We've been to several cities in the
past few days. Our 7-day Japan Rail pass has taken us all over the
main island of Japan, from Tokyo to Hiroshima and back up to Gifu.
The public transportation infrastructure is amazing in this country –
the system of trains, high speed rails, and subways will get you
anywhere you want to go in Japan. We just flash our rail pass to a
guard and soon we're going 160 mph on the “bullet” train!
Our first visit outside of Tokyo was
Kamakura, the former capital of Japan (for only about a century) beginning
in 1192. The older, small town feel of Kamakura, with its many
temples and shrines, was an excellent contrast to the big, busy city
of Tokyo.
Our visit to the Kamakura Buddha, the second largest buddha
statue in Japan, began our long on-foot tour of the beautiful town
and its historical landmarks. The Buddha was glorious on this perfect
day, slightly smiling against the blue sky as if posing for our
pictures. For just 10 yen, you can go inside the hollow statue and
see how it was made. Over 7 centuries ago, this statue was built
piece by piece, and it was later reinforced to protect it against
earthquakes. As my new friend, Li Chen, would say:
significant!
The next day, we were in Hiroshima and
visited its memorial and museum. It truly was a moving and emotional
experience to see how this city has overcome the atomic bomb that was
dropped here in 1945. As we approached the “A-bomb dome”, which
is a devastated building that was preserved to show the effects of
the bomb, we could hear a choir beautifully singing songs across the
river. The museum was especially sad, with burnt clothes of the victims, many of them children. After walking through it, I signed an anti-nuke petition at the exit.
It was another bright and sunny day in Japan, which added to
the feeling of hope that Hiroshima somehow conveys despite its dark
past. The grass is green, despite the post-war estimates that
said grass would not grow here for 100 years. A plaque in front of
the beautiful memorial says “For we shall not repeat the evil”,
and after connecting with the victims of this atomic bombing, some of which still suffering today, I truly
hope that something like this does not happen again.
We spent the night in Osaka before
traveling to Nagoya in the morning to visit Nagoya University. During
the campus tour, we saw many impressive buildings with modern
architecture. We learned that this university has 3 alumni that
received the Nobel prize – all in the last 14 years! The man who
invented the LED also attended this university. We met some very
smart students studying education and psychology, and I was asking
them who would be the next to receive a Nobel prize.
Here, my
Japanese guide book came in handy! Although most of the students
could speak good English, I had fun communicating in Japanese. I
learned the phrase “sasayaka na mono desu ga”, which means “This is a small present for you”, as we passed out University of Michigan
pens, sticky notes, and cell phone stands that we had. They loved the
gifts and I made several new friends.
We introduced ourselves and talked
about college life. They were very interested in our stories,
although I discovered that our lives didn't seem all that different!
I talked about the many side jobs I had while going to school, for
not all college students have part time jobs in Japan. The
conversation turned to our favorite TV shows and movies, and I met a
fellow Lost fan. As we went out to dinner at one of the best
restaurants we've been to yet, the movie conversation continued. The girl we sat with loved movies directed by Sofia Coppola and Wes Anderson, which I have yet to see - such as "Lost in Translation"! The
meal was delicious, as the courses were seemingly endless. As our new
friend and “food guide” told us, “food is entertaining!”
Chris reflecting at Nagoya University
No comments:
Post a Comment