Day 1
After being delayed by a car accident; worrying about hurricanes and typhoons interfering with our flights; being cooped up in airplanes and airports for over 14 hours;and waiting in seemingly endlessly long lines for passport checks, trains, or buses, I can't believe that we finally made it to Japan! As we were riding the various subways and buses to our hotel, I attempted to take in every detail I could (between the numerous naps and the sleepy eyes I had of course). Japan is so...green! And because of the incoming typhoon, much cooler than Arizona. As we were walking the streets to our hotel after our luggage was retrieved, I couldn't help but notice how empty the streets were as well. Not a single person was walking the streets other than ourselves. It was oddly eerie. Other than that, I really was just in awe of the towering buildings and the obvious differences between that of Japan and Arizona. When we finally reached our hotel room and settled in, there were even more differences for us to discover! For one thing, the toilets are super high tech! They're warmed which was different but wonderful. We could also drink the tap water. Finally, the hotel room's shower was a completely different room from the toilet and sink. The shower room consisted of a bathtub and a separate area outside of the bathtub where one would actually shower. There was also a stool and a bucket to sit down and pour water over yourself with. With all of these differences to pay attention to, the call for food from my rumbling stomach eventually overpowered my amazement and we all eventually gathered in the hotel lobby again to go to the 7-11 down the road. The 7-11 was...quaint to say the least. The first thing I picked up was an ice cream...it was so small! And that's when I remembered that one of my pen pals, Ryo, asked me if it was true that everything in America was bigger. I kind of chuckled at yet another difference from America. Regardless, I eventually tucked away a decent bento box for dinner and was able to fall asleep. Tomorrow will be another big day!
Day 2
Another eventful day. Today was the first time we got to meet some of the KGU students! We did some simulations with "Sam" the human analog. He had eyelids, a pulse, and breathed. After the simulations we tried some tea and looked at some glass displays with different plants and herbs. I only knew a few of them like ginseng, digox, and cinnamon.
After that I was finally able to meet to meet my pen pals, Ryo and Anna, at the KGU lunch. It was fantastic to finally meet them! Unfortunately they couldn't speak much English and it was hard to converse with them beyond "how are you?" but it was still wonderful to finally meet them after a few months of conversing through email. After the lunch the students took us around Sannomiya and we shopped, took photos in booths that "beautified" everyone, and ended with a small snack of shaved ice and rice cakes.
Later, Sensei Sho gave us a tour of a supermarket near our hotel called Gourmet City. It was an odd place to be given a tour of but nonetheless, I appreciated the enthusiasm for hosting us. We eventually made it back to the hotel and turned in rather early since the typhoon that was going to hit us was said to come tonight.
Day 3 (Happy birthday, Jen!)
Dr. Katz, Hoang, Caitlin, and I stayed behind to get ramen as the rest of the group went to get $30 Kobe beef. This was the first time for me getting ramen so I couldn't pass up the chance, even for kobe beef. I'm grateful that I did too because the ramen was very quite good! After lunch we also got taikyaki, a sort of...waffle shaped fish with red bean paste in the middle. It was awesome! I love red bean. Unless it's red bean boba. Anyway, We eventually made our way over to the Sannomiya shrine which was a pretty peaceful place! We threw some coins into a well, rang a bell, and bowed twice and clapped twice. Dr. Katz explained that ringing the bell "Awakened the gods" to hear our prayers.
We eventually found everyone again after doing a little more souvenir shopping (I got some sweet magnets and cat socks). We also saw huge blocks of ice where people would rub it with their hands and melt the ice to get to these little toys suspended in the ice. It was pretty cool because I've never seen anything like it! Eventually we found ourselves in an arcade playing Japan's version of guitar hero but with drums. Dr. Katz and a few more students broke off to take more photos in the booths. (Hilarity to ensue later from viewing their pictures). After the arcades, we went to Japan's version of China town! It was pretty different from San Francisco's and New York's China Town, but I'm glad that I am now able to say that I've been to a China Town in another country!
After China Town the KGU students, Mai and Yui, took us to an 8 course dinner! Wow! It was pretty good. I can't really remember all the courses but some of them were octopus, fried chicken, beef, fries, and a sorbet. Since it was Jen's birthday, she also got a cake! Yay Jen :). Unfortunately, I was way too tired to join the rest of the gang for Karaoke but they all said that you get a room and just start singing which is pretty different from how America does it! Sounded fun though.
Day 4
I tried nato today! Under the suggestion of Hoang. It actually wasn't that bad but then again, I'm pretty sure I have a pretty bland palette. After breakfast though, we had a great lecture about kampo pharmacy. I really enjoyed this lecture because it reminded me of the origins of pharmacy where herbs and other medicinal plants were experimented with to aid in the treatment of the sick or the weary. How times have changed! It was really interesting though hearing the theories about how to fix colds. The professor that taught us this lecture explained to us that if you sweat easily, you were considered having "weak constitution" and could expel viruses from your body easily after being given kampo tea but if it was hard for you to sweat, you had "strong constitution" and would need to be given slightly different ingredients in your kampo tea. We also learned the 7 ingredients that made up the basic constituents of kampo tea. We also made some for ourselves! It was pretty cool.
After the lecture, we made our way to Osaka to visit the Kampo Pharmacy. But before that....at last! I finally tried Japanese sushi. It was conveyor belt style but luckily, the one in Tempe, AZ, Teharu, familiarized me with how conveyor belt sushi worked. It was pretty similar in Japan. The sushi was pretty good! Many times fresher than what we get in Arizona. After sushi though, we were able to go to Kampo pharmacy and see all their herbs that they used in the back. It was like looking at a giant version of my mom's cabinet since she's pretty big on natural remedies from China. We even have a Jujube tree in our backyard. However, it was pretty interesting to see how all of this applied to the real world. Even with all our research and science of today, people are still using all of these plants to help them!
After Kampo pharmacy, we traveled to Osaka castle and I was...very impressed. Osaka castle was not only beautiful...but HUGE! The climb to the top (using stairs might I add) was no small feat and we were all breathing slightly more heavily and were slightly more sweaty when we reached the top. But the view at the top was worth it! Osaka was an enormous city! It spanned out in every direction and I couldn't believe how breathtaking it was. It sure was a sight to see!
When we were done at Osaka castle, we got dinner together at the largest restaurant I've seen in Japan thus far. (All the other restaurants are only made for parties of 3-5). I had an ebi don which came in a large stone bowl. Caitlin got a beer and tried to drink it faster than Dr. Katz drank his but ultimately came up short. It was still fun to watch though.
Once dinner commenced, WE WENT TO THE POKEMON CENTER!!! My inner child bubbled up and I instantly forgot how much my feet hurt as all I could think about was the nostalgia and joy that this show brought to me as a little kid! I scurried around with Kim looking at all the Pokemon merchandise (which I eventually bought) and taking pictures of everything. I'm not going to lie, I left a piece of my heart in that store.
We also went to a huge technology store afterwards but it was less impressive. It was rather large though. Eventually though, we made our way back to our hotel to rest our weary bodies and prepare for yet another day.
Day 5
Today we had another lecture! It involved learning about hypertension and hypercholesterolemia, 2 subjects that I was finally familiar with! Overall, the lecture was pretty complete. After our lecture, we had a tour of what a Japanese hospital looks like! It was incredible seeing all the Japanese technology integrated into the system. Some were very similar to what UAMC does but took it a step further like the boxes that carry the medicine to different units of the hospital. We were able to see the ER, the neonatel unit, the operation theater, chemo, and infectious diseases unit. We were also given a great opportunity to ask the hospital's current residents what a Japanese residency was like. When we finished with the hospital though, we made our way to a community pharmacy. It was such a different experience from what a community pharmacy looks like in America! First off, there were massage chairs in the room! As we toured the pharmacy though, our kind host explained to us that they package their medicine for their patients with a nifty machines. It was also explained that because health insurance was a lot simpler compared to that of America with it's universal health insurance, it seemed like a much smoother process to dispense their medications.We also learned that Japanese people actually want to take prescription medications which is a huge contrast to the mindset of Americans who are looking for nothing but natural substances.After the community pharmacy visit though, we had a takoyaki party with the KGU students! It was great fun. Caitlin also got a kimono from her pen pal! Very cool. We also had a small talent show after Rick showed us what an amazing beat boxer he is. The show eventually turned into a dance party that Ron was so kind to head. After the takoyaki party, we went to the park and did fireworks! In Japan, fireworks are a huge thing to do and we even saw other kids at the park playing with fireworks! It was pretty fun :). By the time we got back to the hotel, I was way too tired to do anything else!
Day 6
Today for our lecture we learned more about the insurance system of Japan. It was slightly more complicated than I thought but there's some sort of point system that determines how much money their Medicare covers. I unfortunately got kind of lost trying to figure everything out though but the professor did keep emphasizing how efficient it was. We also found out that instead of drug companies setting the price of their drugs, the government decides how much they should charge. That idea does seem pretty good to me since I feel like drug companies here tend to overcharge for their medications to compensate for how much they've lost putting it into research and developing the drug. Japan's health insurance system is complicated nonetheless with its many ways to prevent abuse of the system, points, and types of insurance, but I think with some more time, I may be able to understand it a little better. This was only 1 lecture, after all.
After this lecture, we went to the fish market! It was incredible to see all the fresh fish just lying at our feet. Food vendors were eager to have you try their food. It was pretty cool being at that place. Afterwards though, we went to another castle, Himeji castle! This castle, much like Osaka, was huge too but we were only allowed to go around the outside. I eventually got lost trying to make my way back to the meeting group but luckily I was able to figure out where everyone was just in time. We did more shopping that day though and had a glorious meal of McDonalds at the Kobe mall.
As the evening began to settle in, we made one last stop at Kobe Tower to view the amazing night view! It was gorgeous! But before we did that, I FINALLY was able to go to a TOTORO STORE!!!! Jen and I were like kids in a candy shop! It was amazing to finally go to one and look at all of the Totoro merchandise. I may or may not have bought too many things from there. But YOJO!
Day 7
Today we went to Tokyo!!!!! But boy did we have to wake up early for this. Even on the bullet train (traveling at 185 mph) it took 3 hours to get there. It was definitely worth it though since I was finally able to see my dear friend Mamoru Ito!!!! I had met him in 8th grade and he moved to Japan after I went off to high school. Mamoru and I shared a PE class together and he was one of the most brilliant guys I knew! It felt so good to catch up with him!!!!
He is currently a medical student and is wanting to become a cardiac surgeon. I know Moomoo will go very far and will be able to do anything he wants! I'm so so glad to have had this opportunity to catch up with him again! But he joined us to look at the Imperial palace, look at more shrines (We saw some HUGE lanterns), and he took us around Electric city! A city centered around anime and electronics. While he was with us, it rained super heavily again but it was worth the trip just to see him. Also, a pigeon landed on my head today. Too bad I didn't get any pictures before it flew off. Silly birds.
Day 8
Almost every day that we've been here we just go go go! There's no stopping! But it does seem necessary if we want to get the most out of Japan as we can in these short few days. We met with students from Osaka who graciously treated us to literally everything today. I couldn't believe how nice they were to us. It was really incredible seeing the generosity and kindness of Japanese culture. Anyway, they treated us to okonomiyaki which is sort of a cabbage pancake with meat. It was pretty tasty! (It tastes better than how I describe it). We also went to Nara, land of the roaming deer and I was able to feed them! Unfortunately, one bit me on the stomach (deer don't carry rabies do they?) so I shied away from them after that but they really did bow for food and it was still pretty cool being THAT close to deer!
In Nara, we visited another temple but this one was special because it contained the largest Buddha in the world! And...it was very very big. I was also given a chance to crawl through a hole the size of the Buddha's nostrils. Unfortunately, I was a bit too large to fit through (hash tag huge muscle problems). Caroline and Sarah Hodges though were able to fit through! It's said that if you're able to crawl through it...you gain enlightenment. Guess I'm not enlightened. Darn.
So we went back to Namba and went to the Beer Garden for an AMAZING buffet. I can't believe our Osaka hosts treated us to that as well. When they come to America, we HAVE to spoil them! Anyway, it was an amazing time and when we got back to the hotel...Moomoo was there again! Yay! So we were able to laugh the rest of the night away with him, especially when we started talking about hostess cafes and how he wanted us all to go to one. (In case people were wondering what hostess cafes are...I refer you to this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2vU_N3mNwM )
Day 9
Our second to last day here. Woah. Time has flown by! Everything is melting together and I can't tell what we did one day apart from the next. But it has been an amazing adventure so far. Moomoo joined us again today on our trip to Kyoto, a place with tons of shrines/temples and a treasure trove of shops! I actually did most of my shopping here. An interesting thing we did in Kyoto was doing the love stones. Every year, people come to the love stones to see if they will find their true love that year! What you do is you touch one stone with your eyes closed and try to walk to the other stone. If you make it there safely then you will find your true love! Moomoo tried and gave up and since I followed suit I was completely disorientated but people were kind enough to guide me to the second stone. As we walked around the temple more, Moomoo explained to me that the base of the temple is famous since there are no nails in it at all! It's a celebration of how advanced the architecture of the Japanese was from back then.
We also saw another temple (no pictures allowed unfortunately) that displayed tons of different gods and their army. It was incredible to see. Every face of the army was different and the gods had crystals for eyes.
Once we were done looking at temples, we went to another conveyor belt sushi! Moomoo had an incredible 27 plates. I only had 20! I had no idea I'd meet someone, let alone know, someone that could eat more sushi than me! But Moomoo explained that average males in Japan at 30 plates. The only reason why he stopped was because he thought everyone was waiting for him. What a nice guy. After sushi, we waddled over to the Gold Temple! It was another amazing site. Most of the temple was covered in gold!
Eventually, we finally rode the bus back to Kobe and since we got back relatively early, some of the group wanted to do some extra shopping at Sannomiya. Moomoo needed to go back to his hotel to get ready though but he came back and asked me to go to Sannomiya with him to get some shoes and more sushi for dinner. We eventually left Sannomiya with socks and since I was still full from sushi early, we just went to the grocery market. Moomoo explained to me though that the conveyor belt sushi we went to was cheaper end sushi and we needed the REAL stuff! Too bad I was too full for that. I can't believe the metabolism on this kid. We later spent the rest of our night with Kim, Rick, Ashli, and Yui.
Day 10 The last day! (sort of)
In the morning, I said goodbye to Moomoo since he had a date to catch (the guys a stud in Japan) and got ready to go to Hiroshima...where I will get to see my other friend, Sean! I met Sean through one of my high school friends who dated him for a little bit. I'm so glad I got to stay friends with him through all these years. Sean is a teaching English in Japan and will be doing so for the next year. We went to Miyajima via boat and tried their oysters (delicious), and had more okonomiyaki. Surprisngly, Miyajima had more deer and we just spent our time there shopping and walking around the temple/beach of the island. Some excitement happened during this: a baby girl fell off a rather tall ledge and the mother cried out in fear that her daughter was injured. By the time I whirled around to see what had happened, I saw that the mother and Sean were in the ditch that the child fell into. Sean explained in Japanese what he was doing and he gently helped lift the child up and out of the ditch into another family member's arms since the mom was too short to do that. What a good guy Sean is.
After the ferry ride back to the mainland, we went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and saw the only building left standing after the A-bomb went off in Hiroshima. It was an incredible site to behold. We also toured a museum which explained the events leading up to the A-bomb and the aftermath. Hiroshima was chosen to be A-bombed because it lacked any POW camps. What a humbling experience. The Peace Memorial had the same, somber feel to it as when I went to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial. I guess now I can say that I've been to the place that started it and the place that ended it for the A-bomb.
When we were done at the museum, we made our way to the train station and I sadly said goodbye to Sean. Not sure where or when I'll see him next...but I look forward to saying hello again to him! The bullet train ride back was spent mostly standing but since it was our last day in Japan, what's a little more standing?
We finished our last day off in Japan with Mai and Yui as we ate kebobs. It was a relaxing way to end the day minus all the packing I did when I got back to the hotel.
Day 11
This was the day of our departure! Really though, since our flight didn't leave until like 9PM, we had most of the day to say goodbye to our amazing hosts and now, at the end of this trip, I can also say our amazing friends. They threw us a goodbye lunch and we were given the honor to listen to someone play music for us, see a tea ceremony, and participate in a watermelon splitting party. All in all, a fantastic way to end our trip in Japan.
Last thoughts:
This Japan trip really was the most amazing experience of my life thus far. If I went back in time and told myself that I was going to go to Japan, I never for the life of me would have believed it. The entire time I was in Japan, I could not stop thinking that I was on the other side of the world from where I grew up. This was the farthest away I've ever been from home. I couldn't have asked for a better first international experience. I learned loads about a different culture, saw and experienced a different culture, and most importantly...made new friends. I'm glad I was able to go to this trip and it really was an eye opening experience.
Edit 8/23:
I realize that I forgot to add a quick blurb about chocolate. Moomoo kept buying me and others around him chocolate. After the 2nd time he gave me chocolate, I asked if it was a big thing to do in Japan...to buy guests chocolate. I didn't really notice anyone else doing it, even the KGU students. However, Moomoo said chocolate was a pretty big thing to do in Japan. Nevertheless, here's the box of fancy chocolates he got me! (He also got me some coffee chocolates that he said in his opinion were the best chocolates in Japan)
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