Yokohama: Chinatown and Yamashita Park

On Thursday I went to the Chinatown in Yokohama, which is the largest Chinatown in Asia! There was also a really nice park nearby, where I went after lunch.

UN University Farmer's Market

Yesterday I went to a farmer's market in Aoyama, right in front of United Nations University. It may have been just a typical farmer's market, but for me it was like paradise because there aren't many places like this is Japan.

Fail

At the beginning of the week I went to Ueno to check out the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum.

Waseda-Keio Baseball Game

Last weekend I went to the annual baseball game between Waseda and Keio. Keio is Waseda's rival, so there were a ton of people at the game and everyone was really excited. 

Random Times in Japan

Here is a blog post of pictures from throughout my trip that either didn't make the cut for other blog posts or were just completely random.

Fuji Shibazakura Festival

I went down to Kawaguchi near Mount Fuji last Sunday to check out the Shibazakura Festival. In English, shibazakura is "moss phlox," which I'm not sure if I've ever seen before, but they were basically just bright pink flowers landscaped into cool designs.

Hiking at Takamizu-sanzan

Last Sunday I went hiking at Takamizu-sanzan, which means "The Three Mountains of Takamizu." I went with a club called Yama no Kai (山の会). Apparently this hike was "easy" to "moderate," because according to the leader of the club, "hard" hikes are ones where you die if you fall. 

Golden Week in Okinawa: Part Four

Here is a view from up the mountain on Zamami. We rented bikes one day and rode up the mountain (I admit, I had to walk next to my bike sometimes) to the highest point, which has a lookout.

Golden Week in Okinawa: Part Three

After two days in Naha we took a ferry to Zamami Island and stayed there for 5 days. This is a picture of one of the many islands I saw from the ferry. I got a sunburn after the first day (of course) and the island was so small you could walk to all the important places in under 20 minutes, but it was fun.

Golden Week in Okinawa: Part Two

After we walked along Kokusai Dori and through Heiwa Dori, we found the Makishi Fish Market. The fish there were huge and there were so many types of fish I had never seen before. This lobster was freaking everyone out because it was kind of crawling out of the tank and the fish guy had to keep pushing it back in.

Golden Week in Okinawa: Part One

I'm back from Okinawa! And since I finally did my laundry (whoops), I decided that this would be a perfect time to post some of my pictures. Like my Nikko series, the Okinawa pictures will be broken up into parts. Part One will cover the pictures I took around Kokusai Dori in Naha, which is the biggest city in Okinawa.

Hiking Mount Takao

My dorm's RA organized a trip to hike Mount Takao last Sunday. Mount Takao is well-known as an easy hike for beginners because almost the entire thing is paved. On clear days, you are supposed to be able to see Mount Fuji from the top. Spoiler alert: I didn't see Mount Fuji.

Odaiba

On Saturday I took the train to Odaiba after Japanese class for a day trip with a few friends. Odaiba is an artificial island originally built for defensive purposes. Now it's known for being one of two urban beaches in Tokyo, as well as for a few other attractions.

Day Trip to Nikko: Part Three

After we were done at Toshugu Shrine, we took a bus up the mountain to Chuzenji, which is famous for it's lake and waterfall.

Day Trip to Nikko: Part Two

I spent the first part of Thursday walking around the shrines of Nikko!

Day Trip to Nikko: Part One

I went on a day trip this week to Nikko, a little town about a 2 hour train ride away from Tokyo. It's a popular tourist destination because there are a number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Toshogu Shrine, nearby. I'm going to split my pictures from this trip into three blog posts, so look out for the other two in the next few days.

Dinner with Sensei

Sensei was in Tokyo a few days ago with her high school Japanese students, so we met up for dinner in Shinagawa.

Kabuki-cho and Golden Gai at Night

I went out to Shinjuku tonight after class to eat dinner with some friends and to get into some trouble in Kabuki-cho, the red-light district. Keep reading if you like pop culture and boob-robots.

Class Schedule and Announcement

A reminder that I actually do have to do some work while I'm here.

iHerb.com

Yesterday I received a package from iherb.com, an online natural foods store.

Asakusa and Sumida River

On Tuesday I went to Asakusa, home to Tokyo's famous Senso-ji Temple (浅草寺). It's an extremely popular tourist destination because it's Tokyo's oldest Buddhist temple. And it's huge.

Kanamara Matsuri

Today we went to Kawasaki for Kanamara Matsuri, or the "Festival of the Steel Phallus." So don't continue reading this post if you are offended by giant penis statues.

Ohanami in Yoyogi Park and Meiji Jingu Shrine

After the opening ceremony, a big group of us went to Yoyogi Park to do ohanami (花見) the proper way. The proper way involves picnics and hanging out and day drinking.

SILS Opening Ceremony and Activities Fair

 

Yesterday was the opening ceremony for the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University. It was held in Okuma Auditorium, named after Waseda's founder. 

Cherry Blossoms in Ueno Park

Today the weather was really nice (though ridiculously windy at times), so we decided to go to Ueno Park (上野恩賜公園), the most popular site in Tokyo for cherry blossom viewing (花見).

Cat Cafe

Today we went out to an all-you-can-eat Thai lunch buffet, and stopped by a cat cafe on the way home. We paid 800 yen for one hour at the cafe, which was really more of a petting zoo with free coffee. 

Dorm Tour

So this is where I'm staying. It's called Waseda University Exchange Student Dorm, or Soudairyou (早大寮), and this is the view from the street, down a set of stairs, and to the front door. My dorm is actually the South Wing, and the smaller North Wing is to the right of the picture.

From Virginia to Tokyo

I arrived in Tokyo the day before yesterday and have been pretty busy since I got here. I finally figured out how to connect to wifi in my dorm, so here are a few pictures I took before leaving Charlottesville and right after arriving in Tokyo.

New Camera

                    

I took a few pictures with my new camera (Canon Rebel T3i) to test it out and to practice my photography skills.

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