Pike Place market and Starbucks for sure. Make sure they see the fish slingers; that should blow their minds. Baseball is baseball and unless they’ve never been to a baseball game I wouldn’t bother. I second the suggestion of Uwajimaya. Not so much to get Japanese supplies but so they can compare a large Japanese supermarket in Seattle with one at home. The last time I was in Seattle I went to the Chihuly museum. They will likely have never seen anything like it. The Rem Koolhaas designed central library is certainly worth a visit. And the space needle. I’ve been to the Boeing museum. It is sort of interesting, I guess, but it is well out of town. They might enjoy eating in the Benihana. I didn’t see anything like that in Japan, although I don’t know they don’t exist. Watching the locks is interesting too. I wonder what they would make of the Japanese garden.
If the weather complies and they have time, they could be taken to eastern Washington. Mountains are likely nothing new for kids from Japan, but the desert might be (dry falls maybe? Chelan?) They’d also get to experience the “American” activity of the medium distance road trip.
For many Japanese, the chance to go to an MLB game (especially the Mariners) would be special. When Ichiro played here, I think every game was broadcast live in Japan. This team is a big deal there, and if they’re fans at all, they will love it.
I see many Japanese tourist at the Mariners’ games.
Attend a church service. Local government stuff - a city council meeting? Visit federal representatives office. Tour the police station / fire station. If your area is diverse, visit local ethnic enclaves. I know these are all kinda nerdy, but they would be unique for young Japanese visitors.
I am guessing that at least one of the students (or chaperones) play Pokemon Go. If so, the highlight of their trip to the U.S. will be to collect a Tauros. This Pokemon is only available in parts of North America and will be relatively rare back in Japan. Any player traveling to another region probably has capturing a regional Pokemon high on their list of activities. I have some friends who have traveled to Europe or Asia and did not collect their region’s Pokemon – and they still talk about how disappointing it was for them.
You might want to check with any of the hosts to see if someone plays the game. It would be a great ice-breaker and I think any visitor player would appreciate it.
Again, Outlets Mall. Failing that, Target is a big hit with foreign exchange students.
OK, OK, Pike Place Market fur fuck’s sake. I’ve never had the Starbucks because there is always a huge line (and the coffee is mediocre). But definitely check out the fish tossing dudes. And the musicians (like the piano dude down the street). And the mini donuts - my kids love these.
I would definitely try to take them salmon fishing. IT would be great if it’s with someone where there are more or less guaranteed to catch something. Japanese love seafood, fresh fish, raw fish and it’s probably something they have never done in Japan.
As I wrote up thread, whale watching. It is a pretty cool thing to see. Not sure if the Orca pods are around this time of year.
Woodland Park Zoo is a pretty awesome zoo if that fits your travel schedule.
I am going to 5th the shooting range suggestion. I recommend you don’t actually let the kids touch anything that isn’t a big long rifle, so muzzle discipline is easy. Make sure to demonstrate it first and use those orange plastic things you stick in the breech between handoffs.
Just because there are a bunch of them doesn’t mean you have to bring a gun for each. If you have one gun per adult then it can be properly supervised and the kids just trade off.
I can’t read the minds of Japanese teenagers, I can only say the places I would have liked to visit as a teenager on a trip to the Seattle area.
Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial
Pioneer Farm Museum and Ohop Indian Village
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park, Seattle Unit
Mt. Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum
Yeah, I was a wild child.
My wife strongly recommends the sculpture garden and I concur.
Ignorant South-Easterner here, but, does Vashon Island have the really giant trees like on the Olympic peninsula? There’s a great reverence for ancient trees in Japan, and a photo of them standing at the base of one will go a long way to assuage their parent’s concerns about the shooting gallery*.
I read once about the “Sunken City” in Seattle, and how it used to be the ground level, but was now a series of basements. I’d think that would be fascinating to them.
A whale-watching tour?
Ballet and/or symphony concerts?
Does the Microsoft campus do tours? Or any other large American companies that they would be familiar with?
Going fishing.
Any Seattle Japanese-American societies they could make contact with? Making those kinds of contacts could mean a lot to them later if they are considering professional opportunities here in future. They might like to sign the guest book at their consulate there as well.
How far is Mt. St. Helen’s?
But mostly, make reservations for, and keep a list of, several different kinds of activities, and then see what makes their eyes light up. Cancel those plans they don’t seem enthused about.
*Which I totally agree you should do, and not give the parents a chance to prevent. These kids will likely never have another chance to do that. They might just want to stand beside one being fired. Don’t push them, but give them the chance to learn safety and fire one if they choose to.
Someone mentioned steak, and I recall a Los Angeles Times article in which Japanese tourists loved to frequent steakhouses in America because good red meat was expensive or hard to come by in Japan, and that for the Japanese tourists it was steak beef all the way. So let them chow down.
Steak in Japan is expensive (although generally really good) but usually fairly small.
One of the fun things about exchange programs in not only the experience, but all of the “conversational capital” it provides for the students. How much they get to talk about things when they go home.
For the question of shooting guns, I wouldn’t worry so much about the parents. There isn’t as much of an anti-gun attitude because no one has them and there isn’t a possibility of getting any. OTOH, in Taiwan all the girls have a shoot an M-16 in high school as part of the awareness of being prepared for war, and all of the young men have compulsory military service.
There are Starbucks everywhere in Japan. Is the Seattle one that different?
When my Japanese colleagues visit here, they seem to like Five Guys. And whatever other regional meat specialty is (around here it’s BBQ).
Also major league baseball games, esp if there are Japanese players in the team. I had one colleague who spent a whole weekend driving to/from Miami just to see Ichiro play.
Some of my Japanese colleagues like to go to Thai restaurants in the US. Still not sure if that’s because American Thai food is better/different than Thai food in Japan, or they just like it better than American food.
I’d skip the Mexican food though, haven’t met anyone from Japan who likes American Mexican food (except myself).
Also second the suggestions for Target and outlet malls. Maybe a regular mall if there’s a particularly well-known and large one.
Any cherry blossom tree you can show them will, in their eyes, pale in comparison to what they have in Japan. You will only invite contempt. Trust me on this.
One more thing, I understand the Museum of Flight there has a B-29 on display? That’s something they’d know about but never seen.
This.
There’s no point in inviting a foreign visitor to something that is similar to, or less than, what they have in their own home country. There’s nothing good that can come of it. At best, it’s a waste of time and the foreign visitor is forced to put up an awkward pretense of, “Oh, I loved it” in order to be polite, while inwardly thinking, “That was lame.” At worst, like **scr4 **said, it will lead to more contemptuous thoughts.
I actually do like to see things that when I’m on vacation; stuff that came from the US and is now in a different environment (but perhaps I’m weird). These trees were a gift from Japan - it may be interesting for some kids to see what happened to them when they got here. It might bore some of them to tears. That’s why I said “cool” or “complete waste of time” depending on the teenager in question.
The Starbucks in the market is the “original” Starbucks. If you are into Starbucks paraphernalia, you can buy things there that you cannot get anywhere else. And yes, there is almost always a ridiculously long line out the door.
Viretta Park, if they know or care about Nirvana and Kurt Cobain.
They won’t. I live on this continent, know who Curt Cobain is and don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.
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