To continue to trend of Tokyo (it was a busy vacation), Monday of Tokyo weekend was Disney Sea!

There’s not really much to say about the park. It was a ton of fun. The general tourist-y, filled with children and grandparents sort of business. I got myself a postcard and some gifts for my host family. We rode 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Tower of Terror, and a few other rides. I rode Genie at the merry go round at Agrabah, held a bust of Harrison Ford, and ate a churro in the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head!

The park itself is only 10 years old, and it shows. The workers are happy and dedicated to their jobs. The park’s decorations and design are flawless and impressive, especially the portion of Ariel’s Grotto, which actually looked like we were underwater.

There were fireworks. And the show of the night, Fantasmico, made me tear up, which was unsurprising, but it was truly very impressive; misted water was used as a screen for images, there was a huge electronic Maleficent Dragon, and a lot of singing. As per usual, Disney truly wasn’t my thing, but it was still a ton of fun and i’m glad we got to go. Many thanks to Steffany’s host mother for paying for my ticket!

Tuesday was the last day in Tokyo, and basically the day to wrap up our affairs. We went early to Harajuku to explore it in proper weather, spent an hour and a half at karaoke, then finished up the night at Shinjuku again before taking the night bus again back to Nagoya.

Tokyo was fun, absolutely. I am happy that I finally went, and finally experienced the city that Japan is known for most of all. But there was no fanfare, no awe and amazement. The city was full of bright lights and people, clubs and restaurants, karaoke and interesting characters, and lots and lots and lots of foreign tourists. To be sure, it’s a huge city. The transportation is difficult to wrap your head around and the maps difficult to understand. It was strange to finally experience Japanese people forcing themselves to speak English to me, assuming I cannot speak Japanese, rather than giving me a chance. It was unsettling to see so many tourists, and we all agreed that while Tokyo was amusing, we missed Nagoya.

And it’s true. Nagoya is a perfect city for me. I cannot see myself living in Tokyo. I cannot even see myself going back to Tokyo anytime soon. I felt alienated and small in Tokyo. Truly like the American in Japan that has no business being in Japan whatsoever. By all means, I was treated politely in Tokyo, but it felt temporary and rushed, while Nagoya citizens are more interested in my study abroad status, my studies, rather than just my American citizenship.

It was good to be back in Nagoya. Thanks for the good time, Tokyo. It was been fun.

Location: Tokyo, Japan

The biggest and most popular place for tourists in Japan is, hands-down, Tokyo. Foreign tourists, that is. Surprisingly, Japanese don’t often go to Tokyo to sight-see, and our four day trip to the city certainly illuminated both sides of the story.

So after weeks of anxious planning, and an entire semester spent yearning for adventure, we finally got around to getting to Tokyo. Naturally, even leaving Nagoya was not without difficulty, as some us of actually came close to missing our night bus (Japan is famous for buses that take you places at night for a cheaper price, compared to the daytime). Still, panic aside, the trip was go. Turns out, a five hour night bus trip isn’t all its cracked up to be. Tired, sick, and generally needing sleep, my friends and I arrived at Shinjuku, then made our way to Shibuya to drop off our bags at a locker and explore.

Shibuya at 5:00 AM, turns out, is not a pretty sight. The party-goers are gone, leaving their trash, cigarette butts, and lingering beer smell behind. Sadly, everything was closed as well, leaving us to eventually find refuge in an open cafe, where we rested and dried off from the pouring rain.

The hostel, to my surprise, was very pleasant and clean, and the hostel people polite, helpful, and friendly. The hostel was also conveniently placed, only a stop away from Akihabara. The showers were a bit weak and not appropriately hot, but everything was comfortable, and all the girls in our 8 bed girl dorm room were polite and courteous as well. Should I ever come back to Tokyo, I would absolutely spend my nights there again.

Saturday was mostly spent figuring out Tokyo’s JR line map, which was rather difficult to figure out, but the trains were huge, clean, and quite high-tech, with tv sets and electronic signs relaying information about the stops and ads set about the doors.

We explored a rainy Harajuku, visited Meiji Temple (where we witnessed a wedding photoshoot), and stopped by Shibuya again to visit Hachiko and go in Forever21.

Later, we poked around the Shinjuku nightlife for some purikura as well. All in all, the first day spent in Tokyo was a bit of a blur. We were all tired and bleary from the trip up, and, overwhelmed and overstressed, it was hard to enjoy wandering properly in the pouring rain.

Next came Sunday! We were treated to free toast and tea with our hostel, then we were off to Shinyokohama, which was basically on the other side of Tokyo from our hostel, to go to the Shinyokohama Ramen Museum. Definitely a tourist sort of place, it’s a large museum with a first floor of souvenir shops and displays of the general history of ramen, while the basement is built to resemble historic Japan. There were various shops with a specialty for ramens from different areas of Japan. We eventually settled on Hokkaido ramen, and absolutely, it was the best ramen I have ever had in Japan so far.

From there, it was time for Akihabara, the good old electric town. First stop was Gundam Cafe, where I got some specialty coffee and a small dessert. We all had a fun experience in the bathroom; the toilet seat rose and lowered automatically, and pushing a particular button made lights flash and ‘woosh’ noises to go through the entire room.

After that, we wandered Akihabara; a visit to Don Quixote got me a new dinosaur kigurumi, and we ended the night at a pleasant little pub in Shinjuku, then back to the hostel to get to bed. The next day was Tokyo Disney Sea!

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Over the past months, in-between fun trips out to historical and famous parts of Japan and my intense Japanese studies, it’s no surprise that I set apart some time for unscheduled bits of fun. Not necessarily educational, but certainly one-of-a-kind experiences nonetheless.

The first stop on the extra-curricular fun parade is the One Piece Dome Tour. One Piece is the Harry Potter of Japan; in fact, it actually outsold the world-wide famous books last year, and is now into its second year of reigning as the most sold book series in the country. It’s been in circulation since 1997 and is now into its 665th chapter and 544th episode. One Piece was also one of my main inspirations for beginning to learn Japanese, as I have been deeply enthralled in since 8th grade of middle school. Needless to say, for purely nerdy reasons, I couldn’t help but buy myself a ticket to the One Piece Dome Tour of Japan and head to Nagoya Dome.

It was a blast. Anime and manga culture in the US is drastically different from Japan. One Piece here is viewed as a series for the family; if the parents love it, the children will inevitably fall in love with it as well. As a result, I saw fans of all ages milling about as I walked about, taking in the life-size figurines of One Piece characters and watching live interviews of the voice actors of the show. It was definitely an experience for a lifetime.

Then there was the movie, Gyakuten Saibian. Based off of a very popular video game in Japan that circles the adventures of lawyers, I dragged a few friends to see it in theatres. Being as this was my second time in a Japanese movie theatre, it was no surprised to sit through a movie and piece together plot through action and our broken knowledge of Japanese, but the film ended up being surprisingly easy to follow, and entertaining for everyone. Finally, the IES kids also got a chance to go to the actual theatre, as it were. We saw The Musical Hamlet! It was certainly an experience; a rock-opera like rendition of the famous Shakespearean play, where the stage actors were apparently so popular that they had an entire crowd waiting for them after the show to greet them and congratulate them.

Location: Nagoya, Japan

The very first trip of the spring semester for IES was out to Nagahama, where we took an hour-long boat trip (where I fell asleep) out to Chikubu Island in the middle of the Biwa Lake.

Biwa Lake is the largest freshwater lake in Japan, and one of the oldest in the world. There was a temple on the island, but very few inhabitants, as it is now merely serves the small tourist groups that come by boat. It was very quiet, despite the 30 or so people that came with us. Very steep stairs, quiet foresty areas, and stunning views of the lake. The lake itself is so huge that it felt like we were in the middle of the ocean, rather than a secluded body of water.

The main attraction to the temple is that you receive 2 small clay plates at the entrance. You write your name on one, and a wish on the other. Then, you go out to the temple and attempt to throw these plates through a gate that’s by the lake. I missed on getting my name plate through, but my wish plate made it! Here’s to hoping my wish of meeting my favorite Korean pop start, G-Dragon, will be fulfilled.

From there, we took the boat back to shore and went out to Kurokabe Square, a small shopping district. It’s an area known for glass blowing and sculptures, so of course, we rounded off the trip by going to a glass workshop and we put designs on glasses that were then sand-blasted. The process was done by sticking tape to the glass; whatever was covered came out unchanged and clear, while the rest was blasted into until it looked frosty. Mine came out surprisingly well, despite my lack of skill in design!

It was a fun day trip, despite many of us being sleepy from our in-progress school break. Next trip is Hiroshima, and we’re going by Shinkansen, which is really exciting!

The next day also happened to be my birthday. As far as birthdays go, it was spent quite simply, as I like birthdays to be. I went out for lunch at a nice place at Sakae with friends, who were nice enough to give me a small gift and a card.

Then I finally went to go see the Phoenix Wright/Gyakuten Saiban movie by Nagoya Station. I’ve been dying to see this movie for months now, and it did not disappoint.

Afterwards, I got home to see a lovely sign, hand-written by my host mother, as well as some nice birthday art of sorts drawn by my host kids. We also got home-made cake (with strawberries, due to strawberry season) and I think okaasan spoiled me a bit by giving me plainly American food. The corn dog and pizza may have given something away.

Overall, it was a nice way to turn 21, despite the lack of fanfare and to-do about legality.

Location: Nagahama, Japan

One good thing about Nagoya and living in the city in general is that there is almost always something new to go to and explore. Naturally, most of us study abroad kids take pretty good advantage of that on our breaks, our weekends, and the days we get out of class a little bit early.

So after randomly stumbling upon the Planetarium and Science museum back during Christmas break (we knew it was around somewhere…), we’ve been dying to come back and actually see what the place has to offer. And finally, a few days ago, we got around to it!

It was a lot more fun than I expected it to be. Perhaps because it wasn’t as horribly crowded as it usually is. The place only opened last March, so everything is still fairly new and shiny.

There were a lot of very interesting exhibits, many of them hands-on and fun to play with, despite the fact that we can’t read Japanese very well, let along Japanese on the subject of Science, but we enjoyed ourselves. The planetarium is said to be the biggest in the world, which was great and all, if not for most of the hour-long presentation being somewhat dull and strangely concentrated on auroras. I fell asleep twice. 

It was pretty nifty, all the same. We got to see the inside of a rice cooker and vending machine, play with water-operated machines, see a wall-sized period of elements, and watch a tornado being made out of thin air!

Another thing we partook in recently was commute exploring. A friend and I take the same line to school, and the five stops we have before our transfer have always fascinated us, so we took a day to go down the train line and stop off at every station and see what the place had to offer.

This is what we found:

Location: Nagoya, Japan

A few weeks ago, a group of friends and I went out to see the Naked Man Festival at Konomiya, which is to the west of Nagoya. The entire purpose of the festival is purification. Reserved only for men, young and old, they strip down to traditional loin clothes and walk down the main street of Konomiya to the festival, all while carrying these large poles, rocking to the left and right of the street, chanting and often stopping ones to raise the pole into a vertical position. Some of which men like to climb.

To stay warm, they drink massive amounts of sake, all while having it actually tossed on them by the bucket-full. All the while, a few days beforehand, a chosen ‘Naked Man’ has entered the temple. He is the only man to be actually naked during the festival, to the point of having his body completely shaven. By evening, all of the thousands of men try to touch the naked man, who is given the ability of taking in all the bad spirit and luck from the men who touch him. People end up fighting over him, bruising him, making him faint, the works. After the 30 minutes or so of this, the man leaves the town, taking the evil with him. 

So that’s all what the participants in the festival do. For everyone else, it’s a regular sort of affair of buying festival food and watching. The men walking by are also given brightly colored swaths of cloth that are easily ripped. On-lookers are given the chance to rip away strips of this cloth. The more you get, the more luck you will have for the coming year.

All in all, it was a very fun experience. We were gawked at by many people because of course, ‘what are foreigners doing in a place like this?’ One of our party got kissed on the cheek to bits by drunk Japanese men, and I had a man attempt to try a secret handshake with me, and another who tried to jump on me. Many colorful strips of cloth were collected, and I can only hope this luck will stick with me for a little while. I think one of my favorite parts was finally being able to see Yakuza. It was honestly surreal seeing men completely tattooed along their backs, especially men who I’ve only read about in books.

Here’s to the next lovely experience in Japan.

Location: Konomiya, Aichi, Japan

Here’s a quick wrap-up of what I’ve been up to since the spring semester started! Includes the YG Family Concert, Hadaka Matsuri, a bit about my commute, a trip to the Planetarium, that one snow day, and a brief small expletive.

Some stuff hasn’t been turned into text-blog form quite yet, but I’ll catch up soon enough!

Location: Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

This year’s winter has been pretty rough thus far. The north of Japan has been virtually slammed with feet upon feet of the white stuff, and as a country not entirely well-suited for snow and unequipped with salt to throw on asphalt or snow-blowers/snow trucks, it often locks down the less high-tech parts of the nation. Naturally, Nagoya was no exception, despite the claims of my Japanese teachers that it never snows in Nagoya.

We were hit with about 5-6 inches at Nanzan and hardly a centimeter up at Kasugai, where I live, but there you have it. It was lovely to see, being as I am sucker for snow, but considering how ill-prepared Nagoya is for significant snow accumulation, it was rough going with no cleared roads, salted sidewalks, or anything. After a day, it all became ice and slush, which was potentially even worse.

Despite all that, it brought me back to the rougher days at PSU, and I was thankful for the reminder of how lovely snow looks. Speaking of snow…

Partially as a birthday present and just a general family trip, a few days ago, I got to tag along with my host family to a small ski resort about 2 hours from where we live. They even let me borrow ski clothes and helped me rent my skiis as well. I was fairly excited about this particular excursion, as I have never skiied before in my life and figured it would be an interesting learning experience.

I managed to only properly fall 3 times, which I suppose could’ve been worse, and I had a blast, even if I was exhausted by the end, only dared to try the kiddy slope, and learned only the very basics of skiing thanks to my host father and watching other people. I’d certainly like to try again, though. Perhaps even snowboarding, though I think I would lack to guts and coordination for that sort of thing. Here’s to new experiences!

Location: Nanzan University, Nagoya, Japan