Japan was awesome. I have been wanting to go to Japan for many years now and it did not disappoint. In such a short amount of time we went to so many interesting sights. From, exploring Akihabara, to visiting Hiroshima, to going to JICA, Japan was an extremely busy (but fun) part of the trip.
I am honestly not really sure what I could say my favorite part of going to Japan was, there was just so much that I enjoyed. However, I believe I would have to say my top three picks (in no particular order) are:
Sumo Wrestling:
Getting to go to the Sumo Tournament was a lot of fun. I honestly did not know quite what to expect when going because I did not really know anything about sumo. After Dr. Laurence told us that each match would last somewhere between two seconds to two minutes, I was trying to figure out how less then 15 matches were going to take two hours or so. I was worried that the time between matches were going to be really slow and the entire thing would become more boring. This was not the case though. There was way too much energy in the entire building. There were people screaming for the wrestler they wanted to win for each match and you could tell that everyone was enjoying themselves. With all of this energy, you could not help it but enjoy yourself. I would definitely go to another sumo tournament if given the chance.
Hiroshima:
This was probably one of the more humbling experiences of the trip. While you learn about the A-bomb in school while growing up, you really cannot comprehend just how damaging it was until you go to a place where it was dropped. The peace memorial and the A-bomb museum in Hiroshima really did make the whole thing more realistic. At a certain part of the museum, you could actually touch tiles that had bubbled just from the extreme heat of the bomb. At other parts, you could read the stories and see pictures from those that were affected either by the blast or by the radiation (most of who all would end up dying). This was one of the more intense experiences of the trip.
Shibuya:
There was quite a bit I enjoyed about Shibuya. First of all, I am not a big fan of cities or crowded areas, but I felt comfortable in Shibuya (actually I felt comfortable in pretty much all of Japan). The other main reason I enjoyed going to Shibuya was the group I was with. Out of the 16 people total (this includes the two professors) about ten of us went to get dinner and explore Shibuya (including a Dr. Laurence). I'm glad Dr. Laurence ended up coming with us because none of us could understand any of the Japanese writing or what was being said to us. Anyway, it was a lot of fun to walk across the world's busiest crosswalk and just see all the different restaurants and shops in Shibuya. All of us in the group that went had a fun time and it really helped us all become closer as well.
Overall, I loved Japan. I liked the food, the people, the hospitality, the sights, just everything. If there was one thing I would have to say it is that there needed to be more time in Japan. Moving to different cities and hotels as often as we did made it a bit hard to truly see and appreciate all the different areas we visited. Towards the end of the trip, once we were done with our daily activities, I was too tired to want to explore the area because I wanted to sleep. However, this was just a minor issue I had. Japan was everything I hoped it would be and more. I really hope I can go back to visit Japan again one day.
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