Daily Diary (August 28th/29th)

August 28^th, 2017:

Entry to Yasukuni Shrine

On the first day of the program we met in the lobby before walking to our classroom on the NYC campus together, where the welcome orientation was held. The welcome orientation went over important details of our lodging, syllabus details, and was the first chance for all of us to be in the same room in Japan.

The lecture ran a bit long, so we left for our excursion to Yasukuni shrine a little bit later than planned. After some quick changing into more modest clothing, we set out in the hot weather towards the shrine. We successfully navigated the public transportation system without losing anyone and arrived at Yasukuni shrine in the early afternoon.

We visited the shrine for a short time before moving on to the, thankfully air-conditioned, Yūshūkan, which is the attached Japanese military museum. We each worked through the museum at our own pace, before being released to explore the city on our own.

Welcome Dinner

After our free time we met back at the NYC to have a welcome dinner at the Sakura Restaurant, where we also hosted several guests from Waseda and Toyo University. Once dinner was over, most of us headed back to our rooms for the night, many us catching an early night to combat the remaining jetlag.

And like that, the first day of the program was over and the stage was set for day 2!

August 29^th, 2017:

Touring Waseda University

Day 2 was the first day that we went to Waseda University for class. After meeting in the lobby, we took two trains, a bus, and a walk across campus to get to our meeting point on campus. We were lead on a lovely tour around the main Waseda campus by Waseda students (I particularly liked the Waseda shop/café where my group stopped!).

Lunch at Waseda

We returned to the WGG Seminar Room and had our first guest lecture of the program. Professor Ota lectured us on Contemporary Japanese Societies to prepare us to go explore different neighborhoods on the Yamanote JR Line later that day. 

After the lecture we had a group lunch all together before splitting up to explore our respective neighborhoods, discover on our own, and eat dinner, before preparing for Day 3!