Day 18: Tokyo Sky Tree area / Free Time

Hailey & Tanner: 

We went to the Sumida aquarium, which was filled with a huge variety of fish. There was a whole section dedicated to jellyfish as well as a section filled with various types of goldfish. 

Then we went to a science area where there was a sword made from meteorite and different types of robots. 

Cloudy and rainy, so can't even see the top of Tokyo Sky Tree

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Jaimy (Hannah), Dante, Annalee, Megan: 

When Sensei said we could go anywhere that we wanted to today, we all just looked at each other and gave each other that look that said that we all wanted to go to Akihabara. Our first adventure was trying to find the Dangan-Ronpa cafe. Dangan-Ronpa is a video that Dante plays and is really into it was also turned into an anime which a lot of us had watched, so we were all down to go there. It took us about 30-ish minutes to find this darn cafe and we went in about 5 circle in the process, but it was worth it. The food looked cool and tasted good. You got a coaster with every item that you ordered off the menu. The video game music was playing in the background and the characters were all over the walls. After that we headed out to find some anime figurines. 

We went to multiple different places, most of which were underground. In Japan underground shops really aren't that sketchy, unless you find the adult shops. Which I admit, we stumbled on a few. We went down a few steps and then you saw something that you weren't looking for and you'd turn around and head right back up. But we really did find some good deals on figures. There was a second hand shop that I (Megan) went to last time we were in Akihabara that we went to, which was in a basement. We couldn't quite find it, but we bumped into Cole and he showed us the way. 

We headed back to the meeting place with plenty of time to spare. It was a great day even if it was raining all day.

Day 16: Akihabara free time

Annalee:

In Akihabara, Korr, Sebastian, and I went to a Maid cafe! We had heard about them before and wanted to visit one since we don’t have them in America. So we went on the search for one. 

We found one by the name of Maiddreamin. All the lovely ladies at the cafe were so kind and so adorable! They even complimented Korr's Japanese. We ordered drinks, Korr got strawberry milk and Sebastian and I got apple peach tea. When the drinks came the maids would have us help them put a special charm on the drinks to make them yummier!

Along with the drinks we got souvenirs and a photo with our favorite maid. We ended up somehow getting two souvenirs, I don’t know why, but we originally opted for the keychains with maid uniforms on them, but they also gave us cute animal headbands! I got a bunny, Sebastian got panda ears, and Korr got cat ears. The interior was very cute and pink, very girly. And there was even a garden on the roof that guests could go to. It was an amazing experience.


Cole:

Last night we stayed at the Khaosan Samurai capsule hotel. It was a great experience, however, a curtain was all the privacy you got, the coil locks don't really serve a purpose unless the zippers on your bags have locks and there was only one toilet in that section of the hotel for women only. (The men's toilet was next to the elevator.)

However, we did have free WiFi Hot-spot smartphones, and the beds were comfy. I would recommend to anyone that is on a budget or in a bind in Japan. 

This morning everyone got ready around 8:30 am, we all went to Mister Donut. At the donut shop there was a plethora of donuts with some having hot-dogs and other savory fillings inside of them. 

We looked around Asakusa gate (Kaminarimon) and the shopping street.

After we finished, we hopped trains and went to Akihabara. 

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Dante:

Akihabara was awesome! Right outside the train station, there was a Gundam cafe and an AKB48 cafe. There were so many different shops there! Many different anime and Manga shops, video game merchandise, figurines, and lots of cafes! Tons of arcades too! 

Go-carts touring around Asakusa

There were quite a few Pachinko buildings and places you could do karaoke. After we explored Akihabara, we took trains to meet our Kasukabe host families again.

Day 15: Travel back to Tokyo / Ghibli Museum

Megan: 

Bullet trains, or Shinkansen in Japanese, are a very good way of travel. Sensei always gets us to the train platforms early, always after descending and climbing multiple flights of stairs. This shinkansen ride was our third so far so I'd say we've got experience with these. Everyone had bought breakfast and/or lunch the night before or early in the morning. 

Now that I mentioned morning, we had to wake up when the sun came up, which is at about 4:30 in the morning here. The single fact plagues lot of us trouble sleeping past four AM. The train was a grueling 4 hours from Hiroshima to Tokyo. People slept on and off the whole time, while other played on their phones. With crewmembers walking up and down the rows of seats and different jingles playing, it made it very hard to sleep. 

Himeji castle visible from Shinkansen

Once we got off the train we headed off to the capsule hotel where we dropped off our bags. We then walked for a bit and saw a store selling items for festivals including drums and portable shrines. 

This hand-made shrine sells for about $130,000!

Then we went to the ‘kitchen’ street. We looked at all kinds of different plastic foods and dishes. 

Then we split ways with Sensei and Mr. Zurn, and the class headed to the Ghibli museum. 

The train ride was smooth on the way to Ghibli museum. We got there an hour early so we hung out at a cafe. 

We then explored although out the museum looking at all the cool artworks and animations. There was even a cool 15 minute short film to watch in there. Everything was super cool and I would say it's a must-see if you ever go to Japan.

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Jaimy: 

The train ride back from the Ghibli museum was.... an adventure. We got on the wrong train for a few stops, and then spent awhile trying to find the RIGHT train, going up and down several flights of stairs in the process. For all that, though, we only got back a little late. Hooray for leaving early!! 

Afterward we were treated to dinner by Sensei and Mr. Zurn. We were joined by Hannah D (who took the trip in 2016) and Momo (who helped at Memorial classes for a week earlier this year). 

The restaurant was a type where you order a variety of dishes and then all share them; it was really nice, actually! The food was a good balance of familiar and Japanese: cheese curds, French fries, and yakisoba were some that stood out. We discussed how the trip had been thus far, as well as past and future trips. 


Finally, karaoke. I don't have words to tell you how fun it was. Most people knew a lot of the songs, and even if they didn't they sang along for the chorus and the verses if they felt daring. Even the shy people came out of their shell a bit, and I know for a fact that everyone got into it, whether they had a mic or not. 

Group with Hannah D and Momo after karaoke

All in all, it was an eventful, amazing day ^-^.

Day 11: Osaka Castle / Big Buddha / Nara

Sebastian:

I had no clue what I was doing and didn't really see the train map on the way to the Osaka Castle as Cole had taken the lead on getting us where we needed to be. 

I felt really useless and wished I could do more.

The Osaka Host family was very chill and generous. They essentially spoiled me and Cole to the point I felt bad for costing them so much money


Jaimy: 

Today was our first time riding the trains on our own from wherever our host family's house to Osaka-jo station. It was kind of scary, but ultimately everyone made it to the station okay! 

This morning we explored the Osaka Castle. There was a lot of history and really pretty views to be seen :). The castle was laid out in six floors, but most of the things were on the third, fourth, and fifth. There was lots of cool older armor and weapons, and also hologram videos of important cultural moments acted out by historical actors. We really enjoyed how much we learned and how beautiful it was!

After that, we went to Nara to see the huge Buddha statue. It was amazing, especially because we know that it is thousands of years old and still standing! 

(One column in the wooden building has a hole which is the size of the Buddha statue's nostril. If you can crawl through the hole, you will have good luck.)

Afterward, we left the building and went to see the deer outside. If you bow to them, they bow back, and you can feed them specially made crackers. They will usually let you pet them, too. The deer were so cute!! After about an hour and a half or so, we left the Buddha area and had free time for lunch.

Day 14: Hiroshima Peace Park / Miyajima

Sebastian:

We arrived in the Hiroshima Peace park and took a look at an instantly recognizable building. It was the A-Bomb Dome. The A Bomb Dome building was almost directly under the hypocenter of the nuclear bomb, and is one of the few visible remnants of the bombing.

Not too far from the A Bomb Dome is a tower with several portions that gradually get bigger as they go up. This tower is dedicated to the children that were lost in the second world war.

There is a Peace Bell across the river from the A Bomb Dome that we rang.

There is a statue of a girl holding an origami crane. This statue was dedicated to Sadako, who got leukemia from the bomb, but wanted to make a thousand paper cranes before she died.

There is a concrete arch that is near the Pond of Peace and Flame of Peace that is a cenotaph for the victims whom died in the bombing of Hiroshima. Looking through it, you can see the A Bomb Dome, the Pond of Peace, and the Flame of Peace.

There is a memorial hall for the victims of the bombing of Hiroshima, listing the names and images of the people who died.

The peace memorial keeps 2 day counters, one counting the days since the initial detonation over Hiroshima, the other counting the days since the latest nuclear test. 


Other people's observations on the peace park:

Anna said she was extremely depressed in the museum.

Hannah said that the museum was very sobering.

Megan said the museum was very sad.

Cole said the museum was a lot like the holocaust museum.

Korr said the museum was eye opening and interesting. He also said that reality is harsh.

Hailey said the museum is super cool.

Tanner said the museum was fairly cool, and the peace pond and peace fire were cool.

Amy said that the peace park was devastating and sad.

Kang said it was sad seeing all the artifacts from the A Bomb.

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Tanner: After the Peace Park, we got together for lunch at a very nice restaurant and we all had different delicious meals. 

After we went together on a ferry to Miyajima, when a group of school kids on shore yelled and waved to us as the ferry pulled to the dock. We all walked to the large gate that was in the ocean and looked through the temple near it. 

We even saw a Shinto wedding

Next we hiked over the another nearby temple area [Daisho-in] where there was several different interesting activities. 

There was a pitch-dark maze under the temple that we all slowly walked through to the other side. You couldn't even see your hand in front of your face, so you had to walk by feeling the walls to move forward. 

Next we walked to the top of a temple and walked around the the outside far above the ground.

There was also a large room where the roof was covered in lanterns where all the deities from all across Japan had statues where you got a blessing by rolling a wooden prayer ball that represented praying to the god.

Another shelter was in the middle of a pond, and inside there was seven household gods that all granted you different wishes for you, health, money, etc. 

This temple was very interesting, even the Dalai Lama visited it, and there was a lot of memories of him being there like an intricate sand Mandala that was preserved there as well. Today was very fun!!

We ended the day by getting all together to eat some really good okonomiyaki. They made it in front of us and it was very cool, I would love to eat some again if I ever had time.