Ramen Museum and Ghibli Museum

This past week has been a whirlwind of adventures. This last Sunday, I went to Yokohama with some friends. There, we explored the Ramen Museum, went to the Pokemon Center, and saw the beautiful coastal line. First stop, Ramen Museum.

This place was definitely one I would recommend going to, but only once. We got to explore the museum and see how the first instant ramen was made, as well as learn a lot about the different noodles of the world. My favorite experience though was making my very own instant ramen. First, we got to decorate the cup, then we waited in line and watched them put the noodles in. We then went through the process of picking our broth and toppings. I got the regular broth, sasauge, garlic bits, corn, and cheese. After listing the ingredients out, it kind of sounds gross. I guess I will figure out soon enough!

After the museum, we went to the Pokemon Center. It was filled with various items from the new Pokemon X and Y game. As much as I love Pokemon, I only left with a Pokeball since most of the items were really expensive. After Pokemon Center (and Krispy Kreme!), we split up.

I ended up going with another one of my friends to this tower that will let you see all of Yokohama and the Bay. Apparently the elevator that you take to go up is the fastest in Japan. i could definitely tell it was, when my ears started to pop. Sadly, after this we left Yokohama and headed back to ICU to do homework.

The next day, I went to the Ghibli Museum. For those of you who don’t know, Ghibli is a famous studio in Japan who produces amazing, artistic movies such as: Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl’s Moving Castle, etc. I have to say, it was probably one of the coolest museums I’ve ever been to. Not only did you get to see some of Miyazaki’s work, but they had a lot of instruments that you could interact with, that showed you how the movies are made in a unique way. We even got to see a short 16 minute film that is exclusive to the museum and won’t be shown anywhere else. Sadly, they don’t allow you to take pictures in the museum, so I don’t have much to show. However, we did end our time there by going to the cafe and getting some oishi(delicious) lattes with the cutest latte art on it. 

Overall, it’s been a good week. Tomorrow is Halloween, and I can’t wait to go out and celebrate it Japan style. I will have to update you all on how it goes. Til then, Ja matta.

 

Aokigahara (Suicide Forest)

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Aokigahara, which is at the base of Mt. Fuji. This particular forest is famous, not for its caves, or for its sea of trees, but for the numerous amount of suicides that happen here each year (around 100). Most gaijin would stick to the temples and towering buildings of Tokyo, however we’re a bit different. Saturday morning we set out on our long journey at 7:10 a.m. We then took about a 2 in a half hour train ride (so many transfers!!) out to the base of Mt. Fuji. Even though it was a long commute, we were still able to see the beautiful scenery of Japan outside of the big city.

Once we arrived, we took another bus that took us all the way out to the forest. After taking the bus, we decided to check out the bat cave. It ended up being really dissapointing since we had to pay 500¥ and didn’t see any bats. Before doing anything too dangerous, we decided to hike to the “kaze hora”, or “wind cave”. However, since the hike lasted a long time we decided to get something to eat at the only place we could. After eating lunch, we entered the cave. Again, we weren’t too impressed. It was still fun to venture around a deep cavern with friends though!

Now, is where the curiosity struck us. We ended up venturing off of the path into an area marked as forbidden. They claim it’s because it’s easy to get lost if you go down that way, however we all know it’s probably because they don’t want you to stumble across a dead body. As we ventured further and further down this path, we sadly found nothing. We decided to give it a break and go to the ice cave instead. The ice cave ended up being the most fun out of all the caves. You went down deep into the cave and have to crawl through spaces that you’re nearly on your stomach for. Once getting to the bottom, you find ice. There’s also a sign that explained how they got ice from the cave back in the Edo Period (I’m assuming).

After the cave, we decided to muster up the courage (and energy!) to go back into a forbidden area. We walked around for 5 minutes, and turned the corner to find a noose hanging on a tree with an umbrella next to it. The body wasn’t there, but it was still eery. What I was looking at was someone’s grave. Apparently there was a note close by it too, but I sadly did not see it. Before we could venture even more in, we had to hike back to catch our bus. It was nice to end the day on a scary, yet exciting note.

After catching our bus to the station, we ended up buying tickets for a bus to take us to Tokyo Station. Less transfers, cheaper, and I get to sleep! It was a lot better than on the way over. We got back to our university around 9:45 p.m. Needless to say, I had a long, eventful day. Even though it was long, it was still nice to get out of the city and go on an adventure that usually tourists wouldn’t have taken.

Cat Cafe

In case some of you don’t know, Japan is known for having various animal cafes such as: dog cafes, cat cafes, and even owl cafes. Since I have been having withdrawals from petting cats, my friend and I decided to go to a cat cafe at the next town over. It was a very interesting experience. Even though we went in the morning when the cats are suppose to be more “genki” (energetic), most of them just wanted to sleep. I guess that’s what being a cat is all about. Also, I’m sure they are tired of having to deal with various humans everyday. Even though the cats didn’t want to be playful, they still all swarmed us when we bought some cat food to feed to them. Everyone in the cafe stared at us and were laughing since we had literally all the cats surrounding us. It was so amusing watching them try and get food from us. There was one who kept eating all of the food we were trying to give to the other cats, so the worker there came up to us and told us to try and not feed it anymore since it had too much. But, we couldn’t help it! It was a selfish cat. Anyways, it was an interesting experience. I probably wouldn’t do it again, but I think if you’re in Japan you should try going to one sometime. Next stop, owl cafe!

Moon Viewing Party

Sorry it took me so long to post this! I’ve been preparing for midterms all week and haven’t had the chance to catch you all up. Last Saturday I went to a Moon Viewing Party hosted by the Musashino Lion Club. We had to sign up for it through the student affairs office here. I feel sorry for the people who missed out on this opportunity. One rule of advice for studying abroad, if your host institution is helping put on a cultural event and wants you to sign up, do it! It’s one of the best ways to experience the culture of the country you are at. For this party, they gave us yukatas (a lighter kimono) to wear. To my astonishment, they let us keep them after the party had ended. It was pretty amusing watching the おばさん(older woman) put my yukata on for me. She kept looking up at me and saying “背が高い！” (you’re tall)！ There was also lots of food (noodles, squid, sausage, takoyaki) and even free beer. After we got done eating, everyone participated in 3 Japanese traditional dances. Even though I’m not the best dancer, I was able to pick it up after awhile. Before coming to Japan, I didn’t think I would get the chance to take part in a traditional dance with other natives. However, I got over my fear of failing and even had some friends brave it with me. We ended the night by lighting off fireworks and doing sparklers. Japanese sparklers are a lot more advanced than ours (at least in my opinion). I even got one that would change colors every 6 seconds or so. However, since I am sort of a clutz, I wasn’t as careful as I should have been. Thankfully I didn’t get hurt, nor did anyone else. But, I was an idiot and put one of my sparlers over my head to get around some one. Once I did this, one of the Lion Club members shouted “ああ！頭！” (Ahh! Your head!). I then quickly put it down, and we both laughed after that. This is why people shouldn’t give me fire. After the party ended, I biked back with two friends and got ready for the rest of the night. Apparently one of the number one clubs in Tokyo was having a deal that students could get in free. One of my friends told me that the club was also the one featured in the movie “Lost in Translation”, but I’m not sure if that’s true or not. We went to the club, and ended up leaving since the music wasn’t very good and because none of us were big on drinking. Since the trains had stopped running and wouldn’t be starting up until 5 a.m., we decided to go to karaoke and then to McDonalds. I ended up getting back to my dorm room around 6 a.m. and passed out until 1 p.m. I don’t regret going though, it was a fun experience. Sorry for the long post. I will try and keep them shorter. Miss you all!

– Amy