Today, Tuesday, we went to a reconstruction of
the Tokaido Pass. The area was planted right in the middle of what appeared to
be a normal neighborhood, but it was the same location that it existed in
history. The first part of the tour was in a more modern building, much like a
museum, probably because it was one, with artifacts from the time and miniature
displays. While looking at all the history before me I couldn't help but think
about my manga series, Kurokenshin, since it does take place in historical
Japan at some points. If only I had done more research, it would be more legit,
but its too late to dwell on that now.
The second area of the Pass was in a preserved house where upperclass travelers would stay. We took off our shoes to wander the endless rooms laid with tatami mats and surrounded on all sides with sliding panels. (Genius really, sliding walls/doors = infinite room possibilites!) This was also the place where we had the opportunity to put on kimonos. The ladies there helped us put them on [over our clothes] and then we all lined up for pictures. Some of the guys had the fake 'samurai head' pieces, and swords, so it was an all around interesting experience.
After stepping into Japanese history, we took a few more steps back into PRE-history. That's right, we went to Toyohashi's Natural History Museum. They had DINOSAURS!! 8D
But before we could walk around the exhibits, there was a video/movie on dinosaurs that our group went to watch. Now, I was pretty psyched, I mean I love watching shows on Dinosaurs, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Fight Club, all that fun stuff, so I was like "Ooh, dino documentary?" But no. It wasn't even Jurassic Park... it was Dinotopia, but not ALL of Dinotopia. Just bits and pieces of the movie, which I think is about 2-3hours? Condensed into a 30 minute visual experience that confused the heck outta everyone. It was dubbed in Japanese, so those in our group who hadn't seen the movie were confused, and even Dr. Hara said it was a strange movie. I can't believe I was the only one who had seen it before! So I had to explain that it was actually a lot longer, and more detailed...
Then we saw the dinosaurs! Yay for fossils! We had a tour guide who spoke mostly in Japanese, and we also had our translator guy along for the ride, but I was pretty much englufed with my eyes. It was my first time seeing real fossils in person; it was even my first time at a natural history museum, so I was stoked. The exhibits were impressive, from start to finish. I would like to go there again :)
The Natural History Museum was actually part of/connected to the Toyohashi zoo! But we didn't get a chance to see any animals because once we were done with the museum it was lunch, and then we had to leave soon after to visit a commercial highschool. Lunch was pretty good though, and we stopped in the gift shop; I bought a box of treats to share with my host family.
Finally~ We got to visit the highschool, where we had the chance to try Kyuudo (Japanese Archery). The club members gave us a quick display of their skills (I want to say they were 2nd in the region? but of course I don't think I caught the right name, so it doesnt matter~). Then came the awkward moment when they asked us if we wanted to try, and we did, but no one wanted to go first, so we all kinda glanced at each other awkwardly until one of our guys finally stepped. After him, we all tok turns. Dr. Hara promised a beer (or something) if we managed to hit the target. The one trick to Kyuudo, is that you have to set it up and hold it for 8 seconds, which can be difficult. I think there were four of us who managed to hit the target, some by luck, some by magic. It took my 4 tries just to catch the target, which either bounced of the ground, or clipped the edge, I cant recall.... so I won my free non-beer, along with Tim, Lynnette and Victor.
Before leaving, we watched the Kendo club finish their meeting. I saw tennis courts! But... we didn't have time for that, haha, so no tennis today.
That night we were watching TV and a famous magician (Zero??) was doing a program in China. I remember this because a)the tricks were amazing and b) the next day my host mom bought a pack of trick cards. The first attempt didn't quite work, but it did the second time around. I was so impressed that she learned a trick so quickly! Then she showed us the trick to it. Still, thank you, host mom :)
The second area of the Pass was in a preserved house where upperclass travelers would stay. We took off our shoes to wander the endless rooms laid with tatami mats and surrounded on all sides with sliding panels. (Genius really, sliding walls/doors = infinite room possibilites!) This was also the place where we had the opportunity to put on kimonos. The ladies there helped us put them on [over our clothes] and then we all lined up for pictures. Some of the guys had the fake 'samurai head' pieces, and swords, so it was an all around interesting experience.
After stepping into Japanese history, we took a few more steps back into PRE-history. That's right, we went to Toyohashi's Natural History Museum. They had DINOSAURS!! 8D
But before we could walk around the exhibits, there was a video/movie on dinosaurs that our group went to watch. Now, I was pretty psyched, I mean I love watching shows on Dinosaurs, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Fight Club, all that fun stuff, so I was like "Ooh, dino documentary?" But no. It wasn't even Jurassic Park... it was Dinotopia, but not ALL of Dinotopia. Just bits and pieces of the movie, which I think is about 2-3hours? Condensed into a 30 minute visual experience that confused the heck outta everyone. It was dubbed in Japanese, so those in our group who hadn't seen the movie were confused, and even Dr. Hara said it was a strange movie. I can't believe I was the only one who had seen it before! So I had to explain that it was actually a lot longer, and more detailed...
Then we saw the dinosaurs! Yay for fossils! We had a tour guide who spoke mostly in Japanese, and we also had our translator guy along for the ride, but I was pretty much englufed with my eyes. It was my first time seeing real fossils in person; it was even my first time at a natural history museum, so I was stoked. The exhibits were impressive, from start to finish. I would like to go there again :)
The Natural History Museum was actually part of/connected to the Toyohashi zoo! But we didn't get a chance to see any animals because once we were done with the museum it was lunch, and then we had to leave soon after to visit a commercial highschool. Lunch was pretty good though, and we stopped in the gift shop; I bought a box of treats to share with my host family.
Finally~ We got to visit the highschool, where we had the chance to try Kyuudo (Japanese Archery). The club members gave us a quick display of their skills (I want to say they were 2nd in the region? but of course I don't think I caught the right name, so it doesnt matter~). Then came the awkward moment when they asked us if we wanted to try, and we did, but no one wanted to go first, so we all kinda glanced at each other awkwardly until one of our guys finally stepped. After him, we all tok turns. Dr. Hara promised a beer (or something) if we managed to hit the target. The one trick to Kyuudo, is that you have to set it up and hold it for 8 seconds, which can be difficult. I think there were four of us who managed to hit the target, some by luck, some by magic. It took my 4 tries just to catch the target, which either bounced of the ground, or clipped the edge, I cant recall.... so I won my free non-beer, along with Tim, Lynnette and Victor.
Before leaving, we watched the Kendo club finish their meeting. I saw tennis courts! But... we didn't have time for that, haha, so no tennis today.
That night we were watching TV and a famous magician (Zero??) was doing a program in China. I remember this because a)the tricks were amazing and b) the next day my host mom bought a pack of trick cards. The first attempt didn't quite work, but it did the second time around. I was so impressed that she learned a trick so quickly! Then she showed us the trick to it. Still, thank you, host mom :)
No comments:
Post a Comment