Together We Explore

Today was the day to explore the city of Kanazawa. The Illinois College students were split up among the Kanazawa students and we went to visit places throughout the city. The people in my group were Julia, Kristen, and Sam. Mioko was supposed to come as well but she had felt ill and stayed in to get well. We started the day off at 10 am and had our usual breakfast at 8 am. The first place we went to was a little store where we went upstairs and saw that we were going to paint the Ishikawa mascot. I chose the one that was already painted yellow where we were given about an hour to design them however we wanted. I ended up just making lines that were red and black with white dots in them. Then, I filled in spaces that was a color brown. Turns out, I subconsciously used the medicine wheel colors that is basically pan-tribal within Native American cultures. It was neat to see that I added a taste of myself within the Japanese culture.

My group posing with the little mascot

After we painted, we walked towards a garden that had a restaurant inside that we ate in for lunch. I made lunch interesting because I was confusing the Kanazawa students when I said I wanted an egg roll. They didn’t know what an egg roll was and it took about five minutes to figure that out. When they did figure it out, I had to explain that I just wanted it as a side. It turns out that I couldn’t have it as a side and that I had to order a whole other meal in order to have the egg roll. So I just stuck with having noodles and rice. It was pretty good. When we were done, we walked around the beautiful garden for about a half hour. There was this little shrine where if you threw a coin and it got stuck, you were able to make a wish. We stood at that shrine for about 15 minutes trying to make a coin stick and only about a quarter of us managed to do this. I was one of them J. I got it stuck on a piece of moss that was growing on the shrine. Right next to the garden, there was a castle. We went and visited that and only took pictures on the front lawn. Apparently, it was rebuilt because the first one burnt down sometime ago. 

The pond in the garden

Julia and I in front of the castle

The next spot we went to was the Higash-chaya district. Here, we had Japanese sweets and green tea in the restaurant. It was very delicious. Then we walked through the district where we looked at some things we could eat that edible gold, or buy items that had gold in them. I bought ice cream that had edible gold and it really didn’t taste like anything. Just tasted like vanilla ice cream. Afterwards, we found the other group and went back to the hotel. Later, I got to go to dinner with Mioko and Professor Klein. We ate at a French restaurant in the mall next to the Kanazawa station. It was really good. I got pasta and unlimited bread and drinks. After that, I went back to the hotel room and fell asleep for the night. It was great.

The Japanese Sweet

A stroll through the Higash-chaya district 

My ice cream with real gold on it!

Please Be Careful. The Cliff Is Very Jagged.

The hotel in Kanazawa provided breakfast for us by 8 am. It was a nice simple breakfast. There was salad, an over-easy egg, two pieces of toast, and some yogurt. It may sound like a lot, but it actually didn’t feel me up. And that’s not me being fat! The food here is just very light and comes in small portions. Once breakfast was over, we met with Kanazawa students and a couple professors downstairs to head to Tojinbo. We arrived around 10:30 am and were able to explore the area until about 12 pm. The area was absolutely breathtaking. The Sea of Japan was so beautiful, but the cliffs we were standing on were really sketchy to me because I was afraid somebody was going to fall to their death. Luckily nobody did, but Leo was scaling the cliff sides like his life wasn’t at risk or anything. Apparently one of the cliffs we were on was famous for a spot where a lot of suicides happened. It was strange to be on a place where a lot of people went to kill themselves. After we explored the area, we went up to the shops and bought some ice cream. So far, I have discovered that my favorite is the strawberry ice cream. For once, I don’t like chocolate ice cream and I think it’s because it tastes different than from America. Once that was finished, we loaded back up on the bus and drove to a little market that a restaurant inside. This is where we had our lunch and I had ramen with rice. It was delicious. I think I will miss the ramen noodles the most here.

Cliff side at Tojinbo

Breakfast from the hotel

After lunch, we headed back to Kanazawa and went to a museum. Here, we were told the story of the floats that children sit on and were able to do different types of activities. The activities included playing a Japanese instrument and practicing a basic form of the tea ceremony. Only the students from Illinois College went in while the students from Kanazawa stayed outside. I’m not really sure why they didn’t participate with us.

Set up for Tea Ceremony

The music section

The next destination we went to was a little tea area where we were told the importance of the tea ceremony and what the space was used for. Afterwards, we explored the house and headed back to the hotel. After we relaxed for a little bit, we went to a restaurant with the Kanazawa students. I really liked this restaurant because it had a lot of posters from the 1930’s and 1940’s. The posters showed what kind of fashion was around, and what kind of propaganda was being used for the war. Again, we sat on the mats for dinner and waited for food to be passed around along with our drinks. We were limited to two hours in the restaurant which we used to the absolute fullest. After dinner, we walked to the hotel again and fell asleep for the night.

Kampai!

Back To The Past Part 2

This morning, we woke up for breakfast in the hotel and got ready to leave for Kanazawa. Before we left, the lady in charge of the hotel gave us the group picture she took of us when we first got there. I thought this was a really nice gesture. The shuttle brought us to the bus station and we waited for about a half an hour to get on the bus to Shirakawago. We arrived there around 10:45 am and we walked around the folk village there. When we crossed the bridge into the village area, there was a little coffee shop that was open. Mioko, Julia, Day, and I went into the coffee shop, and sat there for about an hour and a half talking. It was fun to watch people walk around and try to see what they were thinking. Eventually, the owner kicked us out and we went back out to the village and looked for something to eat. We ended up eating at a noodle place where we also got ice cream. When we walked back across the bridge, we saw the rest of the group down in the water jumping on the rocks. So Day and I decided to do the same until the bus came to pick us around 1:45 pm.

Lunch (Cold noodles)

Day at the River Below the Bridge

Scenery in the Village

Coffee Cafe

The Bridge to the Village  

The bus to Kanazawa was about 2 hours long and I ended up falling asleep. When we arrived, we were dropped off at the Kanazawa Station and many Kanazawa students were there to meet us. It was nice to see that we weren’t that far from our hotel. When we got to our rooms, the floor was covered in six beds. They opened a conjoining wall to make it one big room for us which I don’t understand because we could have just been three to a room. There was barely any room for our luggage again and there was six of us. After we got settled in, we had free time to explore the city. Julia and I went together and we explored a temple that had a really pretty garden. The garden had a pond with really big coy fish and it freaked me out a little bit because one spit some water into the air. Then we walked to a French restaurant where we had to ask for an English menu. It was an interesting experience because none of the waiters spoke English which is to be expected. In the menus, we saw that a certain kind of pizza was recommended so Julia and I both ordered the pizza and a really nice ice cream sundae. It was really good! Afterwards, we wandered back to our hotel, and relaxed for the rest of the night.

The temple Julia and I visited

Pond beside the temple

My beautiful Sundae

Here's to going back in time

This morning, we woke up at 8 am for breakfast and left for the Hida Folk Museum. This was a cool place because the houses were preserved from the 1700’s and onward. When we first entered, we were able to play with some toys that children played with. It was fun, especially when we tried walking in the stilts. That was a real challenge. A few of us were also able to take some Japanese umbrellas and walk around with them to block out the sun. As we walked around and explored the houses, I was fascinated by the straw roofs. I asked the group how long they thought it took to build one of these roofs and Jill said she did a presentation on them and said it took a day. When a family needed a roof to be added on, the entire community came and helped and finished it within a day. I was highly impressed by not only the fact that it took a day, but the idea that everyone came together to help one another in a time of need. I wish the atmosphere was like that in America. In most of the houses that we went into, we had to take off our shoes and walk around in slippers. Everything looked so polished and cleaned. I was also impressed by the amount of room each house held as well as how tiny everything was. The houses also showed that the Japanese sat on the ground for everything as well. It was cool to see that many of their traditions still exist today. As we were getting ready to leave, there were baby ducks sitting out front. It was really funny because Julia picked one of them up, and the duck pooped on her. She was able to wipe everything off her hand, but she didn’t realize there was still some stuck to her t-shirt when we got back to the bus. I had to be a good friend and tell her.

Ringing the bell

Just look at that roof!

Time for a group photo

When we arrived back to the hotel, majority of the group walked back into town to do some exploring and shopping. I went with Mioko, Julia, Day, and Leo. We went into a couple shops and looked around. In one of the stores, we looked at Sakai and I was surprised to see a bottle that was worth 210,000 yen. That’s an enormous amount of money just for alcohol. We also found a jewelry store that had a lot of handmade stuff. I was really shocked to see the different types of color combinations that some of the jewelry had. Anyway, in one of the gift shops, I ended up buying a little devil looking thing that is supposedly the mascot of the area. Mioko told me it was to keep the bad spirits away so I bought two because I definitely need that on the reservation for when I go home. When I got back to the hotel, I took another bath with Day. I love the bath because it is so relaxing and I feel so refreshed. After that, we had dinner in our kimonos again where a lot of food was served. The food was really good again where most of it was seafood. That was basically the end of the night. I went back up to my room, played on my laptop, and called it a night.

Little puppy we saw walking around

A street in Takayama

Stay Close To The Ground So We Can Be Connected To The Earth

We left for Takayama from BKC today after we had breakfast. We were supposed to leave by 9:15 to catch the bus to the station and catch our train, but Sam and Leo left a really big mess in their room. So, that made us about 20 minutes late and Mioko Sensei had to change the tickets and catch a new train to Takayama. Once again, the view was spectacular. There were so many deep valleys with green, lush hills. The train ride took a while so I sat there and took a nap. When we finally arrived at the station, there was a van there to pick us up and bring us to the hotel. I absolutely loved the hotel! It was so cute and quaint. My roommates for the past two nights were Day and Julia. It was a good experience because our coffee table and beds were on the floor. The chairs were on the floor as well so I might as well have just sat on the ground. After we got settled into the hotel, we took a tour around the town. After the mini tour, Mioko asked if we wanted a little snack before dinner so we all parted ways and went somewhere different. I followed Mioko around and I think I tried about 4 different types of treats. I was getting a little worried because dinner was only in a couple hours. We walked back to the hotel about an hour before dinner started. I decided to take a Japanese bath with Day. I really enjoyed this even though it was an interesting experience. I was able to bathe in front of the bath where everybody could literally see me wash myself. It was a little weird at first, but liberating at the same time. After the bath, I put on a kimono and wore it to dinner in the hotel. In the dinner, we had to sit down once again. We were served a lot of food. I was really full by the end of the night. After dinner, the hotel staff set up our beds on the ground and we laid down for the night. 

Time for dinner

Snack right before dinner

Hotel in Takayama

Our bedroom for two days

All of the dinner served to us

Don't wear sandals for this hike. Wear shoes!

This morning, we got up for breakfast around 8:30 am. We ate in another restaurant that was in the hotel. We had to bring down a coupon so we were able to eat. We were given the option of either Japanese style breakfast, or Western style breakfast. I chose Western style breakfast because I wasn’t really up to eating fish for breakfast. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s good, I just didn’t feel like having my breath smell like fish for the rest of the day. Anyway, after breakfast, we walked to the bus station and took a bus to a ferry. At the ferry, we were carried across the lake to Miyajima. It was fun because right when we walked through the gates, and walked through the gift shop, there were little baby deer walking around. It was amazing to see how tamed they were and that we were able to pet them. One of the deer took my papers from purse and chewed on them. It took me a couple minutes to get them back, but when I did, my papers were half gone. I was a little sad. Anyway, we bought tickets to explore the shrine and take pictures of the Torii. It was a beautiful sight. As I walked around, I saw a prayer ceremony going on. I didn’t really know what it was called, but I knew they were praying for the most part. As I stood there and watched some of it, something dawned on me. We have all these different forms of prayer and places to pray to. We are also constantly told on a daily basis that we are unique people. We are individuals with our own talents and something to offer to the world. If that’s the case, couldn’t the same thing be told about religion as well? We are always fighting about which religion is correct or right to follow when in reality, no religion is correct. If it is true in what we say about individuality in people, then the same must be about religion as well. We all come from different parts of the world with different animals, plants, and a way of living. If God wanted us all to be the same and believe in the same thing, wouldn’t we all live in the same place with the same plants, and the same animals? I think it is safe to say that different religions were created because we all connect to nature and to God in different ways. Some of us need a church, temple, sweathouse, or a mosque. In the end though, nobody is wrong for where they pray, or if they don’t pray.

The pretty little deer

This just melted my heart!

It is time to pray!

Tori taking a picture with the Torii :) 

The temple

Anyway, after that big epiphany, we walked up to an area to take a gondola up a mountain. Once we reached the top, we walked to the very top of another mountain to look at scenery and look at an eternal flame. The walk was excruciating because it was literally all up hill. But it was all worth it in the end because the view from up top was breathtaking. Needless to say though, this was like a two-hour hike. I was dead by the end of the day. When we got back down to the shrine, it was time for a late lunch. As we were walking through the crowd, I left our group so I could souvenir shop and I ended up walking around with Kristen. We shopped until it was time to leave and then we met with our group and headed back to the ferry. After that, we went back to Hiroshima and took a train back to BKC where we packed the rest of our luggage and got ready for the next morning. 

At the top of the mountain

The eternal flame

Hiroshima revived under 100 years?

This morning we left for Hiroshima at 9 am. We had our usual 8 am breakfast, then caught a bus to the Kusatsu train station. From there, we caught a bullet train and went all the way into Hiroshima. I enjoyed the bullet train ride because it was nice, but the seats actually reclined really far back. There was also really pretty scenery too. The deep valleys, green forests, and mountains were all breath taking and it reminded me of all the stories I have read about Japan and their nature. These are images and memories I will never forget. When we arrived to Hiroshima, we went straight to our hotel. I shared a room with Rachel and it was interesting because the room was so tiny and could barely fit two beds in there. Even our bathroom was very tiny. Needless to say though, we put our luggage in the miniature hallway and figured out how the lights worked and where the remote to the tv was. After that, we went downstairs and had lunch in the little restaurant right by the lobby. It was great because I was able to order spaghetti and a dessert that was a little cake with fruit on it.

My dessert in the restaurant 

The quaint little restaurant in the hotel

The next destination was visiting the Peace Museum. We were allotted about 2 hours to explore. The beginning of the museum was very interesting and a bit intimidating. When you first walk through, there were brick walls that appeared burnt and crumbled. This was to represent what Hiroshima looked like after the bombed dropped. Throughout it all, it was a depressing and realistic representation of what the people went through after the Atomic bomb dropped. It broke my heart to see all of the children, women, and men who suffered from the radiation. It was disturbing to see some of the clothing items and pictures that showed what they went through. One piece that I distinctly remember is a rusted, melted bike that was placed in a glass box to show to the public. A father had found it after the Atomic bomb dropped and it was the last place his little boy was found. It was his favorite toy so after his son died, he buried the bike with him. After a few years, the father dug the son and the bike back up to move him to a new resting place and he donated the bike to the museum. I sat there and looked at that bike for what felt like 20 minutes. It dawned on me that this was a little boy’s bike and it was the last thing he was on before he died. I couldn’t imagine finding my little brother burning and sick to death on it. It was a frightening image.

Beginning of the Museum tour

The Little Boy's Bike

Memorial of Hiroshima Bombing

After I wandered through all of the displays, I went to the area where they showed videos of survivors. This made me realize that it was good to come to Japan and look at Pearl Harbor and the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from this country’s perspective. I think too many times we get so wrapped up in our own version of the story that we forget there are other stories to tell for the same events. When we all finished wandering through the museum, the group when to two other destinations. The first was to a statue with a bell in the middle of it that represented children that were killed. The second was a building that was the only one to stand when the atomic bomb was dropped. It was a bit eerie to stand there and look at this building and realize it lived through a catastrophic moment in history. At that moment, I looked around me and really looked at the city of Hiroshima. It hasn’t even been 100 years since the bomb dropped and the city was up and booming again. By looking at the pictures in the museum, it looked like it should have taken years or decades to rebuild. Then I began to wonder why the population of people came back to Hiroshima. Wouldn’t it have caused PTSD for some people? Or depression to come back? I found it brave and heroic that this place was rebuilt and populated in such a short amount of time.

Building that still stands

Memorial for children

Our next activity was to explore some of the shops around the area. Julia and I went through the strip mall area and shopped. The store we went to was called Uniqloe. According to Julia, this store is also in the United States, but it appeared to be much cheaper here. I enjoyed looking at the clothes because I was able to compare the clothes here in Japan compared to the United States. It appeared that the clothes in Japan were free-flowing and loose whereas in America, the clothes were more tight, and very fitting to the body. I finally saw the different standards of beauty and realized that Americans relied on more curve within women whereas the Japanese relied more on small, petite women. It was weird to see this fashion change right in front of me. After this, we met back up with the group, had dinner, and went back to the hotel for the night.

Shopping center

Dinner being made in front us!

And This Is Why We Need World Peace

Since we had to leave for the Kinogasa campus at 8 am this morning, we had to buy breakfast from the convenient store the night before. I bought two cups of yogurt, potato snack, and a type of PB&J sandwich. In order to get to the Kinogasa campus, we had to take two buses, and a train. By the time we got there, it was 10 am. We went to this campus because we went to the Peace Museum. The tour took about an hour and our tour guide was a sweet little lady. She continually apologized for her English, but I didn’t really see anything wrong with it. I was able to understand everything she said. I enjoyed the Peace Museum because it showed the disasters of WWII and from the perspectives of each country. Not only that, but it also showed today’s current issues of how we should be working together to create solidarity with one another instead of continuing with war.

Entrance to Museum

Indigenous Posters from the United Nations

After the Peace Museum, we went and had lunch on the Kinogasa campus. Their cafeteria had a lot more options of food to choose from. It appeared to have more American options because there was pasta, vegetables, and corn. I ate a type of noodles, egg rolls, chocolate cake, and I tried some dumplings that I didn’t really like. As we were sitting there, Julia and I saw a guy named Lamont walk by who use to go to our school at Illinois College. It was the most random thing on earth. When he walked by a second time, we said hello and he couldn’t believe that he was seeing us. It was quite funny to watch. After that encounter, the group walked around campus for a little bit and then we headed back to the bus to go back to BKC.

Kinogasa Campus

Once there, we got ready for our presentations with the graduate students. When we arrived to the building, we met with our partners and went through eight presentations. Each one was very interesting and it took about an hour and a half to get through everyone. After these presentations, we went straight to our other presentations which was for our poster session. It was split into two sections and I was placed in the second session so I didn’t have to present until 7:15-7:55 pm. So while I waited, I went and grabbed Subway to eat for dinner. When it came time for me to present, we had about four people approach our poster. It was fun discussing me, Julia, and Leo’s project. This session made me realize that I thoroughly enjoyed doing this research. I also got some good ideas for writing in my paper from the questions the people asked me. After this poster session, I went back to the room, and worked on a scholarship and some of my paper.

From left to right: Sakura, Julia, Leo, and Tori
Student Poster Board Session

Sakura mean Cherry Blossom in Japanese

This was a rather relaxing day. I was able to sleep in until 9 am and sit around for a little bit. I was able to lay in my bed and watch the new season of Orange is the New Black, and do some laundry. Around 12 pm, I had lunch with Jill in the cafeteria where I ate some type of chicken with a sweet sauce, a bowl of rice, and an egg roll. It always astounds me of how many people go to this school. The cafeteria is very crowded during lunch time and it is nearly impossible to find a seat. Jill and I ended up eating with Rachel and her friends. Looking all around me, it appeared as though the entire Illinois College population could fit in the entirety of the cafeteria. There were so many seating areas, but everything just continued to fill up even with two levels of seating. It was crazy! Anyway, after we ate, Jill went to meet her partner and I walked back to my room to wait for 3 pm to come around. When my partner Sakura finally came back from her TA job at 3 pm, we walked to where her lab was. When we arrived, we had to change our shoes to slippers and she showed me around. Everything was pretty similar to our labs at Illinois College. She also showed me the lab where they grow plants. I found this to be pretty cool because she showed me all of the plants that were mutated how they grew. We then sat down and ran through the PowerPoint to make sure we had everything sorted out.

Sakura's lab

Lab where Sakura's mutant plants grew

Afterwards, Sakura was a sweetheart and brought me to the convenient store. She showed me some treats that many kids in Japan enjoy. One was a potato treat that had soy sauce tasting, seaweed with horse radish, a pure soy stick, and another type of candy that I can’t remember. When she left, I got ready for another get-together party with students from BKC campus, and University of California – Davis. We mainly did two things. The first was that we did was sit in groups and discuss what were we surprised by in Japan, what we do in our free time, and where we live. We also played a game where we had to sit in a circle and see who would have something common. If you had something in common with the person in the middle, then you had to get up and run to an empty chair. It was fun, but then dinner was given and it was the end of the night.