Japan 2023

Today we traveled from Nara to Koyasan. It was a cute little town up in the mountains. You would think it wouldn’t be popular among tourists, but that would be incorrect. I’m pretty sure I saw more tourists than Japanese people. Aside from that, we stayed at a temple. Thankfully we were able to check in right when we got there. This place is the most traditional place we’re staying at for the whole trip I believe. Of course, with the tatami mats, there were no shoes allowed in the temple. While the hotel in Kii Katsura had traditional rooms, they were simply a modern take on the traditional rooms. What made these different is that all the “walls” could be opened, so you could hear everything everyone was doing basically. So I knew the night would be interesting (spoiler: I was right. I heard snorers two rooms down). Although the town was a little overrun by tourists, it’s still so cool to see the amount of people that have done their research to come to this town. It’s an old style tow...

Today was exciting because it was another day to interact with animals! We went to Kofukuji Temple, Todaiji Temple and Kasuga Grand Shrine. What was unique about these places compared to the other shrines and temples we visited was that there were deer roaming around interacting with humans. In America, deer don’t interact with people at all so it was quite interesting seeing how different they are in Japan. These three places had the largest amount of people, so much so that there was a lot of pushing and worming around through the crowds. There were a lot of school field trips at these places as well. That shows the pride Japan has in their historical sites, and how popular these places are within the education field. I can say whenever I’ve gone on a school field trip, I don’t remember seeing that many schools at the same place. Kasuga Grand Shrine is so big, no wonder its called Grand. Usually when walking through a shrine or temple, it takes 5-10 minutes, but this one took double ...

Today we went took the Kumano Kodo route to Nachi Falls. Unfortunately, my gym shoes were not in the best condition due to the rain from the previous days, so I had to wear my Converse to climb the mountain. For a brief minute the thought of hiking up the mountain was unpleasant, but the thought of getting the exercise appealed to me quickly. I didn’t know this before, but Kumano Kodo is a pilgrimage route. These days, it’s a popular hiking trail in Japan for both Japanese people and tourists. As Professor Hoffert was saying, that is how they traveled back in the day. Not going to lie, when that was said it motivated me to keep going. I have a lot more privilege than those people did, and I do exercise on a regular basis so the difficulty isn’t anything my body isn’t used to. The modernization of this trail is the fact that is viewed as another hiking trail for some. But I think it’s always good to remember the history of the grounds you are on. Something I noticed about Japan is that ...

Today we traveled to Wakayama to visit the Taiji Whale Museum. A classmate had previously told me that they had no interest in visiting the museum because of the activities it supports. While I would consider myself an animal lover 100%, I still wanted to attend to museum to educate myself more on the subject of whaling. I didn’t know much about it in general, and I honestly didn’t even know it is something that is culturally significant for Japanese people. All I really knew about it prior to going was that people would capture whales and dolphins either to hold in captivity or for food, which is frowned upon becaus e a lot of those species are endangered now.  Still, I like to go to places like these with an open mind to gather my own opinions rather than just going off of what others believe.  We arrived to the museum, and they had a lot of artifacts of whales. Something that stood out to me was all the skeletons of whales and dolphins they had. I’m unsure if they were real...

Today we started off with yet another great breakfast! The bar for breakfast alone keeps getting higher every day. Our first stop of the day was Toyota Techno Museum and Mr. Yoshino joined us. It was super interesting seeing the history of one of the biggest companies in the world. I never knew it used to be a loom manufacturing company, so it's safe to say Kiichiro Toyoda made the right decision regarding the future of his company. I didn’t take too many pictures here, as I was really into the story of the company. I’m glad we went to this museum because I learned more than I thought I would from this place alone. Although Toyota is a company that is constantly changing, it’s still cool to see that Japan takes great pride in it as a company. After learning about Toyota’s history, we took a bus to Nagoya Castle. Unfortunately, the weather was against us and it rained again, but we didn’t let that interfere too much with our visit to the castle. Although we were unable to go into th...

Today we got to go to the Yasukuni Shrine. I learned how to give thanks, which consisted of a couple bows and claps, along with a coin as a part of the thanks. This shrine was also surrounded by the city and the city life, which plays into the tradition and modernity aspect we are exploring. Something I noticed about this shrine is that there weren’t as many tourists as I would have expected— there seemed to be more Japanese people than tourists. I think this is a great example of the emphasis on these kinds of landmarks. There is a high level of respect for this shrine as the years go on that will not decrease. This high level of respect also plays into why Japanese people are very careful about their manners. One thing I noticed quickly was how friendly Japanese people are and that’s honestly one reason I like it so much from the start. After we finished at the shrine, we went to Harajuku which is another popular shopping area. The first place we went to was a cat cafe, and it was ve...

Our first full day in Tokyo/Japan consisted of numerous places. I loved the location of our hotel in Shinagawa. Although it wasn’t super close to the convenience store, I loved the area it was surrounded by. First, we ate breakfast at our hotel which did not disappoint at all. Little did I know that this would increase my standards for all my breakfast meals. Our first stop was the Imperial Palace East Garden. Being there was very peaceful and it was definitely a good start to the day since a lot of the day consisted of a lot of running around (but still fun!) We then headed to Tokyo station where we got lunch. I was surprised when Matubara Sensei told us to get lunch in the station! This is where I learned that a lot of stations are connected to shopping malls, which I think is so neat. Trains are the most popular form of transportation in Tokyo, so that makes it convenient for all those people. The stations in the states in my experience don’t have a whole lot to offer, but Tokyo sta...