This post contains writing from Smithsonian student Will!
We have a Tokyo recap presented to us from Will! Here is what he has to say:
June 24
Landing in the airport, we found ourselves on the Tokyo Metro. Getting off at Nippori, we made our way to the hotel and dropped off our luggage before heading back to the metro to make our way towards dinner. The first dinner of the group was eventful! After sitting down, we ordered our food and got familiar with each other, laughing, talking, and joking until our food came. After we scarfed all our food down, we got our first orientation. We introduced ourselves to the entire group one-by-one and tried to remember everyone’s name. We discussed why we’re all here, what we’re excited for, and what we’ll be doing for the next 17 days!
June 25
We started today off with a bang! Literally, as we all took a Taiko drumming lesson. The room shook as we all played in sync, learning and playing famous Japanese chants with our drums and voices! Wasshoi! After an energetic and emotional performance by our Taiko instructor, we departed for Mejii Jingu, and explored the gorgeous imperial gardens and headed off for lunch. After filling our stomachs, we went to Ueno and had another round of orientation in a nice secluded part of Ueno Park. After definitely, 100%, finally learning everybody’s names, we all headed out to a museum. Splitting up into groups, everybody looked around a different area and subsequently left with new knowledge. Dinner was sushi! We all indulged ourselves with a pretty large platter, and got some bonus snacks as we stopped at 7/11 on the way back to the hotel. Kaimana and Marcus led us to some delicious ice cream as well.
June 26
After breakfast, everyone hustled onto the train and we found ourselves in the famous Tsukiji fish market! Exploring the market, everyone found themselves a good snack and some souvenirs before heading off to explore an old Japanese imperial palace. Once we finished walking around the palace and taking in all of its beauty, we then dove into the world of ramen! Splitting up into two groups, we all learned about the history and preparation of ramen, before heading downstairs and eating some ramen ourselves. One person from each group got to make their ramen from behind the counter! Pretty much everyone in the group agreed that it was the best ramen we’ve ever tasted. Once we were all ramened-out, we head towards Akihabara! In what we called “The Times Square of Japan,” we all split up as small groups among the lights and sounds. Meeting back up a little while later, we all discussed what we found in the markets.
June 27
Waking up for the last day of Toyko we headed out for a museum, and found ourselves learning about the wood-block printing technique and The Great Wave painting. After an interesting time in the museum, we found ourselves at a delicious udon restaurant. Once finished with the udon, we got to visit a professional manga artist. We were given a lesson on how to draw manga characters. Some of us drew some amazing characters! After a quick stop at 7/11, we all headed back on the metro and set off for Shibuya! In small groups, we all explored the famous Shibuya Scramble, making memories lasting a lifetime in the district before we all met up again for karaoke. We sang everything we wanted to, belting out My Way, dancing to Billie Jean, and all together singing Piano Man as our time in Tokyo came to an end.
