Ropponji Hills

This building, the Hyatt Regency Hotel of Ropponji, Tokyo, Japan not only marks one of the most impressive shopping districts of Japan, but was also a milestone in my travels. Just a 20 minute walk from our apartment, Ropponji was our playground, our backyard, our dinner table, our meeting place. In short, Ropponji was our stomping grounds. We made a lot of great friends here, practiced our Japanese in a relaxed, social atmosphere, and danced the night away.

Aside from that, Ropponji is a beautiful place architecturally speaking. It is a newly developed area and quite possibly one of the most expensive places to live in Japan. Up until my last day in Japan, all of my excursions to Ropponji had been at night of course. However, the day before leaving this beautiful country, I had the opportunity to see first hand and in the daylight just all that Ropponji has to offer aside from great clubs and excellent restaurants.

There are great cultural events going on in Ropponji such as museums exhibiting history's finest artists and architects like LeCorbusier, events in the courtyard celebrating Mexican culture, serving tapas and brews such as Corona, Dos Equis and more, and quite possibly the world's greatest, most efficient and beautifully designed movie theater.

Water flows down the walls as you walk through this culturally enriching and aesthetically pleasing district.

Thousands of people traverse the wide open courtyards of Ropponji Downtown district whether it be on their way to work, shopping, to visit a museum, or simply take in the beauty of this space.

There is unique and monumental artwork all along the streets of Ropponji Hills. They have really taken the idea of the bench to another level designing pieces of colorful art (such as in the picture below) rather than your average, small, basic bench.

We headed back to the apartment for a feast of a dinner prepared by one our Japanese friends, Eriko. It was indeed our last supper together. We finished dinner in time to head back to Ropponji and watch Oceans 13 on the big screen. The movie was in English with Japanese subtitles. The translations weren't that great. We realized just how hard it is to convey jokes and sarcasm in one language to another through translation. It loses something in the process. In the movie theater, we were the only Americans and as a result, the only people laughing at all the jokes in the movie.

On the way back to the apartment, we found a park and had a 3am jungle gym session. I felt like a kid again.

Ropponji was probably my favorite place in Tokyo. I had a lot of great experiences there and will never forget those times.

Bandori Festival

This weekend we went to a festival at Zosoji Temple near Tokyo Tower (Japan's smaller but equally stunning Eiffel Tower). Japan has several different festivals, especially during the summertime, to celebrate different things such as the first blossoming of sakura in the spring. This particular festival we went to was a dancing festival. People usually wear yukata (summertime kimono) to such events. Although we frantically searched the streets of Harajuku and Shibuya to find a store that sells yukata hours before the festival, in the end, we were unable to find the store.

Upon arriving at the temple complex, we slowly began to take in all of the events going on; people dancing in circles in slow, graceful movements, others eating a meal, and others sitting on the steps of the temple as spectators to the drones of dancing people below.

Before we had enough time to take everything in, we were quickly pulled aside to embark on a special and private tour of the temple complex. Due to the great connections our teachers have, we were able to enter the private tomb of the emperors of the Zosoji era, a tomb opened only once a year for a special occasion. We heard all about the history of the era and deceased members of the imperial family (all in Japanese of course).

The tombs and headstones were massive and impressive!

But even more massive were the mosquitoes! There must have been a horde of mosquitoes living in that locked up tomb. The second we entered, they latched onto our legs and left the largest bug bites I've ever had in my life. Marks I'm still recovering from weeks later.

Next, we ate lots of food and drank some refreshing Japanese beer. After loosening up after a few beers, it was time for us Americans to take a stab at Japanese festival dancing. There was one tower in the center of the area where 3 people were playing instruments. Also, up in the tower were workers of the temple who led the dances. And finally, below on the ground level were those brave enough to attempt the bandori (night dance). The music was catchy and the dances easy to pick up on.

The dancing lasted into the night, long enough for us to see the beautiful Tokyo Tower lit up in the distance. And as the night went on, our dancing became don don (increasingly) better.

I Should Be a Kabuki Actor!

The Kabuki performance was definitely an interesting experience. The actors were dressed up in amazing kimono, hair, and make-up. Although Kabuki tends to be a bit long and drawn out, it was very intriguing. Here is a picture of the side of the Kabuki theater on the left.

The manner in which Kabuki actors speak is hard, even for a Japanese person to understand. So we had headphones that translated everything into English for us. However, the translations were really bad, but helpful for plot summary. The story was basically about a man who kind of had an arranged marriage but he was really in love with another woman. On the day of the wedding, the other woman shows up at their house and confesses her love for the man. In the end, the bride to be decides to become a nun, because she knows he does not truly love her and they could never marry. It is a sad story but seems pretty realistic.

Here is a statue of a Kabuki actor who is wearing pretty cool clothes and has awesome hair! He looks pretty scary. I would not mess with him.

After the show, we got a tour of backstage. Our sensee have pretty good connections so we got to do a lot of extra, special things. Here are the actors bushing their wigs to store them for the next performance. Kabuki actors used to be men and women a long time ago. Now, there are only male Kabuki actors who dress up as women to play the female roles.

I want to be a Kabuki actor because their voices are so cool. BUT I'm a female soooo, no chance for me. Logan definitely does the best Kabuki actor facial expression impressions! Maybe he has a more promising future as a Kabuki actor than I do.

Akihabara Has a Lot of Cool Toilets

So why is there a picture of a toilet seat you ask? I went to Akihabara (aka Electronic Town) a few times in search of a Japanese toilet seat to send back home to my dad. He has been to Japan several times for work, and is completely enchanted by their toilet seats. I admit, they are pretty awesome. They have sensors so when you walk into the bathroom, the seat automatically goes up. The seat has a heating device so it is never cold. It is self cleaning and sprays air freshener automatically ever time you use it. It has a bidet and other cool functions. Some even play the sound of a trickling stream as you are using it (I thought this was a bit odd and slightly embarrassing because the sound is kind of loud.) Nevertheless, my dad wanted me to buy one and send it back to America. Although, plans didn't work out and I didn't end up buying the toilet seat, it was truly an adventure. And needless to say, I learned A LOT about toilets! Who knows, maybe that knowledge will come in handy one day!


Aside from searching for technologically advanced gadgets, Kunmi and I also went to other cool places in Akihabara. The entire day was truly an adventure. I was still slightly "sick" from festivities the night before, so I desperately needed a Starbucks ASAP! The second we stepped off the train, we went on what ended up being a never ending journey for Starbucks. We knew the Starbucks was inside this building called UDX, a huge Anime center. However, the design of this building is so complex and makes no sense, that we walked around in circles for about an hour....in the same building! UDX definitely wins my award for most poorly designed and unneccessarily complicated floor plan of any building in the world! But what was worse is that once we finally found Starbucks after riding escalators, climbing stairs, and walking in circles for an hour, IT WAS CLOSED! Simatta!


One thing that is actually perfectly designed in Japan are intersections! They have these really complex, but convenient elevated walkways that go in all different directions and help with pedestrian traffic flow in busy and extremely popular places such as Akihabara. This design would be great for the Las Vegas Strip!


In our adventures in Akihabara, Kunmi and I stumbled upon what appeared to be a block party. There was a huge street, completely shut off to vehicles, where hordes of people were gathered. People were dressed up in really odd clothing and doing pretty much anything to draw a crowd. It was a little out of control but hilarious! There was a guy dressed in a maids outfit, jumping up and down, singing. There was one guy who was dressed in underwear that looked like it hadn't been changed in months, doing push-ups in the street with a rose in his mouth. Kunmi and I were surprised by the simple fact that these people had no shame at all and were willing to do anything, and I do mean ANYTHING, for the benefit of other people's enjoyment!


Finding dinner was even an adventure! We decided to go to a convenient store and create our own makeshift dinner. However, we couldn't decide which convenient store had better food. So we went to about 5 different stores to check out our options, and then went back to 2 we had been to before to make our final purchases. Just like in America, there are literally 7/11 stores within 50 meters of each other.

In Japan, people do not eat or drink on the street. Unfortunately, we didn't have anywhere to sit down to eat, so being the foreigners that we are, we just sat on the steps of a building. Aside from eating McDonald's after late nights of partying, I usually did pretty well with the whole no eating on the street "rule". But this time, it just couldn't be helped (syoo ga nai).

Not long before ending our journey in Akihabara, we went inside a random building and were presently surprised by what might possibly be the most beautiful mosaic I've ever seen in my life! The entire interior of the building was decorated floor to ceiling with colorful pieces of ceramic glass, jewels, and even shattered pieces of mirror.

I know that no matter what country you're in, mosaics are just mosaics and pretty much the same. However, this particular mosaic was different. For me, it represents the one facet of Japanese culture that I appreciate and cherish the most, close attention to detail. The Japanese people are so thorough, detailed, and pay attention to EVERYTHING you say and do. It is refreshing and makes you feel like they really care and really listen! Maybe if Kunmi and I had paid better attention to detail that day, we wouldn't have gotten lost so many times!

Harajuku

This weekend, I went to Meiji-jingu temple near Harajuku in Tokyo with my language partner, Kaori. A typhoon came this weekend, so of course we were battling through the way. It was raining so hard that the umbrellas weren't much helped. We still ended up soaked by the end of the day. However, it was an adventure and we had a great time!
Kaori taught me a lot about the little charms they sell at the temples all the time. I had seen them before, but never really understood the idea behind them. They are basically little good luck charms for things such as doing well on a test, having good health, and one for new relationships. There is even one for safety to protect you while you are driving! I bought one for good fortune and love life of course. :)

The architecture was beautiful and the roof bracketing technique they use, extremely complex. Meiji-jingu was made almost entirely of wood and even though it is hundreds of years old, it looked brand new! There was also a huge drum inside the the temple that was impressively large!

Those good luck charms we bought must have started working immediately, because we were lucky enough to watch a wedding ceremony that was taking place at the temple. The bride wears white clothing and a large hat. I asked Kaori if it is more expensive to have a wedding in a church or at a temple and was surprised to learn that having a wedding at a temple, is not too expensive. But she did say that they spend tremendous amounts of money on the wedding reception afterwards.

Later this day, we walked around Harajuku and had lunch and a cute restaurant. We talked about lots of things; friends, family, school, guys. This was my second meeting with Kaori. I felt much more relaxed, fluent, and natural with my Japanese, because I had been here for a month. The first day when I met Kaori at the beginning of the summer, I struggled with expressing my ideas and what I wanted to say in Japanese. Also, my listening was horrible so she had to explain things multiple times to me. But this day, it was no different than having girl talk with one of my girlfriends back in America! :)

Kamakura

The trip to Kamakura, which is on the Eastern coast of Japan, just South of Tokyo, was interesting with lots of fun things to do and see along the way. Upon arriving at the train station, we met up with our Japanese "Buddies" (volunteer students who are our language partners) who were guiding a tour throughout the Kamakura area. We joined a group of native Japanese people on the tour. It was a great opportunity to practice Japanese with them and some were eager to practice their English with us.

Our first stop was at the famous Daibutu (Great Buddha) statue. It was much larger than I had anticipated. We stopped to take lots of photos in front of the awe inspiring statue.
Kunmi and I tried to do one of those optical illusion photos where the object in the background appears much smaller than actual. However, after guiding Kunmi for about 10 minutes, telling him "higher, lower, left, a little more to the right" I finally gave up and just took the best shoot I could. Next, we got to go inside of the Buddha. To my surprise, it is actually hollowed out and several people can fit inside. It was interesting, but extremely hot, so we only stayed in their briefly, just long enough to pose for a photo op.

After having some fun with the Daibutu, we walked a little ways to the beach. Being from Vegas, I get extremely excited at every opportunity I have to see a large body of water. Even though it was overcast that day, I was looking forward to putting my feet in the water.

Once we got to the ocean, we were all surprised to find a man feeding a large turtle just a ways down the shore. Although we thought this turtle had simply surfaced from the vast oceans of the coast of Japan to mingle with local beach goers, we quickly learned that the turtle was merely the man's pet he had brought from home. Nevertheless, the Japanese man feeding his pet turtle celery and carrots kept us captivated for far too long.

After we'd had enough of watching the turtle feast on veggies and twinkling our toes in the surprisingly warm water, we headed toward the main temple complex in Kamakura. The temple complex is aligned on a central axis. As you approach the main temple site, you walk down a long road, through a series of temple gates. There are beautiful trees and bridges at the entrance of the site.
The temple complex had a lot of interesting things that seemed unique from the few other temples I have visited. There was an enormous wall of large barrels that were used to store and transport sake (alcohol) during festival celebrations.

There was also a pond filled with large lotus leaves growing like stalks of corn from the depths of the murky pond. This pond was filled with just as large fish, frogs, and other beautiful creatures. The most entertaining part of the trip to Kamakura was probably watching a group of young boys trying to catch a fish with a net. They almost fell into the pond about 15 times and the anticipation leading to such a drastic event was enticing. Sadly, none of the kids fell in the pond :(. But I was there with my camera ready, locked, and loaded just in case.

The day trip to Kamakura was very entertaining. Several of the temple complexes in Japan have more or less the same things, so it was refreshing to visit one that was unique and had lots of interesting things to experience. But at the end of the day, a temple complex is still a temple complex; they do not differ that much from one to the next. Therefore, I think what made my day in Kamakura was the company of my classmates. It was a perfect opportunity for us to bond. Also, my Japanese is most fluent when I am speaking with my classmates outside of the classroom at an organized outing such as in Kamakura. We had a lot of fun laughing, joking, taking photos, enjoying each other's company, and of course, speaking in Japanese.

Grand Welcoming

I suppose I was so caught up in my own preparations for our visit to Nisinakno Elementary School that I didn't stop to think that they were also preparing for our arrival. From the moment we stepped foot inside the elementary school, there was so much energy and excitement generated by the anticipation for the arrival of the Americans! The students walking through the halls all wanted to get a look at their new American friends for the day.


The welcoming ceremony they prepared for us was beyond my wildest dreams. I know, cliche, but true. They had a full band play as we marched into the gymnasium through a tunnel of colorful paper arches created by the kids. Each class stood up in unison and sang us a song in English to welcome us (and show off their great English speaking skills of course). The second graders definitely won the award for loudest and most enthusiastic!

Next we greeted them in Japanese and told them where we are from. It's amazing how talking in front of a couple hundred elementary school students can be more nerve wracking than talking to a room full of adults.

At the end of the welcoming party, the band marched us out playing none other than the Star Wars theme song. You can't get much more American than that.

I was not expecting this grand ceremony. It made me more relaxed and excited about the day, and relieved my nervousness.

I spent the day with a class of 4th graders. They were pretty active but not as rambunctious as I had anticipated. I taught them about what American elementary students each for lunch and helped them work on their English pronunciation of words like tomato, orange, and strawberry. Next, I drew a map of America on the board and showed them where New York, New Haven, and Las Vegas are located. I also taught them about my family. They were very interested in that and asked me random questions like who is the tallest person in my family and who is the best at sports.

For the remaining 45 minutes, I taught them a few typical American elementary school games; Simon Says and Heads Up 7 Up. I was worried they wouldn't quite get the instructions I was trying to explain (in Japanese of course), but to my surprise, they quickly caught on. They were clearly too smart for Simon Says, so I switched to a more challenging game.

After the games, it was time for lunch. In Japan, students do not bring their own lunch to school. Lunch is prepared at the school everyday, and everyone eats the same thing.

After lunch, I signed an autograph for every student in the class. It made me feel like I was a special, important person in their world, at least for the day.

A few of the girls from my class gave me lots of omiyage (presents). Shells, beads, feathers, pretty much anything they could find in their desks to give to me as a token of their appreciation. They wrote me little notes on pieces of paper that said "Thank you so much. Please don't ever forget us." It was very touching.

Perhaps the most amazing part of the day was my experience with a girl from my class named Yori. She kept giving me more and more gifts and I started to feel bad that I didn't have anything to give to her in return. There was only one thing I could think of giving her and that was the notes I had prepared for my lecture that day. The night before, I drew a rough sketch of the map of America on a Post-It so that I'd have something to reference when I drew it on the board in the classroom. She was beyond excited when I gave her that "gift". She was jumping up and down with excitement and told her friend that it was the first time she had ever seen a map of America and now she had her own map. To me, it was just a piece of paper that I was about to throw away now that the day was over. But to her, it was a precious treasure.

I left the school feeling as though I had made a difference. Although it may take the kids a few more attempts before they can pronounce "tomato" correctly or they may forget how to play Heads Up 7 Up, there will always be a girl in Japan, named Yuri, who has her very own map of America.

Nikko

Irassyamase

Welcome to Toshogu-ji; Nikko, Japan

The trip to Nikko with my host family couldn't have been more perfect! We drove about an hour from their house in Shin-Shiraoka to Nikko (a town high in the mountains of Japan).

We first went to Toshogu-ji, a temple complex built in the 1600s in dedication of ruler Tokugawa Ieyasu. He is one of three people who helped unify the government/shogunate after a period of turmoil and violence in Japan.

Also at Toshogu-ji is Ieyasu's tomb (shown below).

I was amazed at the tall trees and beautiful architecture of the site. It certainly looks much different from the treeless streets of Las Vegas!

There was so much gold everywhere you turned such as this shrine statue below.

There were a lot of beautiful buildings, relief sculptures, and amazing artwork! The two most famous sculptures are the Nemui Neko (Sleeping Cat) and the relief sculpture of the Three Monkeys found at the first building on the left as you enter the temple complex. The Three Monkeys sculpture is also known as "Mienai, Iinai, Kikoenai" which means "Can't see, can't speak, can't hear". The moral behind this theme is that young children should remain innocent by not seeing evil, speaking of evil things, or hearing evil things.

Nemui Neko is widely popular for its life-like quality and extremely realistic rendering. It is right above the portal you walk through to begin the nearly mile hike up a never-ending staircase that ends at the final, and most beautiful building on the site.

The hike up the never-ending stairs was pretty challenging, even for me. I was amazed to see extremely old Japanese men and women making the hike at a steady pace. I must say, the Japanese age very well! Below is a picture of my host-family making the trek back down the stairs.

On our way back to the car, we discovered a beautiful Japanese garden near the entrance of the temple complex that was absolutely breathtaking. I wanted to enter it and enjoy the experience of being in the center of that beautiful space so badly, but I was limited to admiring it from afar, beyond the iron chains that separated this paradise from the real world.





After spending about 2 hours at Toshogu-ji, it was time to head back. I was exhausted from all the traveling, walking, and stair climbing. However, we stopped at a local soba shop to eat lunch before heading back. We ate in the traditional Japanese dinning room which had tatami mat flooring and tables which sat low to the ground. It was a bit of a struggle to find the proper, but comfortable position to sit in. I had tenpura soba which is basically noodle soup with fried shrimp and vegetables in a hot, delicious broth. After this hearty meal, I was definitely ready for bed and relieved to get in the car and head back. Yet to my surprise, we were actually headed to Kegon Falls, about 30 minutes in the opposite direction away from the house in Shin-Shiraoka. However, the view of the beautiful waterfall was well worth the journey.


Below is Mikako (mom) and Miku (daughter) viewing the beautiful taki (waterfall).


Kegon Falls was truly a beautiful and peaceful sight. However, it had been a long day, my belly was full, and I was tired. So I was ready to nap on the trip back home when we got in the car. But after about 5 minutes on the road, we passed by a lake and decided to go paddle boating. The lake was beautiful and the mountains surrounding vast and breathtaking.




Since there were five of us, we had to split up into two boats. Myself, Mikako, and Riyuu went in the paddle boat as Tadashii decided to test his inner strength and take Miku in the row boat.



The lake was fun but tiring as we had to constantly paddle for about 45 minutes. At times, it seemed like we were paddling but not moving anywhere. I was convinced that our boat was broken and we would be stranded out in the middle of the lake. After about half an hour, a thick fog had rolled over the mountain tops and was descending onto the lake.




All of the paddle boats on the lake fled to their respective docks, because the fog was so thick that visibility had been reduced to a minimum. It was a little scary, dangerous, yet adventurous! ;)




Although this day was slightly exhausting, it was filled with spontaneity and adventure! We visited so many beautiful places in just 4 hours!

Overall, my home-stay weekend is the best experience I've had in Japan so far. I got really close to the Nakayama family and in just 3 days, managed to become a part of their family. They took great care of me and treated me like a royal guest in their home. They accompanied me half-way on the train back to Hiro-o. Saying goodbye in the train station was sad as I had grown so close to this family and appreciated all that they did for me.

I was most touched when Miku got teary-eyed as we said our goodbyes. Miku's Japanese was well advanced and I had a hard time understanding the vocabulary she was using most of the time. Also, she did not know much English, so it was a bit of a challenge to communicate with her. Nevertheless, even though Miku and I didn't necessarily stay up for hours chatting about life and bonding by sharing our experiences, I knew I had made a great enough impact on her and touched her heart that she was brought to tears upon saying goodbye.

I learned more in this one weekend than I ever could in a classroom. I learned about Japanese culture, history, and real life. I also learned that there is no such thing as a language barrier. Communication goes far beyond speech. If I can get this close to a family with my broken Japanese and only the father's broken English, then clearly it was more than just words that bonded us.