Update from Clara and Emily

On Saturday, Clara, Christina and I had the opportunity to travel to Sheiga Prefecture and visit the Lake Biwa area. After touring the Lake Biwa museum and seeing some of the beautiful scenery of Japan, we met up with the host families we were to be staying with for the night. In the Lake Biwa community, it is common to have what is called a "kabata". It is a sort of traditional kitchen where the water pours from a spout coming from an underground source. The water is called "shozu" and it is delicious! The "sink" part of the kitchen is divided into three tiers. The first has the cleanest water and is mainly used to drink and rinse vegetables. As the water flows through the tiers, it gets less and less pure. In the bottom tier are carp fish! They are used to clean the water by eating particles of food in it and are considered pets. This water then flows through a drainage system throughout the village, always populated with carp for purifying.
It was an extremely interesting part of Japanese culture to experience, and we all loved seeing a more rural side of the country. Thank you to our fantastic host family, who were warm and welcoming.

-Emily