Ancient and Modern Japan

This first picture is of the Shinto Shrine.

Last weekend was very busy but highly enjoyable. On Saturday, we had the opportunity to visit a Shinto Shrine and Buddhist Temple (which Kristen explains in her post) as well as the Edo Warp Station which is a set used for filming. On Sunday, we visited Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Akihabara in Tokyo. This weekend was very interesting, as we were able to spend one day observing the traditional aspects of Japan and one day observing the modern aspects of Japan.


During our visit to the Shinto shrine, there were drum sounds playing. We were instructed by the Religion Sensei to bow twice, clap our hands twice, and then bow once more, making sure to bow deep and to perform the actions in a slow and meditative manner.

The next picture is of a Buddhist temple.



Interestingly, after our religion Sensei told the the Buddhist priest that we had also visited a Shinto shrine that day, he told us that Shinto shrines are not so different from Buddhist temples and that they are pretty much the same (this was the translation our teacher gave us).

In my opinion, the Buddhist temple looked very humble from the outside and more fancy on the inside, while the Shinto temples looked very fancy on the outside and more simple on the inside.

We were also able to see the Daibutsu (Large Buddha) from our bus. Apparently, it is twice the size of the Statue of Liberty.



We also visited the Edo Warp Station. Since it is now autumn, the momiji (autumn leaves) are absolutely beautiful. There are also carp in the ponds which you can buy food to feed.





Tokyo was completely different from our Saturday trip. Everything was very packed, filled with people; there were bright lights and expensive things and foreigners everywhere. The following picture was taken in Harajuku.



For those who have seen the film Shimotsuma Monagatari (English title: Kamikaze Girls), which was about a Lolita girl and Yankee girl in Ibaraki-ken (where Tokiwa Daigaku is located), we found the actual store that the film was based off of, in Tokyo (Shinjuku). Here is the picture of the store "Baby, The Stars Shine Bright."




By the way, the treatment foreigners receive in Tokyo is extremely different from the treatment foreigners receive in places like Mito where foreigners are rare. I would say the treatment in Mito is very positive. If I had not been to Mito first, I would not have thought or noticed anything special or different about the way that Tokyo people (especially store clerks and waiters/waitresses) treat foreigners.


Thanks for your time,
Germaine