How to Describe

Introduction

In this post I will do my best to accurately express how amazing an experience being in Japan has been so far. I genuinely never thought I would make it here, but I finally did and it still hasn’t become real to me. Every single day is filled with new experiences and has greatly broadened my appreciation for the extremely unique culture that is present in Japan. I am extremely grateful for my teacher, and mother-daughter duo guides who are allowing us to make the most out of this experience. Having someone that can explain parts of the culture you aren’t sure about is so useful and really enhances the entire experience. They have made this trip so amazing so far. 

Class

This first week has been full of new experiences and lots of learning. We had our first week of classes. The walk to class is a quick 20 minutes through a residential area. We eat breakfast in the morning at our hotel then a large group of us will walk to the classroom. Our classroom is a very nice and clean one. Class begins with us writing our daily reflection, then we quickly move into our language lessons. The final part of class is designated to research that Idemaru sensei picks out. It usually relates to an excursion or fieldwork we are going to do later in the day. 

Excursions

Speaking of excursions, I will now explain a bit about some of the excursions we have been on so far. The first day after we arrived in Kyoto, we went to the Kiyomizu temple. This is a beautiful temple that houses a lot of culture and religious importance. Although it was raining the whole time we were there, I was able to enjoy every aspect this temple had to offer. My favorite part was drinking from the fresh water spring that can give you longevity, luck in your love life, and luck in your studies. We explored for a while and even visited a shrine. A temple is a buddhist monument, but a shrine is for Shintoism, the ancient religion of Japan. Temples are built for Buddha and his other religious figures, but Shrines are built for the many gods of Japan. There are shrines for almost every ailment, it seems. The next excursion we had was to Nishiki market. Nishiki market is a very old fish market that has branched out to selling a large selection of foods and other souvenirs. The main focus is probably the fish though. I ate sea urchin and very fresh salmon sashimi. The next excursion we went on was one of slight difficulty. The shrine we visited is called Fushimi Inari, the home of over 1000 Torii gates. Torii gates are large red arches that you pass under, indicating that you have entered the realm of the gods. What made this excursion so hard was that it was a 40 minute hike up a hill to reach the top. It’s required that you hike many stairs, and it was a real workout. Even though I broke a sweat, I still enjoyed the beautiful scenery, especially the red/orange Torii that beautifully contrasted with the surrounding nature. Although those other excursions were amazing and a cool cultural experience, my favorite excursion was the day trip to Nara. Nara is known for their Buddhist symbolisms and deer! The deer were so much fun. You could buy rice crackers for a cheap 200 yen (about $1). When you hold up the cracker the deer bow before you give them the cracker. It was very very cute. They are so friendly and let you pet them. I couldn’t help but think how the deer in the US act compared to these deer. While in Nara we also were able to see a 50 foot tall Buddha statue. I couldn’t believe how big it was. We also saw more buddha and other buddhist figures at The Nara Buddhist Sculpture Hall. Learning about Buddhism was a really cool experience. I really enjoy expanding my knowledge about culture and religion. 

Food

I’ll keep this section short because I could probably talk about food for hours, but I knew the food here would be good, but it has seriously gone above and beyond my expectations. Not only is the food so cheap, the quality is really good. Of course my favorite food here has been sushi. It’s probably the food I’ve had the most here. The fish is so much cheaper here so I can afford to eat more of it! I had revolving sushi where you grab the plates from the conveyor belt, I’ve had traditional kakinoha sushi, a more traditional version of sushi, and just plain old sashimi from the grocery store near our hotel. Other than sushi, I’ve had gyudon (beef on rice), soba (buckwheat noodles), tofu, ramen and gyoza. My favorite restaurant I’ve been to, so far, is a Gyoza restaurant, where they only serve gyoza with side dishes. The food was good, but I really just enjoyed the overall vibe of the restaurant. 

Ryokan

My stay at the ryokan (traditional Japanese hotel) deserves a whole section to itself. This was a really amazing experience that I am so glad I could do. It was a quick 1 hour bus ride up into the mountains of Kyoto where you can find the most beautiful tree-covered scenic views. Dani and I arrived at 3:00 pm and walked up a hill to reach the ryokan. When we walked in we took off our shoes and checked in. We were walked to the dining area where we received welcome tea and a mochi treat. Then we got a tour of the facilities. We were shown where we would eat our meals, the public onsen (hot springs bath), where we could get complimentary coffee, tea, and beer, and finally, our room! I knew the room would be nice, but it severely exceeded my expectations. You walk into a small hall where you can leave your slippers, then you enter the Tatami room (Tatami mats are bamboo mats, used in many traditional and nice Japanese places. They can be very expensive at times). There was a small table in the center of the room and two chairs at the corner of the room overlooking the private garden. The private garden was a well tended one with many bushes, trees and stones. Once you turn the corner of the garden you can see the best part of the room. A private, open air, onsen with a view of mountains in the background. Sitting in the onsen after dinner felt so nice. We quickly settled into our room and put on the provided Yukata (Japanese formal wear. A little less formal than a Kimono, though). We went to a 7 course dinner, the main dish being hot pot, and enjoyed way too much food while drinking hot sake. When we returned to the room, the staff had made our futons (Japanese beds that are on the floor). We went to sleep and woke up early to enjoy as much as we could. We woke up to rain, and the garden looked and sounded beautiful. We put our Yukatas back on and headed to breakfast. We enjoyed a very traditional Japanese breakfast, including rice, fish, lots of vegetables, and miso soup. To be honest, though, I was still full from dinner. After breakfast we spent our last few hours in the onsen where we made friends with a Japanese tree frog. Check out was at 10:00 am, so we packed and walked to the front when we found that they had cleaned our shoes. The main aspect of Japanese ryokans is the quality of service, and the service definitely did not disappoint. Everyone was so kind and even though we didn’t speak very much Japanese, they made us feel comfortable and understood. I would recommend to anyone visiting Japan, that they stay in a Ryokan for at least one night.