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Final

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Media Blog - Osaka aquarium

Me and a small group consisting of Zach, Luke, and Griffin decided to take a small voyage over to the Osaka aquarium Kaiyukan for our media blog. It appears in both Jujutsu Kaisen and Josee the Tiger and the Fish and enlists scenes from mostly inside the aquarium but also boasts a couple scenes in the surrounding area. Seeing the scenes from both of these anime summed up my view of what a Japanese aquarium would be like. I went in believing the aquarium would be an absolutely stunning experience beyond all hopes and dreams. In Josee it almost seems like the characters are floating behind the glass. This could be an artistic take as Josee is a wheelchair bound girl ever longing for the ability to be free of her disability. She wishes to move free and not be bound by her limitations. Thus the fish seem almost free in their tank. It feels so incredibly big from the perspective that is given. In Jujutsu Kaisen it is the same way but from the glass perspective. The tank is incredibly well lit so as to not give off the background and it just feels like she is walking through a glass tunnel in the ocean. In Jujutsu Kaisen, the author Akutami Gege utilizes fish as a symbolism for lots of significant events in the manga. In this instance he shows us Riko, a character who is going to become a special vessel for a great cursed energy user who needs a new host every 500 years. She is forced to leave her maid who took care of her for almost her entire life and without even being able to say goodbye she breaks down in a clash of emotions. We are led on to see a scene where the whale shark comes out to symbolize a wave of emotions particularly in relation to loneliness. I believe it symbolizes a forward movement with all the emotions she is experiencing but more so in a solitude kind of way. She has realized her role and is fighting with herself on what to do. On the contrary to how beautiful these scenes were, I really was kind of put off by the whale shark tank in the aquarium. I had these grand dreams of how great it was only for my illusions to be squashed into a million pieces upon seeing the true size of the tank. The tank is built in a way where the whale sharks are in a constant turn, almost in a plus shape. It makes it so they have the room to make their turn but barely enough room to move straight forward. The part that turned me off the most was the deformation of one of the shark’s dorsal fins due to that constant turning. The fin had literally curled over itself in order to be designed for turning and it absolutely crushed my heart to see. I fear now that I will feel the same way when I go to the Atlanta aquarium but I will have to wait and see when I get there. Other than the whale sharks, the other fish seemed to have plenty of space to swim around and rest but I really couldn’t take my mind off the whale sharks. Destined for greatness only to be cast aside in that aquarium. I now feel as if I can relate to the same way the boycotters of Sea World used to be back when the killer whales were there. It was still a fun experience in the rest of the aquarium, especially the seals but it definitely changed the way I see Japan’s aquariums.

[eienoah]

Academic Blog - Tabis

Dating back to 15th century Japan(The Sengoku period) , tabi shoes have been worn by noblemen and commoners alike. They’re impact has certainly left a mark on fashion which can be seen even to this day. Even designer brands can be seen utilizing the concepts for tabis in pieces like Maison Margiela’s full tabi line. I recently took a trip to a store called Sou Sou in Kyoto’s downtown city of Kawaramachi with one goal in mind. Find a pair of tabis that I liked, ask plenty of questions about them from the workers at the store, and purchase a pair for myself. Sou Sou is a Japanese clothing store founded in 2002 with the purpose of revitalizing and adapting Japanese clothing styles while still trying to keep traditional elements a relevant part of the pieces. They have 8 stores each focused on a different aspect from tabis to kimonos to textiles to yukatas. The store is built up in a modern rendition of a traditional small Japanese house and as soon as you enter it’s just tabis everywhere. I proceeded by asking the workers a couple of questions like- what specifically makes a tabi a tabi, what benefits do tabi have over regular shoes, how did tabi socks inspire tabi shoes, and who were the primary users of tabi shoes. In regards to what makes a tabi a tabi, tabi by definition means footbag and can be related to any article of footwear that offers a split between the big toe in the rest to offer an assortment of benefits. Those benefits include better flexibility, security, stability, and sometimes even extra warmth. By keeping the toe box separated, tabis also allow for a much wider footstance while still maintaining the classic silhouette of a normal shoe. They offer a more natural way of walking compared to regular shoes which I found fascinating especially in that they greatly prevent bunions. Tabi socks of course originally came first as they were used for shoes like geta, waraji, or zori but they translated over to shoes when they could be worn by just about anyone. The superior dexterity that they offered truly helped just about anyone in any task. My favorite usage though in ancient history was that of samurais using them to improve the flexibility of their feet for a more powerful strike and faster dodging reflexes. The socks have also been seen to be greatly used for warmth in winters when women would wear sandals.  As of lately, the main users are surprisingly enough construction workers as the shoes can be made extremely durable with reinforcing materials while still maintaining that flexibility to do things like climb surfaces and hop around from place to another. They are commonly made with super dense rubber, resin, or even some metal plating to assist the construction workers in case of emergency. After gaining some more information about tabis I decided to finally take a good look at all the ones they offered and decided on a pair that I liked a reasonable amount. I originally wanted a pair of black more high top like ones but they unfortunately did not have my size so I had to fall back on the classic low top whites. I don’t regret my decision at all. I of course then had to purchase a pair of socks to go with them for a total purchase that set me back about 65 dollars. I’ll take that any day of the week. After testing them out for a full day the only gripe I have with them is how low the soles are but I can fix that with a little handy work and some American made soles. They truly do feel like I’m getting a slight edge up on my balance especially when I tested them on some ledges. I feel as if one day they could be adapted more to common standards and we could see them in places like rock climbing shoes or even just generally running shoes. I look forward to what the future holds for Tabis but I sure am glad they have such a rich and dense past to accompany them.

Me in my Tabis

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May 29 - Nara Day Trip

Well well well here we are the final blog. It really has felt like time has just flown by since the very last free day. It felt like every single day that I would be done with the excursion, I would come home and just think oh my god the day is over. Regardless of that, I think today was an absolutely amazing end to such a great study abroad. Today we took a trip to Nara where we went to a bunch of different places. After the commute, we got off the train and walked just a little bit straight to the deer park where a bunch of my classmates grabbed deer crackers and started feeding the deer. I was very hesitant to buy them because I didn’t want deer swarming me so I didn’t. In exchange for that I kind of just wandered around and pet every single deer that I could find while taking pictures of all of them. They really are just like stray cats that you would find in a park where you kind of just sit there and they might come up to you or they might run away a little bit. Regardless of that they were all very cute but I did watch them attack a couple people. After the Deer Park, we walked over to Kasuga Taisha shrine. During the walk I talked to some Japanese middle schoolers about if deer was tasty or not and after telling them a recipe I’ve used before they all agreed that they wanted to try it. There was also another kid that was going up to Griffin and calling him weird then like saying he had cool sunglasses. It was pretty funny. After arriving at Kasuga Taisha, we got to see an ancient tree that had been standing for over 800 years. The rings on that sucker must be crazy. Walking to and through the shrine we got a good look at what the lanterns that they light two times a year are. There was even a small room that you could enter that simulated what it is like to see the lantern festival. I really want to be able to see it with my own eyes because I am obsessed with lamps and lanterns. After that we broke for lunch and on the way down I grabbed a couple pins including one of the Nara deer and a different one of Wakakusa Yama during a firework show. I did a little research on it and I truly have decided that Japan’s customs and festivals are so much cooler than I originally had thought. After the shrine was lunch and I got a sukiyaki burger. I will be attempting to cook it on my own as soon as I make it back to America. It was ammmmmmazing and probably one of the best things that I have had on the trip so far. Then it was on to Todai-Ji. Todai-Ji actually blew my mind. When you think of absolute musts to visit, Todai-Ji should be on every single person's list for Japan. The courtyard entrance is breathtaking with just how vast and green it is. You walk the path and it leads you to the interior with the giant Buddah and plenty of other huge statues. Now these aren’t just big, I mean they are actually enormous. A person probably doesn’t even cover one eye on the main statue. We round the corner and all lined up to see if we could fit through the Buddah’s nostril, a small hole in a pillar said to offer you a better life after reincarnation. Everyone who attempted fit through the hole but I was scared my shoulders were gonna be too broad to make it. I just had to slip in diagonally and I squeezed through. After that was break up time and me and Griffin decided to head back early. I’m gonna be active all day tomorrow so I figured it best to get my rest and tidy up so tomorrow I won't be running around like a bat out of hell trying to pack things up.

Academic reflection

In the readings we touched up on Vairocana, essentially the main Buddah or at least the most well known one. The part of Nara that we went to was absolutely crowded with pictures and plushies and stamps of him. Any memorabilia you could want was at your fingertips. The thing that had surprised me the most though was that even though he is an all mighty powerful Buddah, a divine being that can travel across multiple verses, they had made him into just a little chibi collectible character. I guess it’s just because I have never seen something like a small Jesus plush or anything like that but it really did shock me. In addition, we got to see the actual statue at Todai-Ji which was crazy as to how structurally intact everything was. Nara as a whole just felt like a city that is incredibly treasured for its ancient history. At Kasuga Taisha we also got to experience an instance of Buddhist monks praying at a Shinto shrine. We had talked about in the reading for so long that they had no qualms with each other but it was perfect timing for the final excursions of the trip to get an actual view of it happening.

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May 28 - Himeji-jo

I woke up today thinking the rain was going to be bad, but not as bad as it actually turned out to be today. Today marked our trip to Himeji Castle. being that this was supposed to be the last day of our trip I fully believed it to be our Magnum opus. I would’ve absolutely loved to have seen the castle on a nice bright sunny day, but we decided to change our plans, so that way tomorrow we will be able to see the deer in Nora under those conditions. The trip over to Himeji was just around two hours as we rode the same train we did to Osaka but didn’t get off for another hour or so. We got to ride close to the water for a little bit of the trip, which was really cool with the whole rain going on but it didn’t make up for how cold and wet it was today. When we arrived in Himeji, we took a short break for everyone to go find food and me and a small group went over to the station's food court where we all kind of split up. I went and got some form of katsu that was incredibly tasty, but I wish I remembered the name of it. After that short break, we started our walk towards the castle in what felt like a 5 mile walk through a thunderstorm. By the time I reached the castle, my shoes were completely soaking wet. My socks felt like I was walking around with little plastic bags filled with water. My entire left arm was soaked, and the front of my pants were soaked as well. In addition to that the wind was blowing like crazy so my umbrella kept flipping up and it had gotten incredibly cold. Compared to pictures that I have seen of sunny days, a rainy day at the castle really was just not what I was looking for. I’m definitely gonna have to go back next year to get a better experience for what I truly wanted. But that’s just kind of how life goes. Sometimes you just have to take that L. We started our tour of the castle going to the princesses quarters through a long hallway where we had to take our shoes off. It felt absolutely horrible as if I was disgracing ancient history walking through wooden floors with soaking wet socks on. We kind of flew through her hallway as everyone was probably anxious to just leave as fast as they could. After that, we walked over to the actual castle part in what felt like an actual siege on the castle minus the fighting. The wind and rain that forced my umbrella back as if there was a middle-age man constantly pushing me every single time that I tried to take another step forwards. The winding roads that led to the interior of the castle really simulated that whole siege experience during the typhoon. When we got to the actual castle interior, the stairs were incredibly steep and I was very worried that many people were going to fall but fortunately no one did. It was I want to say six floors upstairs that we had to climb but I could be wrong. When we got to the very top, the scenery in the surrounding area was kind of breathtaking… I guess. I feel like it would have been so much better on a bright sunny day, but you can’t get everything you want. After the castle, we went to go see the well that was supposed to have a ghost rumor coming from it. Everyone kind of just looked in the well for like 30 seconds, and then was just eager to leave as fast as possible. We started our walk back to the station where everyone was so soaking wet that they kind of just gave up on avoiding puddles and just started walking back as fast as they could. I myself was very very cold and wet.

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When I got to the station, I went to the bathroom as fast as possible, took off my shirt and wrung it out into the toilet in what almost looked like a scene from a horror movie. Everyone else ran up to the train and I had not realized so I kind of waited in front of the bathroom for about a minute or so, before barely making it on the train before it left. At that point everyone else had already gotten on. The ride home was equally as cold, but my pants began to dry so I had that going for me. When we got off the train from Kyoto station, I almost took my group in the wrong direction but someone quickly fixed my mistake which I was very glad for. I never want to be in such cold and wet conditions like that ever again in my life.

Academic reflection

From the reading we learned a little bit firstly about the fortifications that go into the structure of the castle. This could range from how the walls are built to the construction of winding corridors to the difficulty of climbing stairs to reach the final room, the emperor's quarters. The walk up from the base of the castle had me looking at each and every wall. They were all lined with holes of a multitude of shapes allowing for ranged weapons to be poked out each little one. There were archer screens drawn at major gateways that could provide for easy cover fire. The beginning wall was enormous with a huge gate. The wall made use of the land around it utilizing a mote which would just be hell to try and swim across with armor and climb during a siege. The winding corridors could easily trick enemies into a sense of, “Ohh just around this corner and we’ll be home free.” Nope, think again. You still have 8 more corners and the full interior to get through buddy. Even the stairs were incredibly steep coming up. You could defend them with simply two men with spears on each set of stairs. Not only that but if the soldiers shoes were wet their chance of slipping on those stairs was so high. Being the way castles had to maintain surrounding areas so their soldiers could be well fed and happy we also got a look of what the ancient city looked like on a small scale diagram. The area immediately surrounding the castles grew like crazy as they had constant business with the soldiers working at the castles. This also provided them security in the case of an attack. It was a win-win for all surrounding parties. I also did notice that this castle also made use of the rounding corners which seems to be something in common with most Japanese castles. I might go see the Nagoya castle as well so we’ll see with that one too. Japanese castles truly are a wonder to the world on just how innovative fortifications could get. 

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May 27 - Arashiyama bamboo park

Today marked our trip to Arashiyama bamboo park and monkey park. I woke up kind of late today but still managed to buy some good breakfast last night so I wasn’t that hungry in the morning when we would have normally broken for lunch. We took a couple of quick train rides over to Arashiyama which looked pretty much just like a normal residential area at first. As we continued walking, the residential area started to break up into a forest-like area, which slowly became more and more bamboo. It kind of felt like just a regular kind of nature path that you would walk on in Florida, but the Japan version I guess. We walked for I want to say around 30 minutes or so through mostly bamboo forest and when we had finished there were a bunch of converging paths which we didn’t get to explore but I wish I could have later on after the excursion. Anyways, from the bamboo forest, we had to walk next to a giant river and across some bridge, which made for some awesome photo ops. After the bridge, we started our hike up the mountain to go see the monkeys. I was a little concerned that I was going to slip or someone around me was going to, but thankfully the mountain wasn’t really that wet so I stayed upright the whole way. Once we reached the summit, I kind of started looking around and couldn’t find any monkeys until I looked on the roof of the main building that was there. As I slowly started to look around the area, I just kept seeing more and more. There was also the giant banana which me and Zach took a picture with which I thought was really funny. I really thought the monkeys were gonna be a little bit bigger. I mean like they were big but not that big. They were constantly fighting which was pretty funny to watch because they would hit each other a couple times and then go running down the mountain. After that, I asked the workers at the top of the mountain for a Restaurant recommendation and they sent me to a croquet place towards the center of the city. It looked closed, but they actually were running a shop like 50 meters away and I got a bunch of croquettes for super cheap but no one else really wanted them so I just took them on the go. After that we took a really long bus ride where Zach was asleep for what I wanna say was about 40 minutes. Just like neck fully touching chest which was hilarious. We then went to round one and I kind of sat around while other people were playing arcade games but next to the round one was the dollar store which I was really looking forward to because I need to buy some secret things for an event coming up. After that was just a couple trips to some stores around the area that were pretty much pointless because everything was too expensive but that was pretty much my day.

Academic reflection

Given that Arashiyama has had its land protected for centuries starting from the Heian period, I feel as if I could kind of get a better glimpse into just how well it truly was today. Especially from the summit of the monkey park. Once you reach the summit you take a good look around and it’s just forest and streams in what appears to be a bordered area. You can see where it ends but up until that point nature is truly thriving. I will say Japan kind of has this thing for making sure that even next to large towns or cities there is adequate amounts of nature to balance it out. In addition, we got to see Nonomiya which helped shape up the story told in the readings a bit better. I did get to see one of the charms in the theme of The Shrine in the Fields characters but I refrained from buying it and humbly passed on. It was funny to find a shrine that is kind of dedicated to love. It makes me want to search out other specific themed shrines.

[eienoah]

May 26 - Kiyomizudera

Study abroad is gonna be wrapping up pretty soon and it’s really starting to kick in. I’ve slowly been getting more and more tired each day craving for just a day of nothing. I can have that after I finish though for now I have to pwer through and really crunhc out the remaining time that I have with all my freinds. I’m only gonna be on study abroad once in my life I have to make the absolute most of this experience. Anyways, today was Kiomizudera which I was actually really looking forward to. It’s a temple that hangs off of a cliff for part of the balcony section which is really cool but I think what I like about the temple so much is just the surrounding scenery and how much there is to actually do it. I have figured out that the more room there is in a shrine to move without people on top of me the more I truly like it. Also, the view from the balcony was really cool and there things like the womb entrance which was just an incredibely dark tunnel. I think I accidentally assaulted Griffin in the tunnel for lack of sight. There was also the bell ringing which I have always wanted to do and for the price of just 10 yen I got to swing it a couple times. Then there was the big pot swing and prayer in front of some box which I’m not too sure on. After that was the drink from one of the three streams which grants you one of three blessings in relation to your future. I watched Alexyss play with every stream like a kid using glue for the first time which was essentially explained to us this morning that doing so would void all luck and you would be cursed by the God Kannon. Good luck Alexyss. After that we walked through some of the streets on the way down from the mountain towards Kodaiji. We stopped for a nice lunch and walked around for just a little bit before seeing the robot incarnation of Kannon which was interesting to say the least. There was just something about seeing an AI tking up the place of a god that has me worried about the future. It kind of reminded me of Overwatch’s Zenyatta. Anyways from there we went of to Gion where we kinda wandered around for a little bit but we missed the first Meiko show so we had to break for a bit. A couple of us went to starbucks which was pretty ok. The actual Meiko show was actually really cool but kind of abrupt. It felt like it kind of just ended abruptly when I was expecting so much more. Nevertheless, it was kind of artisitc in a way to see her move around almost like a puppet on strings completely emotioneless painted fully white. 

Academic connection

I couldn’t really draw any irl connections from the first reading to Kiomizudera simply just because it was more of a story involving Kannon then an explanation of the history of the temple. I also didn’t even get to see the moon garden which I fully studied on my own. Next year if I go on my own I want to go back to all the temples at night to get a fully different atmosphere for how I saw them during the trip. Anyways relating to Gion we did get to see a Meiko dance today. In realtions to the rarity of them I would definitely say it extremely rare to see them in public. They definitely are idolized in the area as you can see posters with them almost everywhere just like near Kodaiji where you can see kimono rentals just about anywhere. The actual performance though was more so something that you would see from a show. It was done in such a small area as well that you could tell it can be used for small parties. According to one of the videos from the Maiko theater the Geisha are actually quite old as compared to how I considered them to be in my mind. I guess it was just a gap in my common sense in the sense of, of course a superior worker will be older in age. I don’t know I just kinda of could never tell with the make up that they use.

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May 25 - Osaka Day Trip

Today was the Osaka day trip which was a little silly because it felt like I was just leaving Osaka. This past free day that I had, me and a group went over to the Osaka aquarium so we had already seen a little bit of the area. It was more like we knew the transportation there rather than the actual place itself. The first thing on today’s itinerary was a trip up to the Umeda sky building for a quick look around of the surrounding scenery of Osaka. I feel like I should have gotten used to seeing city skylines from all the way around but it hasn’t seemed to have grown that old yet. The best part about the building by far though was the escalator up. After that we kind of just started taking trains and walking around on what felt like a wild goose chase but ended up at the Osaka castle which was gigantic in comparison to how I thought it was gonna be. It always is crazy getting up close and having to think of the engineering used to produce something like that. At the castle we traded a couple of castle themed jokes around including: What did the Castle say to the farmhouse… living the dream! And many more. After that was a gruesome walk under the hot sun back to the station followed by a ride over to Dottonbori. It was very similar to how I would have expected it after seeing it in the Yakuza games. We broke up at Dottonbori where we kind of just wandered around until stumbling upon a shopping mall with a pokemon center in it. I still couldn’t seem to find a pokemon plush that I like but I am hoping one day I will be able to. We went down one floor in that building though and found a monster hunter, jump, and godzilla shop. The monster hunter store was super cool but I held myself back from buying an incredibly cool patch to use for a jacket. It was like 10 dollars and I just couldn’t see myself buying it. The other stores were kind of worn out with just stuff you could find at about any anime store. After that was just the ride home and some Mcdonalds on the way back. I really will miss the teriyaki burger.

Academic connection

Today was an academic lesson centered mainly around the architecture of Osaka. Much like most of Japan’s major cities there is a clear mixture of residential areas mixed in with functional buildings like stores, restaurants, and offices. Urbanization stacks and mixes different layers so much in Japanese society that it creates very interesting urban areas. You can see it in just about any area. Even our classroom is just some random room on the third floor of a building right next to a gyoza shop. The whole reason behind this is simply because Japanese buildings are built to be dozed down after 30 years. Even looking around you could never expect that in 30 years half the buildings you see around you are going to be completely different. Then again, it feels like everywhere I go I am seeing construction in just regular buildings. However, it feels almost as if the construction actually gets done unlike at UF. Outside of hotel Edoya in Tokyo there were 2 construction sites that over 2 weeks seemed to actually have quite good progress done. I watched them go from dirt to first floor layouts built up. Being able to densify buildings into multiple usage the way places like Dottonbori do really are a key aspect as something that amazes me about Japan. Even in that certain “residential” districts still make room for nature and parks. I feel as if even in the great mass of the industry there is greenery as well. Even in some of these gigantic buildings with glass walls all around I still see plants and trees growing off the side. It really just astonishes me.

[eienoah]

May 24 - Kinkakuji

Today was an even shorter day compared to two days ago. We woke up kind of early. I think I can’t even remember all that well to be honest. I ended up taking a nap at around four till about eight thirty so I’m already forgetting some of the stuff we did today. Anyways, we visited Kinkakuji this morning on our first full bus expedition of the trip and probably our last. Taking a bus is actually a lot more convenient than trains in my opinion just because of the flat fare and how little people were actually on them. Anyways, we got to Kinkakuji relatively early but it still had plenty of people walking all around. There were so many tourists gathered to see it that the whole corridor for walking was pretty much full. The temple was cool but it felt almost more yellow than gold. I was talking to our guide who was explaining to me about how there was a different temple called Ginkakuji or the silver pavilion. I honestly would rather go see that just because I like places with less people and the sheer amount of tourists was crazy today. I stopped midway through the walk to buy a hello kitty charm and by the time I looked up everyone was gone. I had to essentially run through the place to catch up to everyone but it took a good ten minutes to find someone. Me and our guide got stuck talking to some foreigners about the ice cream vending machines but I think they thought I lived in Japan my whole life because they were asking me what Japan was like pre covid. After Kinkakuji was Daitokuji which was only a 20 minute walk away. It was complete opposites to Kinkakuji in the amount of people. I saw about 6 tourists throughout the whole thing and it was amazing. We got an explanation on some of the sekitei or rock gardens and got to sit and meditate for a while. It was amazing. I just wish I wasn’t coughing as much as I was today otherwise I would’ve had a better time. After we broke for the day the usual group headed to a place called The Burger which gave us all a little taste of home. I got an Oklahoma style burger which I’ve been craving for the past week. The whole restaurant was Texas/Vegas themed which was really funny to see in Japan but it was pretty good so I was super content. After getting back to the hotel via bus I promptly took a quick shower and passed out for one of the best naps I have taken in a long while and I’m about to go right back to bed now.

Academic connection

Learning about the burning and restoration of Kinkakuji had my expectations more gravitated towards a more slightly broken image in my head. In all reality the restoration was seamless and looked amazing. I would have never been able to tell the building had burned down had I not read about it. It was kind of astounding thinking of the context that the building had as a preface. It really did seem to draw people in with its lustrous golden figure which was a sight to behold on its own. I could see how it could even go to drive some crazy. Past that we see Daitokuji which is known for its sekitei and elements of zen buddhism. The sekitei were wonderful to see and the guide lady told us what each little garden was trying to express. My favorite was a piece that she completely skipped over which was a little rock fashioned almost in the shape of a bowl that was holding water. There were bugs that would occasionally pass by and land for a sip of water or something but it was interesting to say the least. The gardens felt incredibly peaceful especially in the time when everyone was just not speaking. There was also a little part of the tour where the guide was explaining what I think was a poem to us which expressed kanji in a way I have never seen before. Buddhist teachings really can be clever with their expressions.

[eienoah]

May 23 - Final free day

Here we are, the final free day of the trip and I woke up with no real plan in mind. All I knew was that I wanted to figure out something to do for my media research blog. I kept scouting sites of different scenes but they were all either too little info or just places that we were already going to or have been to. That’s when I decided to message Zach and see what he was up to today. Him, Luke, and Griffin were headed over to the Osaka aquarium which just so luckily enough has lots and lots of scenes and shows that reference it so I figured it would be perfect. I got dressed and wore my new tabi’s for the first time which I gotta say they are comfortable but the soles definitely are not. They’re a little too thin so I might go buy some new soles when I get back to America and just cut out the missing space between the toes. Anyways we left at I wanna say about 10:30 am and started taking some trains to a few stations. I decided to double check the directions at some point to realize Luke was taking us to just a plain old aquarium shop about halfway through the navigation. Thankfully we managed to fix it up a little bit before hopping on a bus to the middle of nowhere to see a tiny aquarium but it would’ve been hilarious arriving just to see a store. Anyways we got to the aquarium at around 2:30 or 3 I think so we had plenty of time to spare. The aquarium was cool but there’s just that huge anticipation of wanting to see the big attraction. The whale shark that everyone wants to see. We sped through some of the animals stopping by to watch the seals get fed along the way but when we arrived it opened up into an absolutely gigantic aquarium. I can explain more in the media blog about some of the references and offering comparisons but for now you guys get little to nothing. After the aquarium we found some guy outside busking playing a guitar right next to the water. It was an interesting selection of music but I still tipped regardless cause he was trying hard. The way back had us hopping on I think four different trains but it felt so much faster than getting there. It did burn up a lot of my suitcase so I am a little concerned for it but ohh well. I can always put more on later. 

[eienoah]

May 22 - Kyoto Imperial Palace

Today felt like an incredibly short day. I woke up a little late and ate those white tayaki again plus a cream puff. I really need to start figuring out how to use my bento to make something better. Maybe I’ll start making fried rice in the morning. After that I ran a little late so I had to actually run over to class. We took a train over to the imperial palace and had a tour. I found a small little charm I think. I can’t remember the actual name of it but I think it was like shenki. If I find the name I’ll update it right here _____. Then we had a little walk around the palace on a guided tour. I could only hear like 40 percent of what the guide was saying but it was so hot it was almost like I wasn’t listening. I accidentally wore a jacket so I was sweating like crazy but I pulled out my umbrella to make it a little bit better. People kept kicking up the gravel so the dust kept getting in my face which made it just so much worse. Recently I haven’t been drinking enough water so I was hungry, dehydrated, dirty, exhausted, and hot. Let’s just say I was a little cranky this morning. There was a garden at the palace that was really cool but the rest I was just trying to stay out of the sun so I didn’t notice that much around me. I felt very bad not getting to absorb the experience but for me it was just too bad outside. After that we went over to the train and I snuck off to a little conbini to grab pastries. I also got my first pocari sweat which was literally just a clear version of orange Gatorade. Then it was onto the museum. Some of the stuff in there was cool but I just got so used to seeing the same art. I did find one painting I really liked which was of two cranes, bamboo, and a peach tree. For some reason it just popped out to me. It might have been the way the two birds were posed or just the colors but it really stood out. The way the tree framed the birds was spot on and the bamboo offered a nice color balance. The museum ended a little fast and the usual group headed over to a little family run restaurant. We got a little lost on the way and had to find a map to figure out where the actual restaurant was. It turned out they moved down the road and we thought they were a flower store. I got just a simple nikudon but it was so much better than the ones I would buy from matsuya. The place was kinda sketchy with people smoking in the restaurant and everything but it was super good so I was happy. After that was just a trip back to the hotel and I was off for the day. 

One of the main things I realized about the palace was that I had a different picture in my head for how the shutters were. I fully pictured them to be like lots of small shutters that would all pull up with one stick in the middle. I have no idea why I pictured a completely modern type of shutter but so be it. To think it would take 6 men to lift each one is crazy though. I get he is the emperor and everything but it is absurd to make 6 men do something that you can fix with a little bit of innovation. Being able to see the garden mentioned in the reading was truly a spectacle. I could really see the craftsmanship they used to work such details, shapes and blending of colors into a multitude of patterns for the viewer to be amazed by. From the second you walk in you see the small bridge with grass growing on it that almost makes you think its been left alone for a hundred years and still remains. But it hasn’t, it is properly taken care of each and every single day for the enjoyment of what used to be the royal family. One thing I was expecting more of though was sekitei. Stone gardens to be precise. There was just a giant yard of gravel that had been swept but not into the proper form of a sekitei. It was kind of just a cleaning purpose thing.

[eienoah]

May 21 - Free Day 3

Today was the third free day of the trip and I woke to Rich on his way out the door. I took a little bit of time to get ready and ate my conbini breakfast before heading out the door. Today was the second day that I got to see my homie(girlfriend). I met up with her at the station and we started heading over Touji. They were having a monthly market which we walked around and looked at a bunch of stuff. Before getting there though, we stopped in at a second hand clothes store which was just a little to expensive for my taste. There was also a shop called the witch’s house which was just like a bunch of old things and a woman that was speaking in a language that I can assume was maybe Japanese but I really could only understand like every other word she was saying. She might have been casting a spell on me cause according to Uta even she didn’t know half the things that she was saying. All I remember hearing was nacharanancharanancharaBidenancharanachara. The flea market at Touji went by super quick cause most of the stores were kind of just crap nobody would use. We did stop at a couple jewlery places and a knife stand which we got a couple pitches from the salesmen and women but the most interesting was talking to some old guy on a bridge who was throwing fish food and some carp. After that we hit up the Kyoto aquarium on a whim which was an amazing choice. The entry fee was like 15 dollars a person which is incredibly good deal. We got to walk around a bunch of different animal areas including giant salamanders, dolphins, penguins, seals, and manta rays. The lighting that they used for each little area really spruced up the place but I have to say my favorite thing about the whole place was the salamanders. It’s just something you would never see in America. After the aquarium we walked over to a small udon shop for my first Japanese udon and I have to say it was pretty good but I need to have more to know if I’m truly missing out. Of course it was good but in all honesty I like the one my girlfriend makes more back at home. After the udon shop we went over to kawaramachi west so I could learn a bit more about tabi shoes from a store called sou sou. I was very interested in them since seeing my friend had a pair from a while back and so I asked the workers there a whole bunch of questions on the shoes. They even gave me a dvd with a bit better explaining on some history and ways that the shoes can be worn. I will be writing that as my academic blog post so look forward to it coming up soon. After that was about a 40 minute sit on the adjacent river as we talked for a little while and then an immediate trip over to the nearest ice cream place just for a nice late night treat.

[eienoah]

May 20 - Fushimi Inari

Today I woke up to my phone buzzing on and off underneath me as I must of somehow set my alarm and rotated to put my phone under my back while I was sleeping. It was perfect timing to walk downstairs and grab my bento. I was a little hesitant of the food because of the cold rice and beef but it was unsurprisingly mid so I will be heating it up in the microwave from now on. Hopefully, from now on though I’ll at least get some stuff warm to start. The whole class proceeded on from class to the manga museum where we arrived too early so I ate over at McDonalds. The pancakes were at least alot better than the cardboard ones we have in America so that was a plus. After getting access to the museum I wandered around for a little bit and read a couple of mangas. Devilman is just as gruesome and horrifying as I remember it from the more recent show. After that we got to kamishibai which is like a Japanese paper play. The guy spoke in somewhat of an accent so understanding him was a little tough but it was interesting nonetheless. I won a ring for saying sunq which was kind of funny. After that was an hour and a half break which me RIch, Zach, and Luke used for a shave break to prep for any pictures at fushimi inari. I accidentally started my laundry a little too late so I ended up just leaving it while we were there all day but thankfully I got back in time to dry it properly. Fushimi Inari was incredibly different to how I expected it to be. I fully expected it to be just one giant hallway of the gates instead of splitting paths that go up and down hill. I fully expected it to just be one big hill that it climbed up so it was really cool that it curved my expectations. Me and a group of others climbed all the way to the top after we reached the viewpoint which I would like to say was worth it. The extra climb took us up and down more and more hills and made the initial climb seem like nothing. It was extraneous and difficult but it felt so rewarding seeing the top. There was even one last set of stairs where a couple people took pictures in the Rocky pose which was pretty funny. The rest of the day was just getting back and going to eat at a pizza place. At the pizza place Rich dropped a glass from literally an inch up by accident and it shattered. My guess is they bought them off of temu. 

Academic Connection

Seeing all the representations of Inari today I could see how the misconception of him being a fox is super easy to believe. Although I do believe I saw a depiction of him in human male form today, I could get the slip up. I mean, every single stop we made at the gates was just filled with foxes. The vendors had everything fox themed, the statues were fox themed, and even the plaques for the shrine were who would have guessed, fox themed. From past sites though I never seemed to realize that people really do celebrate this deity in just about any place. I have seen fox statues in back alleys, on bridges, and random little rooms on a main walking path. It truly did intrigue me though that the evolution of a deity that enriches rice production can so easily be gentrified to become the promoter of just business in general. One thing I would have liked to learn a bit more about is the all the different people in what looked like shrine outfits that were walking around. Particularly about the guys in little tiny hats that walked everywhere with a purpose and looked cool doing it. I kinda wish they could sell those little hats at the gift store but that seems like… anti religious???

[eienoah]

May 19 - Travel to Kyoto

Today was honestly such a lazy day so I’m gonna keep things short and sweet. I woke up a little late and had to gather my things up a bit and load them in the suitcase because I was so tired last night that I did not do it. I managed to squeeze every last little tiny thing in but it proved quite difficult. Everyone met up and we headed for the train to tokyo station which we sat in for like an hour or so not really doing anything. I had already bought breakfast the night before but everyone else didn’t so we headed over to a lawson in the station. I literally only used it to throw away my bags. Luke has Mr. Beast disease so he got seperated from us and had to go over to the bathroom and by the time he was heading over we were leaving. From there we got on the shinkansen which actually really cool. I had no idea what 200 mph on the ground felt like till then but it was indeed quite fast. The whole time I was either playing games on my phone or just like staring out the window or at the ground. It may be really cool to see how fast your moving but at the end of the day it is still a vehicle transporting you. We then spent another hour and a half in Kyoto station where I got to eat my first Japanese squash. It was pretty tasty but like not anything special. Futsuni oishikatta. We then took a train closer to our hotel and walked to it the rest of the way. Our meeting room is so far from the hotel I don’t think I’m gonna make it in the mornings. Other than an incredibely long dinner where Zach didn’t get his food in the end, nothing else was really done. 

Academic Connection

Today I learned the shinkansen is super fast. It is but that was just a joke. What I actually have learned is just how quickly it can take people from one side of Japan to smack dab in the middle. It was like traveling from Miami to Tallahasse in just 2 hours. If we had one of those in America I too would never see any point in stopping in it any of those tiny little towns. I could clearly see how any town that has a route connected to it would immediately start blooming leaving smaller cities in the dust. The train can be seen as figure of sorts, able to pull traffic away from an area as it rides by. It also makes commutes for workers into big cities easier. For some people who only have meetings every so often, for instance once a month, it can help with their commute from the city back to their hometown. It truly is fascinating how convenient and impactful it is. In that, it is also famous so tourists will pay money just to ride it from one big city to another as well. Though it may have changed the times, I truly do think it was a good invention.

[eienoah]

May 18 - Free day 2

Another day another dollar spent. Today was my second free day of the trip and I spent it yet again meeting up with Momo who I met on the last free day. It’s kind of funny that I ended up spending both with her but she took me around to cool places so I was super happy to be led around. Back in America I’m always the one making decisions for different things so it feels amazing to be able to just have someone make decisions for me. We started off in Nakano station and walked around a shopping mall. It was amazing truly. Japan’s shopping malls always amaze me with just how layered they really are. It feels like all of them are actually built to be a mall. Florida malls are all just super long hallways. I much prefer the style of just a bunch of different floors jam packed in a mall rather than just having a 50 foot hallways above me. I bought a couple of things including a figure of a vocaloid singer that I absolutely love so I was super happy. I’ve been looking for two week for a figure of her and this one was extremely cheap. I also found yofukashi no uta which Luke bought volume 1 of at the last store we went to. In addition, I managed to find volume 2 of gyo by Junji Ito which I am ecstatic to own. I’ve been looking for Junji Ito for so long and this will really give me motivation to study Japanese more. From there we went to karaoke which I wasn’t sure if I could do or not. My voice has been a little strange recently so I didn’t want to strain it too hard but it turned out alright to sing a couple songs. I also met Momo’s friends Rena there who was super nice. I haven’t been listening to music recently so I forgot a lot of the Japanese songs I knew but I still did a couple. It was so much cheaper then in Shibuya. We then went over to Ichiran Ramen where I had my second ramen of Japan and it was amazing. Though the ordering style was a bit strange for me. You didn’t even get to see who was serving you. Oh well. From there we took a little walk over to a hookah lounge where I just put a masked on and talked while my friends smoked but it was so much fun just sitting and talking to them. We had to say our goodbyes but not until we went on the train. I will always treasure Momo as my first friend made in Japan and I feel like I didn’t get to hang out enough with her. I feel the same about all the students from Musashi daigaku. I would’ve liked to hang out with everyone maybe just one more time. The goodbyes from everyone were sad but it’s not the last time in my life that I’ll see them. I’ll be back next year to talk with everyone and by then I hope to be significantly better at my Japanese. 

[eienoah]

May 17 - Odaiba

Today we hit up Odaiba for a little while. Originally the plan was to go to the Tv museum but that apparently doesn’t exist anymore. When we got there there were absolutely gigantic stairs so a couple of us raced up it. I sadly lost in an excruciating defeat. I knew I should have sprinted up 3 stairs at a time but I only chose to do two. Instead of the museum there was a small observation deck. I looked out for like five minutes and headed back down. The gift shop was kind of mid so I didn’t end up buying anything. After that we did a little bit of walking around before hitting up a barbeque place. I was assigned grill master but I was feeling a little tired so I passed it off to Jonah. Everyone took turns cooking up some meat while I kind of just sat there and ate whatever got served. The chicken was really good but I just wished we had some vegetables. I know I am eating a bunch but they are all cooked so it doesn’t feel like I am eating any at all. Then we were off to team labs. We arrived early so we had to wait. Me and a couple of the guys ran over to Lawson for ice cream. I messed up and grabbed what I thought was a strawberry ice cream but what was actually a peach icee. I had to bite a giant piece of ice for like 3 minutes to get it down in time. We walked into team labs and they told us to take our shoes off which was pretty funny. We basically walked in a couple of rooms with mirrors everywhere and some with water. If you dumb it down like that it sounds stupid. It was actually pretty cool though I just wouldn’t pay it normally on a date or something. After Team Labs was done we went back to the Gundam store only to find out they did not have what I wanted so we ended up leaving after that. I split up from the group and headed towards Shibuya. I had my first truly lost moment. My train said stay on but it also started heading backwards. I had to get off and back on when it started moving the right way. I had to transfer a couple times but I made it. From there I hung out with my exchange student friend Moa. She finally helped me to find Yakisoba. It was everything that I was hoping for. It was literally so amazing I don’t know if America could ever compare. I then got my first 31 since coming here. I highly recommend the love potion. That ended my day but I still have tomorrow's free day to write lots more about.

Academic connections

From the reading I could definitely identify the points on Odaiba being very commercialized and made for consumers. Just seeing the tv museum I could tell how large they really were planning for. It felt like I was walking up to a national monument going up those steps. Every walkway was wide and decorated on the sides almost like I was walking to the next ride at Disneyland. The mall there being 8 floors tall felt jam packed with things creating almost a perfect place for tourists to take a quick trip over to. I will say though, it being super commercialized made it seem like a spot where lots of dates take place. I almost forgot, they even had cars drifting. If that isn't a tourist attraction I don’t know what is, besides the giant gundam and statue of liberty. I could just really get a sense for how touristy the place was built to be and I feel like in a general sense that's what the reading is trying to poke at.