Disneysea!

Paradoxically, there is really nothing more Japanese than going to the Disney resort outside Tokyo. All the students at Kyoritsu ask about it, and the two parks (Disneyland and DisneySea) are meccas for children, families, older adults, dating teenagers, etc. It is only a 15 minute train ride from Tokyo - so it is not a long trip.
DisneySea, the newer and less crowded of the two parks, lived up to expectations. The kids' rides were great, the characters were photogenic, the shows were excellent, and the food was pretty good (admittedly, not great), but fairly priced. As you might guess, the theme is water, so there are a number of world (real and imaginary) based in that idea. Also, as with any Disney park, there are a number of characters strolling around for kids.

On entering the park, after a quick picture with the small world (photo 1), we met Goofy, who took his picture with Laurea and even picked flowers with her (photo 2). Later in the day we had an audience with Ariel, the little mermaid, who chatted with Laurea for five minutes and then took a royal photo with us (photo 3). Laurea was quite nervous during the event, chewing on her necklace the whole time, but afterwards she chatted about it constantly.

We enjoyed the representations of the U.S. waterfront: Cape Cod and Manhattan (pictures 4 and 5). (Does Manhattan have a real Tower of Terror in the background?)

After an encounter with some terrifying rides (photo 6) near "Mysterious Island," in the center of a volcano, we encountered Alladin's world (photo 7). We finished the day at the Primavera festival, an oddly-named event that included jugglers, singers, Disney characters, music and ended with a volcanic eruption - it even had its own song and hand signals, which most of the audience seemed to already know by heart.