Dear Elliot, Emmala and Eliza,

Wow! Did we ever have a big day today! We went to Aomori. One of the things that we saw was a very large copper statue of a Buddha. It is called the Big Buddha and it is so big that you can go inside of it. We also saw a five story pagoda that is designed to be able to withstand an earthquake and several temples that are made out of cedar. To get to Aomori, we drove through high mountains that reminded us a little bit of the mountains near your home.

The picture with today's story is from another place that we visited called the Nebuta Museum. At the museum there are a lot of very large parade floats that are all designed to be lighted from the inside so that they can be in a night parade. There are lots of giant floats with fierce warriors and other people. The museum tells the story of a huge festival that they hold every year. In addition to the big parade floats, you would have really enjoyed the musicians. There were several drummers with huge drums that were so loud that you could have easily heard them a long way away. There were also people playing flutes. The leader and some children were dancing and dancing to the loud beat of the drums.



It was fun to talk to you by Skype and we liked telling you a little bit about what we are doing. There are many more things that we will tell you when we get back to your home.