The End

What is Japan?

Japan, in as few words as possible is a lot of respect, tradition, and elegance. I've covered the respect and the education a lot in the blogs, but I haven't covered much of the elegance and the tradition that is the history of Japan.

One of the main reasons for choosing Japan was their architecture, their shrines, their temples, and their gardens. Admittedly, we didn't go to as many traditional places as I would've liked. In the beginning, we decided to explore the more modern places in Tokyo like Akihabara, Shinjuku, and Shibuya.

These places are beautiful and contain so many fun activities. Shopping is huge and made a real dent in my wallet. Even though there a lot of tall buildings, beautiful lights, and a ton of shops, there still wasn't a lot to see for me here. After I ran out of free spending money, there wasn't really any point in going to the shopping districts like Shibuya or Shinjuku anymore. Sure they are pretty, but you see one beautiful street, the largest crosswalk, and the Hachico statue, there isn't much else there. This was the same with the other shopping districts like Harajuku, Omotosando (which we wouldn't be able to shop at unless we had a much larger living allowance, like a much larger living allowance). In the end, I really enjoyed the more rural life and the traditional spaces. I wish we had a chance to go to Kyoto, Nara, and Fuji. It gives me yet another reason to go back to Japan.

We did end up going to a few beautiful traditional places in Tokyo and little bit outside of Tokyo as well. In Shinjuku, there are a few places. There was one temple that was really close to our house and a bunch of restaurants that we liked. It was hidden by sky scrapers and concrete, but it was still small and beautiful.

This wasn't a place for sight seeing or tourism, but a more everyday shrine for the people in the area. Non the less, it was still elegant, colorful, and traditional in the middle of a concrete jungle. It was really nice to see what the average Japanese citizen would go to and not what a foreigner would go to for pictures.

The next place we went to I forget the name of... It was pretty though :) Here I was able to read up on the history of the gardens, the different buildings, and what they were used for. I learned about the sport of hawk hunting were nobles would send their hawks to hunt and see which game they would bring back.

We were also able to experience traditional matcha (green tea) and sweets they would serve during tea ceremony. The sweets were mochi filled with azuki (red bean) and traditionally made. At this place, we did not participate in the ceremony, but we were able to experience the atmosphere of the garden with traditional snacks. It was a little expensive when you think about a cup of tea and a bite size snack costing 760 yen, but it was worth it.

Another garden we went to was Yoyogi park with Meiji-jingu Shrine. This place was expansive. It was a large garden that we didn't finish exploring and in the center was this beautiful shrine was people to make wishes and offerings.

This park also had an Iris garden which was blooming during our stay, unfortunately we weren't able to see them due to our schedule and the rain, but the rest of the park was gorgeous. They had a collection of old sake barrels lining the walls and huge gates to ward of evil spirits. In side the shrine, where pictures weren't allowed, was an open area and a beautiful golden sculpture. Before, entering and praying you were supposed to watch your hands at the fountain. The colors of the shrine and the garden were very natural and neutral. There were no bright red gates that Japan is famous for around the world, but rather they were the the natural color of the wood. I wasn't able to figure out the specific reason for this, but I it was sure different and stuck with me.

In contract, there was Asakusa with the Sensoji temple. This is the largest temple in Tokyo and a major tourist site because of it. It is the bright and beautiful red that is all over Japan with gold accents. There are huge lanterns and huge gold statues in the shrine which we were also not allowed to take pictures of. On the outside, there were streets and streets of vendors and shops that sold items from souvenirs to food to traditional clothing and art work. It is the best place to find a yukata if you are looking and one of the other interns bought it for her birthday. Inside, there are places to buy charms, get fortunes, and cleanse using the incense.

As you can see, this place is always crowded. Many people still come here to make offerings and feel the traditional environment in the heart of Tokyo. One thing that stuck out to me in all these places so far is the sky scrapers. Even though what is right in front of you is beautiful, traditional, and detailed, if you look up just a little bit or the the left or the right you are reminded of Tokyo. I loved these places, but to truly escape the hustle and bustle of one of the biggest cities in the world, we needed to leave. We decided to go to Kamakura which is consider miniature Kyoto.

The day that we were able to go was raining and it was decently bad. Kamakura is around two hours away from where we were staying and we may or may not have gotten on the wrong train to get there... So after three hours we made it and it was worth it, even with the rain. The first thing I did was take everyone to an okonomiyaki restaurant right outside of Hase-dera temple. We were able to make it ourselves with the help of the very friendly owners. Then we explored the temple which was huge. It has a hydrangea garden that was in bloom, a huge golden statue of Buddha, and a historical museum of the temple.

Instead of sky scrapers and tall buildings, there were mountains that surrounded the area. In the higher points of the temple, you were able to see the ocean. Since it was raining, there wasn't as many people. There were so many different plants and flowers and different temples to explore. There is the famous giant Buddha statue called the Daibutsu which people are able to get inside of and the temple that surrounds it, but the area was closed due to the rain. It's a very beautiful area with many temples and I'll have to go back to see more. To end the day and to warm up I took everyone to an onsen (hot-spring) on the outskirts of Kamakura. It over looked the ocean and I had the bath mostly to myself spare a few older friends that were taking pictures with me. It was relaxing to be able to take in the fresh air, hear the ocean, and see the rain falling just out of reach. This was one of my favorite days and adventures that we took while in Japan.

There is elegance in Japan that somehow finds its way into almost everything. It is heavily present in the traditional culture and in the people. It's something that is very difficult to explain in words, but the the best way I can think of putting it is harmony with the Earth.

I had a great time in Japan! Tokyo was great because there was so many things to do like shopping, karaoke, and eating all different types of food. Outside of Tokyo, in the mountains and in the forests, was where I was able to find a break from the loud streets and find fresh air. I wasn't able to go everywhere that I wanted to go, but it gives me a reason to go back as soon as I can! Also to meet the friends I made there again.

-Caleb Hansen