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Final Project Video !!

Hey y'all ! I had to make a kind of video essay for my final project so here's the link if you wanna see it !!

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Log 25 - Photos

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Log 25

May 29 - Last Day and Farewell Dinner :(

Unfortunately, this is where my trip (and my blog) come to an end. Today was my last day in Japan, tomorrow I will be heading to the airport early in the morning and start my journey home. I ended up sleeping in quite a bit more than I expected. I was only ready to leave the hotel by around 2 o'clock. Sammie adn I wanted to get some matcha so we went to a nice cafe and shop that is down the street. We decided to stop in for a treat (basically breakfast for us). I ordered some baumkuchen and a matcha latte while Sammie ordered a sweetened matcha drink and a matcha cake roll. Turns out, I totally forgot that matcha lattes have milk in them and I am lactose intolerant. Sammie was nice enough to swap drinks with me and I greatly appreciate the sacrifice (they essentially taste the same). After that, I wanted to do some last minute gift shopping and ran over to Nishiki market with Sammie in tow. I finally got my mother's gift of a flowy shawl and a skirt for myself. We speed walked back to the hotel in order to get to farewell dinner on time. It was really nice to catch up with almost everyone before we go our separate ways. I really feel like we all had a unique experience with each other and I'm honestly so grateful for everyone on the trip it all. After dinner, we took one last group photo before heading out to get more food. A small group of Alex, Aiden, Emily and I went to our favorite BBQ place that is right next to the hotel and had a great time. I think I'm going to pull an all nighter since I have to catch the taxi at 4 am.

Well, that'll be all from me. Thank you for reading my blog and I hope you have more adventures of your own ! Be back home soon !

"In case I don't see ya, good afternoon, good evening, and good night."

Truman Burbank from The Truman Show

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Log 24 - Photos

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Log 24

May 28 - Osaka Day Trip (Umeda Sky, Osaka Castle, Dotonbori, and Ame mura)

Today is the last day of planned class traveling which is kind of bittersweet. We traveled around a couple places in Osaka which I've heard is a pretty big party capital in Japan. We stopped by the Umeda sky building as our first stop. I'm not gonna say that I enjoyed it a bunch becasue I swear we've seen a million skylines but thhis one was particularly interesting because we could see this building that had a bit of the highway going literally through it. Kind of epic but I do wonder if that would be like really loud and annoying to literally anyone in that building. Next, we stopped by Osaka castle for just a quick minute. I wish we could have seen inside but the outside was still pretty interesting to look at and wonder how they managed to build it. Finally, we went by Dotonbori which was packed ! It had a bunch of really cool looking restaurants and shops there. It was really overwhelming but also super cool to run around. Once we were free we immediately ran to find food because we were starving. My friends let me pick and I chose this katsu place where you can essentially cook it yourself. It was actually so good, I'm glad for my food good luck. After that, I went to quickly do some knife shopping since my brother in law is really into knives. Jennifer joined me and we found some cool jewlery and really delicious strawberries on the way. After that, we met up Sammie at the World Expo. If I'm gonna be completely honest, it wasn't really my speed. We waited in super long lines for such a short presentation that most of the time didn't even seem impressive. Some places like Peru had cool institutions but Bulgaria pissed me off real bad since their presentation was entirely AI. I ended up losing my Suica on the way home and was so exhaustd, it was a mess but I definitely survived lol.

Academic Reflection

The reading helped us contextualize and understand the skyline we were looking at in Osaka. Perez discussed how the lifespan of buildings was actually quite short (residential) and would get torn down and rebuilt in about 30 years. This is crazy from an American perspective because we keep properties for so long that they literally become decrepit and abandoned places.

This also helped me understand the reason why there was the building with a road passing through it. Essentially a company wanted to build in a certain area but the government wanted to build their road there. After a lot of back and forth they finally settled on this solution. I think the Land Readjustment requests and development techniques is what gives Osaka its special skyline and charm.

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Log 23 - Photos

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Log 23

May 27 - Nara Day Trip (Todaiji and Kasuga Taisha)

Today we took a day trip to Nara ! I pretty much slept whenever I could on the train there. I have been very sleepy lately lol. We stopped by the deer park that's by the Kasuga Taisha shrine. These deers are literally so cute but also so greedy lmao. It was so funny watching all of my friends getting chased by swarms of deer. The deer were also not afriad to nip at and search your person for any morsels of food. I in fact did not decide to feed the deer because I was a little afraid that they would topple me over. One thing that I really liked was how the deer would bow at you. Sometimes they didn't but most of the time if you bowed at the deer they would bow back at you. It's highly interesting how they likely picked up this habit since they are near Japanese people and culture. I don't really think an American deer would be so friendly. After that we went to the actual shrine where there was this really old tree that has been seen in the ancient record on a scroll. I love the proof and connection to our historical record. There was also this dark room filled with lanterns which gave the illusion of a festival that wasn't going on right now. Finally, we went to go see the giant Buddha statue at the Todai-ji Buddhist Temple. I was really so ready to sleep after this lol.

Academic Reflection

One of our readings for today was on Vairocana which is essentially the Cosmic Buddha. This is the visage that is the massive Buddha that we visited. While we were exploring, we saw this hole that was the size of the statue's nostril. It is said that if you can pass through the nostril, you will have better karma in rebirth of something of the sort. If I'm gonna be real, it seems more like a fatshaming type of thing but hey, to each their own I guess.

Another bit of our readings was looking at a scroll. It is the Kasuga Gongen Genki Picture Scroll from 1309. In this scroll there is a depiction of a larger tree. We were able to see the same exact tree that was depicted in this scroll in real life, which I mentioned earlier. To expand on my thoughts, it is very fascinating to find something that exists in the archaeological record that has existed until our time in such a way. I wish there were more scrolls that showed different layouts and such of the shrine in reference to the tree so we can gain even more of an understanding of the true usage and history of every feature of the perimeter.

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Log 22 - Photos

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Log 22

May 26 - Free Day 4 !!!!

This free day was literally epic !!! We went to freaking Universal in Tokyo ! I am actually a pretty huge fan of amusement parks and rollercoasters. I don't get to ride them too often cause I'm too busy and the tickets are pretty expensive. But in Tokyo, the tickets were actually pretty reasonable. We were supposed to leave at like 9:45 but my friends were sleepy so we ended up delaying lol. Let it be known that I was ready on time. The group ended up being me, Sammie, Gui, Emily, and Kat. One of the first rides we rode, we were able to select what music plays while we go. I was so excited and surprised when I saw a One Direction song (Happily). I was and am a huge One Direction fan so I had the time of my life. We also rode this indoor space themed ride which was actually so freaking fun even if I was confused about the plot the whole time since it was in Japanese lol. We were like geting thrown through multiple rooms and they were all so immersive and well decorated. We were able to go to the Jaws rides, the Jurasic Park, some of the Hollywood ones, Nintendo World, and explore Harry Potter for a little bit. In the Jaws world, we rode this water ride where this huge animatronic chark would jump out of the water and scare us. I'm not gonna lie it did in fact get me once or twice. The conductor lady for our boat was also really into the acting and it made the experience 100x more fun. In Jurassic Park we rode the flying dinosaur where you are essentially laid on your stomach like a pterodactyl and dragged along. The ride was so insane but so fun, I almost lost my voice from how much I was screaming lol. I was so hype to go to Super Nintendo world since I used to play Super Mario Bros Wii with my siblings when I was a kid. The world design was actually insane and one of the coolest things I had ever seen. You really feel like you're in an actual game level. I was trying to explore and buy stuff but the group wanted to go on the mario cart ride. There was a hella long wait and the ride was fun but not my favorite. I did in fact get second place though so I'm kind of cracked I guess. Sammie and I ran off to the Harry Potter world while Kat, Gui, and Emily road the flying dinosaur one more time. We ended up buying some chocolate frogs and had a really nice time looking at the insane set that they had created there. I was very exhausted by the end of our day but it was actually so freaking fun I'm so glad that we went.

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Log 21 - Photos

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Log 21

May 25 - Kiyomizudera/Mindar at Kodaiji/Gion Tour

Today was a veryyyyy long day. I really needed to start my morning with my oat milk latte and chocolate scone and luckily enough I got ready for the day early enough to run by. Sadly, the nice lady was out of the chocolate ones but I tried this rose flavored one and it was pretty good. Chocolate is still my favorite though. Anyways...Kiyomizudera was the first on our list which is a Buddhist temple. I really liked how this temple had a lot of things that you could interact with. I mean that its interesting how this place isn't only a place of quiet worship but also interactive experiences. We went through this dark tunnel that was supposed to be like we were being reborn through the womb. I wasn't expecting it to be so dark but it felt like I was walking with my eyes closed. I kind of loved it for real. After that I watched a bunch of people try to carry the heavy iron pole (spoiler: everyone failed lmao). Next we got to see the Otowa waterfall. The story of this is essentially that there are three streams of water and each one grants a different power. You can only drink from one and you don't know if it the one for financial success, romantic success, or longevity. I took a drink and hope that the blessing works out for me cause I would gladly take any of those, that sounds awesome. After that experience we walked around and shopped for a while and ate. We also got to see Mindar, the android that gives Buddhist teachings. Im going to be for real, the thing creeped me out to the max. I hated it and it was scaring me. It is interesting to see how people accept this as a real manifestation of a higher power.

Academic Reflection

The readings for today discussed a tale of Kannon. It is called 'Shintokumaru' and it essentially tells this story of bad fortune coming from having a bad karma from a previous life. Kannon is presented as one to fear but scholars believe that Kannon was represented as much more merciful than this. I think that learning more about Kannon before visiting the temple added to my experience because I understood the gravity of what people were praying towards.

Another very interesting reading we had covered the geisha which I was very excited to learn about. They are associated with prostitution but were highly sought after and even waited on. We saw a Maiko (geisha in training) and they were very beautiful. I loved their makeup and hair and clothes and literally everything. I was enraptured by their performances and can understand why they were a highly sought after form of performance in the past.

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Log 20 - Photos

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Log 20

May 24 - Himeji-jo/Koko-en garden

Today we were able to actually look around a really freaking cool castle. I like that this one was like actually preserved from the tiime period and was very authentic in that sense. The train ride was super long so we had to take a rapid one. I was excited to see that we passed by the suspension bridge again. Being able to see the island from far away and knowing that I've already explored it is pretty cool. It was raining quite a bit so we had to have our umbrellas ready. Aiden forgot to bring his and essentially got drenched which was really funny. When we were looking through the castle, I loved being able to see where they would shoot the arrows or drop the rocks on incoming enemies. It was fun to try to imagine one of these old battles. There was 6 floors and the stairs were hella steep. Like this thing is a whole workout to explore which I guess is good for protecting against invading enemies. The best part was standing by the windows and feeling the cool breeze blow through. Honestly so beautiful. We also checked out this haunted well. Apparently a servant girl was thrown down there a long time ago and now she haunts the well. If she's still there, I hope she finds peace. Finally, we spent some time in the garden. This was honestly one of the prettiest places we have been yet and it was so fun to explore the different sections. There was a forest, a flower garden, a koi pond, and a bunch more. I didn't have time to see everything and really wish I could have. Maybe I can revisit it in the future.

Academic Reflection

The readings for today covered the structure and design of castles in Japan. I found it really interesting to finally understand why the Japanese castles are always so high up. Essentially, it is not just a call for power but is also a tactic for defensive measures. It is more difficult to invade such a tall structure cause you keep having to move upwards.

They built the stone walls into the mountains which fortified them even further. We even saw protective walls for gunners and such within the design of the castle we visited. I have visited quite a few castle ruins in Europe and I feel like the biggest difference is in this height usage. European castles had defensive structures that were more suitable for the flatter land and heavy dut castles while the Japanese worked with the land they had and used it to their advantage.

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Log 19 - Photos

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Log 19

May 23 - Kinkakuji/Daitokuji

We started off today riding the bus all together. This was high key a struggle since we're such a big group but we all made it lol. The first spot that we were hitting up was the Kinkakuji temple. This was a recreation because the original was burnt down not too long ago by a young monk. People say that the temple is supposed to be more beautiful in its recreation because it was a restoration as well. If I'm gonna be completely honest, the temple wasn't really all that impressive to me. It didn't look as lavish as I thought it would. It just looks yellow lmao. The place was hella crowded and I was really just in pain and stressed. This kind of perfectly set me up for the second destination of the day, Daitokuji. This place had a Zen Buddhist rock garden. At first I thought I wasn't gonna enjoy it but I actually thought it was pretty beautiful. I love being able to see the tranquil spaces in Japan and just take a minute to appreciate the space. I kind of just sat on the edge and listened to the sounds of nature while watching the flow of the rocks. A small group of us left to get udon. I tried this curry udon that I unfortunately did not really enjoy. After that I did some shopping and then headed home.

Academic Reflection

In our reading of "The Temple of the Golden Pavilion" by Yukio Mishima, we saw the burning of the pavilion but from the pov of the arsonist who did it. The story is honestly kinda odd but also kind of intruiging. Like, this guy sees the temple and isn't impressed (literally me) but then he's like haunted by the temple and becomes more and more obsessed with it. He ends up burning it down as a message about how nothing is set in stone. Things can come and go just like that. Its pretty upsetting to think about how much this piece of history has survived over time only to be burned down in the modern era. I guess that makes new history but at the same time it feels more preventable so it makes it feel like even more of a loss than if it happened in the past.

I remember the readings on the zen stone gardens covering how the gardens tend to represent bodies of water. Professor Smith pointed out how the places that had larger rocks that block the path showed the path struggling towards enlightenment. Enlightenment was the area that was more clear with straight lines drawn through the gravel. Very enlightened, very zen.

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Log 18 - Photos

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Log 18

May 22 - Free Day 3 !!!

Independent Excursion: Academic Reflection

Today's plans were made very last minute. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my free day and Sammie had graciously offered for me to join on her solo excursion. She had a plan to travel to Awaji island and visit some points of interest there. I had really wanted to do a big travel outside of the places we were going as a group so this scratched that itch for me.

Sammie bought my shinkansen ticket for me (bless). Getting there was a long process and we literally got lost at a bus station for like half an hour since the directions were hella confusing. We took this bus across the second biggest suspension bridge in the world, Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge. Once we got to the island, I was a little nervous because it kinda seemed like a ghost town. It was a cute city called Sumoto. Ohama Beach was right by us as we walked to our first landmark and the streets were essentially completely empty. Everything also seemed to be closed so we held off on purchasing anything yet. A couple of shrines were littered throughout the city. I believe that this connects to the mythical origins of the island.

Our first actual stop was at the Sumoto Castle ruins that was on a mountain that overlooked the city. The hike was only 20 minutes but it was utterly brutal for me lmao. I'm surprised it made it to the top at all but I'm so glad that I did. The view was breathtaking and the wind was a nice reward for the battle I had just gone through. The ruins are quite small but it doesn't take all that much away from the experince. I really felt like Nathan Drake from Uncharted, exploring old ruins and climbing rigourous heights in order to continue my adventure. We rewarded ourselves with some cold drinks at a cafe that was at the summit. There was a nice old lady working the counter and she did her best to help us even though she spoke no english and we spoke no japanese.

Our second stop was at Nijigen No Mori which is essentially an anime and Japanese popular media themed amusement park. There were quite a few sections such as a Naruto section and a Demon Slayer section but Sammie and I went straight for the Godzilla section since Sammie loves godzilla. We did this whole godzilla experience where we ziplined into its mouth and then did a shooting simulation. Even though the park was dead, we had a hella good time and I wish we had more time to explore the other sites.

We had to run to catch the bus to the Shinkansen station after that. We made it to the station well before our time and were starving. I, however, had the bright idea to go through to our gate early which in turn left us stranded on the other side of the gate. We were literally scrounging around for food and survived off of mints and a couple kit kats until we met Sammie's frinds for dinner. I was really exhausted after this long day so I went straight home and to bed after this.

Academic Reflection

Wang, S.-C., Abe, D., Masuda, N., Shimomura, Y., & Yamamoto, S. (1995). A Brief History of Resort in Awaji Island. 47, 77–84.

The paper that we read for this excursion was covering the fact that Awaji is kind of known as a "resort" island nowadays and what that really means. The paper first compared the English versus Japanese definition of a resort before settling on "a place where has a pleasant warm climate and rich nature..." It then delved into the interesting history as to why resorts and traveling in general became a practice in the rest of the world. People believed that it was important for educated people to actually travel and visit other countries to complete their education. Usually young men would travel to cultural hubs or educational sites in places like Europe to attend scholarly programs and such. In Japan on the other hand, used resorts as places for recreation or health or such. the 1900s in general saw a high uptick in the development of such resorts in order to bring in more tourism and to become and important economic powerhouse for coastal regions such as Awaji Island. The paper dives into the fact that Awaji has a high potential for tourism due to its "romance and historical myth concerning the birth of the nation." It continued to highlight tourist and attraction sites on the island such as Sumoto castle/city as well as the whirlpools. It concluded on the fact that a strong point of the island is its natural factor and beauuty, leading the author to push for the island to capitalize on that fact and focus on an eco-developed resort.

I definitely saw the potential that the author was trying to convey in the reading. Every place that I visited seemed so beautiful and calm. I couldn't help but think that the island would be a perfect vacation destination. There was always a beautiful sight of the ocean as there was coast everywhere. There was an amusement park as well as old castle ruins, a hike, little shops to eat, places to just sit and enjoy nature. I was surprised to find the island practically deserted when we visited. The amusement park was empty with no lines whatsoever. We made the hike entirely alone, only seeing one other family when we stopped by Sumoto Castle. If I ever visit Japan again (hopefully I will) I will also want to visit Awaji again and explore even more. The island feels like an untapped gem and was one of my favorite places to visit on this trip all together.