Mothers day, Sunday 5/14/2023

 On Sunday, we stayed in bed until around 2 and finally went to go eat. We ate at burger king and then went to these places that have souvenirs. We were still out searching for our parents & families' gifts to bring back. During that time I saw people walking & holding a big art thing that I am not certain of. It was many people holding it, singing, etc. That only took about an hour & then we got back & we were supposed to go somewhere & have a good time but then I ended up going to sleep from 5-2am. I missed the whole day because of how tired I was. 

The weekend 5/13/2023

Saturday we went shopping again to see if we saw souvenirs & skirts because my friends & I wanted to dress up. We went into a few more stores than we did before, but they were expensive stores that we couldn't afford so we left out. Then we ate at a Mexican restaurant & it was something that I finally actually enjoyed! It was amazing. It reminded me of back home and was good because I am very picky. I also bought a Pandora charm just to remind me & show that I got my charm from Japan. 

6th day

  Sunday I went back to the zoo and finally saw the pandas. I was so happy and didn't mind to wait a hour to see the pandas. Then we went to the gundam factory yokohama, it was almost a 2 hour subway drive and it was pouring rain. I did think it was cool how the huge machine moved. But I had never seen the anime so I didn't understand what was happening in the show and it was in Japanese. But I enjoyed it just wish it wasn't raining. Then I ended up going to a karaoke with some of my classmates and had fun but I'm shy so I didn't sing on the mic but I tried to sing along on the couch. Then i and my roommate met up with another classmate and went to this all you can drink place. It was very fancy and they stamped this UV light on your hand to be able to get drinks. It was really nice and I had the pasta, that was delicious and heading back to the hostel

5th day

 Saturday our teacher took us to see how marketing is done in Japan. We went to this very high end area with a huge mall with clothes that would take my whole paycheck to afford. Everyone was so well dressed and I kinda felt out of place. I loved seeing all the different kinds of fashion they had in every shop. We next went to Starbucks and my classmate made friends with these college students from Japan and they ended up taking us to eat. The restaurant we went to made people take their shoes off and had little pillows to seat on. I had chicken and it was delicious, I wasn't the biggest fan of the rice because it wasn't fried. But it was fun because the Japanese men was trying to learn English for college so we were helping each other. After I went to the hostel to relax and grabbed some food and drinks before heading to sleep. 

Day 4

 Friday day we went to this government building and it took us very high up and had a amazing view, I sadly broke this tiny glass cat in the shop and felt horrible but they were so sweet and I had some strawberry ice that was delicious! We saw dozens of claw machines but i didn't win anything. But there was this place you could take pictures and dress-up with friends in a booth. And i tried it out and got some cute pictures. But it makes you look so different, the eyes are huge and my face was smaller. Then we went down and some classmates and I went shopping around this big mall area. I got a few things for my boyfriend and I. We also grabbed something to eat and the rice was the best fried rice I have ever had. I saw a Gucci store and really wanted to go in but I'm broke. After I was so tired and passed out at the hostel.

Day 3

 Thrusday I went to see a temple and there were so many shops and places to pray. It was fun learning how there religion works, even if it was different from mine. I am opened minded so I tried out there fortune thing. We put a coin in and grabbed a stick that gave us a number to get our fortune. I sadly got a bad fortune but I tried it to this thing that removes bad fortunes. I had something that was like a ice cream sandwich and it was so good. Ten times better than the ones home. Then we went to the Tokyo sky tree and it was so beautiful and there was like a mall around it with anime and Pokémon. I shopped all floors but one and went broke. They also had a Harry Potter shop and I have always wanted to go to one. So I had a blast but they didn’t have this bag in the color I wanted so I was a little sad. They even had a aquarium on the fourth floor. I was shocked that they were able to do that, because I thought that there would be to much water pressure. But they had so much jelly fish and they had colorfully lights on them. There was cute penguins that you could sit next to and eat food. I saw seals and they would not stop screaming but I had a blast. But I did get lost with the girl I was with and we had to get rescued by another classmate. I was so sleepy and my feet hurt at the end I crashed at 9 pm

The National Art Center: day 6.

 Today I visited the National Art Center in Roppongi, Minato City. I saw this museum when visiting with my roommates friend the night before. They were having an exhibition called the Louvre. They also had another exhibition for more local artists. This museum is the largest art museum I have every been to. It was four stories with two restaurants and outdoor galleries. I spent 6 hours here, it was amazing to see how living in Tokyo affects the art people produce. Many pieces used drab colors that relate to the drab colors of Tokyo. Many buildings are greys and neutral colors, seeing this in the art pieces really showed the culture in Japan especially in the art community. There were many creative ways of creating art in the Kokuten exhibit. One piece used 3D printed figurines with cute faces painted onto them. Most of the pieces names were in Japanese so it made it difficult to read the titles.

The next exhibit called the Louvre featured 74 paintings from the 16th through 18th century artists. This was an amazing experience I never expected to have. As someone who loves art I was very excited for this. It was amazing to see these real paintings, not replicas, that were imported to Tokyo! I bought two books that shows every piece in the exhibits during my trip. 

My favorite piece in the Kokuten exhibition is called Hitohana Pattern, this is the English translation. It was a beautiful piece and it was huge!

Touch down in Japan: Day 1

     

         Before we get to Japan, we must start with Nashville. We had to be at the airport by 4:30 AM and our flight took off at 7 AM. When I got the airport, it was about 4:15 AM and it was packed but the good thing that it was mainly because of Southwest since they have so many delays going on right now. When 4:30 came we were still waiting on a couple of people to arrive. Once one of the professors, Mr. Ladd, got to the airport he took roll and started to send us to check in and go through security. Now I’m a bit of an over packer, lol, so I was worried about having to pay extra for my bag but thankfully was 49 pounds. The security lines moved fast so that gave us some extra time to sit at the gate and chill. Now its about 5:30 AM and now I’m hungry so I look around a Starbuck but of course it’s at the other end where the B gates were, and we were at the C gates, so I decided not to go because I was sleepy. With no Starbucks I just chose to get a bag of chips and call it a day. We finally boarded the plane, and I got window seat so there was no complaining from me. During takeoff I wasted no time and went straight to sleep. The flight to Dallas was smooth for the most part, until the end…we got a lot of turbulence. For me I can normally sleep through it but on this flight, we were dropping down and made my stomach drop multiple times which cause me to wake and look around like what is going on. Right when I woke up the pilot came on and said that we were about experience so moderate turbulence. The turbulence continued until we landed and even the landing was a bit rough. When we landed in Dallas, we all got off the plane and headed to our next gate, once we got there Mr. Ladd told us that we were free to get food, but we needed to be back at the gate by 11:35 PM. It’s now about 10 AM so it’s still breakfast time so I got McDonald’s breakfast. I ate it fast and then took a nap until we had to meet up. When got back together as a group we had to fill out the visitor paperwork on online, when we got done with that, we boarded the plane ad got ready for the 14hour flight. I had the window seat once again, 2 for 2 lol, but when we got to altitude, they passed out the first meal but ya’ll should already know by now I was sleep lol. I heard that it was chicken or beef with white peas, next they gave you a small snack, then we got a wrap with dried peas, ewww, I suggest you bring snacks on with you just in case you don’t like what they and so you won’t be hungry. Our finally meal was the choice of scrambled eggs or veggie rice, I got the eggs they would have been better if I had some ketchup because it was more like a breakfast bowl. We landed about 4:30 PM, from the plane we had to take a bus to the airport/ train station. From there we linked up with Dr. V and he gave us our train card to get Ueno. We finally got to hostel after about a five-minute walk from the train, from there he c=gave us our rooms and our allowance for the week. With that money we went get some noodles from the mart because its open 24 hours. After eating and chilling, I got in te shower and went to bed because we had to up at 9 AM for orientation.

Visiting Shibuya crossing: day 5.

 This morning I visited the Reiunji Temple. I really like this shrine, it has golden plates on certain parts that contrast against the browns. It is beautiful.

After having breakfast and running from the rain, our first full group excursion was to Shibuya. We saw Shibuya crossing and go cart racers. We visited the major shopping mall and many shops nearby. Ladd showed us some thrift stores nearby in Harajuku.

We explored Takeshita Street and ate at a Chinese restaurant at the end of the street. I had my first "legit" Japanese ramen, other than it being Chinese. It was very bright and colorful on this street. Many shops had different types of street wear, which is not often seen in the states. I feel that most of the fashion in Japan could not be worn in America without standing out too much, even in bigger cities. I love seeing others fashion choices on the daily. The fashion is so unique. Platform shoes seem to be popular among younger women as well as longer skirts. Even though the fashion is so diverse, many people seem to chose more natural/dark colors instead of bright colors. Clothing stores often advertise fashion that is from America as if it is interesting. One store I visited had an entire section with t-shirts of American colleges. 

I split off from my group and visited some places I have written down. I visited pixiv WAEN GALLERY. An influential artist in my life had a gallery set up here, I was so excited! I have been following En Morikura since I was young so it was very exciting to see some of her works in person. I bought an artbook to which I will treasure forever. I also visited a skate shop on my way back to the station. It is a shame that I cannot bring a skate deck back home with me. 

After coming back to the hostel, we went back out to have dinner with one of my roommates. Her friend is a local in Tokyo, so it is exciting to speak to someone who really knows Japan!

Exploring Shinjuku and Tokyo Metropolitan: day 4

I started my day off by visiting some shrines nearby. I visited two shrines: Yushima Tejin Shrine and Urayasu Inari Shrine. They are near the hostel so it wasn't a long walk but it was a very cool experience. The Yushima Tejin Shrine is a place for the god of literature. Reading the history of this shrine and visiting the garden along with it was peaceful. It is surrounded by plum trees and has vending machines with hot coffee!

After having toast and coffee at Zehn Coffee with two of my roommates, our group went on an excursion to the Tokyo Metropolitan. Like the sky tree, you can see much of Tokyo and the outline of Fuji mountain. 

After this, Robert Ladd was recruited as a tour guide. He took us further into Shinjuku and showed us a standing sushi bar. This was a really cool experience. I have never heard of a standing sushi bar and it had the best sushi ever! Ladd showed us a historic part of Shinjuku after eating. We saw how Tokyo once looked especially the "bad" part of town. 

After this experience, me and my roommates visited a bakery and the Shinjuku National Garden. This garden was a nice break from the hustle and bustle of the city. It was peaceful, other than being able to hear the city/plane noises. There was a tea garden, a green house, and a beautiful rose garden where all the roses were in full bloom. Many people were on dates or walking their children or having picnics. It was a huge garden and very beautiful. It made me miss the woods back home and the ease of visiting places in the wilderness. 

Exploring more of Tokyo: day 3.

 My day started early with a 2 hour walk near the hostel. I explored more of Ueno park in the early morning. After my walk, it was time for a group excursion. We visited Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. While it is not the original, it was still marvelous to visit. I love the architecture of the early shrines and temples in Japan. I can really appreciate the attention to detail in the artistry of these shrines. 

After visiting the Sensoji Temple, we visited the Tokyo Sky Tree. This was an awesome visit and I'd love to visit again. You can see Tokyo from a high view; it was beautiful! Unfortunately, I was not able to visit the aquarium, but we did visit the food stalls on a balcony.

 Once back at the hostel, I did some homework and walked around Tokyo. Exploring offers so many new places and things to see. I saw a bunny café which I never expected! I also stumbled upon a vintage camera shop. There were so many vintage cameras piled in his store, it was incredible.