So I have some things to write about, but I'm about to go to an onsen with my host family for a day so I won't get to fully write about them until later. But Happy New Year everyone!
28th
-nichome bar
29th
-museum
-omotesando
-shinjuku
-internet cafe
-nichome bar again

Breakkkk!

Lazy winter break time. Christmas day I just sat around in my pajamas and watched Japanese drama until my host parents got off work. It was great. Then we opened up presents my mom sent all of us. It was a lot of fun! Still didn't quite seem like Christmas day though..

Yesterday I went to Yokohama with Becky to meet a Japanese friend who lives there. Got some shopping done before we met up with her. Then the three of us went to a restaurant where you could eat on a bed. It was amazing. The food was so good and the bed was comfy. The restaurant was really nice too, had a great atmosphere. We stayed there for like two hours just talking, and eating. After that we went to Shinjuku to meet some of our friend's friends from London (our friend used to live in London when she was younger so she has a super cute English accent).

Today I met my friend Scarlet for lunch at Waseda. We got abura soba which is delicious. Then we went to a cafe close to campus called  Cat's Cradle. It was our first time going there. I really liked it! There were books everywhere that you could read and the cafe was just really cute. I definitely want to go there again! Now I'm just really tired though. The cold weather is getting to me...

Christmas Eve!~

Yesterday was Christmas Eve! And today is Christmas! Yay!~ But to be honest, I haven't really felt the "Christmas spirit" much here. Even with all the Christmas lights and incredibly weird English Christmas songs (I have never heard such weird Christmas songs in my life...so random), I definitely don't feel the same way I usually do around Christmas back home. I do miss the snow, making Christmas cookies, and decorating the tree. That being said, I did have a really nice Christmas Eve, and I look forward to opening presents with my host family tonight.

So anyway, yesterday I was craving pancakes; nothing else would satisfy me. Luckily, I knew of a pancake restaurant not too far from my apartment. I've never been to it before, but I've seen a super long line outside of the place so I knew it would be good. And since it was a Monday afternoon, I thought it would be pretty easy to get into. Boy was I wrong. At around 3:30 I went to go pick up my friend from Harajuku station so we could get pancakes for a late lunch. I immediately noticed an influx in couples the second I stepped outside. Which made sense since it was Christmas Eve. I was not anticipating, however, the mass amount of people that would be walking around Harajuku and Omotesando. Now Harajuku is a pretty popular place, and I've seen it get pretty crowded before. But I've never seen it this crowded. It was ridiculous. Usually it takes me five minutes or less to walk through Takeshita dori to get to the station. But since there were so many people, it took forever. Eventually I found my friend and we started off to the pancake place.

I was assuming that since it was like 4 in the afternoon, and since the restaurant was on a side street, that the pancake place would have space. Boy was I wrong again. There was a line but it wasn't that long so we decided to wait. We soon found out, however, that reservations had taken up most of the day, so the next available time to eat would be 7 at night. I was somewhat shocked that the place had that many reservations. Thankfully I knew of another pancake place which also had a line, but was not that crowded! We waited about 15 minutes or so, but it was well worth the wait (also I think they let us in a bit early since everyone got a ticket number and most people went to shop while they waited but we just stayed in the restaurant). I got a coconut latte and maple and nuts pancakes which came with delicious whipped cream and the best bacon I've ever had in my life. So. Good. But it was a bit too much sweetness overload, so I wasn't able to eat all of it.

So pretty!~

Seriously this was worth the overpriced price we payed.

After eating we decided to walk around the area we were in for a bit. I had never been to that part of Omotesando/Harajuku, so I was really glad we ended up there. There were so many awesome shops! I literally live in the best neighborhood. I'm so lucky/grateful. We found an amazing sticker shop which were all original designs from a guy there. I'm definitely going to go back and buy more stickers! After a bit of shopping, we decided to head to Tokyo Station where I had planned an event to see illuminations. I'm glad we left when we did. The main Omotesando street was ridiculously crowded. It reminded me of New Years instead of Christmas. I mean, I knew Christmas was a couple holiday, but no one warned us how crowded places would get! It made me realize I really do live in a huge metropolis...

So many people!!!

There were so many good stickers it was hard to pick one!

After getting out of the crazy crowd, we got to Tokyo Station and waited for everyone else (some fellow study abroad students and Japanese friends, 9 people in all) to show up. Sadly, the main illumination (a light show on the actually station building outside) was cancelled since the staff there was worried the crowd would get too big. But there was still some illuminations outside which we went to see. We all had a lot of fun! The illuminations were beautiful. There were a lot of couples there and people doing poses by the illuminations, so me and my one Japanese friend started to imitate their poses in our pictures. It was pretty hilarious. I'm glad people actually came to the event I planned (like two days before Christmas Eve haha). It's nice to have great friends here!~ After illuminations we went to get dinner and a couple of us went to karaoke afterwards (were we of course sang Christmas songs). Overall I had a wonderful Christmas Eve and made some great memories. I'm going to be so sad when I leave here...but for now I'll just enjoy my time here as much as possible (which I am)!~
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!~

Sort of like a candle!

Our two guys of the night being pretty cute.

One of my favorite photos of the night!

A huge Christmas tree!

My favorite illumination.

Karaoke!~

Winter Break Starts Now!

Yesterday my host family had a mini-Christmas party! It was pretty fun and I got to invite my friend Becky over which was nice. We were both still pretty exhausted from the club, but still had some good conversations with my host family and their friends. One topic that kept coming up was about boys and Christmas (HAHA). Like I've mentioned before Christmas is more of a couple holiday here, so they were pretty adamant about us experiencing Christmas Japan style. Too bad it's impossible to get a date by then, but I'm planning a trip to see more illumination (even though I've pretty much seen enough already) and invited a lot of people, so that's what I'll be doing my Christmas Eve! I also received a package from my mom the other day filled with Christmas gifts for my host family and me. I'm so excited to open gifts on Christmas!

Today I had one stupid Japanese class (I wish i was actually motivated to study Japanese more here...kinda ironic since I use it every day) and then went shopping for Christmas gifts for my host family. I got my host parents wine (I wanted to get more but honestly have no idea what they would like other than alcohol, coffee, and good food) and my host brother a little guitar with a character from a show he likes (I also wanted to get him something more exciting/educational, but everything I liked was super expensive). I wish I could feel more excited about break, but I actually am pretty busy with work and other plans. I really wanted to travel, but it doesn't look like that is going to work out...Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to Atsugi for a little Christmas gathering at my host mom's home town. Looking forward to having a completely lazy day!

Went clubbing last night with some friends from my program. The first half was a lot of fun. We were all dancing and eventually we got Japanese people to dance with us in a circle! We even made a new friend there, one of the DJs who is around our age! The second half was not as fun (me and my friend had too many drinks which were free since the DJs kept buying them for us...). But at least there was a couch area for us to rest on! Overall a fun night!~

Kyu Asakura House

On Friday December 14th, I went with two other members of the Exploring Tokyo class to visit the Kyu Asakura House in the Daikanyama area. We walked there from the JR Ebisu station. Like most neighborhoods in Tokyo, Ebisu seemed to have it's own unique feel. To me, Ebisu seemed calmer than other parts of Tokyo, but still had a big city feel. All sorts of people were walking around that afternoon. One person, Japanese, even asked to take a picture of us since there were doing a project where they were taking pictures of different people he encountered in the city.

Anyway, for only a 100 yen, we were able to explore the beautiful garden grounds and the inside of the Kyu Asakura House as well. Since we went late Friday afternoon, there were not too many other people there. We weren't the only ones visiting however. First we decided to walk around the garden area while it was still light outside. We walked through a small gate into a lush area. I was surprised at how many trees still had leaves changing color since a good amount of trees had already lost their leaves in Tokyo. It was so beautiful!  I was also struck by how the garden had different levels. According to the pamphlet, the garden "follows the cliff line in the design of its paths" which was really true. There was one path which lead around the main house, a path the lead around the middle area, and then another path which followed the slant of the ground further down. As the sun started to go down, the area became even more beautiful. I'm glad we went there when we did!

After exploring every path in the garden, we finally went inside the actual house. According to the Pamphlet, the Kyu Asakura House is an "Important Cultural Property" which means is has a "particular significance academically and in terms of cultural history." The house was apparently built by Torajiro Asakura, who was a Chairman of Tokyo's Preferential Assembly and served in the Shibuya City assembly as well, in 1919, during the Taisho era. The house also survived the Great Kanto Earthquake as well as the bombings during WWII. Therefore, the house preserves the sense of the Taisho era.

The house itself was very large. There were two stories and many rooms. When we first walked in there was a western styled room on the right called yohma which was used for visitors and as the butler's office. To the left there was the drawing room, ohsetsuma, where guests would be greeted. Straight from the entrance was the diichi kaigishitsu or the conference room. The conference room was pretty large; we actually thought it could have been used to hold small parties in! There was also a beautiful wall with glass doors that looked out upon the garden which was beautiful. From there we walked down a small wooden hallway, which had views of the inner garden which is surrounded by the house, and went to the suginoma,or the "cedar rooms" which were designed in the sukiya-zashi style to show off cedar grain and texture. According to the pamphlet, "Torajiro would use this area to meet his private guests coming to make petitions." Other rooms were also located on the first floor, such as the storeroom, which we were not allowed access to. There was also an upstairs area which held some Japanese styled rooms with tatami mats (as the cedar and drawing room also had), but it was not as big as the first floor.

Overall, I thought the house was beautiful. These types of houses definitely don't seem to be common now. It was pretty big and had many rooms. I can't imagine what it would be like to live there. It was also interesting to see how Western influences had started to appear in houses of this time (such as the Western styled room and the garage area outside). I'm glad I was able to go to this house!

Finished a presentation and final exam today!
Also went to see Christmas illuminations with Niji! My feet froze since it was so cold though! >_<
But the illuminations were really pretty, and I made some new friends!~

Tomorrow I'm going to a club! And Friday my host family is having a Christmas party! And Saturday I'm going to an aquarium! And Sunday I think I'm going to my host mom's parent's house! Busy, busy, busy!~

First Package!

By Thursday night I will be done with work (for a while)!!!
I have a presentation tomorrow that I haven't really prepared for at all. Time to work on that.

But anyway, today I received my first package in the mail! So exciting! Thanks so much Tommy!~

My (somewhat drunk) host dad holding what I got!

Once I'm Not So Busy I'll Write Real Posts Again

Saw The Hobbit today! The 3d kinda ruined it for me, but it was still pretty good. I mean, I don't think it's anywhere on the level of LOTR, but it was enjoyable. And I got some homework done today too! Still a lot to go!~

Friday I went to this pretty cool house for my Exploring Tokyo class. We had to go on our own, so I went with two of my friends who are also in the class/my abroad program. I'll post a real post about it later! I also got to check out some Christmas illuminations with some of my Niji friends! We went to Omotesando (which is close to where I live), but there actually weren't that many illuminations there. It was still a lot of fun though!

Yesterday we had Secret Santa for my program. I got a Disney shot glass, snacks, and bubbles! It was pretty exciting to open up presents. I'm missing Christmas cookies a bit, but I got the recipe from my mom so I'm going to try and make them over winter break!
Yesterday was also the Niji Christmas party! 170 people somehow managed to fit into one pretty small bar. Everyone dressed up really nice and there was music, drinks, bingo, and some food. It was sort of hard to talk to people, since so many people were there and the music was loud, but it was still a lot of fun. And I went to the after drinking party where I got to talk to some members I hadn't talked to a lot in the past. I was kinda tired/tipsy, so the whole night is one big mesh of events now, but I had a good time! Haha.

Yasukuni Shrine

On December 13th, 2012, we visited the Yasukuni Shrine and the Yushukan museum there. I was first surprised by how big, and beautiful the shrine itself is. First there was the Daiichi Tori (the fist shrine gate) and a pathway filled with yellow ginkgo trees. There was also a second Daiichi Tori which was the entrance to the actual shrine where many cherry trees were spread throughout the grounds.
Before checking out the main shrine area, we went to the Yushukan, a museum which according to Jeff Kingston "symbolizes the nexus of imperial expansion, militarism, and the cult of the emperor during the war years, ensuring that it remains a contemporary battleground over history" (Kingston 185). The Yushukan has been very controversial over the years, especially due to it's "enshrinement of 14 Class-A war criminals" (188). All the soldiers and certain citizens who are enshrined there (more than 2,466,000), were turned into kami or "gods." Therefore the enshrinement of war criminals as "gods" who fought for their country upsets many people. 

I had heard a little bit about the shrine and museum before coming to Japan, but actually seeing the place was quite an interesting experience. The actual museum was pretty modern. When I had read or heard about the place before, I had pictured a smaller, dimly lit wooden building with exhibits all in Japanese. But the museum was bright, had multiple English translations (though not everything was translated), and has about 19 exhibition rooms. The first few rooms from "The Spirit of the Samurai" up until "The Satsuma Rebellion" seemed somewhat normal. Not too incredibly informative, but there didn't seem to be too much that was controversial (that I noticed).

Once I got to the room on the Sino-Japanese War, and from there on, the phrasing started to become more...interesting. I wish I could have taken pictures of all the "interesting" (or inaccurate phrasing I saw there, pictures were not allowed, since I had the greatest interest in this area, and the WWII area. There was one sign which talked about the "Korean Problem" and how Japan was trying to help Korea and wanted it to be free (but a later sign states how Korea was later annexed by Japan). There was also an interesting section which stated that other countries were inspired by Japan's time in Korea to fight for their own independence (which is ironic since Japan had conquered/tried to acquire some of those countries). In the Sino-Japanese war section, one sign made sure to point out how soldiers took "great care" in order to to harm civilians or loot the area in the Chinese city they were in...In the WWII rooms (which is called The Greater East Asia War in the museum), I found more controversial phrasings. One section mentioned how Roosevelt "went behind Japan's back" and gave Russia the islands which is why there is still problems with who owns those islands today. The list of sentences like this could go on and on. One section of the museum that really struck me were the exhibit rooms where pictures and items of the "Noble Spirits" where shown (somehow I ended up not seeing the war criminals here just because the museum was about to close). Seeing the pictures and letters from so many soldiers who died made me feel something that is hard to explain. I guess it just made me really sad. State Shintoism at the time seemed really, really scary to me. It's hard to believe that people felt so strongly about dying for the emperor. It's also scary to see how intense and disciplined Japanese militarism is in some ways since it seemed so focused on honoring the emperor and the country at the time.

In my opinion this museum shows a very nationalistic view of the war. The exhibits there shows a very one sided view of history as well, and makes Japan seem like victim in almost all situations and that it was never at fault. As Kingston states, the museum "makes no mention of Japanese atrocities or its victims" (187). The massacre and rape at Nanjing and the infamous Unit 731 are not mentioned at all; "Japanese suffering is the only suffering on display" (188). To me it seems like the very nationalist people almost realize how horrible some things were and don't want to admit it so instead they completely deny it. I can understand the desire to acknowledge and pay respects for soldiers who died for you country; I think people should be thankful for such a thing. Yet at the same time denying or hiding brutal facts of history sullies the respectability and actions of these soldiers. Horrible actions were committed on all sides of during the the second Sino-Japanese war, WWII, as well as other wars/conflicts in the past. Hiding those actions does a disservice, in my opinion, since it tries to turn the situation and the soldiers who fought there into something they were not. And war crimes should not be praised or honored. If the government just came out and apologized, and therefore at the same time recognizing the horrible actions that were permitted at the time, I think the relationships between Japan and other countries would be better. Since the government has never really properly done this, they cannot move beyond these past stains or rebuild relationships. It just seems ridiculous to me to not acknowledge things that so obviously happened in the past. I guess overall it's a difficult situation. There are many views on the Yasukuni shrine in Japan and throughout the world.

As of now I'm still not sure how I feel about going to Yasukuni. A part of me wants to go back to the museum and spend more time reading all of the signs there, but a part of me never wants to go there again. Although it's a beautiful place, when I think of all the atrocities during wartime that are denied or never mentioned,it  makes me sad and angry that such a place exists.

3 months!

Got up. Skyped with parents.
Went to teach English-was a lot of fun. Was given a really pretty bracelet!
Went to Yasukuni Shrine for class. Very...interesting. Not sure how I feel about the whole thing yet.
Went to a cafe after that-ate so much bread.
Meet host mom, her friend, and a guy from Hong Kong that studied abroad here at stayed at that friend's house, and all went out to Karaoke/dinner. A lot of fun!
Tired now. Real post later!~

Oh, and today was the three month anniversary of coming to Japan!!!!

One presentation down! Two more to go!

Tonight I got to eat dinner with one of my Japanese friends I haven't seen in a while. She was one of the helpers we had during orientation from Niji (she's also the one who had studied abroad in New Buffalo), and we had planned to go to this umeshu (plum wine) bar together way back then. And today we finally were able to go! We had both been/both are pretty busy recently, so we hadn't gotten a good chance to sit down and talk. So I was really excited to go out to eat/drink with her. The restaurant was awesome. There was literally a wall filled with umeshu bottle. For about 1000 yen, you could get as much as you wanted (self served) for about 100 minutes. We were able to try a lot! And the food was really good too! Steamed(?) vegetables and some meat as well. We also got to talk a lot and catch up on each others lives (all in Japanese!). After we were done there we walked to an area called Kagurazaka (I think) which has a lot of delicious looking restaurants and cafes! I'm so glad we were able to hang out tonight!

This next week is going to be crazy, but I'll do my best!~

Beautiful wall of umeshu

I've been busybusybusybusy.
Trying to go over a presentation I have tomorrow. I'm a bit worried about it :(
But I'm going to an umeshu bar tomorrow with one of my Japanese friends, so I'm looking forward to that!

Yesterday I probably spent too much money on clothes.
I also probably spent too much money on shoes. But I found two pairs that fit me! They have slight heels though, so my feet might be in pain for a while. But literally almost all of the women wear heels here, so I thought I'd join in on the party.

Today I had lunch with another Japanese friend (from Niji)! I'm excited to become better friends with people here! I didn't really do much the rest of the day except for work on some presentations...I should have worked on this all earlier, especially since I have plans from tomorrow till Sunday to hang out with people....haha whoops. But my goal here is to experience as much as possible, so for now I'll continue to pretend I don't have as much work as I actually do!~

Shimbashi and Ginza!

On November 29th, 2012, we went to The Shimbashi and Ginza area! Unfortunately we were not able to go inside the reconstruction of the Old Shimabshi Station, which is where Japan's first railway was opened in 1872. It's amazing to see how much the transit system in Tokyo has developed since that first train, and how much the city depends and has been shaped by the trains and subways here. In "Tokyo in Transit," the author states that "Tokyo vehicles are social and cultural spaces different from the New York subway, London Tube, Paris Metro, Mumbai railway, and other metropolitan commuter networks" (Freedman 2).
Never having been to the stations Freedman mentions, I can't personally confirm whether his statement is correct or not. But the stations which their multiple floors filled with stores of any kind, and the way people commute everyday without seeming to notice anyone else around them, do seem unique to me. Freedman also states "behaviors and interactions not possible elsewhere occur inside passenger cars and in stations" (2). People use these trains and stations to commute, to go shopping, and to meet friends at. A major station hubs such as Shinjuku, it is not even necessary to leave the station if you want to eat, try on clothes, or buy omiyage. It always surprises me how crowded these areas are as well.

Since we weren't able to visit the museum in the Old Shimabshi Sation, we next went to the Panasonic Living Center, a showroom of different styles of furniture and other things you could use in your home. This showroom definitely intrigued me. Essentially I didn't really understand the purpose of such a showroom. Who was the showroom made for? It seemed like there were business people on tours, so I guess the showroom is an area to show off new products to certain clients? There were also some non-business looking people there as well, who must have been looking at products to buy (I'm assuming you can buy the products you see at the showroom, but it could also just strictly be a showroom).
A lot of the styles I saw there seemed more Western; I could imagine a lot of those rooms being in a Western magazine about interior design, etc. There was some mixing of Western and Japanese culture, however, such as a tatami room with a kotatsu, as well as the traditional bathing area where the shower is outside of the bathtub. Most of the items there seemed high tech. For example there were multiple examples of toilets with various (and probably not needed) functions. There was also an area that showed some sort of machine which changed the water you used to bathe in (to make the water better for your skin possibly?).
One thing that surprised me while I was there was the size of the rooms and the furniture. True, a lot of the items there were made to maximize the use of space (such as a chair with storage under it, etc.), but a lot of the furniture seemed to be on the bigger size for Tokyo living. Most of the living spaces in Tokyo are incredibly small, and a large amount of people live by themselves, so the items shown in this showroom are most likely not made for those people. These rooms seemed to represent an "ideal" or "dream" home. Many of the items seemed very expensive as well, so I do not think most typical Tokyo families would own most of the things shown in the Panasonic showroom.

The host family I am living with now is a bit more on the affluent side, so some of the products in the showroom could be owned by my family. My host family does have a decent sized table and dinning area, but the kitchen here is no where as big as some of the kitchens at the showroom. The bathroom here is also a decent size, but many of the bathtubs at the showroom were bigger. Here's a picture of the layout of the mansion room I live in (not to scale).

After the showroom we walked around past the Nippon Television Tower and headed for the Caretta Shiodome building where we stopped at the ADMT Advertising museum which showed the progression of advertising in Japan over the years. The area around the Shiodome building was so quite and empty at the time we were there. It was quite unlike other sections of Tokyo which are constantly bustling with activity. Since the area seems to be mainly a business section, most people must have still been working at that time. After 5pm, however, it was pretty crowded in certain areas, especially by the lights. One of our group members stayed at a hotel in the area before and said there was a great view of the city, so we went to that hotel to see the view. It really was amazing, the city looks so different from above.

When we were done at the advertising museum, we saw the Caretta Shiodome lights for Christmas. It was very crowded there! I saw the crowd before the lights, so I was expecting something amazing, but the lights seemed pretty normal; there was nothing too exciting about them, although they were pretty. Christmas is definitely a couple holiday here. Throughout Tokyo there are multiple illumination spots, and so far every illumination place I've been to has had something aimed at couples and there were many couples there. At Shiodome there was a lighted tree that couples could stand under and have their picture taken. I also recently went to an illumination area at Shinjuku, and there was also a machine where couples could put there hands on and then a colored light would appear which had a certain meaning (When I did it with one of my friends we got red which stood for courage). I think it's interesting to note that in the states lights are usually a residential experience, towns usually don't have too many big illuminations, but here the city has multiple illuminations throughout the month.

From the Shiodome area w walked to Ginza, a popular shopping center in Tokyo. The main street of Ginza is filled with many brand shops, although there are also more typical shops such as UniQlo, Forever 21, Abercrombie and Fitch, etc., as well. The area was a bit crowded with people shopping or just taking in the sights. There are not as many department stores in this area either. I've gotten the impression from Ginza that the area is a bit more high class than some other popular shopping areas in Tokyo such as Harajuku. It seems to be a richer area, and definitely has different feeling from Shinjuku or Shibuya where the streets wind and curve. The Ginza street, Chuo Dori, was straight and big (I'd like to go sometime on a Sunday when the main street is closed off from traffic so pedestrians can walk there). During the Taisho era, the mobo and mogo "'Modern Boy' and 'Modern Girl'" could be found in Ginza since it was the main fashion center at the time (Mansfield 164-165). According to Mansfield, Ginza used to be a popular cafe area back then. While I was walking down Ginza I did not happen to notice any cafes, but I could have just not seen them. It also seems that while Ginza is still a popular shopping area, other places such as Omotesando and Harajuku have become more popular and have taken over as the main fashion centers.