they were the right age). Super learning environment. Jim, East High