Just a quick note that we made it home on Sunday, April 18th. Our flights were long, but uneventful. In the next week we will be updating the blog with our final week's daily information and photos. Thanks for all your support while we were away!
Posted by Tara Weeman at 09:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Sunday is considered one of our "free" days. We were picked up around 10:00 by our guides for the day- last years's GSE Team to South Dakota, and several other past GSE members to other Rotary Districts. We started out at the100 yen store for some shopping. The 100 yen store is comparable to America's Dollar stores. We found plenty of items to bring home. We bought a variey of goods including chopsticks, paper goods, food, and socks. McDonald's was next on our agenda. Let me tell you something...we all missed the goodness of American fast food. My double cheeseburger was delicious!
After lunch we drove about 30 minutes more until we got to Mt. Tsukuba. We started out on the southern face where the Tsukuba-san-jinja shrine stands. After wandering through the shrine buildings we found the inclined railway to make our way to the peak of the 2,877 foot non-volclanic mountain. Mt. Tsukuba is famous for it's twin peaks that are said to be male and female. Legend has it that a deity came down from the heavens and asked two mountains for a place to stay the night. Mt Fuji refused and Mt. Tsukuba accepted. Mt. Fuji is said to be cold and barren while Mt. Tsukuba remains full of vegetation because it welcomed its guest graciously. We hiked from one peak to the other and took in the views of the area farmland and cities. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed the hike. We made our decent on an aerial tram.
The rest of the afternoon was spent at a local mall where we had the assistance of our hosts. We then had a nice meal at an Italian restaurant where we ate pizza and pasta. We finished our evening out iwith laundry at a local coin laundry. We were all glad that we had clean clothes once more.
Posted by Tara Weeman at 09:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Friday, April 9th started early for our team with a 3:00 am wake up time for our 3:45 departure. We headed by van to Tokyo to see the world famous Tsukiji Fish Market. It was a frantic scene when we arrived with carts, fish, and styrofoam boxes everywhere. One of theTokyo Ginza- New Rotary members got us special passes so we were able to see the tuna sell up close. Foreigners are not normally able to see the sale without these passes, so it was a special treat for us to be there. The tuna that was sold that day was caught around South Africa and Ireland in June ’09. It was considered fresh, although it was frozen, because the boats recently came to port from being out to sea for so long. The actual fish market building was said to be 26 hectares in sizes or around 65 acres. It was a wild place to be as carts were being driven everywhere and we had to watch every step we took so we didn’t step on the fish or get run over by someone passing by. After seeing the fish market we took a short walk to a famous fish market sushi restaurant. Yes, you heard me right…sushi for breakfast.
From the restaurant we headed over to the famous Tokyo Tower. We went straight to the top observation deck at 250 meters high to see the city view. Next we traveled to the Tokyo Ginza-New Rotary club meeting. We were treated to a curried rice lunch and listed to a speaker who has traveled to 43 countries on his bike to raise money for the needy. We weren’t able to understand everything, but we got the main points.
Kayla was able to make a brief tour of the Tokyo Junior Achievement office while the rest of us went on a tour at a glass museum. We came together as a group and took a guided walking tour of Toyko Midtown Building Complex. It was interesting to see what the inspiration was for the building and how they incorporated it into their design. For example, a wicker basket was incorporated into the side of the building making it slightly rounded with the look of a weave. Our guide spoke English well so the tour was a big hit with the group.
We concluded our Tokyo experience at the National Art Center for a delightful dinner at a very special French Restaurant called Brasserie Paul Bocuse Le Musee. The atmosphere was out of this world. The food was scrumptious and definitely hit the spot after a long day. Our trip back to Ryugasaki was long and we were ready for bed when we arrived at 9:00 pm.
On Saturday, April 10th we left Ryugasaki for the District Rotary Conference in Tsuchiura. We were met by the Japanese Rotary GSE Team that traveled to South Dakota in the summer ’09. They took us on a pleasant boat ride down a canal that was lined with sakura. Besides the beauty of the ride, we most enjoyed the local little girl who looked to be 3 yr old. She and Luke became attached and she was pointing out everything to him. We don’t know what language she was speaking, but we knew what she meant. She especially enjoyed the cameras. After the boat ride we were treated to a nice lunch of tempura. We took a short nap and got ready for our presentation.
Posted by Tara Weeman at 03:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
I was excited about our schedule for Wednesday, April 7th. Things got a bit jumbled due to weather, but we were still able to visit both Boso-No-Mura (a traditional Japanese village) and the National Museum of Japanese History.
Boso-No-Mura was an incredible experience. We saw the layout of a traditional Japanese farmer’s home as well as the traditional children’s toys. More impressive was that we witnessed a 90-year-old man hop onto bamboo stilts with more success than most of the younger legs of the group. We also saw a samurai home complete with traditional weapons including a katana (long sword), tenkan (short sword), and two different spears.
After a lunch surrounded by cherry blossom trees, we made our way to the Japanese History Museum. The museum covered everything from the origins of Japanese civilization to post WWII history. (Side note: The dioramas were amazing!) It was quite an experience to walk alongside Japanese natives while we perused pictures of American and Japanese soldiers, war scenes, and weaponry. It was not so long ago that our countries’ citizens were killing one another. It’s hard to believe it’s possible based on the incredible hospitality we’ve been shown during our stay.
Thursday started with a trip to the Ushika Great Buddha, which was the largest statue in the world at the time of construction. (It is now the third largest in the world, and still the largest bronze statue.) The statue was surrounded by a beautiful garden and large carp pond. The inside of the Buddha had a museum of the progression of construction as well as a gift shop. After exiting the Buddha we were happy to find an animal park of sorts—rabbits and squirrels that were tame enough to pet and a few peacocks, one of which was flashing his feathers the entire time we were there.
Afterwards we took a quick tour of a winery and then had one of our best meals yet since arriving—Japanese-style barbeque. Each table of four had its own gas burner and plates of vegetables, meats, and seafood to cook for ourselves. It was delicious!
After lunch we went to a training facility for racehorses. It was fun to see horses swimming as part of their training. They also had a water massage to loosen muscles after workouts. From there we visited Osugi Jinja, a Shinto shrine that provided safe travels to its worshipers. I was especially thankful that each of us received a charm for safe travels as it was only a few short minutes before our bus was nearly hit by a car after our driver pulled out too soon.
Thursday was an early night since we all had to take off from the hotel by 3:45 AM to make it to the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo for the Friday morning auction.
Posted by Luke Garry at 05:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
On Monday, April 5, we had a jam-packed day of interesting and educational visits. Our first stop was at Showa Glass, a company that collects and recycles glass. It was amazing to see the huge piles of glass broken up into small pieces. The company separates the glass into piles by color, and has multiple lines running each day to break down the glass into usable sized pieces called cullet. We were able to meet with two gentlemen from the company who said that using cullet (recycled glass) instead of sand to make glass bottles reduces energy usage by 75%. After learning about the importance of recycling and energy savings, we had a great lunch at the Golf Club Ryugasaki.
In the afternoon, we visited Kagami Crystal, which makes crystal glasses, vases, and other beautiful pieces. They have even been chosen to make crystal for the Imperial Palace. We were able to learn about the history of the company and we also got a tour of the facility. During the tour, we were able to see the entire process of how glass is made and the steps it goes through to reach completion. Watching the product come out of the fire and get blown into shape by an employee was a fun thing for all of us to see. It takes much skill to create each and every glass. We then met two of the engravers who spend hours creating intricate designs on each product. There are only six professional engravers at this level, and we were able to meet two of them and watch them work.
Before dinner, the guys were able to try on men’s traditional kimonos. If you ask either of them, they’ll say it was a samurai outfit. Truth is it wasn’t a samurai outfit. It was a kimono. Just so you know. For dinner that night, we had the great opportunity to have supper at a sumo wrestlers’ house, called Shikihide. We heard that traditionally, women are not allowed inside the house, so this was a great chance for all of us to get a glimpse of the place where the wrestlers live and train. We were able to watch a demonstration of how the wrestlers get their hair done by a professional hairstylist. Because I have the longest hair of anyone in the house, I was chosen next to get my hair done sumo-style. They use large amounts of wax and flour to get the hair shiny and smooth enough to pull off the style. It was really strange to have everyone in the entire place staring at me during the process, and it took nine washings to get all of the product out of my hair, which, to be honest, was not fun at all. Overall, it was a fun experience and being that women aren’t typically allowed in the home, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Tuesday gave us a chance to experience the town of Toride. We started the day at a high school that specialized in the arts. We were able to tour the school and see the facilities available for both music and art (painting, sculpture, and pottery). We presented to the Ryugasaki Rotary Club at Noon, and then visited both a diabetes clinic and Toride Kyodo General Hospital in the afternoon. It was interesting to hear about the facilities, procedures and frustrations of one of the senior level doctors at the hospital. We had a very tasty supper in Toride, and stopped by a 400-year old Sakura tree. Overall, it was a great way to start the week!
- Kayla Bickett
Posted by Tara Weeman at 05:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Week 2 is in the history books. Our travels take us to a smaller city of 80,000 called Ryugasaki. On Saturday, April 4, the Ryugasaki-chuo club picked us up in Mito. We stopped at what they said was the “best soba restaurant”. The restaurant was a 100 year old samurai housed complete with a thatched roof that has been converted into a quaint little restaurant on top of a hill among the bamboo shoots. Of course we enjoyed the soba noodles, but we also experienced the soba tea and soba ice cream.
From there we stopped at Naritasan Shinshoji Temple and Park. It was the most beautiful day that we’ve had while in Japan. The temperature was around 70 degrees and for the first time we got to see the sakura blossoming, so it made the Buddhist grounds even more enjoyable. There were many buildings to explore. The earliest was erected in 1710. Luke, Sandra, and I especially enjoyed the Great Pagoda of Peace that was built in 1984. World leaders’ messages for world peace have been placed in a time capsule under the Great Pagoda. A picture of the inside of the pagoda has been posted and to me it doesn’t shout “world peace”, but I know there is reasoning behind statues. The words that I have to describe the temple grounds are: peaceful, mystifying, spectacular!
After reaching Ryugasaki we checked into our hotel and then went off to supper. The club treated us to the “best steakhouse in town”. They were right…the steak hit the spot. Hitachi Beef is now officially my favorite Japanese food. I like my steak.
After the meal, I went to a local masseuse. This was a new type of massage to me. I was asked to lie on the floor fully dressed, then got pulled and pushed in about every direction. I guess it was a type of shiatsu massage used for athletes to relieve muscle tension. Price: 3,000 yen, but totally worth the experience. I was ready for day 2.
Easter! With the Christian population of Japan at near zero, we still managed to find a church service to attend. The church sanctuary was small, but served its purpose. It was filled with children from the attached school. We were told that this was not a normal thing for the children to be there. The service was all in Japanese, but we were able to throw in a few “Hallelujah’s” here and there. To me it was a very moving experience seeing all the kids singing and praising our Christian God in such a non-traditional Christian country. It also made me think of my family back home and brought a few tears to my eyes experiencing all that was around me. Their enthusiasm and smiles brightened our day.
After church we pulled up to a restaurant to eat expecting the normal Japanese feast of sushi or sashimi. To our surprise were having our Easter feast at Denny’s. All we could say is “you guys are AWESOME”. The best soba restaurant, the best steak house, and NOW DENNY’S!
Luke, Kayla, and Andrew headed back to the hotel while Sandra & I took a tour of a local strawberry and rice farm. Ibaraki prefecture is #2 in Agriculture production, so I wanted to take full advantage of any opportunity I had to see agriculture in action. This was the end of the strawberry season and the beginning of the rice season. What stuck out in my mind the most with the strawberries is how they level off the plants every year to kill them (in the greenhouse), then flood the area to kill any parasites and bacteria that still exist. Each year they must re-mound and re-plant. Strawberries only account for 20% of his income, but take the majority of his time. The rice planting is done western style with a small scale tractor and planter, then after emergence, the field is flooded. He also plants some of his fields with rice plants that have sprouted in plastic flats in a greenhouse. This requires a different machine, and looked like a lot more work to me. This particular farmer has 100 hectares of rice fields to plant.
Our final stop for the weekend was another local favorite restaurant. I didn’t know what could complete our weekend of fabulous food, but this restaurant hit the spot. We had tapinyaki. It had a pancake like shape, but was a mishmash of fish, pork, eggs, vegetables, etc… making for a scrumptious meal. Ryugasaki-chuo Rotary Club made our weekend more than memorable.
Posted by Tara Weeman at 05:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
On Friday, April 2, we all woke up to the hospitality of home stay families. Tara and I spent a great evening with the Enju family, and the night included four hours of karaoke, both at a local establishment and the Enjus' living room. For those of you who know me well, you will not be surprised that I brought Eminem to Japan through the power of karaoke. I always knew those rap skills would pay off someday... :) After a great breakfast, Mr. Enju drove Tara and I to the Minato residence, where Luke and Andrew spent the evening. We all were able to take some photos and give thanks for their warm welcome and comfortable place to sleep.
Our first official stop of the day was a Rotary club meeting, held in the Plaza Hotel Mito. The setting was beautiful, and the Rotary club members did not disappoint in the area of hospitality. We gave our presentation, and I was able to talk about the Minnesota Vikings a bit more, as one of the Rotarians, after noticing a photo in my presentation, asked about their season last year and if I would continue to be a fan even if they weren't very good next year. Though the language barrier it was a bit difficult to explain my loyalties to the team, but I think they all understood that I wasn't just a fair weather fan.
The afternoon was a flurry of activity, both at the set for the movie, "Sakura Gate", and at Aqua World. The movie set was a fun experience for all of us, and it was interesting to see how they used white sand to imitate snow in the scenes. We were impressed when we were on the set, but when we saw the photos, we were a bit surprised to notice that it really did look like snow in the background. We are hoping to find a way to see the movie once it comes out this summer, but it may be a bit tricky since it is scheduled to be released only in Japan. The next stop, Aqua World, was a great treat for all of us. We learned about the facility, and then were able to take a tour and view the dolphin and seal show that happens every afternoon. I don't want to name any names here, but two of our mail team members were quite excited about the dolphin show (see photos...).
That evening we were treated to a farewell party, and had dinner with many of the club members we met at the meeting earlier that day. We had a lot of fun conversation, and also got a chance to dance the "Electric Slide" for our hosts. We had a great time at dinner, and we were sad to know our time in Mito was just about over.
Posted by Kayla Bickett at 07:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
On Wednesday, March 31 we traveled to Kasama City, less than an hour drive from Mito. Our hosts for the day were members of the Kasama Rotary Club. Our first stop was at the Kasama Shrine where we were able to watch a Shinto worship service and a traditional Japanese dance. We were also asked to sign their "guest book" with a brush and ink. After the first couple team members signed the book we were told that we needed to take up an entire page, so the print size had to increase. The combination of our english printing and size differences made our page look kind of silly next to others' beautiful Japanese writing. The Kasama Shrine was a great experience. (See picture on Flickr site)
Our next stop was Craft Hills Kasama. Kasama City is famous for pottery, specifically the works by Matsui Kosei - a living national treasure in Japan. We saw and exhibition of Kosei's work as well as a shop filled with work by a number of artists. It was a great place to pick up some souvenirs to bring home. After lunch and a tour of two waste disposal facilities, we returned to Craft Hills Kasama to make our own pottery pieces. After firing they are going to ship all of our "artwork" back to us in the US. It was a very fun time and a good change of pace from our other activities thus far.
Thursday began by visiting Art Tower Mito, locate near the center of Mito City. Art Tower Mito is a complex of cultural facilities built in 1989 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the city of Mito. The most recognizable symbol of the ATM is the tower itself. The tower composed of triangular forms stands 100 meters tall with an observation area high within the structure. From the observation area, small circular windows frame views of the city in every direction. The tour of the ATM complex was one of my favorite visits to this point.
After a short tour of a Sake brewery and museum we attended a Rotary meeting for lunch. The meeting was a combination of two Rotary clubs, the Mito Higashi and the newly formed women's club, Mito Koubun. For the afternoon we visited the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC). Although the subject matter was over most of our heads, the tour was still very interesting. The scale of the facility and the complexity of the research was very impressive. We had a wonderful guide who did a great job explaining very advanced subjects in a simplified manner.
That night all members of the team stayed with host families. Luke and I stayed with the Minato family and were warmly greeted by their daughter and three of their grandchildren. We enjoyed a delicious meal and great conversation with the assistance of their daughter who spoke good English. After supper we were treated to a Samurai style tea ceremony in a small tea room within their house. It was a great experience and we had a really good time with the Minato's.
Posted by Andrew Eitreim at 07:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Our first full day in Mito began with a trip to the Hachiman Shrine. Although the main temple was under construction, it was here that we experienced our first Shinto service. After cleansing our hands and mouth with water outside, we entered the small building and were seated in the front row. As we were all staring around at the colorful painting and spiritual artifacts, a loud drum began beating behind us to begin the service. It was an interesting sight to witness despite the fact that I had no idea what was going on. Everyone was served a small taste of sake as we exited the shrine.
Outside the Hachiman Shrine was a 700+ year old ginko tree and stone statues of all the characters of the Zodiac. We were also shown a ancient-looking Samurai helmet (which can be viewed in our pictures). Of note is the lack of horn on the top of the helmet. We were told by the high priest of the shrine that the spike was used to commit seppuku.
Next we went to the Tokiwa Shrine and museum. This shrine housed the spirits of two great Japanese leaders of the Mito area--GikoTokugawa and Rekko Tokugawa, the 2nd and 9th Lords of the Mito clan. Giko was perhaps most well-known for starting "The Great History of Japan" and starting a special school for historical science. Rekko was known for buildling Kairakuen Park (one of the three major gardens in all of Japan) and for founding Koudoukan, the clan school that taught the arts of the pen and sword. We were lucky enough to see both of these men's samurai armor in the museum. An unexpected treat was the trained monkey that put on a show outside the shrine (which you can also see in our pictures as well).
Finally, we walked through Kairakuen Park. It was massive and gorgeous, despite the fact that we were just a few weeks late for the plum blossoms and a few weeks early for the cherry blossoms. The bamboo forest was sufficient for me!
Tuesday began with a visit to the office of Governor Hashimoto. It was a fun experience to give our presentation about ourselves, our state, and our sponsoring Rotary club to the leader of a foreign prefecture half a world away.
We made a brief stop at a local newspaper before heading to a nearby bank for a noon Rotary meeting. Fortunately we had some extra time and one of our Rotary hosts arranged for us to take a brief tour of the facility. It was hard for the nerd banker in me to contain my excitement as I tried to learn as much as possible about this foreign bank in the short amount of time we had. Although they answered several questions, I had plenty more at the ready. Also of note was the interest rate quote sheet for various loan types. The Japanese people have very favorable loan terms compared to the U.S., especially for home loans. However, as one of our hosts noted, this is due to the fact that Japan is in a deflationary environment and the real rate isn't as great as it looks on paper. (For those of you whose eyes just glazed over, I apologize. I couldn't resist.)
We spent our afternoon at the Lily Vale primary school, a private school with an amazing campus. The premisis was partially inspired by a Walt Disney theme as the school's founder is fond of both Walt Disney and his magical creations.
The day ended with dinner at an Italian restaurant. I won't speak for everyone, but it was a welcome change for me. After many days of raw fish and "what's under this soup lid today?", it was nice to be treated to delicious spaghetti, cooked meat, and...STEAK! I was plenty full after my first hunk of meat, but when one of our Rotary hosts plopped a second slab on my plate I didn't refuse...who knows when I'd get another meal like this!
(Disclaimer to our Japanese hosts: Much of your food is amazing and I've found many new foods that I enjoy quite a lot. But...we're from the midwest United States, the Land of Meat and Potatoes.)
Posted by Luke Garry at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
After a great week in Hitachi, we were picked up on Saturday by a group of Rotarians from Mito (the capital city of the Ibaraki Prefecture). En route to Mito, we took a detour and stopped by the Tenshin House. Tenshin was a famous artist and teacher in Japan. We saw the house and meditation space, located on cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, which we learned about the previous week at the Tenshin Museum. The view from the cliffs was amazing, and it is no wonder he was able to create such magnificent works of art from that location. See the photos for a glimpse of the view. We then had lunch and a bath at the Taikan-so Hotel. We had stopped at Taikan-so the previous week, but once again the food and view were spectacular, so we were all excited to be there again.
Before arriving in Mito, we stopped by a large store called “Joyful Honda”. The store had multiple levels and sold everything from construction materials to household goods to art supplies. It was a combination of Home Depot, PetSmart, Target, Walmart, Hobby Lobby, and many others. It was huge and fun to look around. One highlight for some of us was the discovery of Mountain Dew in their vending machine…
We arrived at our hotel in Mito around 5:00 PM, and had the rest of the evening free to explore the city. Our hotel, the Silver Inn, was located on a main street in the center of the city, close to the Mito Station and other sights. We found a great Italian restaurant near the hotel, and spent the rest of the evening walking down some of the main streets of Mito. It was nice to spend time with the other team members and get to relax and have fun.
On Sunday morning, we were picked up by Mr. Yatsu, who led our team to Tokyo for the day. We took the train, which took just over an hour to arrive in the city. Upon arrival, we took a cab to the Senso-Ji Shrine, one of the most popular Buddhist shrines in Tokyo. There are many small shops located along narrow streets leading up to the shrine. The street was very busy and full of people. The shrine was huge, and a great experience for all of us.
After a lunch of tempura and barbequed eel, we walked around the Ginza District, with many expensive shops. We then took a cab to the Imperial Palace East Garden, and spent some time walking around and enjoying the beautiful garden. We then visited Omotesando Hills, a shopping center designed by architect Tadao Ando. I was looking forward to seeing a building by Tadao Ando and was not disappointed. We then visited the Meiji Jingu Shrine, a 10-minute walk from Omotesando Hills.
Our last destination of the day was Roppongi Hills, and the "Tokyo View" observation area on the 52nd floor. From the observation area we were able to see the city stretched out below us. Even though it was foggy we could see for a great distance in every direction. We spent about an hour watching the sun set and the city light up. The night-time view of the enourmous city was spectacular.
The last stop of our busy day in Tokyo was to have dinner at a sumo wrestler restaurant. We had food made popular by sumo wrestlers looking to make weight, and there was an abundance of great food and conversation about our experiences that day. After dinner, we boarded the train back to Mito, and arrived back at our hotel late in the evening. It was a long day and amazing day in Tokyo!
Posted by Andrew Eitreim at 03:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
