Hey guys.

I am pretty tired at the moment, and I have a mid-term tomorrow morning. But, I am not here to talk about that nonsense.

Today was a pretty cool day. We got out of Japanese an hour early to visit a shinise. A shinise is a store that has been in business for, well, at least a hundred years or so (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_companies). In one of our business/culture classes, we learned that Japan has the most longest-lasting companies in the world, which is pretty cool. An example of a shinise in Japan would be Mitsubishi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsubishi), and the list goes on and on.

Today, we visited a business that designs kimonos by hand. Here is the website: http://futaba-en.jp/. Before we entered into the building, we could see through windows two gentlemen painting on a long piece of fabric, which will end up being the kimono. We were told that the process for making a kimono takes two weeks. We watched a video on the history of kimono design, which was really cool. At the end of the tour, we all got  to paint our own design on a small piece of cloth, which for me, is a super-cheap souvenir!

Sorry, I would write more, but I have a LOT to study for. Wish me luck!