When I initially started this blog, I was planning to so it biweekly. Now, luckily for me biweekly can either mean twice a week, or once every other week, so just in case I needed to take a break from uploading I could flex the definition so I could accommodate that. Unrestrained and with the benefit of flexibility, I still managed to bungle it and go nearly roughly 2 months without uploading. Oh well, we can't have it all.
Let's just start off where I left off!
A session of creating our own Sushi! These were designed to look like the character Totoro from Studio Ghibli's famous animated film My Neighbor Totoro. For those who don't know, Studio Ghibli is esentially the Japanese version of Disney, with a wide range of family friendly films that are also deeply emotional and enjoyable for people of all ages. They are a staple of modern Japanese culture. You can see Ghibli-inspired works all over Tokyo.
Tokyo Edo museum, celebrating the Edo Period of Japanese history. This was from 1603-1868, where Japan was united as one country under the Tokugawa Shogunate, ushering a period of peace. As you can see, it's standing on several large poles and houses a wide and open interior with recreations of buildings from this period.
Samurai Armor
Lunch with Japanese and French friends
Earthquake safety training, this is a hydraulic floor that spins and shakes around, simulating an earthquake. You have to get under a table and grab the legs to ensure the most safety. We actually experienced a short earthquake here in Tokyo last month. It was fairly weak and only lasted for less than a minute, but it was still a crazy experience.
Just an example of the Japanese ability to queue well. At this arcade the line for Dance Dance Revolution is clearly define so that no cutting is assured. (Unless, of course, you have no consideration for others)
Japanese Sento, a manmade hot spring. You put your clothes in the baskets...
...then pull up a stool and wash yourself with the showerheads, before hopping in the bath. The bath is as communal as you want it to be, and we managed to fit 6 guys in. Definitely a fun experience if you manage to get a group of good friends together.
about 2 hours outside of Tokyo, this lake on the base of a mountain which is on top of another mountain.
ditto
This shrine on the lake at the base of the mountain atop the mountain. You wash your hands and mouth before entering a temple. But washing your mouth is difficult so many people just skip it.
The Tatami bedrooms we slept in. There are Futons in the wall compartments that you lay out.
Meeting with my old friends Misaki (L) and Nagi (R), who I met in Boston. We had dinner at a Hawaiian breakfast restaurant that Nagi works at high above the city street.
Grilling some Mochi rice balls.
Rice farming for a couple hours.
a cable car heading up top a mountain.
This mountain was beautiful, but the day was a bit of an adventure. I went down the opposite side of the mountain from where I went up in the cable car, and followed a sign that said "train station" pointing in an opposite direction. It wasn't till an hour later I came across a map pointing out I was roughly 5 hours of walking away from a train station, in the middle of nowhere, with maybe an hour left of daylight. I just walked and walked until I came across a small farm town with roughly 3 houses in it. After that, there was a bus stop that looked totally overgrown and abandoned, with a Coca Cola advertisement circa 1950-something. At that point I took the gamble and waited for the bus, as the worn schedule said it would be arriving in an hour. Freezing and cold and with my portable charger dying despite a whole night of juice in it, the bus finally came (right on time, as all Japanese transit tends to). It took me another 2 hours to get home, but I actually managed to. The worst part is that the hostel on top of the mountain I told I would return later to sleep in never got my business.
a Japanese street festival in Kawagoe, on a street with buildings from old Japan, called "Little Edo". Think of it as the historic district in Boston or any east coast city, with old colonial buildings. This is one of the most famous festivals in Japan, and they parade around these gigantic floats, which contain band members and costumed actors dressed as Japanese folk characters. These giant floats are pulled around by a large group of local people, and there were something like 10 of them out in the streets, all being pulled by people. When they had to turn down another road, it became a several-minute long process. The music they played was beautiful and the actors interacted with the crowds, doing dances and motions unique to their folk character. It was amazing!
a very large ice cream. I sat out participating in this one, but my friends were all totally ice cream drunk after. They weren't the same people I went in that restaurant with.
The Man and The Mouse. A nice trip to Tokyo Disney! It was a blast, the Japanese probably like Disney more than Americans. Disney is always a good time :)
another washing fountain from a temple in Hakone, a resort town outside of Tokyo. This one is of a 9-headed dragon, which is a part of the local folklore. Way back in the day, the villagers would sacrifice young women into the lake, which was believed to house this 9-headed dragon.
a nice ride on a downpour-drenched pirate ship across a fog-covered lake.
heading on top of a volcano, by cable car of course.
sulfur deposits, which has the wonderful smell of rotten eggs. But hey, they look amazing.
Odawara Castle
Asakusa
One of the Asakusa guardians
his companion
met up with some more friends I worked with in Boston- Mika (L), Nastumi (M), and Rena (R). I hadn't talked to them in a long time, so it was awesome to be able to see them again!
I got a job working at my university's communication village, and area where Japanese students can come and chat with foreign students and vice versa, to practice language skills. This is the poster I helped design for our Fall Festival party. Me and the 3 other international employees helped to organize 4 different areas. I took over on the Halloween section of the party, as I love the holiday to death. It was AWESOME to teach people about the history of Halloween, all the way back to it's ancient celtic roots. Of course it wasn't just pagan celebrations, we had plenty of candy and games.
I had to go as the Count himself. I love Halloween with a passion, it is rooted in storytelling and thus is something everyone can enjoy. While it's very associated with horror these days, way back in the past it was meant to give people hope and optimism about making it through the harsh Irish winter. So many of humanity's greatest stories are about bringing people together, and Halloween to me is the celebration of all those wonderful ideals. Stories are truly what unite us, and being able to both learn about the stories of so many other countries by the friends I've made here as well as share the ones I grew up with has been magical :)
unfortunately I was born without a widow's peak
Seoul, South Korea! I got to take a couple days to head over to this wonderful country.
traditional Korean dress, the outfits of the Kings and their court members.
breathtaking
Seoul was a unique experience- Korea is nothing like Japan. Seoul felt far more like New York or Boston than Tokyo. It was a much more subtle city, the temples were smaller and more modest than the larger than life palaces in Japan. Not a mark against the archipelago, just an observation!
The North Korea/South Korea border. Inside of the blue buildings are meeting rooms for talks between the 2 countries and the UN. It was a powerful experience, a very sad place. 2 peoples divided, families split apart. You can feel the tense atmosphere, but it carries an air of sorrow. It's a place I want to return to, but would rather not be able to if it meant that it didn't exist.
I like this photo because I have no idea what I was doing and it looks like I'm absorbing the scent of this globe.
In front of the Blue House, SK's version of the White House.
Back in Tokyo. The colors remind me of home.
One of my favorite things I've done- the Hara Model Railway Museum. The personal collection of a single man who loved trains with every inch of his body, it was a sight to behold. Truly felt like a labor of love, you could feel Mr. Hara's presence through the passion and care he put into it. I don't know much about trains outside that I love riding them, but I love miniatures and this felt like a pilgrimage for me.
It's not absolutely everything I've been up to, but it's definitely the highlights. I promise to be on my best behavior and update more frequently!
Thank you to everyone who takes the time to read through this, I know that it's a lot but the fact that you care enough to browse it means the world!
-Donovan
