As promised, a few interesting facts about Universal Studios Japan:
1.) The most popular attractions, including the new Harry Potter-themed Hogwarts area of the park, require timed reservation tickets. That's right -- you wait in line for a spot to wait in line.
2.) Three of the "themed areas" of USJ are based on U.S. cities: New York, San Francisco, and Hollywood.
3.) The Back To The Future ride, long since removed from Universal Studios Florida, is still up and running here.
4.) By far the coolest part of the USJ experience (in my humble opinion) is the "Cool Japan" area, which hosted Japan-centric attractions. While the Attack on Titan limited time walkthrough event was definitely below expectations, the Evangelion 4D theatre presentation was by far the highlight of the trip. The seats in the 4D theatre would jump, shake, drop, and blast air or water depending on what was happening on screen.
Now, back to your regularly scheduled delegation event summary!
Yesterday, we took a trip to the ancient capital city of Japan, Nara, to see the world-famous Toudaiji temple -- a World Heritage Site housing one of the largest "Daibutsu" (large buddha) statues in Japan. Nara is the site of the well-known grass burning ceremony originating out of a territory feud between Toudaiji and its neighboring temple, Kofukuji, that took place many centuries ago. The park containing Toudaiji is also known for an abundance of deer.
The deer in Nara are sacred according to legend due to a visit from Takemikazuchi-no-mikoto (one of the four gods of Kasuga Shrine), and up until 1637, killing one of them was deemed a capital offense punishable by death. Nowadays, the deer are still a part of daily life in Nara, and it's not uncommon to see many groups of them interacting with the area's human visitors. Several stands scattered around Nara park sell special rice crackers called "shika senbei" that can be fed to the deer, and they know exactly when a visitor is about to buy them. The second a package of crackers changes hands, the deer will swarm around the (un)? lucky visitor, hoping for a chance at a treat. It can be a lot of fun to feed them, as long as you're careful. Interestingly enough, the deer have also been taught to bow their heads in exchange for food, which is ridiculously cute.
After stopping for lunch at another traditional Japanese restaurant and taking a break for a small amount of shopping around a small street in Nara, we returned to Izumi to try out a slightly more dynamic experience: learning about and playing traditional taiko drums at the Izumi Culture Center!
Given that my background with taiko is rather...limited, the experience was eye-opening for me. First, the students were shown a small video about how taiko drums are crafted. The base is made of polished wood, and the top of the drum is created using stretched cowskin. Traditional taiko are expensive, and our guide mentioned to me that one of the drums being played in the hall cost upwards of $30,000. Not bad for a traditional instrument. My host student from last year, Kaho Ueda, joined the group once again and participated in the music-making activities. She seemed to have a good time getting a chance to meet several more members of the delegation.
Finally, they put everyone in front of a drum and taught us a very simple song pattern. While the majority of the pattern was simple, there was one part towards the end that kept tripping everyone up (me included). After several rounds of practice, the professionals took over and we were given a full demonstration of the strength and grace of a powerful performance.
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