Tokyo | Kyoto Trip

I had been looking forward to the exchange student trip to Kyoto and Tokyo since I was first made aware of it about a month after arriving in Japan.  The itinerary that I was given included all of the main things that I had wanted to do and see.

KYOTO

Our trip began at a hotel in Kyoto where my exchange district and I met with about 10 other exchange students.  These were the same people who came to Nagasaki back in October for a festival, so most of us were already acquainted.

Kyoto is a very old city and was once the capital of Japan.  It's home to many famous shrines and temples and visiting them was the main focus of our time while there.  Here are some pictures of the most famous ones in Kyoto as well as Japan:

This is Kinkaku-ji or The Golden Temple. 

This is Kiyomizu-dera.  It was originally founded in 798 and the current structure was built in 1633.

Also in Kyoto we were able to take a lesson in making traditional Japanese sweets called wagashi. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures but here's a link to a picture of the same ones that we made:

http://meetuskyoto.com/assets/activity/11/japanese_traditional_sweets-home-9b79b0a9ba56aedbcf24de3af6da9a88.jpg

The outside, called mochi, is sweet and is made from rice.  On the inside is Azuki bean paste which is also sweet.  They are usually served with tea.

On our last night in Kyoto, we watched a traditional Japanese dance called Odori.  The dance is performed by real geishas as well as geisha apprentices called maiko.  The performance itself was unlike any I had seen before.  The scenes were acted out in very precise and exaggerated motions. Their speech was half sung and half spoken.  Traditional Japanese music was played live to accompany the scenes.  Pictures and video were not allowed in the venue so I have nothing to show except for this which I took outside:

They're so mysterious.  This maiko saw me taking a picture and looked away.  

Here are some of the other famous areas that we visited while in Kyoto:

This is Gion which is a very old geisha district and the most famous one in Japan.

Here are some houses along the Kamo River that runs through Kyoto.

After two days in Kyoto, we all took a bullet train to Tokyo where we spent the next 4 days.

TOKYO

Throughout my time in Japan I think one of the coolest things has been being around this constant clash of really old history with the current culture and infrastructure.  Our time in Kyoto satisfied any cravings we had for the former and our time in Tokyo would satisfy the later.

Being in Toyko is hard to describe. The city is so big. For comparison, Tokyo is home to about 13 million people which is about 5 million more than New York City.

There is so much to do and so many things that are unique to only that city.  At the end of our trip I was wondering how much time I'd need to spend there to feel satisfied.  

Sky Tree

This building is mainly used as an observation tower but many television shows are broadcasted from it as well.

Sky Tree is the second tallest structure in the world.

This was taken from a restaurant connected to Tokyo Sky Tree.  

Shibuya

Shibuya is one of the most famous places in Tokyo because of Shibuya crossing.  It is known for it's shopping and night life.  Luckily we were there when it wasn't so busy.

Shibuya crossing.

Harajuku

Harajuku is the next place we visited.  Takeshita street in Harajuku is known as a youth fashion hub and where most of the unusual fashion trends in Japan are born.  Small shops line Takeshita Street offering a wide array of unique clothing.  Past Takeshita Street are high end and designer clothing stores as well as lots of cafes and places to eat.

 

This is Takeshita Street in a part of Tokyo called Harajuku.  It is home to many Japanese fashion trends and strange subcultures.

Here is an example of some of the fashion trends that Takeshita Street supports.

Akihabara

Akihabara is known as the electronics and anime district in Toyko.  This is also the place where maid cafes are most prevalent.

We had some time to walk around and see all the different types of electronics stores they had and then we went to experience a maid cafe for ourselves.  Some of the students had already been to one but, for the majority of us, it was our first time.

Describing a maid cafe is a bit hard so I'll just go through our time there from beginning to end.  At the maid cafe, we were welcomed in and addressed as goshujinsama (my master).  The maids are all dressed in matching maid costumes.  Since our group was so big there was about 1 maid per 3 of us. The maid sat us at a table and took our orders.  Typically, things like burgers, omelets, and cakes are served.  We all ordered drinks since we could only stay about 20 minutes.

Once we received our order, the maid came around and asked what we wanted drawn on our meal. Depending on what is ordered, ketchup, chocolate syrup or something of the sort is used to draw whatever it was that the customer asked for.  The two things that came to my mind were an elephant and my face.  I'm not sure why.  I ended up going with my face.  The maid then kneeled in front of where I was sitting and slowly drew my face on top of my Latte with caramel sauce.  It actually turned out a lot better than I expected.  It may be the best drawing anyone's ever done of me with caramel.

Sometime in between ordering our drinks and finishing them, our maids came around with a small white board with pictures of all the maids working that day.  We then got to choose one maid who we wanted to either take a picture with or play a game with (connect 4 type games).  I chose to take a picture because I wanted something to take home.

During my time there I couldn't believe it was a real thing.

This is the main area in Akihabara.

Here are some maids handing out flyers for their cafe.

Tokyo Disney

  I had been to Disney World once before so it was fun to do and see some of the same things in Japanese.  

Sumo

Sumo is real.  

Studio Ghibli Museum

During one of the days we went the the Ghibli Museum.  This is something that I had wanted to do even before I had plans to come to Japan.  Studio Ghibli is an animation studio in Tokyo and I've always liked their films.  This blog is named after one of them.

The museum was really interesting.  I'm usually not able to pay full attention to everything I pass by in a museum but here I was.  We were able to see some of the techniques used to make the films.  There were a couple rooms set up to show what Hayao Miyazaki's (the creator of the Ghibli films) work space looked like as well.  Everything was very detailed and there was so much to look at.  This was one of my favorite parts of the trip.  

Visitors aren't allowed to take pictures on the inside but here are some of the outside.

Totoro stained glass windows.

This is a statue of Laputa from Castle in the Sky.

Extras

This long row of shops sells lots of different types of souvenirs.

The week went by really fast and we were always doing something.  I wish I could recollect events with the same detail they happened in. I was able to do everything that I wanted to do on the trip and it was one of the best times I've ever had.  Saying goodbye to the other exchangers wasn't fun.  We're all from different parts of the world so for most of us, that was the last time seeing each other.  I made a point of taking a lot of pictures so for the most part, the trip is pretty well documented.  The hard part will be having no one to talk about it with.  On our last day, there was hopeful chatter of someday having a reunion.  Maybe in Europe.

I slept on the plane ride back home.  Nagasaki felt very small after coming back from Tokyo.  I suppose almost everywhere will.