Hiromi Uehara - Jazz Legend

November 26, 2012 - Day 7

     While traveling from big Tokyo to the more modest Fukuoka, we got off in Okayama to see a music concert. Hiromi Uehara is my favorite musician EVER. The vituroso pianist/beautiful human being just-so-happened to be performing with her TRIO Project that night, and, through clever train scheduling, we managed to grab seats. We got off our train with minutes to spare, and got pretty good seats down-center. As we waited, I explained to the others a little bit about Hiromi: She's a jazz pianist, but her music spans genres, generations, and locations (she's written arrangements of the Japanese folk song "Sakura, Sakura" to Debussy's "Claire De Lune"). She's an incredible improviser and has this unbridled joy that can't help but be contagious.

But enough of that. Hear for yourself some of what we experienced that night.

"Trumpets basses saxophones, rhythm making love. People wearing fancy clothes, it's the voice of my people...for me, jazz is all the truth to be found, never mind who's putting it down. Jazz ain't nothing but soul." - Esperanza Spalding

-Rick

SUMO TOURNAMENT!!

November 25, 2012- Day 6

     The event today is what I have anticipated the most. Today is the Grand Sumo Wrestling Tournament! I am so excited for today's all-day entertainment that I have been up since 6:30am. Though we left the hostel early, around 9:15am, we arrived just in time for the opening ceremony (Rick's navigational skills are not the best). The opening ceremony was amazing! We saw all the men in their traditional "lower" robes that were so bright and festive! While the robes were nice, the wrestling was unbelievable Who knew that big men pushing around bigger men would be so entertaining? The only averaged about a minute in length, and one man would have to try and push the other down or out of the circle. It was too intense and funny! All the lightweight matches were fun, but when the big men came out...Oh Boy. These giants were huge: 6.8 feet tall, 400 pounds, and scary as mess. (One even growled at Ryan when he came in. He was so scared from then on.) The heavyweights were so strong, and they tried everything to knock one another out. It was ridiculous! The final match lasted forever. However, a winner came out on top. Literally, one guy sat on the other for so long that he gave up.

     While there, our group also learned about the history of sumo wrestling. Sumo wrestling is when two opponents try to force the other out of a circle with the strength of their contact of bodies. To get ready  for a match you must go through several rituals like the salt purification and the bathing of the body. Most of the wrestlers dedicate their lives to wrestling: it is their sole job. We also learned about several rules and rituals during the competition, as well as the colorful lower robes that represent wrestlers' skills.

     It was an experience we won't soon forget. After the long day ended at 5:30pm, we were allowed to talk with some wrestlers and ask for autographs (though the communication was poor because the language barrier but they were friendly and seemed nice.) In the end though, Russell was so pumped on adrenaline, he decided to pretend he was a Sumo Wrestler too and tackled me. We got into a bit of a brawl and were asked to leave. Still, the whole thing was incredible. We all loved it and, for me, it was the best day in Japan for sure.

EmmaLi snagged a picture and a short video of one of the matches:

               

Here is the link to the website for the rules and reguations;   http://www.sumotalk.com/rules.htm                     

~Laiken

トイレ, 洗面所, お手洗い-The Toilet

November 24, 2012 - Day 5

     Today we took a trip to one of my personal favorite landmarks in Japan, the National Olympic Stadium. We saw an ad for the Super Great Toilet Keeper: a toilet-like machine that is supposed to defend a soccer goal by shooting a smaller ball to intercept the soccer ball. Russell called dibs on shooting first. He gave the ball a good kick, but it wasn't fast enough and it got blocked. I was next. I kicked the hardest kick I that I had kicked in years, but the Super Great Toilet Keeper blocked my shot like it was nothing. It turns out the SGTK uses high-speed cameras and an advanced motor-and-spring system to rotate and shoot a small ball to block shots. It can block balls shot up to 160km/hr (that's 99.4194 mph for those back in the states!) EmmaLi and Rick’s shots were the same results as mine, but Laiken had a different idea. She tried carrying the ball across the line, but was unsuccessful: the SGTK shot the small ball at Laiken’s head to stop the soccer ball from getting in the net and ended up knocking her down.We decided "enough is enough!", so we headed off to Juchheim restaurant about 5 minutes away from the stadium. After that exciting morning, and with dinner in take home boxes, we decided to take the rest of the day off and chill out at the hostel.

Here's a demo video of the deadly toilet:

-Ryan 

Tokyo National Museum

November 23, 2012 - Day 4

        On our fourth day the group woke up around 9:30am. We got everything we needed for the day, including our cameras for our informative day at the Tokyo National Museum of Nature and Science. Once we checked the schedule of the museums exhibits we rushed through a light breakfast, and arrived at the museum around 10:30am. We entered with our tickets and headed to our first exhibit: Nature of the Japanese Islands. We learned that Japan has undergone rapid geologic and topographic changes due to tectonic plate movement. Japan is constantly being influenced by monsoons and currents, which nurtures the aquatic organisms in and around the coast of Japan.

Our favorite sight was the blue whale!

     We had to practically drag Laiken and EmmaLi away from the minerals exhibit. (They said the gold was “calling” their name.) Once everyone was rounded up, we walked over to the adjoining restaurant. The restaurant contains a diverse menu, but everyone stuck with American food this time around.

      





   
     Now was our chance to visit the Theater360. We stood on a bridge in the middle of a giant dome. It was really disorienting, as it seemed to turn us in any direction using video technology. It was quite the experience

~Russell 

Shopping Extravaganza!

November 22 - Day 3
 

                          Rick                 Russell                        Laiken           EmmaLi           Ryan

(Harajuku, an area in Tokyo where people dress up like this every Sunday)

     Shopping for clothes isn't like the above picture everywhere in Japan. Who knew? The Girls convinced (begged) Ryan, Russell, and me to come along and brave the vast expanse of clothing shops in Tokyo. It was actually pretty cool. We had lunch (noodles and vegetables) in a cozy cafe. It was so good we decided to come back for a sushi dinner! Because of our budget, we were careful not to overspend on the first day.  Even so, I actually ended up making a few purchases-I think I even saw Russell grab some suave-looking khakis at the end!

     As a side note, Ryan was still clearly upset over the glitter-in-the-suitcase incident, and after thoroughly washing out his wardrobe, wouldn't even look at clothes. I guess he was trying to stay manly after being embarrassed by our prank. (Personally, I thought it was pretty funny.)

Here are some of the fashions that we saw:
     
     
 
     There's a lot freedom of expression in Japan. There are people trying to dress like their favorite pop artist or trying to follow one of the many, sometimes obscure subcultures. However, a majority of people are just wearing typical western garb-at least in the big city of Tokyo.
     We're back at the hostel now, and it's safe to say all of our feet are happy to finally rest! We unanimously agreed to sleep in before another adventure tomorrow. Talk about shop 'till you drop...

- Rick

Arrival in Japan

November 21, 2012 - Day 2

   The flight from Detroit to Tokyo took 13 hours and 45 minutes-not a big deal for me, but the stress definitely showed on the others. Things were actually going pretty well until Rick got stuck in the bathroom. Also, EmmaLi fell asleep right away on top of me, so no getting up for me. With no one to stop them, Laiken and Russell started fighting nonstop and I think EmmaLi drooled on me a little.

     Now we're in Tokyo, Japan's capitol. We plan to spend the first eight or nine nights in a hostel that caters to foreign student research. I'm actually a little worried about my suitcase because the group was giving it funny looks. EmmaLi and Rick are checking us into the hostel (cheaper than hotels), while I think Laiken and Russell are still bickering. If they don't settle down soon, this is going to be a long trip.

     On our way in to Tokyo we got a brochure of "Ten Really Interesting Facts About Japan", that we thought we should share:
1. Over 70% of Japan consists of mountains. The country also has over 200 volcanoes.
2. The literacy rate in Japan is almost 100%.
3. Japanese people have an average life-expectancy that is 4 years longer than Americans.
4. Japan has the second lowest homicide rate in the world and is considered to have the lowest cruime rate in the world.
5. Japan’s unemployment rate is less than 4%.
6. Japan consists of over 6,800 islands.
7. Japan has around 1500 earthquakes each year!
8.Japan is considered the largest country in producing automobiles.
9.The major religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shintoism. However, practicing religion does not significantly impact Japanese.
10.Japanese food is considered the most nutritious and healthy food in the world.

Outer view of our hostel

Surprisingly spacious bedrooms!

-Ryan

Japan, Here We Come!

November 20 - Day 1

Sunrise at the Raleigh-Durham United airport

   
     Team Japan (Emmali, Ryan, Rick, Russell, and me) met at the RDU airport at about 7:30am and they all chowed down on some breakfast enchiladas at McDonald's (I wasn't hungry.) Afterwards, Ryan treated us all to Starbucks coffee using his saved Christmas money from last year. (Meanwhile, Rick, EmmaLi, Russell, and I all sabotaged Ryan's suitcase by putting glitter in it. He won't find out until Japan.) We had to run for the gate (because somebody spent way too long in the bathroom,) but we got to our gate just in time for departure.

 
     The first flight to Detroit was uneventful. The free crackers were the highlight of the trip so far, if that says anything. I'm sitting with Russell on the long flight to Japan. I don't know if I can stand more than an hour or two in close quarters with him. Good thing our seats are right next to the emergency exit.

Exit row seats for Russell and me

~Laiken 

Pre-trip Planning

Itinerary
T_T Budget Sheet