#IPENagoya

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Week 0: Final Goodbyes and Anxious Excitement

Howdy Umich IPE Blog, I am Connor Gilfillan, a rising junior Mechanical Engineering student about to spend the summer at Nagoya University in Japan. I will be taking both an introduction to Japanese course and an Automotive Engineering course. The automotive Engineering course is the one I am expecting the most out of, as it includes trips to numerous automotive factories such as Toyota, which, fun fact, was founded in Toyota City, which is within the boundaries of the Nagoya Area.  I am super excited to share my wacky and zany adventures with the world, so make sure to keep up with my blog. 

(This is a photo of me on my way out the door, I was listening to Movin' Out by Billy Joel)

To begin, I am a PROUD New Jerseyian. I love my state and how ridiculous it is. So I wanted to say goodbye to it and all my friends and family before I left for new adventures abroad. Some highlights include going to a multitude of diners and having a BBQ with my friends. But after all that fun, I had to say goodbye.

I began packing about three days before I left, which mostly involved me and my mother running a bajillion errands because I forgot to bring a lot of stuff home from Michigan. Luckily, she is the best, and kept me on track as I was a bit frantic towards my departure date. She even let me get three pairs of new shoes.

(My fully packed suitcase, The moment I finished packing and realized I was in fact leaving for another country. And yes that is a fanny pack)

I got into Tokyo quite late after two long and sluggish flights. Having to go through Japanese customs wasn’t too bad, but I had to go in and out to catch another flight which left me quite stressed (I accidentally ended up at the wrong terminal). After my flight to Nagoya, I was able to make use of my totally super complete Japanese skills, (thank you 3 weeks of Duolingo) to read the subway map and get to my hotel. 

(Boarding the plane before my flight to Nagoya from Tokyo)

After spending a night here, my nerves have calmed down quite a bit and the excitement is kicking in. Breakfast here was quite good, I had one of everything at the buffet, and I was one of the first people there (jet lag made me wake up at 5 am). My favorite part of breakfast was this really fancy rice dispenser they had where you were able to press a button and it dispensed a small, medium or large amount of rice, it was super cute. But now I have a full day of fun ahead of me and I will make sure to keep all of you guys updated with photos and my experience. I really hope I make lots of new friends here.

(This is the view from my hotel room)

(My breakfast which included chicken, eggs, rice, orange juice, and three kinds of fish)

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP - Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

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Week 4: I wonder if you know

Howdy y'all, it's me Connor back after another week jumping around Japan. And oh boy this week was one for the books as it was Tokyo week, but I'll get to that later.

Classes have continued on ramping up as my finals for Japanese and Engineering begin next week. I have been spending a lot more of my free time in the library rather than exploring the city, yet still I am always excited to learn. Japanese is such a fun language and I can't get enough. However I would be lying if I said I'm not stress about our final this Friday.

This is a photo my friend Ethan and myself in the library about to work on our engineering presentations. The topic I chose was car materials and applications. I am doing a deep dive primarily into the interior systems of a car and the different types of plastics and electronics that are used. I have a week left and lots of research to go so I'll get back to everyone on my findings.

We also had quite a few outings this week tied into what we were learning in the classroom:

These photo were taken in the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory. This is a center dedicated research to improve automotive quality within Japan. My expectations were blown out of the water by this experience. They had a state of the art fog room (Left) where we got to see how they tested headlight power and visibility. They also had a massive anechoic chamber (Right), it was so quiet and they use it to make sure vehicles on the road are not too loud.

Another huge portion of this week was motorcycles. We got to visit both the Suzuki and Yamaha museums and see their massive displays of motorcycles and history. The top photo is in front of the Suzuki factor. The photo on the left is me sitting on the Suzuki Hayabusa, a motorcycle which when produced was so fast and had so much power that it changed the way motorcycles were produced forever, (There were laws made because it was so unsafe). On the right is Suzuki's most recent Motorsport bike. I did not know much about it but regardless the experience was a wonderful time.

This is a photo from inside the Yamaha Museum of the MT-09 an 850cc motorcycle. It was my favorite in the museum and there was so much to see. I even got to ride in a motorcycle simulator which was a ton of fun. I learned so much about motorcycles this week and if my mom were not reading these blogs I would say I want one.

The final academically tied experience was a trip to the Yokohama Rubber tire factory. Sadly I was not allowed to take any photos inside but the plant was massive and we got to walk around the factory floor seeing each step of how a tire is produced. If anyone plans on going in the future just know the factory is hot and smells terribly of burned rubber.

Now for the Complete Tokyo Review

Granted this won't be the largest review as I really only had one night and one day to explore but oh boy did I do so much.

This is me at Shibuya Crossing, one of if not the most famous crosswalk in the world if not for Times Square. We went on a Friday night and it was so amazing. The streets were packed and it was louder than any other place in Japan it was so exciting. In addition Shibuya Crossing is the home of the Hachiko statue. There is a very large history to this statue that I highly recommend everyone look up, it made me tear up a bit. We had a quick hot pot dinner that was amazing and I went with a huge group of my friends. That was just about the end of the first night in Tokyo as we got in super late and did not want to miss the last train but I had a massive day ahead of me.

These are photos of m at the Meiji-Jingu Shrine. I was not allowed to take photos within the shrine, it was very elegant however many of the shrines in Kyoto put it to shame. What was really cool was the massive Torii gates, the inner garden, and the famous sake wall. They were all spectacular and the garden was beyond serene. The one downside is that there were way more tourists here than in Nagoya.

The upper photos are from the Sinso-Ji shrine. It was exceptionally beautiful and there were a ton of shops around that I got lost in. I found this full fish skewers near a live performance and got one. It was unsurprisingly fishy and salty. The bottom photos are taken from the Tokyo Skytree the largest building in the city. The Tokyo Skyline is amazing and the city is so much bigger than I could ever imagine it was beautiful. I had such a full day in Tokyo and it really was amazing. Next up are all the roadside adventures we had.

This is a famous volcano we stopped at. It reeked of sulfur but was very cool otherwise. It was well know for its black eggs. They are hard-boiled eggs said to increase you life-span by 7 years and they only sold them in counts of 4 so hopefully I enjoy the extra 28 years I get. The bottom photo was just at a gas station on the side of the highway where you were supposed to be able to see Mount Fuji but it was covered in cloud and not in great view so I got this cool photo instead.

The last stop was a skywalk on the longest suspended bridge in Japan. This thing swayed back and forth like crazy and I was terrified walking across. However on the other side there was a ton of cool stuff such as this owl exhibit where you to pet and see owls up close. Although I also got a finger bit off I would do it again in a heart beat.

Because this week was so busy I do not have a ton of food pictures however I do have one very funny photo from Tokyo.

This was a bowl of ramen I received in Tokyo. I ordered a small and it came with this massive mountain of bean sprouts. I was very determined to finish it and it was so delicious but it proved to be too much.

Anyways, that about sums up my week so I will see y'all after finals.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

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Week 1: Place Japan

Howdy y’all, it’s me Connor, checking in after my first week here in Nagoya, Japan.

First off, holy guacamole the culture shock is real. Who could have guessed being in a country 6000 miles away from home is a bit disorienting. However, I have begun to get used to all the changes. Because classes have yet to start I have done nothing but eat, explore and experience this amazing country, that I have somehow found myself in. So let’s go over some highlights together:

First day in I visited the forefront tourist destination the Nagoya Castle. There is nothing I can say about this location other than stunning, an absolute marvel of scale and human ability. Every inch was intricate and precisely made.

This is a photo of me in front of Nagoya Castle. Sadly the main portion (The white building) was closed to visitors however I was able to tour the palace (The smaller wooden building) which was astoundingly beautiful. The entire area was filled with history and I was able to learn so much. I even got to see the largest stone ever placed in a handmade stone wall (Photo not included).

(left) A cup of matcha and a green tea mochi dessert I had. Both had a wonderful earthy flavor which I really loved. I even got to sit at a traditional Japanese table on the ground it was a ton of fun. (right) a photo I got with two real life ninjas at Nagoya Castle. Later this week we even got to explore Iga, a city renown for the Ninja arts.

Day two was orientation, this is the first day where I met all the new people I’m going to be spending the next month with. Luckily everyone was super friendly so I had no problems introducing myself. I moved in with little issue and got done with the orientation for classes quickly. We even had a huge party afterwards with the professors and some other Nagoya University students.

A banquet and party held by the staff. This is where I met a lot of the tutors who are current Nagoya University students who are helping us adjust to life here. They are all super cool and telling me I shouldn't be a Chunichi Dragons fan (The local major league baseball team) but I still can't wait to go to a game (Hopefully next Friday).

This is my dorm room, it is actually smaller in real life but I can't wait to call it home for the next month.

The next couple days were spent on a huge group trip to the cultural capital of the country, Kyoto. We saw a ton of amazing architecture between the number of castles and shrines we visited along with the clustered and vibrant streets of the downtown. This trip is when I met a lot of my new friends too. I had such an amazing time and plan on going back at some point later this trip.

The first of the temples we visited in Kyoto, this was the Kinkaku-Ji. It was a massive gold structure surrounded by beautifully cut wilderness. This will truly be a place I will never forget. Funny enough this temple was also known for its mochi, I got the brown sugar flavor which was quite delicious.

This was our trip to the Kiyomizu-Dera one of the most famous temples in the entire world. This is where you wash yourself with sacred water which was a wonderful time. Another absolute wonder of human ingenuity. Most of it was built simply with wood fittings and no nails.

I lit incense and candles at temples for a number of reasons. I was shown how to by some of the staff for the NUSIP program and how to properly pray to ensure my wishes come true.

This was me visiting the Fushimi-Inari Shrine (More commonly known as the primary Torii Gate Shrine). Fun fact I woke up at 3:45 am to see this and it was well worth it. Another absolute marvel of scale with there being about 10,000 gates you can walk through.

On the left I am joined by some friends at a river in Kyoto we actually took a quick dip in because it has been exceptionally hot and humid out this week. On the right it is another group of friends I have made at an Izakaya, a type of Japanese restaurant often know for its large number of appetizer-like courses and large drink menus.

During the Kyoto excursion we also stopped in Nara, another huge cultural center of Buddhism within Japan, more important though, THEY HAVE SUPER FRIENDLY DEER THAT YOU CAN FEED AND PET.

Finally the weekend came and we were left to our own devices:

Saturday we has a chock full day of visiting Nagoya's very own shrines which although less impressive than the ones in Kyoto were beautiful never-the-less. This day also included a trip to the Nagoya Port Aquarium where we saw an amazing dolphin show.

Sunday we went to Nagoya Spaland. It is a combination amusement park, water park and spa. It was so much fun and there were no lines and I even went on the longest roller coaster in the world. Sadly we got caught in a massive rainstorm and you can see me and my friends rocking trash bag ponchos to protect ourselves. We got laughed at by everyone but we made the bus so it all ended well.

Classes are finally going to start this week and I am eagerly awaiting them. I have gone over all of the syllabus for my engineering course and I am going to learn an incredible amount about the automotive industry. I truly cannot express my excitement as Japan is just filled to the brim with automotive history. I am also ready for my Japanese skills to improve with class. Its been fun being the Americans who don't speak any Japanese but it has made traveling quite a bit harder.

Lastly for a little surprise here is a tik I made in Kyoto to the song Kyoto by Phoebe Bridgers :)

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 6: The Setting Sun

Howdy y'all, it me Connor back after the final week of navigating around Nagoya!

This is going to be a mostly writing focused blog as I do not have a ton of photos as this week was cut short as I had a flight to catch back to the good ole US of A.

First up, I passed all my finals, I think.

I got a perfect score on my speaking section on the speaking section of my Japanese final and I passed the written portion. So yeah I'm basically fluent. Learning the language was definitely way tougher than I thought it would be, but it gave me confidence to at least try and continue learning it in the future.

In addition my engineering final presentation went so well that my group won overall best presentation. We won a set of diecast Honda NSXs which is a car I have fawned over in previous blogs. I was super happy with my research surrounding modern plastic alternatives used in dashboards and the real cost of fabric vs. leather car seats. This program has given me a refreshed sense of enthusiasm in regards to the automotive industry. I have experienced the industry in a way completely unique to Japan and have now seen aspects of automotive culture inaccessible anywhere else.

Sadly though the time has come for me to leave the country. I still have quite a sizable lab report I have yet to really dive into so my studies have yet to stop but I no longer will be able to experience the wonders of Japan. But here are the last couple photos of my shortened week.

This is me standing in front of the Nagoya University sign (Holding up the classic UMich M, GO BLUE!). It is in front of the main yard where we often saw students throwing balls, sunbathing, and just generally having a good time.

This selfie was taken on the way to the farewell party hosted by the NUSIP program. You can see most of my roommates pictured. These guys really made my time in Japan special and I cannot thank them enough. The farewell party was super sweet and everyone was super sad to leave.

A photo of my room taken on the day of my departure. You all would not believe how long it took me to clean it up. It felt just like yesterday that I walked into this room exactly how I saw it leaving. I almost cried as I had my bags packed and was walking out the door.

After a couple hours of traveling, and one too many trains, I took this photo at the airport right before going through security. Although I was smiling that was only because I took the wrong train and still made it to the airport on time. But oh boy did I have a massive journey ahead of me. My parents were worried sick because of the windows outage causing may flights to be cancelled. Luckily all of my planes arrived and I only suffered an hour delay.

I landed at Boston Logan Airport quite late Friday night after almost 30 hours of traveling. The one thing I was looking forwards to coming back for was that my family was about to take a nice long beach vacation in Cape Cod. I was so happy to see them, and even better I got possibly the greatest welcome back breakfast in the world. Nothing could stop me from demolishing these biscuits and home fries topped with sausage gravy, because you could never find something that good in Japan.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 5: Day off in Kyoto

Howdy y'all, it me Connor back after another week of cramming about cars. This was the beginning of finals and I have been booked so this might be a shorter blog.

I had my Japanese written final on Friday, it had both a written and oral section. In addition I also had to give a full presentation on my experience within Japan. I am exceptionally proud with how far I have come in the language but after that final I realized that if I want to continue learning I have a long road ahead of me. I mean after a month of learning for 3 hours a day I can just barely communicate for daily needs and know the bare minimum of reading. That being said I do not want to give up. Studying took up a large amount of my time this week as a have another huge engineering report and presentation to give next week so this blog might be a bit shorter.

Speaking of engineering though we finally got our groups for our final projects and I have spent long evenings researching. I luckily got my first choice for my research topic being Materials and Production of a Modern Vehicle. The sub-topic I chose was the interior of cars. I am excited to present but the report is definitely time consuming. But now I can talk about all the fun stuff I did.

This is a Picture of me at the Denso Factory. Denso makes a massive variety of technology, although they are mostly known for their speedometers. They are an industrial giant and produce so much more technology. The tour here was very cool and it was the one trip we went on this week for the NUSIP program. I will say the only downside is that we couldn't buy their uniforms which were these super cool powder blue jumpsuits.

My other mid-week adventure was another baseball game for the trip. This time the Dragons were playing the Hanshin Tigers. My favorite player Takahashi was pitching again and the Dragons won 3-0. I went to this game because some of my weekend plans got canceled due to a giant storm that was working its way south through Japan. I went alone but had a wonderful time.

GO DRAGONS!!!!!

THIS IS WHERE I WOULD PUT MY MOUNT FUJI PICTURE.

IF I HAD ONE.

Sadly the trip that got canceled was to Mount Fuji. Numerous times throughout this trip we have visited Mount Fuji viewing sites where you are supposed to be able to view the top of the mountain but it has always been too cloudy. This most recent Saturday, me and 4 other people were planning on hiking to the top, I bought hiking boots and everything, but sadly the Friday morning before we left there was a massive storm passing through so we had to cancel :( I was so excited to get a picture at the top.

The storm however did not stop my trip to Kyoto.

We boarded the Shinkansen at 7 am Sunday morning prepped for a weekend of fun (We didn't have class Monday). Kyoto was already my favorite place in Japan from the last time we went and I was so excited to go back. The train from Nagoya to Kyoto only took about 30 minutes. It is so fast and the bento boxes you can get on it are so cute.

These were taken in the Bamboo forest in Kyoto, the views were stunning and it was so serene. There were a few too many tourists as you had to walk through a shopping district to get here but it was amazing nevertheless.

This is a photo of me infront of the imperial castle. The grounds were massive and it took us 2.5 hours of just walking to see all of it.

One of the last things I did in Kyoto was this traditional tea ceremony. We ate sweets and made our own matcha. I put a bit too much powder into mine so it was quite thick but still delicious. The sweet was made with seaweed gelatin and yuzu peel and was very good.

This weekend I also went to two different festivals. On the left was the Yoiyoiyoiyama (I think there might be one more Yoi) in Kyoto. There were dozens of floats and street vendors and the streets were closed down. I even got to climb onto a float. On the right is the Nagoya Port Festival. This was held at (Unsurprisingly) Nagoya's main port. There were fireworks and games and I ate a ridiculous amount of food there.

Speaking of food time for: WEEKLY FOOD PICTURES!!!

Both of these photos were taken in Kyoto. On the left is Gyukastsu, a pork fried steak restaurant. It was excellent I ordered the sirloin and a matcha beer. Everything tasted amazing and I would highly recommend to anyone who visits. On the right are 3 types of Taiyaki, a traditional Japanese festival pastry. From left to right they are filled with green-tea cream, red bean paste, and egg custard. These were fresh made and delicious.

Lastly I got some ramen in Nagoya. I was out shopping for the last couple gifts I wanted to get for my friends and family and I found this cute little ramen bar. This was possibly the spiciest dish I got while in Japan and the meat was delicious.

Sorry if this blog is a bit brief but I got lots of work to get back to.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 2: Getting Intense(ive)

Howdy y'all, it's me Connor back after, quite frankly, an exhausting week of classes. When I learned I was going to be taking class here I thought I would be taking ✨Classes✨ but in reality I am going to the library most days. That being said I don't think I have ever been more interested in what I am learning than I am right now.

This is a picture of me and my dorm-mates walking to our first class together.

Intro to Japanese has been nothing but spectacular. Although the class is moving a bit slower I have chances everyday to practice what I learn so I am getting quite confident in my abilities. Also the teachers are so nice and helpful in class even though they do not speak almost any English.

In the afternoons we have Automotive Engineering class, now these are the tough ones. Having a 4 hour lecture every afternoon is not for the weak. What is entertaining though is the people the University bring in to special lectures. We have met employees from Nissan, Toyota, Mitsubishi and more. All of them gave given us amazing lectures on the future plans for these companies and what to expect if we ever end up working there. All of the lectures have been passionate to a point I have never experienced in the United States, everyone truly seems to love what they are doing and it makes the class so much more fun.

With about 5-6 hours of lecture a day I will at least concede the point that the amount of homework we have is light, often only a one page reflection on the information e learned, which is quite nice as I often find myself exploring in the afternoon/night with friends.

Another huge upside of this school is the cafeteria, the food is absolutely wonderful and dirt cheap:

Two of the lunches I've had. On the left a spicy miso ramen and I do not quite remember what the ride noodle bowl was called but it was equally delicious. Both of these cost me about $3 USD and they were amazing.

This first week we also had special tours of a number of different research labs here at Nagoya University.

These are two concept cars designed and created within the university. On the left you can see a small Toyota fitted with lidar and camera sensors, this is one of the universities forefront autonomously driven vehicles. On the right is a built from scratch "Slocal' (A slow locally driven vehicle which often gives verbal directions to the driver) vehicle which has the primary purpose of helping the elderly get around safely.

In addition to the research cars they have multiple highly technical driving simulators used for the research. These things are crazy big and so cool. I was even able to drive in one of them for a short while and the amount of modifications that are available via. software editing is ridiculous.

That was about it in terms of the technical knowledge and class stuff for this week so now we get to FOOD REVIEWS!!!!! <3

After being in Japan for over a week at this point I still had yet to have sushi so me and my roommates went and found this little hole in the wall place.

You can see me and my friends sitting at the bar on the left and the finished food spread on the right. We were the only ones in here for dinner which made sense as the sign outside only said すし which just translates to sushi (So still don't know the name of this place). We had an amazing time and the food was great and we even talked to the chef a bit in Japanese.

Around midweek I was craving something super spicy, and my girlfriend Olivia recommended me aa curry chain before I left called Coco Ichiban so we tried it out

This is the spread of each of our orders. Mine is in the bottom left (The one that is several shades darker than the others) I did not understand how the spice level system worked here and ordered a level 8. It turned out that meant it was about 24 times spicier than level 1. My spice cravings were definitely satisfied and then some. Still we had an amazing dinner and I do want to go back to try the level 10.

The next spot also came recommended from Olivia and it was a cream puff spot called Beard Papa.

This is a photo of all of their types of cream puffs. I got three different kinds: vanilla, peach, and green tea filling all with the original pastry. They were rich, decadent, and sweet; Everything you could want in a cream puff. (My favorite was the peach)

Lastly I did just a little bit of sightseeing towards the end of the week.

This is me at a Chunichi Dragons baseball game. Baseball is huge in Japan and this is the local Nagoya team. This night they won 1-0 against the Hiroshima Carp. The energy was super high the entire game, fans constantly cheering, music playing, it was so much fun. (I ended up buying a jersey because the starting pitcher did so well).

I have felt so much more comfortable in my surroundings this week and cannot wait to keep learning about and exploring this amazing country.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan

[umichenginabroad]

Week 3: Holy Car-noli

Howdy y'all, it's me Connor back after a week full of automotive adventures.

(Picture of me, just chilling at the train station)

Classes continued on this week in their same rigor. Japanese is always a blast and although I am happy with the amount I have learned, especially in regards to everyday phrases. I am quite disappointed with the lack of Hiragana and Katakana we are learning. I would love to be able to read Japanese , so to supplement this I am doing some solo studying.

Engineering class is engineering class. The lectures are long and super technical but I would by lying if I said it wasn't interesting and I wasn't learning a ton. Homework are starting to pick up also so I have had a bit less time to just goof off but I am here for the classes at the end of the day.

Continuing on the automotive train, this week has been chock full of many automobile adventures:

The first and arguably my favorite stop of the trip so far was Liberty Walk Garage. Liberty Walk is a custom build company founded in Nagoya and has built itself to be arguably the most famous and well renown custom built company in the world. They work with all sorts of different cars from 1980s-1990s JDM classics like the Nissan Silvia to modern day hyper cars like their numerous Lamborghini Huracán. I even got to see one of the cars that got my interested in custom builds in the first place. In the middle photo you can see a wide-bodied full carbo-fiber Nissan R35 GTR. I remember when I was younger watching Youtube videos of this exact car and being able to see every inch of it in person was fantastic. After spending a bit too much money in the giftshop my friends and I were actually offered a semi-private tour of their Miami Showroom, a garage with all of their most recent and most famous cars. We even got driven there in a luxury van for free. On the right you can see the driveway to the garage and another one of my all time favorite cars the Datsun Fairlady Z (I GOT TO SIT IN IT, IT WAS SO COOL).

On the left is a photo of myself Infront of a Ferrari 458 and one of Liberty Walk's numerous Lamborghinis. On the right is within the Miami Showroom.

These two photos might be the biggest flex photos I have. I got to sit in THE Liberty Walk Ferrari F40. This is well over a million dollar car and you could even see the racing wear on the tires. It was one of the coolest experiences I have had and I could not stop smiling the entire time.

This is a video I took inside of the F40. It was certainly a squeeze (I almost didn't fit) but it is so cool. And yes there is a set of keys in the ignition, but I didn't get to start it :(

I also got to visit two different Toyota Museums. The photo on the left was taken in the Toyota Company Commemorative Museum, which surrounded the history of the company back when the made cotton looms. The photo on the right was taken at the Toyota Automotive Museum (As was the photo below) which simply showed off famous cars throughout history. The Commemorative Museum although not my favorite had a ton of interesting exhibits, specifically it had an EV swapped 2000GT which caused quite a stir in my tour group because why would you turn such a beautifully built car into an electric vehicle. If you are especially observant you might also notice that the two photos I chose for these museum are of the same car, and you would be right. That is because the Lexus LFA is the peak of the Toyota Company and there are almost no stock cars that exist better than it.

This is a first run 1990 Honda NSX, another absolute beauty of a car.

This is a photo in front of Paradise Road, a wonderful hidden gem of a garage. It is well know for its work on lowriders and had some legendary machinery. I mean in this photo alone you can see not only a pimped out Harley Soft tail but an original Chevrolet El Camino. We almost missed out on this stop but I'm so happy we went.

On the left is a photo of Me, My friends, and the head of the garage and one of the coolest people I have ever met, Junichi. He has won countless competitions due to his masterful low rider builds (And yes that is his El Camino on the right, he is planning on building it out more). He was the founder of The Pharaohs, the oldest car club in Nagoya. We talked to him for hours and it was amazing.

My last adventure of this week was something I was excited to do since day one. I got to practice with the Nagoya University Rugby Team. These guys were a ton of fun to play with. The practice was tough but fun, and I made two pretty close friends the three times I went. We even traded gear that I cannot wait to show off to my team back in Michigan. But that just about closes up my adventures for the week.

NOW IT IS TIME FOR WEEKLY FOOD REVIEWS:

I went to two very excellent spots this week:

This was a small food cart called Curry Girl. Sadly I didn't take a picture of the food but it was amazing. Sweet and slightly spicy, the meat was tender and they offered huge portions. We walk by this cart every day to class so Ethan and I figured it was time for a stop.

This was the other big food stop I had this week and I wish I could tell you the name but I could not find it on google. This was a real hole-in-the-wall restaurant recommended by a Nagoya University student we made friends with. The seats and floor were dirty, the windows unwashed, but this was by far and away the best bowl of ramen I have had in Japan.

I am really settling into the culture here and having the time of my life. I have experienced and seen things completely unique to Japan and made memories I will never forget.

Until next time, さようなら, また 来週

Connor Gilfillan

Mechanical Engineering

NUSIP Automotive Engineering in Nagoya, Japan