After touching down in Narita on Wednesday afternoon, we successfully navigated the seas of humanity and transferred trains in both Tokyo and Shin Osaka, finally ending up in Izumi around 10PM JST. Though tired, everyone was handed off successfully to their host families and promptly went to sleep. Though jet lag is common when traveling to Japan thanks to the 13-hour time difference, for some reason most of the students didn't seem to be too bothered by it.
The first day of delegation activities consisted of two tours of different famous temples in the Kyoto area: Kinkakuji (also known as the Golden Pavilion) and Tenryuji. We were accompanied by two officials from the IIEA along with a volunteer interpreter and guide, Yayoi, who came to Bloomington for the Izumi mayoral delegation several years ago.
Kinkakuji was originally built as a villa for a powerful statesman before being purchased by the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu in 1397. After Yoshimitsu's death, the site was converted into a Zen temple by his son. Though original construction remained intact up until 1950, the temple was burnt down by a novice monk and had to be rebuilt.
Surrounded by a large pond and several beautiful gardens, Kinkakuji couldn't serve as a better introduction to Japanese Zen temples. However, its fame also attracts visitors far and wide, so the site was exceptionally crowded during our visit.
While taking a group picture near the temple, we were approached by a group of students from Tokyo currently on a school trip. One of their assignments while visiting Kinkakuji consisted of asking foreign visitors a few questions about their experiences in Japan (allowing them to practice their English skills). Our delegation members happily obliged.
After Kinkakuji, we took a brief stop for lunch at Arashiyama, a famous restaurant near a major shopping area containing our next stop. There, many students were exposed to "nabe", a Japanese hot pot dish, for the first time. Each seat was decked out with a burner heating up a large portion of broth, tofu, enoki mushrooms, and cabbage. Next to each burner was a small portion of raw pork, pork meatballs, and a single large scallop, a heavy plastic container inside of which was two fish-based appetizer dishes and some tsukemono (pickled vegetables), and a small bowl of rice. The nabe is prepared by adding the raw ingredients to the boiling broth and waiting a few minutes for the proteins to cook. Though some of the students were a bit intimidated by the presence of raw ingredients, Yayoi did a wonderful job in explaining the preparation procedure for the dish and everyone left the restaurant with their bellies full of nabe goodness.
Finally, we headed for Tenryuji, a temple founded in 1339 to venerate Gautama Buddha. Construction was completed in 1345. Currently serving as a temple related to both the Ashikaga family (founders of the temple) as well as Emperor Go-Daigo, the site is a registered UNESCO World Heritage Site. Though we did not enter the temple itself, we did get to explore its many gardens and a particularly awe-inspiring bamboo forest road.
We also got a chance to meet up with Kaho Ueda, one of the Izumi delegates from the trip last year. As my wife and I served as Kaho's host family last year, it was great to see her again. =) I found out that several other Izumi delegates will be accompanying us on various legs of our journey throughout the Kansai area. The students will certainly have lots of opportunities to interact with their counterparts in Japan!
Wrapping up the tour of Kyoto, we let the students explore the shopping centers around Tenryuji, and then headed back to Izumi around 4PM. While the day was long, everyone seemed to have a great time.
Interesting Factoid of the Day:
During our Kyoto travels, we passed nearby the company headquarters for Nintendo. Though visiting that building is certainly on my personal bucket list, it wasn't in the cards for this particular trip. =)
Nintendo actually began its existence as a hanafuda (Japanese playing card) company in 1889 and remained so up until the 1950s when it began to branch out into other areas, eventually becoming the name that defined gaming in the late 1980s with the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, and then again in the mid 2000s with the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.
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