Daily Diary (Sept 1-2)

Sept 1

Today, we began the day by watching a touching documentary about the lives and experiences of “hafu” people in Japan. For lunch, most of the group went to the largest Chinatown in Japan, located in Yokohama.

We also visited the Overseas Migration Museum in Yokohama, a port city located an hour away from Tokyo. Through Mara’s network, the museum kindly provided our group with a tour guide. He elaborated on many aspects of Japan’s emigration to other parts of the world, such as Brazil and the United States. We spent approximately two hours in the museum, and then had the rest of the evening free. The museum was informative, and contained many interesting artifacts and first-person testimonies from some of the original emigrants. It was fascinating to ponder how many Japanese relied on emigration to better their families’ futures, and yet public sentiment in Japan remains strongly against foreign immigrants.

Sept 2

Today was a free day for exploration and research. Mara and I chose to explore the area of Kamakura, and area that was full of many famous and ancient temples and shrines. Once again, through her network, a Japanese person came with us to tour the area. Notable ones that we visited include the Engaku-ji and Kencho-ji temples, both of which were Buddhist. There was also a famous shrine, where we saw two traditional weddings take place. We also saw a famous large statue of Buddha, also known as a “daibutsu”.

In Kamakura, there is also a bamboo garden, where we sat and drank green tea. The pavilion had a view of the forest, and it was relaxing to sit in the shade with a drink.

In the evening, Mara and I met other members (including the chairman) of the Tokyo Fukoka Kenjinkai (an organization based on the prefecture one's family is from), and we dined at a famous yakitori restaurant in Ginza. We also had to opportunity to walk around Ginza afterwards, and so we decided to visit Ginza Six, the most famous building in the district that is full of shopping. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the ceiling of the building had artwork by Yayoi Kusama, an internationally famous Japanese artist.