May 12

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 very much the highlight of my day. I’m more of a dog person, but these cats were such a joy. A lot of them chose to take some time to rest, but there were others who were active and playful. They need more of these in America!


After that, we went to a couple of shops and got crepes for lunch. I’ll be honest, since I had anxiety about being in a new country I wanted to stick with a couple of people but I wish I had gone off by myself so I could have explored things at my own pace. That is definitely somewhere I would go back to. After our Harajuku visit, we hopped on a train to Nagoya.


Prior to this trip, I didn’t know anything about Nagoya so I had no expectations about it. The convenience store was right next door to our hotel which was fantastic! This is the beginning of my love for Japanese convenience stores. It honestly blew my mind how much stuff they have and how different they are compared to American ones. We had the rest of the night to ourselves, so a couple of us got pre-made meals from FamilyMart, and they were so good! After dinner, we planned to meet some other classmates at the mall down the street from the hotel. Paytyn and I met classmates there and walked around for a little, then they went back to the hotel while we walked around and took pictures. We ended up going the wrong way for a couple minutes, but it’s all part of the experience and we did find our way back to the hotel. Overall a good day, it all just felt like two different days due to traveling to different cities and doing so much in both of them!


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